Developmental services: individual program plan: fair hearings.

Existing law, 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 and their families. Under existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers, or arrange for their provision through other publicly funded agencies. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , which is developed by the planning team according to specified procedures. This bill would require the planning team to include at least one regional center representative authorized to make decisions on behalf of the regional center regarding services in the IPP. The bill would also make various revisions relating to the procedure for developing the IPP, including by requiring that changes to the IPP be made in a program planning meeting with the real-time participation of the consumer or, when appropriate, their parents, legal guardian, conservator, or authorized representative, unless specified requirements are satisfied, and by requiring the consumer, or, when appropriate, their parents, legal guardian, or conservator, to be allowed to attend a meeting held as part of an internal process to determine the services and supports to be purchased. Existing law requires a service agency, defined, in part, as a developmental center or regional center, to have a fair hearing procedure for resolving conflicts between the service agency and recipients of, or applicants for, services that meets prescribed requirements. Existing law provides for informal dispute resolution as part of the fair hearing procedure. This bill would make various changes to the fair hearing procedure, including by requiring the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with the State Department of Social Services for the provision of hearing officers and fair hearings. The bill would also revise the required training for hearing officers, require a service agency to submit a compliance report to the State Department of Developmental Services if the fair hearing decision is wholly or partially in favor of the complainant, establish a procedure for requesting a rehearing, and provide for the collection and reporting of data related to fair hearings.