Amended in Assembly August 11, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 25, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 20, 2014

Amended in Senate January 6, 2014

Amended in Senate April 15, 2013

Amended in Senate April 9, 2013

Senate Bill No. 577

Introduced by Senator Pavley

(Coauthor: Senator DeSaulnier)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Buchanan, Garcia, Grove, and Waldron)

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Sections 4850, 4851, 4854, and 4860 of, and to add and repeal Section 4850.3 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to developmental disabilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 577, as amended, Pavley. Autism and other developmental disabilities: employment.

The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Existing law governs the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional centers, including work activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services.

This bill would require the department, contingent upon receiving federal financial participation, to conduct a 4-year demonstration project to determine whether community-based vocational development services will increase employment outcomes for consumers and reduce purchase of service costs for working age adults, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish a notice on the department’s Internet Web site when the demonstration project has been implemented, and to make determinations and notify the Legislature concerning the project’s effectiveness, as specified, at the project’s conclusion. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2025.

This bill would require the development and semiannual review of a plan, as specified, if community-based vocational development services, as defined, are determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome. The bill would establish an hourly rate for community-based vocational development services begin insert , for purposes of the demonstration project, end insert of $40 per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the plan. The bill would provide that a consumer’s hours of participation in community-based vocational development services may be provided in lieu of hours of participation in other community-based day program services, for up to 2 years, except as specified.

The bill would also set forth related legislative findings and declarations.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Individuals with developmental disabilities have to struggle
to find gainful employment. Unemployment amongst the
developmentally disabled population is approximately 80 percent.

(b) Within the developmentally disabled community, autism is
the fastest growing population, making up approximately 50
percent of the annual new caseload of regional centers in some
parts of the state.

(c) One in three adults with autism do not have paid work
experience or a college or technical education seven years after
leaving the K-12 school system.

(d) In order to increase the self-sufficiency of young adults with
autism and other developmental disabilities, including increased
earning capacity and reduced government benefit support, it is
important that the state implement a program to provide
individualized skills assessment, social cue training, and specific
support to ensure their academic and employment success.

(e) The Governor and the Legislature must address the growing
need for new models of assessment, career training, and expanding
employment opportunities and support options for young adults
with autism and other developmental disabilities between 18 and
30 years of age. If this population is left without purposefully
designed pathways into employment, these young adults will
remain at high risk of public dependency throughout the course
of their lives.

(f) The passage of the State of California’s Employment First
Policy requires the state to increase the opportunities for individuals
with developmental disabilities to achieve integrated competitive
employment.

SEC. 2.  

Section 4850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4850.  

(a) The Legislature reaffirms its intent that habilitation
services for adults with developmental disabilities should be
planned and provided as a part of a continuum and that habilitation
services should be available to enable persons with developmental
disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available
to nondisabled people of the same age.

(b) The Legislature further intends that habilitation services
shall be provided to adults with developmental disabilities as
specified in this chapter in order to guarantee the rights stated in
Section 4502.

(c) The Legislature further intends that in order to increase
effectiveness and opportunity to gain meaningful integrated
employment opportunities, habilitation services shall also provide
community-based vocational development services to enhance
community employment readiness, develop social skills necessary
for successful community employment, and build a network of
community and employment opportunities for individuals with
developmental disabilities.

SEC. 3.  

Section 4850.3 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

4850.3.  

(a) The department shall conduct a four-year
demonstration begin delete project end delete begin insert project, pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 4869, end insert to determine whether
community-based vocational development services increase
integrated competitive employment outcomes and reduce purchase
of service costs for working age adults.

(b) The department shall select up to five volunteer regional
centers that reflect the geographic diversity of California to
participate in the demonstration project.

(c) The department shall publish a notice on the departments
Internet Web site when the demonstration project has been
implemented.

(d) (1) After conclusion of the demonstration project, the
department shall review the effectiveness of the demonstration
project and make determinations whether community-based
vocational development services (A) increase employment
outcomes, (B) reduce purchase of service costs, and (C) may be
implemented on a statewide basis.

(2) The department shall notify the appropriate fiscal and policy
committees of both houses of the Legislature of the determinations
made pursuant to this subdivision.

(e) This section shall be implemented only to the extent that
federal financial participation is available and any necessary federal
approvals have been obtained.

