Previous Page
Full Text of AB 896For those who are not familiar with Assembly Bill 896, which proposes to
close California's institutions for people with developmental disabilities,
more information is available from this Inclusion Daily Express web page:
BILL NUMBER: AB 896 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 4, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 15, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 27, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Aroner
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Keeley, NegreteMcLeod, and
NegreteMcLeod, Pavley, and Richman)
(Coauthor: Senator Kuehl)
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to add Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 4850) to
Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
services for the developmentally disabled.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 896, as amended, Aroner. Developmental services: unified
system.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to
contract with regional centers for the provision of various services
and supports to persons with developmental disabilities.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to
consolidate and alter the distribution of resources and
responsibilities with respect to the provision of services and
supports to the developmentally disabled population within a unified
system, and would make related findings and declarations.
This bill would revise the financing and budgeting processes of
California's developmental services system, including requiring the
creation of a state budget line item to be known as the "State
Hospital Interagency Fund Transfer," or the SHIFT budget. This bill
would require funds in the SHIFT budget to be allocated to regional
centers for specified purposes.
This bill would require each regional center to establish a
community augmentation and resource enhancement account, or CARE
account, to augment and improve services and supports for
developmentally disabled persons living in the community whose needs
are the greatest. The bill would specify the funding sources and
intended uses for CARE accounts.
This bill would also establish the Lanterman Trust, in
Lanterman Trust Fund in the State Treasury, in order that funds
generated from the sale or lease of existing state facilities for the
treatment of the developmentally disabled may be redirected to
provide specified services and supports to members of the
developmentally disabled community. The bill would provide that the
trust shall be administered by a board of trustees, and would specify
the membership of the board of trustees, as well as
including the Director of Developmental Services. The
bill would also specify the sources and intended uses of the
funds in the trust .
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. Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 4850) is added to
Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 13. SYSTEM UNIFICATION, GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND
PROCEDURES
Article 1. Legislative Findings and Intent
4850. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following,
regarding the past and current implementation of the Lanterman
Developmental Disabilities Services Act:
(a) The initial intent of the Legislature in enacting the act has
been fulfilled. Despite enormous population growth in California
since 1965, when the first pilot regional centers were established,
no new state institutions developmental
centers have had to be constructed, and the state
been reduced by 72 percent. As a direct result of the enactment of
the act, an alternative network of programs has been developed
throughout the state, creating thousands of new jobs in local
communities, mostly in private nonprofit organizations. Over the
past three decades, this community-based system has enabled hundreds
of thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities and their
families to have choices previously unavailable to them, and to live
more normal, liberated, and happier lives. The community-based
system, currently serving about 170,000 people with developmental
disabilities, has proven to be much more economical than the state
operated institutional developmental center
system. Community programs have produced benefits at a much
lower per capita cost than the state's institutions
developmental centers , even when serving
.
(b) Although the programmatic and economic accomplishments of the
past three decades have been monumental, the community-based system
and the state institution developmental
center system now face serious problems that require immediate
attention by the Legislature. Successful implementation of the act
is jeopardized by a shortage of funds in the community system. In
1999, a report by the Bureau of State Audits concluded that the
community system is being undermined by budget cuts and insufficient
funding. Other evidence documents that necessary programs are being
closed and others not initiated because of funding shortages. The
most serious statewide deficiency is the shortage of personnel and
high employee turnover rates resulting from uncompetitive, depressed
wage scales. In contrast to workers in state institutions
developmental centers performing similar tasks,
support staff in the community system receive half the pay and few,
if any, of the employee benefits.
(c) The state institution developmental
center system, which is funded and administered separately, now
faces a contrasting crisis. It has become overly expensive,
spending 25 percent of the state's total developmental disabilities
budget on 3,800 people, little more than 2 percent of the population
served in the community and state institution
developmental center systems combined. The average annual
cost per client served in the state institutions
developmental centers has doubled over the past 10 years
to one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($165,000). A one and
one-half billion dollar ($1,500,000,000) capital expenditure is now
needed to remodel state facilities to comply with health, safety, and
accessibility standards. Despite enormous expenditures on these
facilities they have often failed to meet federal standards, with
resultant losses of federal funding, placing greater burdens on the
state General Fund.
(d) In addition to cost concerns, state policy with respect to the
provision of developmental services must be guided by consideration
of the relative effectiveness of various program alternatives, and
the legal implications of different policies.
