BILL NUMBER: AB 287ENROLLED BILL TEXT PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 21, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall (Coauthors: Assembly Members Blumenfield, Buchanan, Chesbro, Eng, Fuentes, Krekorian, Portantino, and Yamada) (Coauthor: Senator Alquist) FEBRUARY 13, 2009 An act to add Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 4868) to Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to developmental services. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 287, Beall. Persons with developmental disabilities: employment. Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, grants persons with developmental disabilities the right to receive services and supports to meet their needs. Existing law requires that the State Department of Developmental Services contract with private nonprofit corporations for the operation of regional centers to obtain services and supports for an individual with a developmental disability in accordance with his or her individual program plan (IPP). Existing law establishes an independent State Council on Developmental Disabilities to, among other things, develop and implement the state plan required by the federal government. This bill would encourage the individual program planning team to discuss school-to-work opportunities for consumers commencing at 14 years of age. This bill would require the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to form a standing Employment First Committee, as specified, to implement an Employment First Policy by July 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, report to the Legislature and the Governor describing the committee's work and recommendations. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Working age people with disabilities are among the most unemployed and underemployed members of society. (b) People with developmental disabilities are an important and largely untapped employment resource. (c) Research demonstrates that wages and hours worked increase dramatically as individuals move from facility-based to integrated employment, and suggests that other benefits include expanded social relationships, heightened self-determination, and more typical job acquisition and job roles. (d) Recent data indicate that, with 13 percent of working age individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in competitive or supported employment, California ranks 41st when compared with other states. (e) Because the likelihood of individuals with developmental disabilities obtaining employment is greater if they move directly from school to work, education programs should prepare transition age students for employment in community settings. (f) Increasing integrated and gainful employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities requires collaboration and cooperation by state and local agencies, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Developmental Services and regional centers, the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Rehabilitation, the State Department of Education and local school districts, and the Employment Development Department. (g) The Legislature places a high priority on providing supported employment and other integrated employment opportunities for working-age adults with developmental disabilities. (h) In developing the individual program plan pursuant to Section 4646.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, planning teams are encouraged to discuss school-to-work opportunities during individual program plan meetings beginning when a consumer reaches 14 years of age, and regional center representatives are encouraged to inform the consumer, parent, legal guardian, or conservator that the regional center is available, upon request, to participate in the consumer's individualized education plan meetings to discuss transition planning. SEC. 2. Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 4868) is added to Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: CHAPTER 14. EMPLOYMENT 4868. (a) The State Council on Developmental Disabilities shall form a standing Employment First Committee consisting of the following members: (1) One designee of each of the members of the state council specified in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (F), and (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 4521. (2) A member of the consumer advisory committee of the state council. (b) In carrying out the requirements of this section, the committee shall meet and consult, as appropriate, with other state and local agencies and organizations, including, but not limited to, the Employment Development Department, the Association of Regional Center Agencies, one or more supported employment provider organizations, an organized labor organization representing service coordination staff, and one or more consumer family member organizations. (c) The responsibilities of the committee shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following: (1) Identifying the respective roles and responsibilities of state and local agencies in enhancing integrated and gainful employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. (2) Identifying strategies, best practices, and incentives for increasing integrated employment and gainful employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, including, but not limited to, ways to improve the transition planning process for students 14 years of age or older, and to develop partnerships with, and increase participation by, public and private employers and job developers. (3) Identifying existing sources of employment data and recommending goals for, and approaches to measuring progress in, increasing integrated employment and gainful employment of people with developmental disabilities. (4) Recommending legislative, regulatory, and policy changes for increasing the number of individuals with developmental disabilities in integrated employment, self-employment, and microenterprises, and who earn wages at or above minimum wage, including, but not limited to, recommendations for improving transition planning and services for students with developmental disabilities who are 14 years of age or older. This shall include, but shall not be limited to, the development of an Employment First Policy, the intended outcome of which is a significant increase in the number of individuals with developmental disabilities who engage in integrated employment, self-employment, and microenterprises, and in the number of individuals who earn wages at or above minimum wage. This proposed policy shall be in furtherance of the intent of this division that services and supports be available to enable persons with developmental disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available to people without disabilities of the same age and that support their integration into the mainstream life of the community, and that those services and supports result in more independent, productive, and normal lives for the persons served. The proposed Employment First Policy shall not limit service and support options otherwise available to consumers, or the rights of consumers, or, where appropriate, parents, legal guardians, or conservators to make choices in their own lives. (d) For purposes of this chapter, "integrated employment" shall have the same definition as "integrated work" as defined in subdivision (o) of Section 4851. (e) The committee, by July 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, shall provide a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature and to the Governor describing its work and recommendations. The report due by July 1, 2011, shall include the proposed Employment First Policy described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (c).