This California House Resolution declares September 2026 as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Awareness Month to highlight the challenges faced by families with newborns requiring extended hospital care. The bill notes that approximately 17,500 to 22,500 infants in the state experience NICU stays longer than two weeks each year, which can strain parental bonding and financial stability. It encourages individuals, businesses, and organizations to support parents in securing adequate time for bonding and home care after discharge. The resolution also directs copies of the text to be sent to the Governor and the Director of Employment Development for distribution.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, requires the department to implement an enhanced care management (ECM) benefit designed to address the clinical and nonclinical needs on a whole-person-care basis for certain target populations of Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care plans. Under existing law, target populations include, among others, high utilizers with frequent hospital admissions, short-term skilled nursing facility stays, or emergency room visits, and individuals experiencing homelessness. This bill would recast the definition of ECM, referring to community-based, high-touch coordination and comprehensive care management services, as specified. The bill would delete certain provisions that designate 2022 or 2023 timelines for commencing ECM coverage, depending on whether or not a Medi-Cal managed care plan operates in a county in which the Whole Person Care pilot program or the Health Home Program was implemented. Existing law, subject to CalAIM implementation, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among others, housing transition navigation services and medically supportive food and nutrition services. This bill would require the department to publish and maintain policy guides and all-plan letters on its internet website that define model coverage standards and policy for each community support, to engage stakeholders, to provide ongoing technical assistance, and to establish a standard timeline and process for regular updates to community supports policy guides, as specified. The bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to adopt community supports policies, and to educate its in-network community support providers, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish certain information on ECM and community supports utilization data on the department's internet website on a quarterly basis, to the extent feasible, until January 1, 2032. The bill would require the department, by March 31, 2029, to provide to the legislative committees specified information in writing necessary to inform legislative consideration of transitioning community supports to benefits that are required to be covered under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would make other technical changes to the ECM and community support provisions.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is generally a crime. Under existing law, if a person dies in a hospital, convalescent hospital, or board and care facility without known next of kin, the person in charge of the hospital or facility is required to give immediate notice of that fact to the public administrator of the county in which the hospital or facility is located, and if the person in charge fails to do so, the hospital or facility is liable for the cost of internment, as specified, and specified losses incurred by the estate or beneficiaries as a result of the failure to notify. This bill would instead require the licensee in charge of a general acute care hospital or a skilled nursing facility to make a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin, as specified. The bill would state that this requirement is met if a skilled nursing facility notifies the person's resident representative or has the body transferred to a hospital after death, or if the person notified the hospital or facility, prior to death and in writing, that they do not want their known next of kin to be notified of their presence or death. The bill would require, if a reasonable attempt is made or the person expressed a desire that next of kin not be notified, as specified, that the hospital or facility give notice to the public administrator as described above. The bill would make a hospital or facility that fails to notify any known next of kin liable for a continuing civil penalty of $200 per day, up to a maximum of $50,000, measured from the time it would take to make a reasonable attempt to notify the next of kin until the actual knowledge by the next of kin of the decedent's death. The bill would also make a hospital or facility that fails to notify the county public administrator, as specified, liable for a continuing civil penalty of up to $200 per day, up to a maximum of $50,000, measured from the 5th business day following a person's death until the county public administrator is notified. The bill would authorize a licensee that disputes the assessment of a civil penalty to, within 10 working days of the notification of the penalty, request a hearing pursuant to specified law.
Existing law, the Health Care Decisions Law, provides for the creation, form, and revocation of advance health care directives, and authorizes an adult having capacity to give an individual health care instruction. Under existing law, the advance health care directive of a patient in a skilled nursing facility is not effective unless a patient advocate or ombudsman signs the advance directive as a witness and declares that they are serving as a witness pursuant to this requirement. Existing law authorizes a witness who is a patient advocate or ombudsman to rely on the representations of the administrators or staff of the skilled nursing facility, or of family members, as convincing evidence of the identity of the patient, as specified. This bill would delete a patient advocate from the above-described witness duties, thus requiring that an ombudsman witness the advance health care directive of a patient in a skilled nursing facility.
