Bill Text: CA SB577 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Autism and other developmental disabilities: employment.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-2)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-18 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 431, Statutes of 2014. [SB577 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB577-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 577	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 15, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 9, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pavley

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Sections 4850, 4851, 4854, and 4860 of, to add
Section 4868.5 to, and to add and repeal Section 4870 of, the Welfare
and Institutions Code, relating to  autism  
developmental disabilities  .



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 577, as amended, Pavley. Autism  services: 
 and other developmental disabilities:  pilot program:
employment.
   The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes
the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with
regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with
developmental disabilities, including autism. Existing law governs
the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional
 services   centers , including work
activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for
supported employment services provided to consumers receiving
individualized services.
   This bill would require  the State Department of
Developmental Services to establish a pilot program for young adults
with autism to help them find pathways to financial independence
through work. The bill would require the pilot program to develop and
implement a new model for providing employment services to autistic
individuals and to create financial incentives for employment service
providers, as specified, among other requirements. The bill would
require  a job exploration and discovery plan, as specified,
to be developed if job exploration and discovery services are
determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment
outcome. The bill would establish an hourly rate for job exploration
and discovery services of $40 per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per
calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the
plan. 
   This bill would require the State Department of Developmental
Services to establish a pilot program for young adults with autism
and other developmental disabilities to help them find pathways to
financial independence through work. The bill would require the pilot
program to develop and implement a new model for providing
employment services to these individuals and to create financial
incentives for employment service providers, as specified, among
other requirements. 
   The bill would also establish,  only  until
 January 1, 2019   July 1, 2018  , a pilot
program operative in specified regional  catchment areas
  centers  , pursuant to which the State Department
of Developmental Services would be authorized to allocate moneys for
the support of programs provided by the participating regional
 catchment areas   centers  to promote the
employment of  developmentally disabled  persons
 with aut   ism and developmental  
disabilities  . The bill would require the State Department of
Developmental Services and the Department of Finance to establish, on
or before July 1, 2014, the Employment Growth Fund for these
purposes, as specified. The fund would consist of moneys appropriated
by the Legislature from cost savings resulting from the reduced
amount of support payments made to  developmentally disabled
 persons  with autism and developmental disabilities
 who earn wages from gainful employment attained as a result of
their participation in the pilot  project  
program  , as specified. The bill would impose specified duties
on the State Department of Developmental Services relating to the
pilot program, including preparing an annual report and designing and
implementing an evaluation of the pilot program, as specified.
   The bill would also set forth related legislative findings and
declarations.
   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.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following: 
   (a) Individuals with developmental disabilities have to struggle
to find gainful employment. Unemployment amongst the developmentally
disabled population is approximately 80 percent.  
   (b) Within the developmentally disabled community, autism is the
fastest growing population, making up approximately 50 percent of the
annual new caseload of regional centers in some parts of the state.
 
   (a) 
    (c)  One in three adults with autism do not have paid
work experience or a college or technical education seven years after
leaving the K-12 school system. 
   (b) 
    (d)  In order to increase the self-sufficiency of young
adults with autism  and other developmental disabilities  ,
including increased earning capacity and reduced government benefit
support, it is important that the state implement a program to
provide individualized skills assessment, social cue training, and
specific support to ensure their academic and employment success.

