Regional centers: parental fees.

Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is required to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law requires the Director of Developmental Services to establish, annually review, and adjust as needed, a schedule of parental fees to be paid by parents of children under 18 years of age who are receiving 24-hour out-of-home care services through a regional center or who are residents of a state hospital or on leave from the state hospital. Existing law provides that all parental fees collected by or for regional centers are remitted to the State Treasury to be deposited in the Program Development Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would, effective July 1, 2016, revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, calculating monthly parental fees based on a percentage of the parents' annual income and authorizing a credit of the equivalent of one day of the monthly parental fee for each day a child spends 6 or more consecutive hours in a 24-hour period on a home visit. The bill would prohibit a monthly parental fee from exceeding the maximum monthly cost of caring for a child or the cost of services provided, whichever is less. The bill would require, for parents of children placed in 24-hour out-of-home care prior to July 1, 2016, the monthly parental fee to be calculated at the time of the parents' 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. The bill would provide that the Program Development Fund is available upon appropriation by the Legislature and make other related and conforming changes.