(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2025, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 4.  

Section 4851 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4851.  

The definitions contained in this chapter shall govern
the construction of this chapter, with respect to habilitation services
provided through the regional center, and unless the context
requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:

(a) “Habilitation services” means community-based services
purchased or provided for adults with developmental disabilities,
including services provided under the begin delete Work Activity Program end delete
begin insert work activity program end insert and the begin delete Supported Employment Program, end delete
begin insert supported employment program, end insert to prepare and maintain them at
their highest level of vocational functioning, or to prepare them
for referral to vocational rehabilitation services.

(b) “Individual program plan” means the overall plan developed
by a regional center pursuant to Section 4646.

(c) “Individual habilitation service plan” means the service plan
developed by the habilitation service vendor to meet employment
goals in the individual program plan.

(d) “Department” means the State Department of Developmental
Services.

(e) “Work activity program” includes, but is not limited to,
sheltered workshops or work activity centers, or community-based
work activity programs certified pursuant to subdivision (f) or
accredited by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission.

(f) “Certification” means certification procedures developed by
the Department of Rehabilitation.

(g) “Work activity program day” means the period of time
during which a begin delete Work Activity Program end delete begin insert work activity program end insert
provides services to consumers.

(h) “Full day of service” means, for purposes of billing, a day
in which the consumer attends a minimum of the declared and
approved work activity program day, less 30 minutes, excluding
the lunch period.

(i) “Half day of service” means, for purposes of billing, any day
in which the consumer’s attendance does not meet the criteria for
billing for a full day of service as defined in subdivision (g), and
the consumer attends the work activity program not less than two
hours, excluding the lunch period.

(j) “Supported employment program” means a program that
meets the requirements of subdivisions (n) to (s), inclusive.

(k) “Consumer” means any adult who receives services
purchased under this chapter.

(l) “Accreditation” means a determination of compliance with
the set of standards appropriate to the delivery of services by a
work activity program or supported employment program,
developed by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission,
and applied by the commission or the department.

(m) “CARF” means CARF the Rehabilitation Accreditation
Commission.

(n) “Supported employment” means paid work that is integrated
in the community for individuals with developmental disabilities.

(o) “Integrated work” means the engagement of an employee
with a disability in work in a setting typically found in the
community in which individuals interact with individuals without
disabilities other than those who are providing services to those
individuals, to the same extent that individuals without disabilities
in comparable positions interact with other persons.

(p) “Supported employment placement” means the employment
of an individual with a developmental disability by an employer
in the community, directly or through contract with a supported
employment program. This includes provision of ongoing support
services necessary for the individual to retain employment.

(q) “Allowable supported employment services” means the
services approved in the individual program plan and specified in
the individual habilitation service plan for the purpose of achieving
supported employment as an outcome, and may include any of the
following:

(1) Job development, to the extent authorized by the regional
center.

(2) Program staff time for conducting job analysis of supported
employment opportunities for a specific consumer.

(3) Program staff time for the direct supervision or training of
a consumer or consumers while they engage in integrated work
unless other arrangements for consumer supervision, including,
but not limited to, employer supervision reimbursed by the
supported employment program, are approved by the regional
center.

(4) Community-based training in adaptive functional and social
skills necessary to ensure job adjustment and retention.

(5) Counseling with a consumer’s significant other to ensure
support of a consumer in job adjustment.

(6) Advocacy or intervention on behalf of a consumer to resolve
problems affecting the consumer’s work adjustment or retention.

(7) Ongoing support services needed to ensure the consumer’s
retention of the job.

(r) “Group services” means job coaching in a group supported
employment placement at a job coach-to-consumer ratio of not
less than one-to-three nor more than one-to-eight where services
to a minimum of three consumers are funded by the regional center
or the Department of Rehabilitation. For consumers receiving
group services, ongoing support services shall be limited to job
coaching and shall be provided at the worksite.

(s) “Individualized services” means job coaching and other
supported employment services for regional center-funded
consumers in a supported employment placement at a job
coach-to-consumer ratio of one-to-one, and that decrease over time
until stabilization is achieved. Individualized services may be
provided on or off the jobsite.

