Bill Text: CA AB138 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Elder Economic Planning Act of 2011.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 668, Statutes of 2011. [AB138 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB138-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 138 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 668
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 2011
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 9, 2011
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2011
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 6, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 30, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Hill and Bonnie Lowenthal)
(Coauthors: Senators Hancock and Liu)
JANUARY 13, 2011
An act to amend Sections 9100 and 9400 of, and to add Section 9009
to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 138, Beall. Elder Economic Planning Act of 2011.
The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act creates the California
Department of Aging, with prescribed duties, including the
development of the state plan on aging.
This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, the
department to report data from the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index (Elder Index), as defined, for each service area included in
the state plan and use the index as a reference when making decisions
about allocating resources.
The act also establishes area agencies on aging with specified
duties, including creation of a plan for the agencies that considers
available data and population trends, assesses the need for services,
identifies sources of funding for services, and develops and
implements a plan for the delivery of services based on the need.
This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, that the
plan utilize the Elder Index as a reference when making decisions
about allocating resources to specify the costs of meeting basic
needs for elders in each planning and service area.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Elder
Economic Planning Act of 2011.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature that the California
Department of Aging and the area agencies on aging utilize the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index, when available, as developed and
updated by the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for
Health Policy Research, as a planning tool in the development of
local area plans and as a guide in allocating existing resources that
support senior services in their communities.
SEC. 3. Section 9009 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
9009. (a) "Elder Economic Security Standard Index" means an
index, available on the Internet, that quantifies the costs in the
private market for meeting the basic needs of elders, including, but
not limited to, the costs of essential household items, food, health
care, shelter, transportation, and utilities.
(b) The Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated
biennially by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for
Health Policy Research, using publicly available data sources on the
costs to live in each county of the state.
SEC. 4. Section 9100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9100. (a) There is in the California Health and Human Services
Agency, the California Department of Aging.
(b) The department's mission shall be to provide leadership to the
area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and
community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes
or least restrictive homelike environments.
(c) (1) In fulfilling its mission, the department shall develop
minimum standards for service delivery to ensure that its programs
meet consumer needs, operate in a cost-effective manner, and preserve
the independence and dignity of aging Californians. In accomplishing
its mission, the department shall consider available data and
population trends in developing programs and policies, collaborate
with area agencies on aging, the commission, and other state and
local agencies, and consider the views of advocates, consumers and
their families, and service providers.
(2) The department shall report the Elder Economic Security
Standard Index data for each service area in its state plan and use
it as a reference when making decisions about allocating its existing
resources, but only if the Elder Economic Security Standard Index is
updated and made available to the department, and if the available
public data used to calculate each Elder Economic Security Standard
Index data element is calculated and updated for each California
county and made available to the department in a format that displays
each county's specific data.
(d) The minimum standards for the department programs shall ensure
that the system meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Have the flexibility to respond to the needs of individuals
and their families and caregivers.
(2) Provide for consumer choice and self-determination.
(3) Enable consumers to be involved in designing and monitoring
the system.
(4) Be equally accessible to diverse populations regardless of
income, consistent with state and federal law.
(5) Have consistent statewide policy, with local control and
implementation.
(6) Include preventive services and home- and community-based
support.
(7) Have cost containment and fiscal incentives consistent with
the delivery of appropriate services at the appropriate level.
SEC. 5. Section 9400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9400. (a) The Legislature hereby declares and recognizes the area
agencies on aging to be the local units on aging in California that
are supported from an array of sources, including federal funding
largely through the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3001
et seq.), state and local governmental assistance, the private
sector, and individual contributions for services.
(b) Area agencies on aging shall operate in compliance with the
Older Americans Act and applicable regulations.
(c) Each area agency on aging shall maintain a professional staff
that is supplemented by volunteers, governed by a board of directors
or elected officials, and whose activities are reviewed by an
advisory council consisting primarily of older individuals from the
community.
(d) (1) Each area agency on aging shall create a plan that
considers available data and population trends, assesses the needs
for services provided under this division reflective of the community
needs, identifies sources for funding those services, and develops
and implements a plan for delivery of those services based on those
needs. Each plan shall include developing area home- and
community-based systems of care that maintain individuals in their
own homes or least restrictive environment, providing better access
to these services through information and referral, outreach, and
transportation, and advocating for the elderly on local, state, and
national levels.
(2) Each plan shall use the Elder Economic Security Standard Index
as a reference when making decisions about allocating existing
resources to specify the costs in the private market of meeting the
basic needs of elders in each planning and service area. This
paragraph shall be implemented only if the Elder Economic Security
Standard Index is updated and made available to the area agencies on
aging, and if the available public data used to calculate each Elder
Economic Security Standard Index data element is calculated and
updated using county level information specific to each California
county and made available to the area agencies on aging in a format
that displays each county's specific data.
(e) Area agencies on aging shall function as the community link at
the local level for development of home- and community-based
services provided under the department's programs.
(f) The area agencies on aging shall implement subdivision (b) of
Section 9100 at the local level, with particular emphasis on
coordinating with the local systems to enable individuals to live out
their lives with maximum independence and dignity in their own homes
and communities through the development of comprehensive and
coordinated systems of home- and community-based care. This division
shall not preclude local determination and designation of service
coordinators other than area agencies on aging, for development and
implementation of the long-term care integration pilot projects set
forth in Article 4.05 (commencing with Section 14139.05) of Chapter 7
of Part 3 of Division 9.
(g) In fulfilling their mission, area agencies on aging shall
build upon the resources and the commitment unique to each community
and shall be guided by a 10-point description of a community-based
system that shall do all of the following:
(1) Have a visible focal point of contact where anyone can go or
call for help, information, or referral on any aging issue.
(2) Provide a range of service options.
(3) Ensure that these options are readily accessible to all older
individuals, whether independent, semi-independent, or totally
dependent, no matter what their income.
(4) Include a commitment of public, private, and voluntary
resources committed to supporting the system.
(5) Involve collaborative decisionmaking among public, private,
voluntary, religious, and fraternal organizations, as well as older
individuals and consumers in the community.
(6) Offer special help or targeted resources for the most
vulnerable older individuals, those in danger of losing their
independence.
(7) Provide effective referral from agency to agency to ensure
that information or assistance is received, regardless of how or
where contact is made in the community.
(8) Evidence sufficient flexibility to respond with appropriate
individualized assistance, especially for the vulnerable older
individuals.
(9) Have a unique character that is tailored to the specific
nature of the community.
(10) Be directed by leaders in the community who have the respect,
capacity, and authority necessary to convene all interested persons
to assess needs, design solutions, track overall success, stimulate
change, and plan community responses for the present and for the
future.
SEC. 6. This act shall not be construed to advocate for or mandate
changes in the current funding formulas to area agencies on aging
made pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b)
of Section 9112 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 7. This act shall not be construed, based on the use of the
Elder Economic Security Standard Index, to affect means-tested
programs.