(e) The separate, segregated system operated directly by the
department does not comply with the intent of state law and is less
cost-effective than the community-based system operated indirectly by
the state through contracts with regional centers and
variety of direct service providers in local communities.
(f) For financial, programmatic, and legal reasons, the time has
come for California to complete the transition initiated decades ago,
from an institution-based system to a community-based system of
services and supports for people with developmental disabilities and
their families. The time has come to move from a dual system to a
single system that, based upon the needs of each individual, provides
for health, safety, growth, development, and community integration
in the most cost-effective ways.
(g) The transition to a unified, community-based system has been
completed in some other states. Their experience demonstrates that
any increase in state costs to create excellent community services is
offset, over time, by the reduction of expenditures on large
by increased federal financial support. At present, the proportion
of federal support for California's community services is low, when
compared to most other states.
4850.1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
chapter to enable the state to fulfill its mandated obligations by
resolving systemic financial, programmatic, and legal problems, by
consolidating and altering the distribution of resources within a
more unified system. Implementation of these changes shall not
require a special appropriation.
(b) It is the further intent of the Legislature to have
redistributed funds and additional program funds generated pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter invested in all of the following:
(1) Excellent community-based services for persons, as described
in Section 4418.7, who are at greatest risk of being placed into
state institutions developmental centers
because of the lack of adequate alternatives.
(2) Excellent community-based services for current residents of
state institutions developmental centers
.
(3) Excellent community-based services for persons currently
living in the community with urgent unmet needs , as determined
by their individual program plans .
(c) It is the further intent of the Legislature that the major
changes required by this chapter shall be implemented, over time, in
an orderly way, and carried out so as to create new
to produce programs of excellent quality, in a unified
system, for all people with developmental disabilities and their
families , and to create new opportunities for success for
employees within the system .
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in this
chapter shall be construed to permit the diversion of any funds saved
or generated as a result of implementation of this chapter to any
purposes other than those defined in this chapter.
Article 2. State Hospital Interagency Fund Transfer
4851. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
requirements of this article shall be applicable to the financing and
budgeting processes of California's developmental services system.
(a) To initiate consolidated funding, the line item in the state
budget prepared by the Governor pursuant to Section 13337 of the
Government Code, which is currently identified as "Developmental
Centers Program" shall be replaced by "State Hospital Interagency
Fund Transfer," or the "SHIFT" budget, which shall be a subset of the
"Community Services Program" budget. In order to develop and
administer the SHIFT budget, the department shall do all of the
following:
(1) Determine the number of persons, including anticipated new
admissions, in each of the major cost categories of developmental
disability, who are expected to reside in each of the facilities
operated by the department.
(2) Determine the average annual per capita cost in each cost
category in each facility, including variable and fixed costs.
(3) Assign as a responsibility, to the most appropriate regional
center, each person who is expected to reside in a facility operated
by the department, including anticipated new admissions. The
department shall provide the individual with developmental
disabilities and, where appropriate, his or her parents, legal
guardian or conservator, or authorized representative, with the
opportunity to select the regional center of his or her choice.
(4) Determine the amount of the SHIFT budget apportioned to a
regional center, by multiplying the number of persons assigned to the
regional center from each facility, in each cost category by the
average annual per capita cost associated with each such person.
(b) The methods and timing of the transmittal of SHIFT budget
funds to regional centers shall be the same as the methods and timing
used to transmit funds in the Community Services Program budget,
including advance payments, unless other arrangements are agreed to,
and stated in the contract between the department and regional
centers.
(c) In addition to developing and apportioning the SHIFT budget,
the department shall conduct its usual procedures for preparing the
Community Services Program budget and allocations for regional
centers. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit the
use of SHIFT budget funds to replace other funds allocated to
regional centers through the customary budgeting process for the
Community Services Program. Nothing in this chapter shall be
construed or interpreted to limit the purchase of services, as
determined in an individual program plan.
(d) The amount of a regional center's portion of the SHIFT budget
allotted in the first fiscal year following January 1, 2002, shall
constitute the base for determining the regional center's SHIFT
budget allotment in subsequent years. The amount of the allotment
may be adjusted by the department in the future only if any of the
following circumstances occur:
(1) Changes in the cost of living, as determined by the state's
usual methods, require an adjustment in order to maintain the same
levels and quality of service.
