BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1160
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Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Mark Stone, Chair
SB 1160 (Beall) - As Amended: May 27, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Developmental services: employment
SUMMARY : Adjusts the allowable job-coach to consumer ratio for
group supported employment services provided to individuals with
developmental disabilities.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Declares a number of legislative findings related to the high
unemployment rate of individuals with developmental
disabilities and the need to provide ample employment
opportunities and support to these individuals, including job
training and individual supports that enable them to move
towards being economically self-sufficient, as specified.
2)Reduces the minimum job coach-to-consumer ratio from 1:3 to
1:2 and makes a correlating change to the minimum number of
regional center consumers required to participate in group
supported employment from three to two.
3)Redefines individualized services to mean job coaching and
other supported employment services, as specified, that
decrease over time, consistent with the consumer's individual
program plan and abilities, with the goal of achieving
stabilization, when possible.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Lanterman Act, under which the Department of
Developmental Services is authorized to contract with private
non-profit regional centers to provide case management
services and arrange for, or purchase, services that meet the
needs of individuals with developmental disabilities, as
defined. (WIC 4500 et seq.)
2)Grants all individuals with developmental disabilities, among
all other rights and responsibilities established for any
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individual by the United States Constitution and laws and the
California Constitution and laws, the right to treatment and
habilitation services and supports in the least restrictive
environment. (WIC 4502)
3)Requires the development of an Individual Program Plan (IPP)
for each regional center consumer, which specifies services to
be provided to the consumer, based on an individualized needs
determination. (WIC 4512)
4)Establishes an Employment First Policy in California to
prioritize opportunities for integrated, competitive
employment for individuals with developmental disabilities,
regardless of the severity of their disabilities, as
specified. (WIC 4869)
5)States the Legislature's intent that habilitation services for
adults with developmental disabilities be planned and provided
in a manner that enables them to approximate the pattern of
everyday living available to nondisabled people of the same
age. (WIC 4850)
6)Defines habilitation services as community-based services
purchased or provided for adults with developmental
disabilities, including services provided under the Work
Activity Program and the Supported Employment Program, to
prepare and maintain them at their highest level of vocational
functioning, or to prepare them for referral to vocational
rehabilitation services. (WIC 4851(a))
7)Defines group services to mean job coaching in a group
supported employment placement at a job coach-to-consumer
ratio of not less than 1 to 3 nor more than 1 to 8 where
services are funded by the regional center or the Department
of Rehabilitation. Requires ongoing support services for
consumers receiving group services to be limited to job
coaching provided at the worksite. (WIC 4851(r))
8)Defines individualized services to mean job coaching and other
supported employment services for regional center-funded
consumers in a supported employment placement on or off the
job site that are provided at a job coach-to-consumer ratio of
1 to1 and that decrease over time until stabilization is
achieved. (WIC 4851(s))
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have an unknown impact on the
utilization of group supported employment services (General Fund
and federal funds).
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to ensure that employment
opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities
are consistent with the state's Employment First policy and
maximize opportunities for more individualized support,
integration into the community, and greater independence.
Background : The Lanterman Act (WIC � 4500 et seq.) guides the
provision of services and supports for Californians with
developmental disabilities. Each individual under the Act,
typically referred to as a "consumer," is legally entitled to
treatment and habilitation services and supports in the least
restrictive environment. Lanterman Act services are designed to
enable all consumers to live more independent and productive
lives in the community. The term "developmental disability"
means a disability that originates before an individual attains
18 years of age, is expected to continue indefinitely, and
constitutes a substantial disability for that individual. It
includes intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy,
and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Other developmental
disabilities are those disabling conditions similar to an
intellectual disability that require treatment (i.e., care and
management) similar to that required by individuals with an
intellectual disability.
Direct responsibility for implementation of the Lanterman Act
service system is shared by the Department of Developmental
Services (DDS) and 21 regional centers, which are private
nonprofit entities, established pursuant to the Lanterman Act,
that contract with DDS to carry out many of the state's
responsibilities under the Act. The principal roles of regional
centers include intake and assessment, individualized program
plan development, case management, and securing services through
generic agencies or purchasing services provided by vendors.
Regional centers also share primary responsibility with local
education agencies for provision of early intervention services
under the California Early Intervention Services Act.
The 21 regional centers throughout the state serve 270,000
consumers who receive services such as residential placements,
supported living services, respite care, transportation, day
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treatment programs, work support programs, and various social
and therapeutic activities. Approximately 1,300 consumers
reside at one of California's four Developmental Centers-and one
state-operated, specialized community facility-which provide
24-hour habilitation and medical and social treatment services.
According to DDS consumer characteristics data, over 130,000
regional center consumers are of working age.
Services provided to people with developmental disabilities are
determined through an individual planning process. Under this
process, planning teams-which include, among others, the
consumer, his or her legally authorized representative, and one
or more regional center representatives-jointly prepare an
Individual Program Plan (IPP) based on the consumer's needs and
choices. The Lanterman Act requires that the IPP promote
community integration and maximize opportunities for each
consumer to develop relationships, be part of community life,
increase control over his or her life, and acquire increasingly
positive roles in the community. The IPP must give the highest
preference to those services and supports that allow minors to
live with their families and adults to live as independently as
possible in the community.
Employment First : The primary goal of California's Employment
First policy, the result of AB 1041 (Chesbro) Chapter 677,
Statutes of 2013, is to ensure that people with significant
disabilities are fully included in their communities and in the
workplace by making integrated, competitive employment the top
priority for working age individuals with developmental
disabilities. Rather than limiting opportunities for
individuals with disabilities to programs that don't include
employment, or even work placements that limit tasks and wages,
Employment First policies across the country drive meaningful
participation of people with disabilities in typical, integrated
workplace settings where they are paid directly by an employer
and earn at least minimum wage.
