Developmental services: regional centers: culturally and linguistically competent services.

(1) The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer, which include services and supports that are directed toward the achievement and maintenance of an independent, productive, and normal life for the consumer such as daily living skills training, are contained in an individual program plan or individualized family service plan developed in accordance with prescribed requirements. This bill would require regional centers to provide independent living skills services to an adult consumer, consistent with a consumer's individual program plan, that provide the consumer with functional skills training that enables him or her to acquire or maintain skills to live independently in his or her own home, or to achieve greater independence while living in the home of a parent, family member, or other person. (2) Existing law requires that contracts entered into with regional centers include annual performance objectives, including annual performance objectives that are specific, measurable, and designed to, among other things, develop services and supports identified as necessary to meet identified needs. Existing law also requires that each contract with a regional center specify steps to be taken to ensure contract compliance, and, if a regional center is placed on probation pursuant to these steps, requires the department to provide the appropriate area board with a copy of the correction plan, timeline, and any other action taken by the department. This bill would require that annual performance objectives be designed to, among other things, develop services and supports identified as necessary to meet identified needs, which includes culturally and linguistically appropriate services and supports. The bill would require that, if a regional center is placed on probation, the department also provide a copy of the correction plan, timeline, and any other action taken by the department to a specified clients' rights advocacy contractor. (3) Existing law requires the department and regional centers to annually collaborate to compile specified data relating to purchase of service authorization, utilization, and expenditure by each regional center and requires that data to include the number and percentage of individuals, categorized by age, race or ethnicity, and disability, who have been determined to be eligible for regional center services, but who are not receiving purchase of service funds. Existing law requires each regional center and the department to annually post this information on their respective Internet Web sites, as prescribed, and requires each regional center to hold annual stakeholder meetings regarding the data. This bill would additionally require the data to include, and be categorized by, residence type and subcategorized by age, race or ethnicity, and primary language. The bill would also require the department and each regional center to maintain all preceding years' data on its Internet Web site. The bill would require that regional centers hold the annual stakeholder meetings regarding the data separately from any meetings of its board of directors, schedule the meetings at times and locations designed to result in a high turnout by the public and underserved communities, and, in holding the meetings, consider the language needs of the community. The bill would require the regional centers to provide participants of these meetings with the data and associated information and to conduct a discussion of the data and associated information in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for that community, as specified. This bill would also require each regional center to annually report to the department specified information regarding its implementation of those provisions. The bill would require the reports to be posted on the department's and each regional center's Internet Web site by August 31 of each year.