(2) A person assigned as a responsibility of a regional center
moves to a community served by a different regional center, in which
case the SHIFT funds shall follow that person to the regional center
that serves the community where the person has moved, and the SHIFT
funds shall be reapportioned to that regional center.
(3) Changes in the average annual per capita costs in facilities
operated by the department require an adjustment in regional centers'
SHIFT budgets in order to maintain services.
(e) If the average annual per capita costs in facilities operated
by the department increase, the department shall justify the increase
through the usual budget process, and shall demonstrate that actions
have been taken, as required in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 4852.3, to reduce high overhead and fixed costs in the
facilities.
4852. The department and regional centers shall be authorized to
enter into contractual agreements whereby SHIFT funds will be used to
pay for the cost of providing services to individuals who reside in
facilities operated by the department. Contracts shall be for a term
of one year, unless otherwise determined by mutual consent, and may
be renewed annually.
4852.1. A regional center may use SHIFT funds to pay for the cost
of a service provided to a person assigned as a responsibility of
the regional center from any community-based provider vendorized to
provide that service. If the regional center's cost for all these
services is, at the end of the budget year, less than its annual
SHIFT budget, it shall deposit the difference in a separate
"community augmentation and resource enhancement" account, or a "CARE"
account. The CARE account shall be used to enhance services for
persons living in the community , with urgent
unmet needs , as determined by their individual program plans
. Funds in a CARE account shall be carried over from one
fiscal year to the next.
4852.2. (a) In order to achieve an orderly transition to a
unified community-based system , and to
allow time for adequate planning and development of quality
of the Legislature to reduce the resident population in state
facilities by 3,000 persons, pursuant to each person's individual
program plan, over a period of six years. To reach this goal, the
department and regional centers shall do all of the following:
(1) Focus their highest annual priority efforts on securing
community-based alternatives for at least 150
persons who have been included, by the department, in its annual
budget estimates as anticipated new admissions, who are most likely
to be admitted into state institutions
developmental centers if appropriate alternatives are not made
available. In order to secure community-based alternatives, a
regional center shall do all of the following:
(A) Develop detailed individual program plans pursuant to the
requirements in Sections 4646 and 4646.5.
(B) Identify program elements that shall be purchased.
(C) Secure services from a provider or providers whose program
designs meet or exceed the requirements for each program element.
(2) Purchase, in any given year, alternative community-based
services for at least an additional 400 persons
assigned to regional centers who are residents of state facilities.
The department, after consultation with regional centers, shall
establish annual goals for each regional center to achieve the
orderly transfer of the residents of state facilities to
community-based living with the support services needed.
(b) The department's contracts with regional centers shall
stipulate a sufficient amount of individual program planning to
achieve the goal of reducing the number of persons residing in state
developmental centers in each of the six fiscal years, beginning with
the 2002-03 fiscal year and ending with 2007-08 fiscal year. Funds
in the SHIFT budget that have not been encumbered to pay for services
in state facilities may be used to pay for the additional costs of
individual program planning.
(c) Persons who have been determined by a court to pose a
substantial danger to others shall be excluded from this process.
(d) The transition of an individual from a developmental center to
a community living arrangement shall be implemented in a manner that
is consistent with Section 4418.3.
4852.25 (a) The department shall implement a swift response
procedure under which any person, including, but not limited to, a
family member, conservator, developmental center employee, or
employee of a community facility, may file a one-page form, to be
developed by the department, if he or she believes an individual
receiving services under this chapter is in danger of abuse or
neglect. The department shall ensure the forms are readily
accessible to all parties who may have an interest in the well-being
of the individual. The department shall contact the person who files
the form, visit the person alleged to be in danger, and initiate any
necessary action within 72 hours of receiving the complaint.
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a family
conservator or authorized representative, as appropriate, from
taking all actions otherwise available under the Lanterman
Developmental Disabilities Services Act, including, but not limited
to, the right to participate in the individual program planning
process, as authorized under the act, the right to object
to elements of the individual program plan, and the right to secure a
fair hearing for resolution of any conflicts regarding the
individual program plan. The department shall provide
information, in language designed to be easily understood by the
of the rights and opportunities available to them under state and
federal law.