This Senate resolution expresses support for treating biological aging as a primary strategy to prevent and delay chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. It calls for the state to invest in research grants and public-private partnerships aimed at developing therapies that slow, prevent, or reverse the aging process. Additionally, the resolution encourages state health and aging departments to integrate aging science into their prevention programs and fosters collaboration between universities, insurers, and biotech firms to test new interventions.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of health facilities, including, but not limited to, long-term health care facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law requires a contract for admission to a long-term care facility to state that a resident shall not be involuntarily transferred within, or discharged from, a long-term health care facility unless the resident is given reasonable notice in writing, and transfer or discharge planning, as specified. Willful or repeated violations of the provisions relating to long-term health care facilities is a misdemeanor. This bill would require long-term health care facilities to provide residents with a notice of a facility-initiated transfer or discharge at least 30 days before a resident is transferred or discharged, unless an exception applies. The bill would require the notice of transfer or discharge to be acknowledged by the signature of the resident or, if applicable, the resident's representative. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a class "B" violation and would make knowingly making a false verification regarding the delivery of a notice of transfer or discharge a willful violation for purposes of the criminal provision described above. The bill would require a notice of discharge or transfer to be provided to a resident and, if applicable, the resident's representative in a translated or accessible format at the same time as the written notice in English if the resident's primary language is not English or if the resident is vision impaired or blind, as specified. The bill would also require the translated or accessible-format notices to be made available to the local long-term care ombudsman upon request. The bill would require the translator to attest, under penalty of perjury, to the accuracy of the translation, thereby expanding the crime of perjury. The bill would require a resident's primary language or sensory impairments to be included in the minimum dataset maintained by the facility. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a class "B" violation. Existing law requires that a copy of the notice of transfer or discharge be sent to the local long-term care ombudsman at the same time notice is provided to the resident or the resident's representative by facsimile machine, email, or first-class mail, as specified. Existing law requires, if a resident is subject to a facility-initiated transfer to a general acute care hospital on an emergency basis, the notice to be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman as soon as practicable. This bill would instead require the notices described above to be sent to the long-term care ombudsman by facsimile, email, or other electronic means. For emergency transfer notices, the bill would require a copy of the notice to be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 24 hours after the transfer. Because a willful or repeated violation of long-term care facilities provisions is a crime and because the crime of perjury is expanded, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish an inspection and reporting system to ensure that long-term health care facilities are in compliance with state statutes and regulations. Existing law, the Medi-Cal Long-Term Care Reimbursement Act, requires, among other things, that long-term health care facilities timely comply with hearing decisions issued by the department's Office of Administrative Hearings and Appeals for improperly transferring, discharging, or refusing to readmit a resident. Existing law authorizes the department to assess a penalty of $750 for each calendar day a facility fails to comply with the hearing decision and caps aggregate penalties for each individual hearing decision at $75,000. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to prohibit the admission of new residents to a long-term health care facility upon notification that a facility has failed to timely comply with a hearing decision. The bill would require the prohibition to remain in effect until the facility has achieved compliance, the maximum aggregate of penalties have been collected, or the facility has formally sought judicial review of the hearing decision. The bill would increase the daily penalty described above to $1,000 for each calendar day and increase the maximum aggregate penalty amount to $100,000. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services through various delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the California Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE program) to provide community-based, risk-based, and capitated long-term care services as optional services for older individuals under the state's Medi-Cal State Plan and under contracts entered into between the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the department, and PACE organizations. Existing law requires the department to pay capitation rates to health plans participating in the Medi-Cal managed care program using actuarial methods. Existing law requires the department to develop and pay capitation rates to entities contracted pursuant to the PACE program, using actuarial methods consistent with those provisions, with specified exceptions. Existing law requires the department to consult with those contracted entities in developing a rate methodology. This bill would require the department to notify the contracting PACE organization of the proposed rates at least 60 days prior to submission to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for approval. The bill would authorize the department to define a reasonable date by which the PACE organization must submit written questions or feedback concerning the proposed rates. The bill would require the department to respond in writing to those questions or feedback by no later than 30 days prior to submitting the rates to CMS.
Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, regulates residential care facilities for the elderly. A violation of the act is a crime. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income persons are provided with health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP) , which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Under existing regulation, residential facilities for the elderly are prohibited from charging recipients of SSI payments more than a specific set rate for basic services. Existing law requires an individual under these provisions to satisfy certain financial eligibility requirements to be eligible for Medi-Cal, including, among other things, that the individual's countable income does not exceed an income standard equal to a specified amount, plus an income disregard of specified amounts, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would prohibit a residential care facility for the elderly that is contracted to receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for services provided to a resident enrolled in Medi-Cal from charging that resident a room and board rate exceeding the difference between their income, as defined, and the personal and incidental needs allowance set by the department for recipients of SSI/SSP in nonmedical out-of-home care. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would, for the purposes of determining Medi-Cal eligibility, exclude the difference between the resident's income and the rate charged by a residential care facility for the elderly and retained by the resident from countable income. The bill would state that the exclusion does not apply to the portion of the difference retained by the resident that exceeds the personal and incidental needs allowance set by the department for recipients of SSI/SSP in nonmedical out-of-home care. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations, and this bill would alter Medi-Cal eligibility by changing the income disregard amounts and would increase the responsibility of counties in determining Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law, the Psychology Licensing Law, establishes the Board of Psychology to license and regulate psychologists and the practice of psychology. Existing law repeals the provision establishing the board on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend operation of the board to January 1, 2030. Existing law authorizes a person who is licensed as a psychologist at the doctoral level in another state or territory of the United States or Canada to offer psychological services in this state for up to 30 days per year. Existing law authorizes a person other than a licensed psychologist to perform psychological functions in preparation for licensure as a psychologist if the person is registered with the board as a registered psychological associate, and establishes requirements in that regard. This bill would require an out-of-state licensee to satisfy certain conditions to offer psychological services, including informing the client of the limited timeframe of the services and that the person is not licensed in California. The bill would require an applicant for registration as a psychological associate who was trained in an educational institution outside the United States or Canada to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the board that the applicant possesses a doctoral degree in psychology or education that is equivalent to a degree earned from a regionally accredited academic institution in the United States or Canada, as specified. Existing law establishes qualifications for registration as a psychological testing technician, including proof of completion of a bachelor's degree or graduate degree, or proof of current enrollment in a graduate degree program in psychology or in education with a field of specialization in educational psychology, counseling psychology, or school psychology. Existing law also establishes various fees relating to the licensure and regulation of the practice of psychology. This bill would expand the list of authorized areas of study for registration as a psychological testing technician to include neuroscience, cognitive science, or behavioral science, and would specify that the board shall make the final determination as to whether a degree or degree program meets the educational requirements. The bill would establish a fee of $25 to add or change a supervisor for a psychological testing technician. Existing law provides that a psychologist's license shall be suspended automatically during any time the holder of the license is incarcerated after conviction of a felony, and provides for the continued suspension of the license if, after a hearing, it is determined in the hearing that the felony for which the licensee was convicted is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a licensee. Existing law requires any discipline ordered to cease if the conviction is overturned on appeal. This bill would revise and recast those provisions, including authorizing the board to decline to set aside the suspension when it appears to be in the interest of justice to do so. The bill would revise and recast provisions relating to suspended, revoked, and surrendered licenses and obtaining a new license after a license is void after not being renewed within 3 years. The bill would make various technical and other changes to the Psychology Licensing Law, including defining the term "client." (2) Existing law provides for the registration and regulation of research psychoanalysts and student research psychoanalysts by the Board of Psychology, and establishes acts for which the board may revoke or suspend registration and that are deemed unprofessional conduct. Existing law establishes fees for registration, which are deposited into the