Special education programs: Family Empowerment Centers on Disability.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to award grants for the establishment of Family Empowerment Centers on Disability in 32 regions in the state to provide training and services to children and young adults with disabilities and their families. Existing law establishes a minimum base rate of $150,000 for each center awarded a grant and requires a center that receives a grant to complete specified actions related to providing that training and those services. Existing law establishes a Family Empowerment and Disability Council composed of the executive directors of the centers and certain other members, establishes a base amount of $150,000 to be made available annually to the council, and requires the council to, among other actions, develop a uniform tracking and data collection system to be used by each center. This bill would revise and recast the provisions related to Family Empowerment Centers on Disability, including requiring the department to award grants by March 1, 2022, to applicants in those of the 32 regions in the state that do not have a center and to give priority to certain applicants, increasing the minimum base rate for each center awarded a grant from $150,000 to $246,000 commencing on July 1, 2021, and, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, providing for an annual cost-of-living adjustment of the grant amount, as specified. The bill would also increase the base amount to be made available annually to the council from $150,000 to $246,000. The bill would impose additional requirements on grantees as a condition of receiving a grant and would require the department, among other actions, to, on or before June 30, 2022, develop a data collection template for use by grantees and provide guidance to grantees on how to define and report data. This bill would require, subject to an appropriation for this purpose, the department to award $20,000,000 from the federal Governor's Emergency Education Relief II Fund to the department to award grants to Family Empowerment Centers on Disability and certain applicants, as specified. The bill would require grantees to spend at least 50% of the funds to work in partnership with one or more special education local plan areas to broaden access to alternative dispute resolution, including, but not limited to, facilitation of the individualized education program process, and train additional individuals to conduct these activities. The bill would require grantees to use remaining funds to avert disputes and support resolution of conflict at the lowest level possible, as specified. The bill would impose certain duties on the department relating to these grants. This bill would make implementation of the bill's provisions contingent upon an appropriation being made in the annual Budget Act or another statute for its purposes.