(c) In addition to life quality assessment monitoring by the area
board that is required pursuant to Section 4596.5 and program
monitoring provided by the regional center, an individual program
plan for individuals receiving services under this chapter may
require additional monitoring of the individual's safety and
well-being. The regional center may use SHIFT funds to contract with
the area board or any other qualified entity to provide the
additional monitoring.
4852.3. In order to minimize state General Fund costs, and to
maximize funding for CARE accounts, regional centers shall,
consistent with individual program plans, make the fullest feasible
use of circles of support of families and friends, and of generic and
federal funding resources for community-based services. The
department shall do all of the following:
(a) Take all necessary action to expand all sources of federal
financial participation in developmental services programs, in order
to reach the proportions achieved by many other states.
(b) Act to reduce the high overhead and fixed costs in state
consolidating programs, closing unused portions of facilities,
conserving energy, terminating functions that duplicate those
available from nearby communities, and phasing out nonessential
activities.
4852.4. The department shall take action whenever necessary to
secure the cooperation of any state or federal agencies whose
procedures could present obstacles to, or would diminish funding for,
the system unification processes established in this chapter. If,
after reasonable efforts have been made to secure this cooperation,
the operation of this chapter is being thwarted by lack of
cooperation by any state or federal agency, the department shall
report the problem and recommend solutions to the Governor, the
Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, and the
chairpersons of the appropriate committees of the Senate and
Assembly. If a federal agency is involved, the department shall
submit a copy of its report to every Senator and Representative from
California in the United States Congress. The department shall also
submit a copy of its report to Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
Article 3. Creating Models of Excellence
4853. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that every person
who receives services in the community, including
persons who move from a developmental center, and persons who are
provided services in the community, to avoid placement in a
developmental center , shall become actively integrated into
the life of the community and achieve the best possible health and
quality of life for a lifetime. The Legislature finds and declares
that the person-centered individual program planning process, defined
in Sections 4646 and 4646.5, are is
the essential and determining process whereby plans and decisions are
made that reflect the desires of the consumer and, as appropriate,
his or her parents, legal guardian or conservator, as well as the
judgments of professionals and various other providers of service.
The Legislature further finds and declares that this process is
designed to guide determine the
selection of living arrangements, services, and the use of resources.
It is the intent of the Legislature that all of the procedures and
processes of person-centered individual program planning, required by
law, be adhered to completely in order to achieve the purposes of
this chapter.
(b) (1) The person-centered individual program planning
process shall be used to determine the time when an individual makes
the transition from a state-operated facility into the community,
unless either of the following have occurred:
(A) The individual has been ordered by a court pursuant to Section
4800 to move into the community.
(B) A court has found that the individual does not meet the
criteria for continued court commitment to a state facility.
(2) SHIFT budget funds shall be used to provide the services
and supports needed to enable persons moved pursuant to this
subdivision to move into the community.
(c) Person-centered individual program planning shall adhere to
the principles, values, and procedures prescribed by law, including
Sections 4501, 4418.3, 4418.7, 4502, 4502.1, subdivisions (b) and (j)
of Sections 4512, Section 4512, and Sections
4646, 4646.5, 4647, 4648, 4685, 4689, and 4689.1. Planning for
the transfer of persons from state institution to community-based
living shall include the goals and aspirations of the person, and the
person's preferences regarding living situation, activities, and
lifestyle. The plan shall also contain a detailed transitional plan
describing all supportive services, how services will be provided and
by whom, and how each objective in the plan will be achieved. When
the individual has moved, a review of the implementation of the plan
shall be conducted pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 4418.3, and
the results shall be evaluated annually pursuant to Sections 4418.1
and 4854.5.
(d) When a plan is being prepared an
individual program plan is developed for the purpose of
creating a community-based program for a resident of a state
Section 4418.3. If an individual program plan provides that any
state facility staff member or members, while employed by the
department, shall visit the person after relocation to the community
to provide information and advice to personnel in the community
program, or provide continuity of relationship with the person who
has relocated, the department shall make it possible for these
activities to occur.
(e) A representative of the person's regional center with
knowledge of the various possible community services and supports
shall be present at person-centered individual program
planning meetings. Options that may not be currently available in
the geographic area shall also be considered in the planning process.
The regional center and the department shall make every reasonable
effort to use the flexibility afforded by SHIFT budget methods to
create needed but currently unavailable services.
