CHAPTER 9. Budgetary Process and Financial Provisions [4775 - 4792]
( Chapter 9 added by Stats. 1977, Ch. 1252. )
The Legislature finds that the method of appropriating funds for numerous programs for the developmentally disabled affects the availability and distribution of services and must be related to statewide planning. Therefore, the process for determining levels of funding of programs must involve consideration of the state plan established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 4561) of this division and the participation of citizens who may be directly affected by funding decisions.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 409, Sec. 57. (AB 1595) Effective January 1, 2015.)
On or before August 1 of each year, each regional center shall submit to the department and the state council a program budget plan for the subsequent budget year. The budget plan shall include all of the following:
(a) An estimate of all developmentally disabled persons to be served by the regional center.
(b) An estimate of services to be provided by the regional center.
(c) An estimate of cost, by type of service.
(d) Estimated sources and amounts of all revenue, including funds which are not administered by regional centers.
(e) A detailed report of the resources required to implement Section 4509.
(Amended by Stats. 1979, Ch. 1140.)
(a) Regional centers shall not be subject to any provision of law, regulation, or policy required of state agencies pertaining to the planning and acquisition of information technology, including personal computers, local area networks, information technology consultation, and software.
(b) The State Department of Developmental Services and the Association of Regional Center Agencies shall jointly develop guidelines for use by regional centers in the expenditure of funds for those information system activities, including consultation and software development, involving interface with the data bases of the State Department of Developmental Services, including the Uniform Fiscal System.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 197, Sec. 17. Effective July 22, 1996.)
On or before September 1 of each year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall submit to the state council:
(a) An estimate of all developmentally disabled persons to be served throughout the state.
(b) Estimated total cost, by service or educational category.
(c) Estimated sources of revenue.
(Added by Stats. 1977, Ch. 1252.)
To the extent feasible, all funds appropriated for developmental disabilities programs under this part shall be allocated to those programs by August 1 of each year.
(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 713, Sec. 38. Effective September 15, 1992.)
When appropriated by the Legislature, the department may receive and expend all funds made available by the federal government, the state, its political subdivisions, and other sources, and, within the limitation of the funds made available, shall act as an agent for the transmittal of the funds for services through the regional centers. The department may use any funds received under Article 5 (commencing with Section 123800) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code for the purposes of this division.
(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 463. Effective September 29, 1996.)
The State Department of Developmental Services is responsible for the processing, audit, and payment of funds made available to regional centers under this division. The department shall establish procedures for hearing objections to audit findings and exceptions by regional centers.
(Added by Stats. 1979, Ch. 1142.)
The department may accept and expend grants, gifts, and legacies of money and, with the consent of the Department of Finance, may accept, manage, and expend grants, gifts and legacies of other property, in furtherance of the purposes of this division.
The secretary may enter into agreements with any person, agency, corporation, foundation, or other legal entity to carry out the purposes of this division.
(Added by Stats. 1977, Ch. 1252.)
(a) For the 2006–07 fiscal year only, a regional center may not expend any purchase of service funds for the startup of any new program unless one of the following criteria is met:
(1) The expenditure is necessary to protect the consumer’s health or safety or because of other extraordinary circumstances.
(2) The program to be developed promotes and provides integrated supported work options for individuals or groups of no more than three consumers.
(3) The program to be developed promotes and provides integrated social, civic, volunteer, or recreational activities.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a regional center may approve grants for the 2006–07 fiscal year only to current providers to engage in new or expanded employment activities that result in greater integration, conversion from sheltered to supported work environments, self-employment, and increased consumer participation in the federal Ticket to Work program.
(c) Startup contracts for programs funded under this section shall be outcome-based.
(d) The department shall develop criteria by which regional centers shall approve grants, and shall provide prior written authorization for the expenditures under this section.
(e) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) The purchase of services funds allocated as part of the department’s community placement plan process.
(2) Expenditures for the startup of new programs made pursuant to a contract entered into before July 1, 2002.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 188, Sec. 29. Effective August 24, 2007.)
(a) A regional center shall not expend any purchase of service funds for the startup of any new program unless the expenditure is necessary to protect the consumer’s health or safety or because of extraordinary circumstances, and the department has granted prior written authorization for the expenditures.
(b) This section does not apply to the purchase of services funds allocated as part of the department’s community placement plan process.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, 3rd Ex. Sess., Ch. 3, Sec. 11. Effective February 16, 2008.)
(a) The department shall assess a monthly fee to parents of children under 18 years of age who are receiving 24-hour out-of-home care services through a regional center or as a resident of a state hospital when the family’s gross income is above 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
(b) The monthly parental fees and credits established pursuant to this section shall be exempt from Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(c) A monthly parental fee described in this section shall be assessed beginning 60 days from the date of the child’s
placement in 24-hour out-of-home care.
(d) For the purpose of assessing the fee, parents shall provide income documentation to the department within 30 days of the date the department requested the documentation. Income documentation shall include a copy of a parent’s most recent federal tax return or a copy of each parent’s most recent paystub or employer-provided earnings statement, issued within 60 days of the date the department requested the documentation. A self-employed parent shall document his or her income by providing a copy of his or her most recent federal tax return. A parent without income documentation shall report and certify his or her income on a form provided by the department.
