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AB-594 California Department of Aging and Adult Services.(2011-2012)



Current Version: 04/04/11 - Amended Assembly

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AB594:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 04, 2011

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2011–2012 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 594

Introduced  by  Assembly Member Yamada

February 16, 2011

An act to add Division 8.6 (commencing with Section 9780) to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging and adult services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 594, as amended, Yamada. California Department of Aging and Adult Services.
Existing law provides various services to persons with disabilities and older adults, which are overseen by the State Department of Social Services, including the In-Home Supportive Services program, and the development of guidelines in the implementation of local adult protective services programs, to assist them in living in the community instead of being placed in a facility. Existing law also vests in the Department of Rehabilitation the responsibility and authority for various programs, including the encouragement of the planning, development, and funding of independent living centers. Under existing law, the State Department of Mental Health is responsible for the administration of programs that serve older adults and persons with disabilities, including caregiver resource centers, the Traumatic Brain Injury Program, and the Statewide Resources Consultant. Existing law also establishes various programs under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Aging.
This bill would enact the Community Care Modernization Act of 2011. The bill would establish the California Department of Adult and Aging Services in the California Health and Human Services Agency, for the purpose of maintaining individuals in their own homes, or the least restrictive homelike environments for as long as possible, by integrating services under a single agency, to establish stronger, more focused leadership for home- and community-based services for all older adults and persons with disabilities. The bill would provide for the appointment of the director of the department by the Governor, and would specify the director’s duties. This bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder committee to assist the department in coordinating with other state agencies to transfer programs to the department, as specified.
This bill would require the agency, in consultation with specified state entities, to develop a plan to transition home- and community-based programs for older adults and people with disabilities to the department, and to submit the transition plan to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2013. The bill would require the state level administration of the program and program staff for each originating department to be transferred to the California Department of Aging and Adult Services by specified dates.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Community Care Modernization Act of 2011.

SEC. 2.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) In June 1999, the United States Supreme Court, in Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring (1999) 527 U.S. 581, issued a landmark decision in disabilities rights law that requires states to develop more opportunities for individuals with disabilities to live in their communities rather than in nursing homes.
(2) California has established a number of long-term care programs that provide services and supports to individuals to enable them to avoid institutionalization and live independently in their homes.
(3) The Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Little Hoover Commission, and others have substantiated that California’s system of service delivery is dysfunctional in a number of areas due to the fragmentation of responsibility and funding for interrelated services. Multiple funding streams and varied eligibility criteria have created “silos” of services, making coordination unnecessarily costly and difficult for consumers and their caregivers to navigate.
(4) Separate funding sources and uncoordinated services for older adults and adults with disabilities have created barriers. For example, independence-minded adults with disabilities often receive long-term care services designed to support and protect the less autonomous, institutionalized older population. Instead, services need to be individualized to empower older adults and persons with disabilities to live in the community.
(5) The delivery of long-term care needs to be improved to promote efficiencies while supporting coordinated services that are appropriate to each individual’s functional needs and financial situation.
(6) An integrated system of support would better utilize state resources and provide a greater benefit to those receiving services than the current fragmented set of programs.
(7) It is critical to actively involve persons with disabilities, older adults, and the representatives they choose, in developing and implementing a system of services designed to move people to, or allow them to remain in, community-based settings.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act, that all the following shall occur:
(1) Home- and community-based services for older adults with disabilities, including all services and programs funded through the federal Older Americans Act, the Older Californians Act, the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, caregiver resource centers, the In-Home Supportive Services program, the Adult Protective Services Program, independent living centers, and adult day health care services, shall be transferred to the California Department of Aging and Adult Services, regardless of whether the program has been formally created by statute.
(2) The facility licensing and oversight authority for long-term care facilities, currently residing in the State Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services, shall be transferred to the California Department of Aging and Adult Services.

(2)

(3) The Governor shall make a final decision regarding the placement of a specific program or office that is not formally created by statute, or named in this act, in a manner that is consistent with the California Department of Aging and Adult Services, and with the overall spirit of this act.

(3)

(4) The California Department of Aging and Adult Services shall coordinate its programs and services with long-term care and supportive services programs operated by other state departments, including long-term care alternatives available through the State Department of Health Care Services.

(4)

(5) By establishing the California Department of Aging and Adult Services, it is the intent of the Legislature to capitalize on efficiencies generated by integrating services under a single agency, and to establish stronger, more focused leadership for home- and community-based services for all older adults and persons with disabilities.