(f) The Legislature finds and declares that procedures and
policies for successfully moving many individuals from state
programs are well tested in California as a result of the settlement
agreement in Coffelt v. State Department of Developmental Services
(1991) Superior Ct., San Francisco Co., No. 916401. When
implementing this chapter, the department and regional centers shall
draw upon this recent experience and apply the methods that have
proven to be effective.
4854. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
professional program concepts regarding services to persons with
developmental disabilities have changed and continue to change
rapidly, and that the system unification process initiated by this
chapter creates an opportunity to adopt improved methods of helping
people to live more healthy, productive, and happier lives. It is the
intent of the Legislature that methods and services supported by the
SHIFT budget shall be exemplary models, suitable for future
replication and adaptation throughout the state. Regional centers
are encouraged to utilize the many program alternatives currently
provided for in this division and to also use additional and
innovative methods of fulfilling the expectations contained in the
program plans of individuals.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, "models of excellence" does not
refer to particular program designs, but rather to the capability of
an entire system to devise and deliver the services and support
desired and needed by many different individuals.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, regional centers
are authorized to use SHIFT budget funds to do all of the following:
(1) Resolve wage-related difficulties encountered in attracting
and retaining competent workers to provide services to persons served
by SHIFT budget funds. Rates paid to service providers shall be
sufficient to attract, retain, and train staff with the
qualifications to fully implement the components of the individual
(2) Contract with one or more
former state employees to implement the individual program plan or
plans of one or more persons moving from state institutions
developmental centers to community-based
programs. If certain state employees are recommended
identified , in the individual program plans, to
be the best available source of personnel to implement program
plans, the regional center may assist the former state employees to
make the transition from being state employees to being vendors of
services to the regional center. The regional centers may also use
SHIFT funds to contract with health care workers, or other
professionals with specialized expertise who are currently under
contract to the state, to provide services for persons served with
SHIFT budget funds.
(3) Provide support to families to help them maintain greater
control over decisions and resources and to implement individual
program plans in their own homes. Regional centers may use SHIFT
funds to enable families living anywhere in the state to conduct
self-determination programs as described in subdivision (b) of
Section 4685.5. When a family desires to assume this responsibility,
and this method is consistent with the person's individual
program plan, the regional center shall prepare a formal
agreement with the family that shall delineate the responsibilities
of the family and the regional center.
(4) Use funds in the SHIFT budget to enable children and adults to
live with their own families with supportive services as described
in Section 4685. When necessary to enable families to care for a
family member at home, and to avoid more costly out-of-home
placement, regional centers may also provide stipends to family
members who are providing care in their own homes.
(5) When necessary to fulfill the requirements in individual
program plans, use funds in the SHIFT budget to enable adults or
their families to lease homes or apartments that provide stable
residences for supportive living programs, as described in Section
4689. When other funds are not available for this purpose, SHIFT
budget funds may also be used to enable adults or families to
purchase furniture, equipment, and supplies needed for residences.
(6) Use funds in the SHIFT budget to enhance any program of any
provider of services, when the augmentation is necessary to implement
the requirements of an individual program plan.
(7) With the approval of the department, create any new program or
method, or modify any method described in statute, for the purpose
of designing solutions to unique problems identified in an individual
program plan.
(8) Include funding in contracts with service providers, including
advance funding when necessary, to help pay for the startup costs of
initiating new programs, when these programs are necessary to
implement individual program plans, and when other funds for startup
costs are unavailable.
(9) Use SHIFT budget funds to enable the regional center to pay
for added costs for person-centered planning, special service
coordination, evaluation, and administration of SHIFT budget
and regional centers shall negotiate and set appropriate expenditure
levels for these functions.
(10) Enable existing programs to implement the methods
necessary to improve services to become models of excellence.
(d) Funds in the SHIFT budget may be used as matching funds
to secure additional federal funds.
4854.5. (a) In order to ensure quality, to evaluate costs and
outcomes, and to make informed judgments regarding the future
replication and adaptation of program and financing methods
established by this chapter, the department, the Organization of Area
Boards, and the Association of Regional Center Agencies shall
collaborate in gathering and analyzing information pertaining to the
implementation of this chapter. These entities shall issue an annual
public report with documentation, to address important questions,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Using a scaled measuring procedure, how have persons who have
moved into community-based programs adjusted to the transition? What
changes have occurred over time with regard to their health,
relationships, community involvement, and other measurable indicators
of the quality of their lives?