(e) (1) The monthly parental fee for parents who timely
submit income documentation or from whom the department does not request income documentation shall be as follows:
(A) Parents who have a family income of 201 percent to 300 percent, inclusive, of the current federal poverty level shall be assessed a monthly fee of 3 percent of their annual gross income, divided by 12.
(B) Parents who have a family income of 301 percent to 400 percent, inclusive, of the current federal poverty level shall be assessed a monthly fee of 4 percent of their annual gross income, divided by 12.
(C) Parents who have a family income of 401 percent to 500 percent, inclusive, of the current federal poverty level shall be assessed a monthly fee of 5 percent of their annual gross income, divided
by 12.
(D) Parents who have a family income of 501 percent or more of the current federal poverty level shall be assessed a monthly fee of 6 percent of their annual gross income, divided by 12.
(2) The monthly parental fee for parents who fail to provide income documentation to the department within 30 days of the date the department requested the documentation shall be equivalent to the maximum monthly cost of caring for a child, as determined by the most recent data available from the United States Department of Agriculture’s survey on the cost of raising a child in the west region. However, if parents whose monthly parental fee is calculated pursuant to this paragraph later provide the required income documentation, their monthly parental fee shall be recalculated pursuant to
paragraph (1) and retroactively adjusted based on the income information provided.
(3) A monthly parental fee assessed pursuant to this section shall not exceed the maximum monthly cost of caring for a child, as determined by the most recent data available from the United States Department of Agriculture’s survey on the cost of raising a child in the west region, or the cost of the services provided, whichever is less.
(4) A monthly parental fee assessed pursuant to this section shall be recalculated every 12 months, on the date of the original fee assessment, and within 60 days of the date a parent notifies the department of a change in family income or family size and provides updated income documentation, as described in subdivision (d).
(5) Parents of children placed in 24-hour out-of-home care prior to July 1, 2016, shall have their initial monthly parental fee calculated, pursuant to the provisions of this section, at the time of their annual fee recalculation, or within 60
days of a parental request for review by the department and receipt of the family’s completed family financial statement.
(6) The department may grant a temporary waiver from paying the monthly parental fee for parents who substantiate, with receipts, an unavoidable and uninsured catastrophic loss with direct economic impact on the family or significant unreimbursed medical costs associated with care for a child who is a regional center consumer.
(f) Parents who remove their child from 24-hour out-of-home care for a home visit for six or more consecutive hours during a 24-hour period
shall be entitled to a credit equal to one day of the monthly parental fee. A credit shall be calculated by multiplying the parents’ monthly parental fee by 12 and dividing that number by the number of days in the year. In order to receive a credit pursuant to this subdivision, parents shall submit a request to the department that is postmarked no later than 60 days after the day for which the credit was earned. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a denial of the credit by the department.
(g) All fees collected shall be remitted to the State Treasury to be deposited into the Program Development Fund established in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 4670) to provide resources needed to initiate new programs, consistent with approved priorities for the program development in the state plan, or to be used by the department to
offset General Fund costs.
(h) Parents may appeal a determination of the amount of a monthly parental fee or the denial or amount of a credit requested pursuant to subdivision (f) by submitting a written appeal request to the director within 30 days of the date of the monthly parental fee confirmation letter or credit confirmation or denial letter. An appeal pursuant to this subdivision may consider only disputes concerning the family income used to set the monthly parental fee and the denial or amount of credit. The director, or his or her designee shall, within 30 days after receipt of the appeal, review the assessed monthly parental fee or credit denial or amount for accuracy and provide written notice of the decision to the appellant. The director or his or her designee shall, when deciding an appeal of a monthly parental fee, consider
the income documentation and the calculation of the monthly parental fee described in subdivision (e). All decisions regarding monthly parental fee appeals shall be retroactive to the date the appealed monthly parental fee was assessed.
(i) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.
(Repealed (in Sec. 3) and added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 500, Sec. 4. (AB 564) Effective January 1, 2016. Section operative July 1, 2016, by its own provisions.)
The director shall develop, establish, and maintain an equitable system of rates of state payment for care and services purchased by the department from community care facilities. Such rate system shall be flexible and reflect the differing costs associated with the differing types and levels of care and services provided.
(Added by Stats. 1980, Ch. 1285, Sec. 17.)
(a) The department shall, in developing the annual budget for regional center-funded services and supports for residents of developmental centers who are projected to move into the community in the budget year, estimate the costs of these services and supports. Budgeted funding shall be allocated to each regional center based on each regional center’s share of the projected placements to be made within the budget year.
(b) When a resident of a developmental center moves into a community placement outside of their regional catchment area, the department shall transfer from the regional center an appropriate amount of the funding allocated for that consumer to the regional center that will provide services.
(c) A regional center able to exceed its projected placements within the fiscal year shall be allocated additional funding for that purpose in that fiscal year, if sufficient funding is available, and to the extent that additional funding is necessary to make those placements.