SEC. 3.

 Division 8.6 (commencing with Section 9780) is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

DIVISION 8.6. AGING AND ADULT SERVICES

PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER  1. Definitions

9780.
 As used in this division, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) “Agency” means the California Health and Human Services Agency.
(b) “Department” means the California Department of Aging and Adult Services.
(c) “Director” means the Director of Aging and Adult Services.
(d) “Home- and community-based services” means programs and services designed to prevent and delay institutionalization and enable clients with disabilities to remain as independent as possible.

CHAPTER  2. General Powers of the Department

9782.
 There is hereby established in the agency the California Department of Aging and Adult Services.
(a) The mission of the department is to maintain individuals in their own homes, or the least restrictive homelike environments for as long as possible.
(b) In fulfilling its mission, the department shall have the following goals for all older adults and persons with disabilities:
(1) To structure and support programs that allow persons to live independently, with dignity and choice.
(2) To establish integrated services with the flexibility to respond effectively and efficiently to the needs of individuals, their families, and caregivers.
(3) To design service systems that are accessible to diverse populations of varying incomes.
(4) To ensure that statewide aging and adult services policy fosters local control and implementation.
(5) To include consumers in the development, monitoring, and accountability of the systems that serve them.

9783.
 (a) The department shall consist of a director, and staff as may be necessary for proper administration.
(b) The department shall maintain a central office in Sacramento.
(c) The Governor shall appoint the director, with the consent of the Senate and the Assembly.
(d) The director shall have all the powers of the head of a department pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150) of, and shall receive the salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of, Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(e) The director shall have the following duties:
(1) To be responsible for the management of the department and the achievement of its statewide goals.
(2) To assist the California Department of Aging and Adult Services stakeholder committee, the State Independent Living Council, and the California Commission on Aging in carrying out their mandated duties and responsibilities.
(f) The Secretary of California Health and Human Services shall ensure effective coordination among the departments of the agency in carrying out the requirements of this division. For this purpose, the secretary shall convene regular meetings concerning services to older adults and adults with disabilities that shall include, but not be limited to, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Mental Health, the State Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Rehabilitation, and the California Emergency Management Agency.

CHAPTER  3. Stakeholder Involvement

9786.
 (a) The department shall convene a stakeholder committee, to serve for a period of time to be determined by the department, to advise the department regarding the transfer of programs and services to the department.
(b) The stakeholder committee shall include representatives from all of the following:
(1) Independent living centers.
(2) Area agencies on aging.
(3) Adult day health care.
(4) Adult protective services.
(5) In-home supportive services.
(6) Caregiver resource centers.
(7) Consumers of home- and community-based services.

PART 2. TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION

9787.
 (a) The agency, in consultation with the California Department of Aging, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Mental Health, and the Department of Rehabilitation, shall develop a plan to transition home- and community-based programs for older adults and people with disabilities to the department. The agency shall submit the transition plan to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2013.
(b) All programs administered by the California Department of Aging, including, but not limited to, those funded by the federal Older Americans Act and the Older Californians Act, and all staff associated with these programs, shall transition to the department by July 1, 2013.
(c) The department shall coordinate with the State Department of Social Services and the stakeholder committee convened pursuant to Section 9786 to transfer the adult protective services program and the In-Home Supportive Services program to the department.
(1) The state-level administration of the adult protective services program and all associated staff shall transfer to the department by July 1, 2014.
(2) The state-level administration of the In-Home Supportive Services program and all associated staff shall transfer to the department by January 1, 2015.
(d) The department shall coordinate with the Department of Rehabilitation and the stakeholder committee to transfer the administration of the independent living centers and the Traumatic Brain Injury Program to the department. The state-level administration of the independent living centers these programs and all associated staff shall transfer of a administration fo the independent living centers to the department by January 1, 2015. The transfer shall be contingent upon the ability of the Department of Rehabilitation to transfer federal Rehabilitation Act funds for independent living centers to the department.
(e) The department shall coordinate with the State Department of Mental Health and the stakeholder committee to transfer the administration of the caregiver resource centers, the Traumatic Brain Injury Program, and the Statewide Resources Consultant to the department. The state-level administration of these programs and all associated staff shall transfer to the department by January 1, 2016.
(f) The department, in consultation with the stakeholder committee, shall develop and implement a plan to coordinate long-term care alternatives available through the State Department of Health Care Services, by ____.
(g) The requirement for the agency to submit a transition plan imposed under subdivision (a) is inoperative on January 1, 2016.