Workforce development: developmentally disabled individuals.

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law governs the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional centers, including work activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services. Existing law requires the department, contingent upon receiving federal financial participation, to conduct a 4-year demonstration project to determine whether community-based vocational development services will increase employment outcomes for consumers and reduce purchase of service costs for working age adults. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2017, the department to establish a Work Transition Project with a process for regional centers to allow well coordinated forms of integrated services using allowable services under existing state and federal law and to assist in the state's efforts to reach compliance with the federal Home and Community-Based Services Waiver regulations. The bill would authorize the department to waive certain regulations through the use of modifications that maintain the purpose of the regulation while allowing flexibility to expand activities and choices in service program settings. The bill would set a maximum rate of $40 per hour for vendors to provide needed job readiness and support services aimed at individualized transition services for consumers currently placed in work activity programs and other similar day services related to work experience and work opportunities who choose to move towards competitive integrated employment. The bill would require the department to assess the change in the amount of time that it takes a consumer under these provisions, as compared to previous modes of service delivery, to become job ready and to transition into a competitive integrated employment setting and to report that information to the budget and appropriate policy committees of each house of the Legislature during the annual budget process.