   (c) 
    (e)  The Governor and the Legislature must address the
growing need for new models of assessment, career training, and
expanding employment opportunities and support options for young
adults with autism  and other developmental disabilities 
between 18 and 30 years of age. If this population is left without
purposefully designed pathways into employment, these young adults
will remain at high risk of public dependency throughout the course
of their lives.
  SEC. 2.  Section 4850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   4850.  (a) The Legislature reaffirms its intent that habilitation
services for adults with developmental disabilities should be planned
and provided as a part of a continuum and that habilitation services
should be available to enable persons with developmental
disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available
to nondisabled people of the same age.
   (b) The Legislature further intends that habilitation services
shall be provided to adults with developmental disabilities as
specified in this chapter in order to guarantee the rights stated in
Section 4502.
   (c) The Legislature further intends that in order to increase
effectiveness and opportunity to gain meaningful employment
opportunities, habilitation services shall also provide job
exploration and discovery services to enhance and promote jobs
skills, develop social skills necessary for successful employment,
and provide targeted outreach to employers for individuals with
developmental disabilities.
  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 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.
   (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 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 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) "Job exploration and discovery" means (1) services provided to
enhance employment readiness, (2) social skill development services
necessary to obtain and maintain employment and to secure and support
participation in internship and volunteer opportunities, (3)
services to access and participate in postsecondary education or
career technical education, (4) services to develop resume and
interview skills, and (5) services to conduct targeted employer
outreach to secure employment.
  SEC. 4.  Section 4854 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   4854.  (a) In developing the individual habilitation service plan
pursuant to Section 4853, the habilitation service provider shall
develop specific and measurable objectives to determine whether the
consumer demonstrates ability to reach or maintain individual
employment goals in all of the following areas:
   (1) Participation in paid work for a specified period of time.
   (2) Obtaining or sustaining a specified productivity rate.
   (3) Obtaining or sustaining a specified attendance level.
   (4) Demonstration of appropriate behavior for a work setting.
   (b) If job exploration and discovery services are determined to be
a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome, a job
exploration and discovery plan shall be developed.
  SEC. 5.  Section 4860 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   4860.  (a) (1) The hourly rate for supported employment services
provided to consumers receiving individualized services shall be
thirty dollars and eighty-two cents ($30.82).
   (2) Job coach hours spent in travel to consumer worksites may be
reimbursable for individualized services only when the job coach
travels from the vendor's headquarters to the consumer's worksite or
from one consumer's worksite to another, and only when the travel is
one way.
   (b) The hourly rate for group services shall be thirty dollars and
eighty-two cents ($30.82), regardless of the number of consumers
served in the group. Consumers in a group shall be scheduled to start
and end work at the same time, unless an exception that takes into
consideration the consumer's compensated work schedule is approved in
advance by the regional center. The department, in consultation with
stakeholders, shall adopt regulations to define the appropriate
grounds for granting these exceptions. When the number of consumers
in a supported employment placement group drops to fewer than the
minimum required in subdivision (r) of Section 4851, the regional
center may terminate funding for the group services in that group,
unless, within 90 days, the program provider adds one or more
regional centers, or Department of Rehabilitation-funded supported
employment consumers to the group.
   (c) Job coaching hours for group services shall be allocated on a
prorated basis between a regional center and the Department of
Rehabilitation when regional center and Department of Rehabilitation
consumers are served in the same group.
   (d) When Section 4855 applies, fees shall be authorized for the
following:
   (1) A three-hundred-sixty-dollar ($360) fee shall be paid to the
program provider upon intake of a consumer into a supported
employment program. No fee shall be paid if that consumer completed a
supported employment intake process with that same supported
employment program within the previous 12 months.
   (2) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid upon
placement of a consumer in an integrated job, except that no fee
shall be paid if that consumer is placed with another consumer or
consumers assigned to the same job coach during the same hours of
employment.
   (3) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid after a
90-day retention of a consumer in a job, except that no fee shall be
paid if that consumer has been placed with another consumer or
consumers, assigned to the same job coach during the same hours of
employment.
   (e) The hourly rate for job exploration and discovery services
shall be forty dollars ($40) per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per
calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the job
exploration and discovery plan as developed pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 4854.
   (f) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
4648, the regional center shall pay the supported employment program
rates established by this section.
  SEC. 6.  Section 4868.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   4868.5.  (a) The State Department of Developmental Services shall
establish a pilot program for young adults with autism  and other
developmental disabilities  to help them find pathways to
financial independence through work. The program shall be developed
and implemented to assist  those  individuals  with
autism  to obtain integrated employment outcomes that result
in sufficient wages and benefits in order to decrease, over time,
their dependency on public financial support.
   (b) The pilot program described in subdivision (a) shall do all of
the following:
   (1) Develop and implement a new model for providing employment
services to autistic individuals  and individuals with other
developmental disabilities  or modify an existing model for
providing those services.
   (2) Identify existing support services that may be modified or
combined with supplemental services to provide skills assessment,
training, and transition services.
   (3) Utilize available federal and state incentive programs.
   (4) Create financial incentives for employment service providers
who assist the individuals served by the pilot program to become
successfully employed in jobs that pay wages that equal or exceed the
Social Security Administration's substantial gainful activity level
or result in the individual obtaining employer-based health benefits.