(2) Have any difficulties been encountered in preparing individual
program plans? If so, how have these problems been resolved, and
what changes would be useful to improve this process?
(3) What progress or lack of progress has there been in achieving
the objectives in individual program plans for persons who have moved
from state institutions to community-based programs?
(4) How successful has the effort been to create community
alternatives for persons considered most likely to be admitted to
state institutions? What difficulties have been encountered, and how
can they be resolved?
(5) What efforts have been made to deflect or move persons with
nondangerous forensic issues from state institutions to
community-based programs? What difficulties have been encountered,
and how can they be resolved?
(6) How have all funds in the SHIFT budget been used? What are
the per capita costs in the community-based programs? If any
difficulties have been encountered in the uses or administration of
SHIFT budget funds, how can they be resolved?
(7) What improvements, if any, have resulted from the methods used
in subdivision (c) of Section 4854?
(b) The department may utilize its contract with an independent
evaluator, pursuant to Section 4418.1, to provide portions of the
information required to answer the evaluation questions in this
section.
Article 4. Community Augmentation and Resource Enhancement
Accounts
4855. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the methods
for creating models of excellence, established and evaluated pursuant
to Sections 4854 and 4854.5 be replicated equitably for
persons who are not current residents of state institutions
have urgent unmet needs, as determined by their individual program
plans.
(b) Each regional center shall establish a CARE account. The
account shall be separate from the regional center's community
services and SHIFT budget accounts, and shall contain funds from
several sources, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Unexpended funds from the SHIFT budget account, when the
regional center's costs for community alternatives is less than its
costs for state-operated services for individuals assigned to the
regional center.
(2) Yearend regional center surplus operations or purchase of
service funds.
(3) Funds derived from donations and bequests, and grants derived
from private foundations or corporate donors , unless those
funds have been donated expressly for other purposes .
(4) State or federal funds that may be allocated to CARE accounts.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit the use
of funds in CARE accounts to replace other funds that would be
allocated to regional centers through the customary budgeting process
for the community services program or the process for determining
and apportioning the SHIFT budget pursuant to Section 4851.
(d) Funds in CARE accounts may be used as matching funds to secure
additional federal resources.
(e) Regional centers shall report to the department, in such
manner as may be required by the department, regarding the amounts,
sources, and uses of funds in CARE accounts.
4855.5. Funds in CARE accounts shall be used to enable regional
centers to fulfill the requirements of individual program plans only
after other sources of funding are found to be unavailable or
inadequate. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, CARE accounts
may be used to fund any of the methods for creating models of
excellence, as described in Section 4854, when necessary to implement
the individual program plans of persons who are not current
residents of state facilities, but who have urgent unmet needs ,
as determined by their individual program plans .
4855.6. The evaluation and outcome analysis required for services
funded with SHIFT budget funds in Section 4854.5 shall be adapted as
necessary and applied to services funded by CARE accounts.
Article 5. The Lanterman Trust Fund
4856. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that during the past
century, the people of California have made significant capital
investments to build and maintain a network of state
of housing, and providing services to, children and adults with
developmental disabilities. As a result of state and federal court
decisions to halt the segregation of disabled people, and the growth
of community alternatives, the population in these state
The enormous capital expenditures required to repair old state
to meet modern health, safety, and accessibility standards cannot be
justified. The system unification initiatives enacted by this
chapter will further accelerate the population decline in these
facilities. The state can avoid the high costs of repair of state
alternative models of excellence are created for current residents
and these state facilities are phased out.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that, in addition
to the current residents of state facilities
developmental centers , thousands of other persons with
developmental disabilities need affordable housing, and many more
will, in the future, require homes in their communities, along with
program supports. In order to minimize future General Fund
expenditures for housing, state hospital facilities may be sold or
leased and the funds generated from these past investments may be
redirected to achieve the outcomes for which these investments were
intended. Californians with developmental disabilities have
4856.1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, state
developmental center lands and buildings shall, when feasible, be
appraised, and leased or sold, at fair market value. No governmental
entity or private party or corporation shall have any right to
receive all or any portion of these properties without full payment
of the fair market price as established by the Department of General
Services.