(t) “Community-based vocational development services” means
(1) services provided to enhance community employment readiness,
which may include the use of discovery and job exploration
opportunities, (2) social skill development services necessary to
obtain and maintain community employment, (3) services to use
internship, apprenticeship, and volunteer opportunities to provide
community-based vocational development skills development
opportunities, (4) services to access and participate in
postsecondary education or career technical education, and (5)
building a network of community and employment opportunities.

SEC. 5.  

Section 4854 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4854.  

(a) In developing the individual habilitation service plan
pursuant to Section 4853, the habilitation service provider shall
develop specific and measurable objectives to determine whether
the consumer demonstrates ability to reach or maintain individual
employment goals in all of the following areas:

(1) Participation in paid work for a specified period of time.

(2) Obtaining or sustaining a specified productivity rate.

(3) Obtaining or sustaining a specified attendance level.

(4) Demonstration of appropriate behavior for a work setting.

(b) If community-based vocational development services are
determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported
employment outcome, a plan shall be developed and may include,
but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) An inventory of potential employment interests.

(2) Preferences for types of work environments or situations.

(3) Identification of any training or education needed for the
consumer’s desired job.

(4) Opportunities to explore jobs or self-employment as a means
to meet the consumer’s desired employment outcome.

(5) Identification of any personal or family networks the
consumer may use to achieve his or her desired employment
outcomes.

(c) The habilitation service provider and the regional center
shall review the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (b)
semiannually to document progress towards objectives, additional
barriers, and other changes that impact the consumer’s desired
employment outcome.

(d) Hours of participation in community-based vocational
development services may be provided in lieu of hours of
participation in other community-based day program services, as
determined by the consumer’s individual program planning team,
for up to two years. Community-based vocational development
services may be authorized for an additional two years, if the
consumer’s individual program planning team determines and
documents at each semiannual review that the consumer is making
significant progress toward the habilitation services objectives. A
consumer’s participation in community-based vocational
development services shall not exceed a total of four years.

SEC. 6.  

Section 4860 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4860.  

(a) (1) The hourly rate for supported employment
services provided to consumers receiving individualized services
shall be thirty dollars and eighty-two cents ($30.82).

(2) Job coach hours spent in travel to consumer worksites may
be reimbursable for individualized services only when the job
coach travels from the vendor’s headquarters to the consumer’s
worksite or from one consumer’s worksite to another, and only
when the travel is one way.

(b) The hourly rate for group services shall be thirty dollars and
eighty-two cents ($30.82), regardless of the number of consumers
served in the group. Consumers in a group shall be scheduled to
start and end work at the same time, unless an exception that takes
into consideration the consumer’s compensated work schedule is
approved in advance by the regional center. The department, in
consultation with stakeholders, shall adopt regulations to define
the appropriate grounds for granting these exceptions. When the
number of consumers in a supported employment placement group
drops to fewer than the minimum required in subdivision (r) of
Section 4851, the regional center may terminate funding for the
group services in that group, unless, within 90 days, the program
provider adds one or more regional centers, or Department of
Rehabilitation-funded supported employment consumers to the
group.

(c) Job coaching hours for group services shall be allocated on
a prorated basis between a regional center and the Department of
Rehabilitation when regional center and Department of
Rehabilitation consumers are served in the same group.

(d) When Section 4855 applies, fees shall be authorized for the
following:

(1) A three-hundred-sixty-dollar ($360) fee shall be paid to the
program provider upon intake of a consumer into a supported
employment program. No fee shall be paid if that consumer
completed a supported employment intake process with that same
supported employment program within the previous 12 months.

(2) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid
upon placement of a consumer in an integrated job, except that no
fee shall be paid if that consumer is placed with another consumer
or consumers assigned to the same job coach during the same hours
of employment.

(3) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid after
a 90-day retention of a consumer in a job, except that no fee shall
be paid if that consumer has been placed with another consumer
or consumers, assigned to the same job coach during the same
hours of employment.

(e) The hourly rate for community-based vocational
development begin delete services end delete begin insert services, for purposes of Section 4850.3, end insert
shall be forty dollars ($40) per hour for a maximum of 75 hours
per calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the
community-based vocational development plan as developed
pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 4854. Prior to the
implementation of community-based vocational development
services, the department shall secure federal Medicaid funding for
this service.

(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
4648, the regional center shall pay the supported employment
program rates established by this section.