Psychology Fund. This bill, among other changes to the provisions regulating research psychoanalysts and student research psychoanalysts, would expand the list of acts constituting unprofessional conduct that would authorize the board to suspend or revoke a registration. The bill would revise education and training requirements for registration as a research psychoanalyst, including requiring an applicant to complete certain coursework or training in detection and treatment of alcohol and other chemical substance dependency, suicide risk assessment and intervention, and aging and long-term care. The bill would establish continuing professional development requirements for research psychoanalysts. The bill would require the board to adopt a program of consumer and professional education in matters relevant to the ethical practice of psychoanalysis. The bill would establish fingerprint hard card processing fees for out-of-state applicants, as specified. Existing law requires certain behavioral health professionals to complete training in human sexuality and to complete coursework or training in child abuse assessment and reporting, as specified. Existing law provides that the Board of Psychology and the Board of Behavioral Sciences are encouraged to include coursework regarding the assessment and reporting of elder and dependent adult abuse in the required training on aging and long-term care issues before licensure or license renewal. Existing law makes findings and declarations related to the training of certain licensed behavioral health professionals in the areas of child, elder, and dependent adult abuse assessment reporting. This bill would include research psychoanalysts in the behavioral health professionals subject to the above-described training requirements and provisions. The bill would make various technical and other changes to the Psychology Licensing Law. (3) Existing law establishes the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Consumer Affairs to regulate licensees under the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, the Educational Psychologist Practice Act, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, and the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, and authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer to exercise certain powers and perform specified duties. Existing law repeals the provision establishing the board and authorizing the board to appoint an executive officer on January 1, 2026. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a person who holds a license in another jurisdiction of the United States as a marriage and family therapist, a clinical social worker, or a professional clinical counselor to provide those services in this state for a period not to exceed 30 days. Existing law specifies that a person who provides services pursuant to those provisions is deemed to have agreed to practicing under the jurisdiction of the board and to be bound by the laws of this state. This bill would extend the date of the operation of the board and of authorizing the board to appoint an executive officer to January 1, 2030, and would extend the date on which the provision authorizing a person who is licensed out-of-state as a marriage and family therapist, a clinical social worker, or professional clinical counselor to practice in this state to January 1, 2030. The bill would deem a person who is licensed in another jurisdiction who provides services to have attested under penalty of perjury to practicing under the jurisdiction of the board and to be bound by the laws of this state. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a registrant or applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist to pass a clinical examination, and establishes a fee of $250, which the board is authorized to increase by regulation to up to $500, for the clinical examination. This bill would specify that the clinical examination may be administered either by the board or by a public or private organization, and would revise the fee requirement so that if the examination is administered by a public or private organization, the fee would be paid directly to the organization. Existing law requires certain applicants for registration or licensure as a marriage and family therapist who completed graduate study on or before December 31, 2018, to submit to the board a certification by the applicant's educational institution that the institution's required curriculum for graduation and associated coursework includes certain instruction in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency and in spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention. This bill would delete that requirement. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure or registration as a professional clinical counselor to obtain a degree in a program that includes a minimum of 280 hours of face-to-face supervised clinical experience counseling individuals, families, or groups. Existing law requires a professional clinical counselor trainee to receive an average of at least one hour of direct supervisor contact for every 5 hours of direct clinical counseling performed each week and specifies that not more than 6 hours of supervision shall be credited during any single week. This bill would delete the provision limiting the number of hours of supervision credited in a single week to 6 hours. Existing law, effective August 29, 2022, until January 1, 2026, revised provisions related to supervision via videoconferencing. In this regard, existing law defines "face-to-face contact" for purposes of the definition of "one hour of direct supervisor contact" to mean in-person contact, contact via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing, or some combination of these. Existing law requires a supervisor within 60 days of the commencement of supervision to conduct a meeting with the supervisee during which the supervisor is required to assess the appropriateness of allowing the supervisee to receive supervision via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing, as specified, and to document the results of that assessment. Existing law prohibits the supervisor from utilizing supervision via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing if their assessment finds it is inappropriate. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions indefinitely. By extending the operation of requirements, the violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, or licensed professional clinical counselor to provide copies of tax returns for each year of experience claimed for purposes of satisfying the experience requirement for licensure. This bill would require an applicant to provide the board with a copy of the applicant's most recent pay stub for experience gained during a tax year that has not ended by the date the application for licensure is received. Existing law requires direct supervisor contact for certain experience required for licensure as a marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, or licensed professional clinical counselor. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes contact to be via in-person contact, 2-way, real-time videoconferencing, or some combination of these, as specified. Existing law, effective January 1, 2026, authorizes only a supervisee working in an exempt setting, as specified, to obtain direct supervisor contact via 2-way, real-time videoconferencing. This bill would make the above-described authorization related to videoconferencing permanent and would consequently delete the latter provision authorizing direct supervisor contact via videoconferencing in exempt settings. Existing law requires the board to issue a retired license to a marriage and family therapist, licensed educational psychologist, licensed professional clinical counselor, or clinical social worker upon satisfaction of specified requirements. Existing law also authorizes a person who holds a license in another jurisdiction of the United States as a marriage and family therapist, professional clinical counselor, or clinical social worker to practice in this state for a period not to exceed 30 consecutive days if they satisfy certain conditions, and deems a person who provides services pursuant to those provisions to have agreed to practicing under the jurisdiction of the board and to be bound by the laws of this state. The bill would revise the requirements for the issuance of a retired license, including submitting a statement under penalty of perjury that, among other things, the information provided on the application is true and correct. The bill would require out-of-state marriage and family therapists, professional clinical counselors, and clinical social workers, as a condition of practicing in this state, to submit a signed statement under penalty of perjury acknowledging that they are subject to the jurisdiction of the board and agreeing to be bound by the laws of this state. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would revise the education, experience, and other qualifications required for licensure as an educational psychologist. The bill would make various technical and other changes to the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, the Educational Psychologist Practice Act, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, and the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 27 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 861 to be operative only if this bill and SB 861 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers for the provision of services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Under existing law, the services and supports are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , as specified. Existing law requires the department to implement a statewide Self-Determination Program, available in every regional center catchment area to provide participants and their families, within an individual budget, with increased flexibility and choice, and greater control over decisions, resources, and needed and desired services and supports to implement their IPP. Existing law prescribes the process for allocating funds to, and within, the participant's individual budget. This bill would make various changes to the Self-Determination Program, including, among others, establishing the participants' individual budget generally based on the services authorized instead of being based on purchase of service expenditures, requiring a regional center to certify that participants' spending plans satisfy certain criteria, and requiring the department to establish statewide standardized processes and procedures for the program, with community input, no later than March 1, 2027. (2) Under existing law, contracts between the department and regional centers require regional centers to maintain specified service coordinator-to-consumer ratios and have expertise in certain topics in order to serve consumers. Existing law requires the department, through contracts, to require regional centers to implement implicit bias training, as specified. Existing law authorizes the training to be procured by the department or by a regional center that has obtained prior approval by the department. This bill would make the departmental training requirements subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that regional centers continue to implement the implicit bias training to the extent they are able to, in the absence of a state appropriation. (3) Existing law required the department, between April 1, 2022, and January 1, 2025, to incrementally implement rate reform to increase rates paid to developmental service providers. Existing law requires, in conjunction with the rate reform, the department to implement a quality incentive program that includes the development of a quality incentive payment structure for providers meeting quality measures or benchmarks, or both. This bill would require, beginning in the 2026–27 fiscal year, a provider to be compliant with electronic visit verification, home- and community-based services rules, and applicable annual fiscal reviews and audit requirements as a condition of eligibility for the quality incentive program. Existing law requires the department