Employment opportunities for individuals with developmental
disabilities : A 2012 report from the University of
Massachusetts, Boston's Institute for Community Inclusion cited
a 20.4% employment rate for Californian's with cognitive
disabilities in 2011, with only 14% served in integrated
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employment settings.<1> Additionally, data from the Employment
Development Department (EDD) for Californians in the workforce
with all disability types show that disabled persons are nearly
twice as likely to be working part time for non-economic reasons
as persons without disabilities. Individuals with developmental
disabilities continue to experience higher unemployment and
underemployment rates than people in the workforce without
disabilities, and the number of opportunities they have for
gainful employment in integrated settings continues to be
woefully low.
Regional centers contract with employment services programs and
providers to address the employment needs of individuals with
developmental disabilities. Consumers are placed and hired into
jobs, in a number of employment settings, according to their
individual skills, needs and choices, and many are provided
support services on an individual or group basis. In addition
to meeting the employment needs of the consumer and helping him
or her become more financially independent, work programs can
also greatly increase opportunities for community integration.
Some consumers participate in Work Activity Programs, which
provide work adjustment and supported habilitation services in a
sheltered workshop setting in which consumers are paid at a
daily per capita rate based on productivity. Alternatively,
Supported Employment Programs (SEPs) are community-based
rehabilitation programs that focus on helping consumers obtain,
retain or maintain employment in integrated settings. SEPs
often involve job coaches that provide on-the-job services and
training, and wages paid directly to the consumer by the
employer.
Indicative of widespread support for policy changes that focus
on more individualized and integrated employment opportunities
and supports, the United States Department of Justice and the
state of Rhode Island recently entered into a settlement
agreement to avoid placing individuals with developmental
disabilities in segregated work environments and facility-based
day programs. This settlement agreement, entered into on April
---------------------------
<1> Butterworth, J., Hall, A.C., Smith, F. A., Migliore, A.,
Winsor, J., Domin, D., & Sulewski, J. (2013). StateData: The
national report on employment services and outcomes. Boston, MA:
University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community
Inclusion.
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8, 2014, was the country's first statewide agreement to
eliminate reliance on sheltered workshop settings and segregated
day programs, both of which often result in the exclusion of
integrated and supported employment opportunities and day
program services. Although the settlement agreement will impact
the lives of around 3,250 Rhode Island residents with
developmental disabilities over the next 10 years, federal
officials have indicated that it could actually affect 450,000
individuals across the country that spend their days in
sheltered workshops and day treatment facilities.
Need for this bill : The current job coach-to-consumer ratio for
group SEP settings is no less than 1:3 and no more than 1:8. By
reducing the lower end of the scale to a ratio of 1:2, this bill
will potentially increase the number of employers willing to
hire individuals who are working as part of a supported
employment group, as the employers will be able to better
accommodate two consumers plus a job coach instead of three.
This bill also seeks to ensure that the individualized job
coaching services provided to some consumers won't decrease for
the sake of stabilization in cases where workplace stabilization
isn't achieved. More individualized attention given to the work
support needs of consumers can facilitate integration with other
employees and can greatly improve workplace success.
In expressing the need for this bill, the author states:
"The unemployment rate for people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities is nearly 80%. Workers with
disabilities need assistance in preparing for a job, finding
that job, getting hired and retaining that job over time. In
spite of the desires of many people with Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) to work, many barriers exist
that make it difficult. Since the law governing supported
employment was first created, the minimum group size of at least
three consumers has limited the ability of many small businesses
to employ persons with I/DD and has reduced the degree of
integration of workers into their work environment...Another
issue has been workers improve in their work with experience
over time. But the 'group of three' has been difficult to
maintain because employers may find that two workers can now do
what three were previously required to do. Without the authority
for group of two, the group has had to be disbanded with all
workers losing their jobs. "
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RECOMMENDED AMENDMENTS :
1)Subdivision (a) of the uncodified intent language in this bill
implies that state budget cuts are the reason for California's
high rate of unemployment and underemployment among people
with developmental disabilities. While budget cuts have
impacted purchase of services throughout the regional center
system, including supported employment, this subdivision does
not take into account external factors throughout history that
may have contributed to the low employment rates, and it has
little correlation with the codified language in the bill.
Committee staff recommends the following amendment:
On page 2, strike out lines 2 through 10
2)Committee staff also recommends the following technical
amendment:
On page 5, line 33, strike out "individualized" and insert:
individual
RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 1626 (Maienschein) 2014, increases the hourly rate paid to
providers of individualized and group-supported employment
services to $34.24, and increase the fees paid to interim
program providers to $400 and $800, respectively.
AB 954 (Maienschein) 2013, was identical to AB 1626
(Maienschein). It died on the Assembly Appropriations Committee
suspense file.
SB 577 (Pavley) 2013-14, establishes "community-based vocational
development services" to enhance employment readiness for
individuals by exploring job options, and developing social
skills necessary for the workforce, makes other changes.
AB 1041 (Chesbro) Chapter 677, Statutes of 2013, created the
state's Employment First Policy, which requires regional centers
to provide consumers aged 16 and older with information about
employment, options for integrated competitive employment,
post-secondary education options, and other information.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Association of Regional Center Agencies (ARCA)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Disability Services Association
The Alliance
Toolworks
Opposition
Non on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089