4856.2. (a) The department shall prepare and implement a
transition plan, which shall be revised annually, for state
accommodate the requirements of the diminishing resident population
resulting from the implementation of this chapter. The plan and
implementation activities shall include, but need not be limited to:
(1) Procedures for limiting increased per capita costs that would
require adjustment of SHIFT budgets, pursuant to paragraph (4) of
subdivision (d) of Section 4851.
(2) Methods for consolidating programs and for minimizing the
disruption to residents during the period of transition to a unified
system.
(3) Determination of the methods and timing of the closure of
state institutions. In order to initiate capitalization of the
Lanterman Trust Fund established pursuant to this article, the first
closed by July 1, 2004.
(4) Two additional facilities
developmental centers shall be closed by July 1, 2008. The
future of the remaining two institutions
developmental centers shall be determined after a cost-benefit
review, which shall be completed no later than December 31, 2008.
This review shall include consideration of the need for
facilities to care for persons who have been determined by a court to
pose a substantial danger to the safety of others.
(b) All proceeds from the sale or lease of state facility lands
and buildings shall be deposited in the Lanterman Trust Fund, which
is hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in the Lanterman
Trust Fund shall be used upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
purposes of this chapter.
(c) The trust shall be administered by a board of trustees which
shall include all of the following members:
(1) The director of the department.
(2) Six members appointed by the Governor for staggered terms.
The appointees shall include persons with experience in trust fund or
large foundation management, real estate law, investment strategy,
property management, and housing policy.
(d) The director shall appoint a Lanterman Trust Fund Program
Advisory Committee, to provide the board of trustees with information
and advice regarding program priorities for the use of trust funds
and other advice as may be requested by the board. The advisory
committee shall consist of 13 members, four of whom shall be persons
with developmental disabilities, and four of whom shall be parents of
persons with developmental disabilities. These eight members shall
be nominated by organizations representing consumers. The remaining
five members of the advisory committee shall be representatives of
major stakeholder agencies in California's developmental services
system.
(e) If requested, the department may compensate board
members and advisory committee members for actual expenses
incurred in performance of their duties.
(f) The trust may utilize trust funds to employ or contract
for, professional help to assist the board with management of the
trust, real estate transactions, investments, accounting, or other
necessary functions.
4856.3. (a) The trust may accept the donation of family homes,
giving the disabled family member a life estate and, through the
regional center, the supports needed to reside in that home for a
lifetime. The trust shall not manage any property, but shall
contract with community agencies for this purpose.
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit any state
agency to require a recipient of state services, or a family member
or guardian of the recipient to place any property into the trust.
4856.4. The Lanterman Trust trust
shall be used primarily as a permanent means of enabling the state to
offer stable family-scale housing, located in typical neighborhoods,
to persons with developmental disabilities. The Lanterman
that all of the following occur:
(a) The assets of the trust are not used to replace any
appropriations for service programs.
(b) The assets of the trust will be replenished to the maximum
extent by the collection of rents and repayment of loans.
(c) Some portion of the assets of the trust shall be invested in
ways that generate dividends to replenish the trust's assets.
4856.5. (a) With the approval of the board of trustees, the
department may utilize trust funds to carry out the intent of this
chapter, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Providing low-interest or deferred interest loans to public
benefit corporations, organized to provide housing for people with
developmental disabilities, who agree contractually to keep the real
estate for the perpetual benefit of people with developmental
disabilities or to convey the real estate to the trust when this use
ceases.
(2) Providing low-interest or deferred interest housing loans to
families caring for a developmentally disabled family member or
members at home, and to families anywhere in the state who are
implementing individual program plans using the self-determination
methods described in Section 4685.5. Housing loans to a family may
be made available only if care in the family home is the preferred
means of implementing the individual program plan. Loans to families
may be used to enable families to remodel existing homes if
necessary to accommodate the special needs of a disabled family
member, or to acquire other housing for this reason. Loans to
families shall be repaid to the Lanterman Trust
trust . Payment schedules shall be adjusted to fit the
financial capacity of the family.
(3) Subsidizing mortgages for persons with developmental
disabilities, through low-interest or no-interest loans, and enabling
persons to gain equity interest in the property.