   (5) Develop and implement a protocol for collecting and evaluating
data regarding the outcomes of autistic individuals  and
individuals with other development   al disabilities 
who participate in the pilot program.
  SEC. 7.  Section 4870 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   4870.  (a) There is hereby established a pilot program in the
following regional  catchment areas:   centers:
 Golden Gate Regional Center, East Bay Regional Center, Alta
California Regional Center, Tri-Counties Regional Center,  Orange
County Regional Center,  and San Diego Regional Center.
 The   If additional regional   centers
express interest in participating in the pilot program pursuant to
this section, the department may approve up to two additional
regional centers. 
    (b)     The  pilot program shall
include all of the following:
   (1) The State Department of Developmental Services and the
Department of Finance shall establish, on or before July 1, 2014, the
Employment Growth Fund for purposes of the pilot project. The fund
shall consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes
of this section from cost savings resulting from the reduced amount
of support payments made to  developmentally disabled
 persons  with autism and other developmental
disabilities  who earn wages from gainful employment attained as
a result of their participation in the pilot  project
  program  , as follows:
   (A) The sum of two hundred dollars ($200) shall be allocated to
the fund  from funds payable to the State Department of Health
Care Services pursuant to the Medi-Cal program to the extent
authorized by federal law  for each  Medi-Cal eligible 
consumer of regional center services for each month that he or she
is enrolled in an employer-paid health benefit plan.
   (B) The sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be allocated to
the fund  from the Department of Rehabilitation,  for each
consumer of regional center services who earns a monthly wage that
exceeds the substantial gainful activity level, as established by the
federal Social Security Administration, for at least nine
consecutive months  if the Department of Rehabilitation has
received cost reimbursement in that amount from the federal
government pursuant to the federal Ticket to Work program  .
This sum shall be allocated on a one-time basis for each consumer who
meets that criteria.
   (C) The total amount allocated pursuant to paragraphs (A) and (B)
shall be deposited into the fund on a quarterly basis.
   (2) Each participating regional  catchment area 
 center  shall submit the following information to the State
Department of Developmental Services:
   (A) Information regarding each consumer who receives Medi-Cal
benefits and is subsequently enrolled in an employer-paid health
benefit plan.
   (B) Information regarding each consumer who earns a monthly wage
that exceeds the substantial gainful activity level, as established
by the federal Social Security Administration, for at least nine
consecutive months.
   (3) On and after July 1, 2015 the State Department of
Developmental Services  may   shall 
allocate funds from the Employment Growth Fund  for the
support of programs provided by the participating regional catchment
areas to promote the habilitation of developmentally disabled persons
  to supported employment providers who assist
consumers to attain either of the thresholds described in
subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1)  .
   (4) The State Department of Developmental Services shall do all of
the following:
    (A)  Biannually   Annually  determine
the  average  cost of providing  habilitative
  adult developmental center  services to 
developmentally disabled  persons  who receive
services from   with developmental disabilities in 
the  participating  regional  catchment
areas   centers participating in the pilot program 
and compare that  average  cost to the  statewide
average   actual cost  of providing  those
  supported employment  services  to consumers
in the pilot program. The department, once it has determined the
difference between those costs, shall allocate to the Employment
Growth Fund 50 percent of the savings if the average cost of adult
developmental center services is higher than the actual costs of the
supported employment services provided to any consumer who meets
either threshold described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph
(1)  .
   (B) Prepare an annual report regarding the number of 
developmentally disabled  persons  with developmental
disabilities  who receive  habilitative 
services from the participating regional  catchment areas,
and estimating the cost savings to the state resulting as a result of
the program, and submit the report to the Legislature  
centers as a result of the pilot program and estimated total cost
savings to the state across departments as a result of the program
 .
   (C) Design and implement an evaluation of the pilot program. If
the pilot  project   program  results in a
 10%   10 percent  or greater average
annual increase in the number of individuals who receive habilitative
services through the pilot  project   program
 being placed in supported employment, the department shall
submit a recommendation to the Legislature that the program be
expanded statewide. 
   (b) 
    (c)  This section shall become inoperative on July 1,
2018, and, as of January 1, 2019, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2019,
deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.