Bill Text

Bill Information


Add To My Favorites | print page

SB-1317 Developmental services: habilitation services.(2007-2008)

SHARE THIS: share this bill in Facebook share this bill in Twitter
SB1317:v97#DOCUMENT

Corrected  April 22, 2008
Amended  IN  Senate  April 15, 2008
Amended  IN  Senate  April 03, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1317

Introduced  by  Senator Steinberg, Cox
 (Coauthor(s): Senator Alquist)
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Bass, Gaines, Karnette, Niello)

February 20, 2008

An act to amend Sections 56345.1 and 56462 of the Education Code, and to amend Sections 4851, 4853, 4854.1, 4855, 4856, 4857.1, 4858, 4861, 4864, 4865, and 4867 of, and to add Section 4853.5 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to developmental services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1317, as amended, Steinberg. Developmental services: habilitation services.
Existing law provides that private nonprofit regional centers, under contract with the State Department of Developmental Services, provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities. Under existing law, a person with a developmental disability is provided with an individual program plan that sets out the services and supports that he or she should receive to promote community integration and help him or her live an independent, productive, and normal life in a stable and healthy environment. As part of the individual program plan, the regional center may refer an adult consumer to habilitation services, including work activity programs or supported employment programs, as defined.
This bill would include career opportunity programs into in the habilitation services offered through the regional centers and would permit a regional center to refer a person to a career opportunity program, at an hourly rate set by the department, as part of an individual program plan. This bill would define a career opportunity program as an accredited nonprofit agency that competitively offers prescribed goods or services that provide and that provides prescribed employment opportunities and benefits to persons with disabilities.
Existing law establishes a right of individuals with exceptional needs to receive free appropriate public education and ensures the right to special instruction and related services needed to meet their those individuals’ unique needs, in conformity with federal law. To accomplish this, existing law requires local education agencies to create individualized education programs for pupils who have disabilities. Existing law requires the individualized education programs for pupils over 16 years of age to include transition services to facilitate the movement of the pupil from school to postschool activities.
This bill would include career opportunity programs in the postschool activities focused on in the transition services plan.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 56345.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:

56345.1.
 (a) The term “transition services,” as defined in Section 1401(34) of Title 20 of the United States Code and as used in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 56345, means a coordinated set of activities for an individual with exceptional needs that does all of the following:
(1) Is designed within an results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the individual with exceptional needs to facilitate the movement of the pupil from school to postschool activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment, including supported employment or a career opportunity program, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.
(2) Is based upon the individual needs of the pupil, taking into account the strengths, preferences, and interests of the pupil.
(3) Includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other postschool adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.
(b) In accordance with Section 300.43(b) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, transition services for individuals with exceptional needs may be special education, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a designated instruction and service, if required to assist a pupil to benefit from special education.
(c) If a participating agency, other than the local educational agency, fails to provide the transition services described in the individualized education program of the pupil in accordance with Section 1414(d)(6) of Title 20 of the United States Code and paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 56345, the local educational agency shall reconvene the individualized education program team to identify alternative strategies to meet the transition service needs for the pupil set out in the program.

SEC. 2.

 Section 56462 of the Education Code is amended to read:

56462.
 The transition services shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) In-service training programs, resource materials, and handbooks that identify the following:
(1) The definition of “transition,” including the major components of an effective school-based transition program.
(2) Relevant laws and regulations.
(3) The roles of other agencies in the transition process including, but not limited to, the scope of their services, eligibility criteria, and funding.
(4) The components of effective transition planning.
(5) The role of families in the individualized transition process.
(6) Resources and model programs currently available in this state.
(b) Development of the role and responsibilities of special education in the transition process, including the following:
(1) The provision of work skills training, including those skills that are necessary in order to exhibit competence on the job.
(2) The provision of multiple employment options and facilitating job or career choice by providing a variety of vocational experiences.
(3) The collection and analysis of data on what happens to pupils once they leave the school system and enter the adult world.
(4) The coordination of the transition planning process, including development of necessary interagency agreements and procedures at both state and local levels.
(5) The provision of instructional learning strategies that will assist pupils who find learning difficult in acquiring skills that will enable them to obtain diplomas, promote a positive attitude toward secondary and postsecondary education and training, and make a successful transition to postsecondary life.
(c) The development and implementation of systematic and longitudinal vocational education curriculum including the following:
(1) Instructional strategies that will prepare pupils with severe disabilities to make a successful transition to supported employment or other habilitation services and the community.
(2) The introduction of vocational and career education curriculum in the elementary grades for those pupils who can benefit from it.
(d) Materials, resource manuals, and in-service training programs to support the active participation of families in the planning and implementation of transition-related goals and activities.
(e) The development of resources and in-service training that will support the implementation of individualized transition planning for all pupils with exceptional needs.
(f) The development of a network of model demonstration sites that illustrate a wide variety of transition models and implementation strategies.
(g) Coordination with other specialized programs that serve students who face barriers to successful transition.
(h) A research, evaluation, and dissemination program that will support the major programmatic aspects of transition services. Through a variety of competitive grants, bids, contracts, and other awards specific content areas will be developed in cooperation with a variety of field-based agencies, including local education agencies, special education local plan areas, county offices, institutions of higher education, and in-service training agencies.

