Support AB 862

ASSEMBLYMAN SILVA INTRODUCES

REGIONAL CENTER RECORDS ACT

February 17, 2011

SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblyman Jim Silva (R - Huntington Beach) introduced

AB 862, the Regional Center Records Act. This measure will bring transparency to a major taxpayer-funded program in California. “Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent. Parents, vendors and the centers themselves will benefit from increased transparency,” Silva said.

Since the passage of the Lanterman Act in 1969, the 21 Regional Centers have been the conduit to provide services to the developmentally disabled. While they have done great things in accomplishing this mission, recent investigative reports have given cause for concern. A report by the California State Auditor has raised serious questions about how the regional centers choose and pay vendors for the services they provide as well as capital projects and administrative services. The state auditor has suggested that a more uniform, transparent process would improve the cost effectiveness of this program.

“We are proud to be the sponsor of this Act. Regional centers are vital to the community but they need to be more forthcoming with their information,” said Boyd Bradshaw, president of the ResCoalition, a coalition of residential care providers.

California appropriated over $4 billion in last year’s budget to provide for the developmentally disabled. AB 862 will require the 21 Regional Centers to make several important points of data available to the public to include fiscal and administrative information. It can be heard in its first committee as soon as 30 days from introduction.

Assemblyman Jim Silva represents the 67^th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Anaheim, Cypress, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Stanton, Sunset Beach and Westminster.

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Valentine's Day

The month of February and Valentines Day brings a celebration of love and stirs couples to rekindle feelings of romance and devotion. Not so different from young couples are aging seniors, celebrating memories of sweethearts and romance in days gone by. Sit a while with a senior couple and they will soon be telling you their romance story or listen to a widow or widower as they sing their favorite love song from their youth.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s can rob senior minds of many of these treasured memories, changing their personality and life style. Because of these and other illnesses, many seniors end up in nursing homes or care facilities where only their basic physical needs are cared for by the facility staff. To these seniors, Valentines Day becomes no different from every other day. They often find it difficult to relive memories of the past. In one care facility a sign placed lovingly over a patient’s bed reads, “I Am Somebody’s Sweetheart,” as if to say I once dreamed, lived and loved, please treat me kindly.

To see the rest of the article, go to http://www.longtermcarelink.net/article-2011-02-7.htm

Vendor Cuts - Lawsuit Update

Information from ResCoalition:

The state budget recently passed included an additional 1.25% cut to regional center vendors, retroactive to July 1, 2010.

There are now 12 plaintiff groups participating in a lawsuit against all regional centers and DDS, making this a broad based lawsuit representing most vendor types in the state. The suit addresses the retroactive cut - one which would be devastating to providers.

A second hearing is scheduled for November 23rd to make a decision. This is an extremely important case because NO PRECEDENT exists in CA for retroactive returns of money. This means there is nothing that says the state can or can't take money back after paying it. With a projected 6 years of additional deficits in CA AND the $25 billion coming up next year this could be a significant issue for years to come.

Stay tuned for updates.

CCL Response to Budget Crisis

This information came to us in several forms last week. We've had some information that the policy would change, but nothing posted on ccld.ca.gov as yet.

Applications
With very limited exceptions, application processing will cease immediately. Application specialists are being reassigned to other duties. CCL is reviewing pending applications to see if any can be processed quickly. On a case by case basis, CCL will make exceptions for immediate health and safety such as an unlicensed operator and situations involving communities where residents are already in care (change of management company, change of owner).

Appeals
Appeal processing has been put on hold, although licensees should continue to submit them. Health condition relocations will be the only exception. LPAs are being instructed to call their manager before citing a licensee if there is any doubt about a regulatory requirement in order to avoid the need for an appeal in the first place.

Orientations
No orientations will take place after October 1, 2010. Those already conducted will not expire while this suspension is in place.

Other
CCL is also suspending all internal training, limiting staff involvement in community events and meetings, and reducing phone coverage for the public. Public phone coverage is limited to 10am to 3pm. Licensee “Officer of the Day” phone time will not be reduced.

What Will CCL be Doing?
CCL's top priority is complaint investigations. Depending on the staffing level of the individual office, 5-year inspections and 30% random sample inspections will take place if staffing allows. CCL also intends to continue processing waivers and exceptions.

Audit of regional centers....

.....finds nepotism, fear of retaliation (from California Watch Blog)

A nonprofit executive awarded state funds to her sister even though the service was available at a lower cost. A chief executive breached a confidential police tipline. And workers spent $900,000 on transportation - purposely spiking the budget to ensure more money the next year.

Those were some of the findings in a Bureau of State Audits report about state oversight of regional centers, nonprofit organizations that spend about $3.4 billion annually to serve 240,000 Californians with developmental disabilities.........

.........The Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review called for the probe of the Department of Developmental Services. Committee chairman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, said the audit backed up what he heard in a prior hearing about "favoritism in contracting, a lack of information about how regional centers spend billions of public dollars per year, and the pervasive fear of retaliation among regional center staff and service providers."

For the full story, click on:

http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/audit-of-regional-centers-finds-nepotism-fear-of-retaliation-4256

Comments following the article also interesting.....

Smoking in Residential Care Facilities

One of our Adult Residential students got a copy of a ruling about smoking from a regional center employee that stated that smoking was not permitted anywhere on the grounds of the facility. It was delivered with a warning that the facility would be fined if anyone was smoking. They were having people walk to the edge of the property to smoke, fearing a citation if smokers were discovered in the previously known "designated area."

It seemed impossible to enforce. And it is - because it didn't apply to Adult Residential Facilities. The sections quoted on the ruling are for children's facilities.

As if this work isn't difficult enough having to balance the interests - often changing - of two enforcement organizations......

Please let me know if you also received this information.

Please support AB 2220

Currently, there is no policy to evaluate the governance of the monies filtered through the regional center system. The Department of Developmental Services is not equipped to monitor the individual financial aspects that may assist in ensuring the funding is being utilized effectively, efficiently, and in the best interest of those with disabilities.

Regional Centers hide under their non-profit status when asked for information that would typically be covered under the California Public Records Act and the Legislative Open Records Act, among other statutes It is the intent of AB 2220 to require the Regional Centers, private non-profit community agencies that utilize public funds to provide state mandated services to persons with disabilities, to disclose information to the public under the California Public Records Act (PRA).

Send letters of support to hcdd@pacbell.net