California Department of Community Living.

The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act establishes, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, the California Department of Aging. Under the act, the department is required to provide programs and strategies to support the state's older population, persons with disabilities, and their caregivers. This bill would establish the California Department of Community Living within the California Health and Human Services Agency to consolidate leadership on issues and programs serving California's older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers. The bill would prescribe the duties of the department, including assisting older adults and people with disabilities in connecting to specified services, including care coordination, health insurance counseling, peer-based programs, and community transition services. The bill would require the department to establish a statewide No Wrong Door system to assist older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers in obtaining accurate information and timely referrals to appropriate community services and supports, using specified means. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to a related provision. The bill would require the department to assist specified state entities in carrying out their mandated duties to advocate for the needs of California's older adults and people with disabilities, and would require the department to provide leadership in enhancing and streamlining access to specified programs for those individuals. This bill would require the department to allocate funding through a number of mechanisms to programs identified by the department that link individuals to the right services at the right time. The bill would require the department to provide block grants to area agencies on aging to provide services through specified home and community-based services programs, as specified, and would require the department to continue funding for independent living centers based on current levels, as specified. The bill would require the department to increase access to the Aging and Disability Resource Connection program to streamline local service delivery through funding, technical assistance, and coordination with area agencies on aging and independent living centers.