SEC. 3.

 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 Work Activity Program, Career Opportunity Program, and the Supported Employment Program work activity program, career opportunity 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.
(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. A work activity program does not include a career opportunity program as defined in subdivision (t).
(f) “Certification” means certification procedures developed by the Department of Rehabilitation.
(g) “Work activity program day” means the period of time during which a Work Activity Program work activity program 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, career opportunity 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) “Career opportunity program” means a nonprofit agency accredited by CARF that is a professional business program that competitively offers goods or services to commercial or government purchases purchasers and provides all of the following for its employees with disabilities:
(1) Onsite rehabilitation services.
(2) A supported employment program.
(3) An integrated professional work environment of employees with disabilities and those without disabilities working collegially on customer contracts at the same location.
(4) Hourly wages based on the prevailing wage with no employee receiving less than the minimum wage.
(5) Equal eligibility for benefits for full-time employees with or without disabilities and where the majority of individuals with disabilities shall be full-time status. Full-time employment shall be defined as 35 hours or more per week. Part-time employees shall be entitled to proportionate benefits.
(6) The opportunity for promotion and advancement within the organization.
(7) The opportunity for employees with disabilities to participate in the primary business operations of the nonprofit in service of diversity supplier contracts for external commercial or government customers.

SEC. 4.

 Section 4853 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4853.
 (a) When a referral for habilitation services pursuant to Section 4852 has been made and if the individual is placed in a work activity program or career opportunity program, he or she shall be deemed presumptively eligible for a period not to exceed 90 days.
(b) During the period of presumptive eligibility, the work activity program or career opportunity program shall submit a work skills evaluation report to the regional center. The work skills evaluation report shall reflect the performance of the consumer in all of the following areas:
(1) Appropriate behavior to safely conduct himself or herself in a work setting.
(2) Adequate attention span to reach a productivity level in paid work.
(3) Ability to understand and act on simple instructions within a reasonable length of time.
(4) Ability to communicate basic needs and understand basic receptive language.
(5) Attendance level.
(c) During the period of presumptive eligibility, the individual program plan planning team shall, pursuant to Section 4646, utilize the work skills evaluation report to determine the appropriateness of the referral.

SEC. 5.

 Section 4853.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

4853.5.
 The department shall determine an appropriate rate for vendors providing a career opportunity program.

SEC. 6.

 Section 4854.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4854.1.
 The individual program plan planning team, shall, pursuant to Section 4646, meet, when it is necessary to review any of the following:
(a) The appropriateness of job placement.
(b) The appropriateness of the services available at the work activity program, career opportunity program, or supported employment program.
(c) The individual habilitation service plan.

SEC. 7.

 Section 4855 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4855.
 When an individual who is eligible for habilitation services under this chapter is referred to the Department of Rehabilitation for vocational rehabilitation services, including a career opportunity program or supported employment services, and is placed on a Department of Rehabilitation waiting list for vocational rehabilitation as a result of the Department of Rehabilitation’s order of selection regulations, the regional center shall authorize appropriate services for the individual pursuant to this chapter as needed until services can be provided by the vocational rehabilitation program.

SEC. 8.