(b) In addition to the use of Lanterman Trust
trust funds for permanent community housing, the
department may use trust funds, in amounts to be determined by, and
with the approval of, the board of trustees, to:
(1) Establish manufacturing facilities
centers for adaptive needs , in several parts of the state, to
produce adaptive equipment, customized wheelchairs, shoes and other
articles needed statewide, to meet the unique needs of individuals
with developmental disabilities. These technical centers of
excellence may be operated directly by the department, or may be
contracted to other operators, with the department's skilled
personnel providing training and quality controls.
(2) Establish medical and dental training and
service centers, in collaboration with hospitals and universities in
several regions of the state, to provide training for health care
professionals and service support for programs serving persons with
developmental disabilities.
(c) Subject to any rules and procedures as the board of trustees
may establish, the trust may also provide grants of funds, for
special purposes, using portions of the interest generated from trust
investments. The trust may respond to requests for grants from any
individual or community-based nonprofit organization, for special
purposes, including, but not limited to, startup costs for new
programs, special equipment or facilities, and assistance to
self-help organizations of persons with developmental disabilities.
Article 6. Planning, Training, and System Analysis for a
Unified System
4857. The Legislature finds and declares that as a result of the
implementation of this chapter, the department's role as a provider
of direct services will diminish and its responsibilities for
administration of a more unified system will expand. It is the
intent of the Legislature that current employees of the department
shall be assisted in every way possible to participate in the new
opportunities that will become available, and to minimize any
negative impact upon them as a result of the downsizing and closure
of state institutions developmental centers
. No later than December 31, 2002, the department shall
prepare, in collaboration with the Department of Personnel
Administration, and shall submit to the Legislature, a
comprehensive transition plan for these employees. The plan
shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
(a) Plans for the utilization of the department's employees during
the transition to a more unified system, including projections of
annual workforce changes.
(b) Plans for the reassignment of staff in the central office of
the department, from state facilities to community support and
systemwide quality assurance functions.
(c) Plans for assisting skilled state workers in transferring to
community-based service programs.
(d) Procedures to enable state workers to retain state benefits,
including participation in the Public Employees' Retirement
after their transition from employment in a developmental center.
(e) Plans for assisting employees in transferring to other state
agencies.
(f) Provisions for severance and early retirement benefits.
4857.2. (a) In order to ensure that the person-centered
individual program planning process is conducted properly
to implement the provisions of this chapter and of the Lanterman Act
(Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500), the department and
regional centers shall collaborate in training the person-centered
planning teams in the principles, values, and procedures of the
person-centered individual program planning.
(b) Regional center services coordinators, their supervisors,
resource developers, and developmental center planning team members
shall receive the appropriate training, as provided in subdivision
(a).
(c) The department shall review annually a random sample of
individual program plans and attend a random sample of planning
meetings to ensure that plans are being developed in compliance with
state law, and that people are moving from state facilities to the
community with full consideration of their desires and necessary
support services.
4857.3. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, in addition
to the system unification measures in this chapter, other systemic
changes may be required to improve efficiency and more fully achieve
the goals of the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act.
The Legislature finds a multiplicity of funding administrations and a
scattering of responsibilities among numerous agencies for
licensing, quality control, and eligibility determination. As a
result, persons with developmental disabilities face frustration and
delays in service, agencies spend excessive time on complex
administrative details, different and conflicting values create
conflicting incentives, quality control is impeded, and the
responsibility for outcomes is diluted.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
further unify the funding and administration of California's
developmental disabilities system to achieve more seamless, more
efficient, and more family-friendly services, with more consistent
good quality and better outcomes.
(c) The Secretary of the California Health and Human Services
Agency, in consultation with stakeholder groups, and the various
human service agencies within the secretary's jurisdiction, shall
prepare proposals for legislation that may be useful to further
consolidate funding and service functions within the developmental
disabilities system. Proposals for specific legislation shall be
submitted to the appropriate committees of the Legislature.
(d) The Legislature requests the Secretary of the California
Health and Human Services Agency, in consultation with the
Association of Regional Center Agencies, the department, and other
interested parties, to conduct an objective analysis of the current
functioning of the regional centers to determine whether their
locations and size are optimal, and to evaluate their responsiveness
to those they serve and the efficiency and effectiveness
of their management of an entitlement program with a fixed
secretary shall make recommendations as may be needed for changes
that would improve the functioning of this part of California's
community-based system.
|