(d) If the department determines that a regional center will not make all of the projected placements during the fiscal year for which it has received funding, those funds shall be made available to regional centers who have exceeded their projected placements, to the extent that additional funding is necessary to make those placements.
(e) With the approval of the Department of Finance, savings that result from population reductions in the developmental centers may be transferred to regional centers for the purpose of providing services and supports to residents of developmental centers who have moved into a community placement pursuant to their individual program plan.
(f) This section shall not expand or limit the entitlement to services for a person with developmental disabilities set forth in this division.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 513, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.)
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide an incentive for regional centers to select out-of-home placements that are most appropriate for each person with a developmental disability requiring out-of-home care and to provide a disincentive for inappropriate placement in or delayed discharge from state hospitals.
(b) By March 1, 1982, the Health and Welfare Agency shall submit to the Legislature a detailed implementation plan for a pilot project involving four regional centers. These regional centers shall receive allocations of funds equivalent to the cost of state hospital care for the clients of the individual regional center from which they shall purchase services from state hospitals or other providers.
(c) Funds so allocated shall cover costs of care of all clients of the pilot project regional centers in state hospitals and, in addition, shall be used to pay costs of (1) community care, including but not limited to, out-of-home care for clients currently residing in state hospitals who have been deemed more appropriately served in the community, and (2) out-of-home costs for persons placed after receipt of the allocation.
(d) Regional centers shall be selected on the basis of their willingness to participate in the project, their demonstrated ability to provide necessary community care resources, and their relative standing in the provision of high quality programmatic and administrative services in accordance with the systems evaluation package review of regional centers by the State Department of Developmental Services. In order to ensure the most efficient use of these provisions, one of the four selected regional centers shall have the highest ratio of nonstate hospital out-of-home residential placements in its total active caseload.
(Added by Stats. 1981, Ch. 821, Sec. 1.)
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, from July 1, 2010, until June 30, 2013, regional centers may temporarily modify personnel requirements, functions, or qualifications, or staff training requirements for providers, except for licensed or certified residential providers, whose payments are reduced by 1.25 percent pursuant to the amendments to Section 10 of Chapter 13 of the Third Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, as amended by the act amending this section.
(b) A temporary modification pursuant to subdivision (a), effective during any agreed upon period of time from July 1, 2010, until June 30, 2013, may only be approved when the regional center determines that the change will not do
any of the following:
(1) Adversely affect the health and safety of a consumer receiving services or supports from the provider.
(2) Result in a consumer receiving services in a more restrictive environment.
(3) Negatively impact the availability of federal financial participation.
(4) Violate any state licensing or labor laws or other provisions of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations not eligible for modification pursuant to this section.
(c) A temporary modification pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be described in a written services contract between the regional center purchasing the services and the provider, and a copy of the written services contract and any related
documentation shall be retained by the provider and the regional center purchasing the services from the provider.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, the department shall suspend, from July 1, 2010, until June 30, 2013, the requirements described in Sections 56732 and 56800 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations requiring community-based day programs and in-home respite agencies to conduct annual reviews and to submit written reports to vendoring regional centers, user regional centers, and the department.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, from July 1, 2010, until June 30, 2013, a residential service provider, vendored by a regional center and whose payment is reduced by 1.25 percent pursuant to the amendments to Section 10 of Chapter 13 of the Third Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, as amended by the
act amending this section, shall not be required to complete quarterly and semiannual progress reports required in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 56026 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations. During program review, the provider shall inform the regional center case manager of the consumer’s progress and any barrier to the implementation of the individual program plan for each consumer residing in the residence.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 25, Sec. 16. (AB 1472) Effective June 27, 2012.)
(a) This section of law shall only be operative if subdivision (b) of Section 3.94 of the Budget Act of 2011 is operative. It is the intent of the Legislature for the department to identify up to one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in General Fund savings from within the overall developmental services system, including any savings or reductions within state administrative support, operation of the developmental centers, and operation of the regional centers, including administration and the purchase of services where applicable if subdivision (b) of Section 3.94 of the Budget Act of 2011 is operative. A variety of strategies, including, but not limited to, savings attributable to caseload adjustments, changes in expenditure trends, unexpended contract funds, or
other administrative savings or restructuring can be applied to this reduction with the intent of keeping reductions as far away as feasible from consumer’s direct needs, services, and supports, including health, safety, and quality of life.
(b) The department may utilize input from workgroups comprised of consumers and family members, consumer-focused advocacy groups, service provider representatives, regional center representatives, developmental center representatives, other stakeholders, and staff of the Legislature, to develop General Fund savings proposals as necessary.
(c) If subdivision (b) of Section 3.94 of the Budget Act of 2011 is operative, and the department is directed to identify up to one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in General Fund savings from within the developmental services system, any savings or reductions identified shall be reported to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee within 10 days of the reduction as directed within Section 3.94 of the Budget Act of 2011.
(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 34, Sec. 1. (SB 73) Effective June 30, 2011. Section became operative on December 13, 2011, when condition in subd. (a) was satisfied.)