 Section 4856 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4856.
 (a) The regional center shall monitor, evaluate, and audit habilitation services providers for program effectiveness, using performance criteria that include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Service quality.
(2) Protections for individuals receiving services.
(3) Compliance with applicable CARF standards.
(b) (1) The regional center may impose immediate sanctions on providers of work activity programs, career opportunity programs, and supported employment programs for noncompliance with accreditation or services standards contained in regulations adopted by the department, and for safety violations which pose a threat to consumers of habilitation services.
(2) Sanctions include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) A moratorium on new referrals.
(B) Imposition of a corrective plan as specified in regulations.
(C) Removal of consumers from a service area where dangerous conditions or abusive conditions exist.
(D) Termination of vendorization.
(c) A moratorium on new referrals may be the first formal sanction to be taken except in instances where consumers are at imminent risk of abuse or other harm. When the regional center determines a moratorium on new referrals to be the first formal sanction, a corrective action plan shall be developed. The moratorium shall be lifted only when the conditions cited are corrected per a corrective action plan.
(d) A corrective action plan is a formal sanction, that may be imposed either simultaneously with a moratorium on new referrals, or as a single sanction in circumstances that do not require a moratorium, as determined by the regional center. Noncompliance with the conditions and timelines of the corrective action plan shall result in termination of vendorization.
(e) Removal of consumers from a program shall only take place where dangerous or abusive conditions are present, or upon termination of vendorization. In instances of removal for health and safety reasons, when the corrections are made by the program, as determined by the regional center, consumers may return, at their option.
(f) Any provider sanctioned under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) may request an administrative review as specified in Section 4648.1.
(g) Any provider sanctioned under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall have a right to a formal review by the Office of Administrative Hearings under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 11370) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(h) Effective July 1, 2004, if a habilitation services provider is under sanction under former Section 19354.5, the provider shall complete the requirements of the corrective action plan or any other terms or conditions imposed upon it as part of the sanctions. At the end of the term of the corrective action plan or other compliance requirements, the services provider shall be evaluated by the regional center based upon the requirements in this section.

SEC. 9.

 Section 4857.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4857.1.
 Regional centers may purchase habilitation services only from providers who are accredited community nonprofit agencies that provide work activity services, career opportunity programs, or supported employment services, or all of these, and that have been vendored as described in Section 4861 and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. Habilitation services providers who, on July 1, 2004, are providing services to consumers shall be deemed to be an approved vendor.

SEC. 10.

 Section 4858 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4858.
 (a) Each habilitation services vendor shall, at a minimum, annually review the status of consumers participating in their program to determine whether these individuals would benefit from vocational rehabilitation services or a different type of habilitation services.
(b) If it is determined that the consumer would benefit from vocational rehabilitation services, the habilitation services vendor shall, in conjunction with the regional center and in accordance with the individual program plan process, refer the consumer to the Department of Rehabilitation.

SEC. 11.

 Section 4861 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4861.
 The regional center may vendor new work activity, career opportunity, or supported employment programs, after determining the capacity of the program to deliver effective services, and assessing the ability of the program to comply with CARF requirements.
(a) Programs that receive the regional center’s approval to provide career opportunity or supported employment services shall receive rates in accordance with Section 4860.
(b) A new work activity program shall receive the statewide average rate, as determined by the department. As soon as the new work activity program has a historical period of not less than three months that is representative of the cost per consumer, as determined by the department, the department shall set the rate in accordance with Section 4859.
(c) The regional center may purchase services from new work activity programs, career opportunity programs, and supported employment programs, even though the program in not yet accredited by CARF, if all of the following apply:
(1) The vendor can demonstrate that the program is in compliance with certification standards established by the Department of Rehabilitation, to allow a period for becoming CARF accredited.
(2) (A) The program commits, in writing, to apply for accreditation by CARF within three years of the approval to purchase services by the regional center.
(B) CARF shall accredit a program within four years after the program has been vendored.
(d) The regional center may approve or disapprove proposals submitted by new or existing vendors based on all of the following criteria to the extent that it is federally permissible:
(1) The need for a work activity, career opportunity, or supported employment program.
(2) The capacity of the vendor to deliver work activity, career opportunity, or supported employment services effectively.
(3) The ability of the vendor to comply with the requirements of this section.
(4) The ability of the vendor to achieve integrated paid work for consumers served in a career opportunity program or supported employment.

SEC. 12.

 Section 4864 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4864.
 The department shall authorize payment for absences in work activity programs, career opportunity programs, and supported employment programs that are directly consequent to a declaration of a State of Emergency by the Governor. If the department authorizes payment for absences due to a state of emergency, the vendor shall bill only for absences in excess of the average number of absences experienced by the vendor during the 12-month period prior to the month in which the disaster occurred.

SEC. 13.

 Section 4865 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4865.
 At the request of the Department of Rehabilitation, a work activity, career opportunity, or supported employment program shall release accreditation and state licensing reports and consumer special incident reports as required by law or regulations in instances of suspected abuse.

SEC. 14.

 Section 4867 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4867.
 Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to mean that work activity programs, career opportunity programs, or supported employment programs cannot serve consumers who are funded by agencies other than regional centers, including, but not limited to, the Department of Rehabilitation.

___________________


Text—Page 5.
___________________