to implement a hold harmless policy, as specified, for providers whose rates exceed rate model recommendations, to freeze a provider's existing rates until June 30, 2026, and to subsequently adjust the provider's rates to equal the rates for other providers in the provider's service category and region. Existing law requires the department, beginning January 1, 2025, to implement a similar hold harmless policy for providers whose rates in effect on January 1, 2023, exceed 90% of the rate model. This bill would shift the expiration date of the rate freezes to February 28, 2026. Existing law requires that regional centers receive specialized funding allocations to facilitate applications for payments authorized to protect the health and safety of consumers, as specified, for non-English-speaking individuals served. This bill would make that requirement subject to an appropriation by the Legislature. (4) Existing law requires the department to assess a monthly fee to 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 when the family's gross income is above 200% of the federal poverty level, as specified. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to the monthly parental fee. The bill would also make technical, conforming changes. (5) Existing law requires a regional center consumer to be referred to a provider of habilitation services if they are determined to be in need of habilitation services, among other factors. Existing law authorizes a regional center to vendor a new work activity or supported employment program after determining the capacity of the program to deliver effective services and assessing the ability of the program to comply with the requirements of CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission, as defined. Existing law also defines additional terms relating to habilitation services, including group services to mean job coaching in a group supported employment placement at a job coach-to-consumer ratio of not less than 1 to 3 nor more than 1 to 8 where services to a minimum of 3 consumers are funded by specified entities. This bill would update the definition of CARF to mean the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. The bill would also update the definition of group service to include a coach-to-consumer ratio of not less than 1 to 2 instead of 1 to 3 and would also instead require a minimum of 2 consumers to be funded by specified entities. Existing law authorizes regional centers to purchase habilitation services only from providers who are accredited community nonprofit agencies that provide work activity services or supported employment services, or both, and that have been vendored according to the provisions listed above. This bill would remove the requirement that the providers be accredited community nonprofit agencies that provide work activity services or supported employment services, or both. Existing law sets the hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services and for group services at $36.57 and requires job coaching hours for group services to be allocated on a prorated basis between a regional center and the Department of Rehabilitation when consumers are served in the same group. Existing law also requires that a new work activity program receive the statewide average rate, as determined by the department. This bill would remove the hourly rate for both supported employment services and group services and would instead require the department to set a rate and post the rate to its internet website. The bill would also remove the requirements that job coaching hours for group services be allocated on a prorated basis and that a new work activity program receive the statewide average rate, and would instead require that the program receive the rate posted on the department's internet website. (6) Existing law authorizes a consumer to choose a tailored day service or vouchered community-based training service, in lieu of, or in conjunction with, any other regional center vendored day program, look-alike day program, supported employment program, or work activity program. Existing law requires the hourly rate for the tailored day service option to be calculated in a specified manner. Existing law requires that hourly rate to remain in effect pending the department's review, as specified, and requires the review to be completed by June 30, 2024. This bill would end use of the above-described calculation methodologies on June 30, 2025, and, commencing on July 1, 2025, would require the hourly rate for the tailored day service option for vendored programs to be set by the department and posted on its internet website. (7) Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, in coordination with the department, to lead the development and implementation of the Master Plan for Developmental Services for the state. Existing law requires the secretary to solicit input through the Master Plan for Developmental Services Committee and submit to the Governor and the Legislature an initial report summarizing the recommended components of the master plan, as specified. Existing law requires the secretary and the Director of Developmental Services to work with other state agencies, as necessary, to identify policies, efficiencies, and strategies necessary to implement the master plan. Existing law requires the secretary to annually submit master plan implementation updates to the Governor and the Legislature, as specified. This bill would require the Master Plan for Developmental Services Committee to meet at least 2 times each year, as specified, and would set forth the information to be included in the initial report and recommendation updates, including, among other things, a narrative summary of the master plan committee meetings. (8) This bill would appropriate $2,789,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Developmental Services for project planning activities at regional centers associated with the Life Outcomes Improvement System. Under the bill, these funds would be available for encumbrance or expenditure through June 30, 2026. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
