041-2006 421 IHSS Meeting On Proposed Reulations - Proposed IHSS Regs Comment Period Ends 517.htm

CDCAN
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
DISABILITY RIGHTS NEWS REPORT
#041-2006 April 20, 2006 Thursday
Advocacy Without Borders:
Connecting people with disabilities & seniors to rights and unified action
1225 8th Street Suite 480 - Sacramento, CA 95814 916/446-0013 Fax: 916/446-0026
Marty Omoto - director email: martyomoto@rcip.com    website: www.cdcan.us

In-Home Supportive Services
* IHSS "Stakeholder" Meeting Friday April 21 In Sacramento
* Discussion of Proposed IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines Regulations
* Deadline for Official Public Comment on Proposed Regulations 5/17
* May 17 Public Hearing On 3 Proposed IHSS Regulations
* CDCAN Townhall Telemeeting On IHSS Issues Set for 4/25

SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Social Services will be conducting on Friday, April 21, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM, at the Health and Human Services Data Center, 9323 Tech Center Drive, Conference Room 2 in Sacramento a "brief and focused meeting" for interested persons and organizations on the proposed regulations dealing with In-Home Supportive Services Hourly Task Guidelines. A toll free line is available for those who cannot attend the meeting in person.   Those proposed regulations and two other IHSS related proposed regulations have been officially released by the State for comments by the public, which must be received by the Department of Social Services by May 17, 2006, Wednesday by 5:00 PM to be considered. In addition the Department of Social Services has scheduled a public hearing, also on May 17, in Sacramento, to take public comments (see below for details).

Brian R. Koepp, Chief of the Department of Social Services' IHSS Quality Assurance Bureau said that the April 21 meeting will not focus on the actual language and content of each proposed regulation because " these issues will be addressed through the Public Hearing process and 45-Day Comment period, and the California Department of Social Services will be required to respond to specific testimony prior to the regulations being finalized".
The April 21 meeting will review briefly the proposed regulations:
* What has changed, stayed the same, or been relocated in the proposed regulations
* What strikeouts and underlines mean in the proposed regulations
* What the intended purpose of each section in the proposed regulations is to address

Who Should Be Interested In the April 21 Meeting & Proposed IHSS Regulations
Persons with disabilities (including those with developmental disabilities), seniors, persons with traumatic brain and/or other injuries, persons with MS, Alzheimer's etc and their families, who use or are in need of In-Home Supportive Services; IHSS workers, unions representing IHSS workers in contracts, regional centers, independent living centers, county social services departments that oversee local IHSS programs, policy makers and staff both local and state, advocates and advocacy organizations both local and statewide - all known as "stakeholders"

April 21, 2006 - Friday morning 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
California Department of Social Services - IHSS Quality Assurance Bureau
IHSS Meeting on Proposed Draft Regulations on IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines
California Health and Human Services Data Center
9323 Tech Center Drive, Sacramento, CA (near Rancho Cordova)
Toll Free Line To Participate: Dial: 1-800-857-7001, passcode: 11292, (Conference Leader - Brian Koepp)

AGENDA FOR 4/21/06 IHSS MEETING
IHSS Stakeholder Meeting - Hourly Task Guidelines Proposed Regulations
April 21, 2006    10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DATA CENTER
9323 TECH CENTER DRIVE, CONFERENCE RM. 2 SACRAMENTO, CA
(Please note the change of meeting location as the Secretary of State building was unavailable)
(Toll free call in line is available for those unable to attend this meeting - see above for phone number and passcode)

10:00 - 10:15 AM    Introductions/Recap/Meeting Goals
10:15 - 11:15 AM   Overview - Proposed Regulation IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines
11:15 - 11:30 AM   Meeting closure/adjournment

Note: If you need a reasonable accommodation due to a disability to attend this meeting, or if you need the meeting materials provided to you in an alternate format including Braille, large print, computer disk or tape cassette, contact Liz Cervantes-Salas by April 10, 2006, at (916) 229 3494.
Website: www.dss.cahwnet.gov/dapd/
e-Mail: IHSS-QA@dss.ca.gov

PUBLIC COMMENT DEADLINE & HEARING MAY 17
Before it can be approved, the three proposed regulations dealing with different aspects of the IHSS program must go through a 45 day period allowing the public to comment- and also a public hearing. The Department of Social Services has scheduled a public hearing to take comments (written or oral) on May 17 in Sacramento beginning at 10:00 AM, and with the deadline to receive written comments either by hand delivery, fax, email, US mail or other forms of delivery to the Department of Social Services offices, also by May 17 except by 5:00 PM. The following regulations are also attached to this report as word documents from the Department of Social Services:
* IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines (ORD #1205-21) attached as "ProposedRegs-IHSSHourly-d120521r"
* IHSS Waiver Plus Program (ORD #1105-18)
* IHSS Quality Assurance Regulations (ORD #1105-20)
Text of all three proposed regulations are also available at the Department of Social Services website at:
http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/ord. or the CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us

Public Hearing Scheduled on 3 Proposed IHSS Regulations May 17 - At 10 AM
May 17, 2006 beginning at 10:00 AM
Department of Social Services Office Building (Office Building #9)
744 P Street, State Office - Sacramento, CA 95814
Note: the public hearing lasts as long as there are people present to make comments. Comments can be made orally for the record, and/or given to the Department of Social Services representative present. Unlike Legislative budget or bill hearings, state officials present and representing the Department proposing the regulations almost never respond during the public hearing itself to any comments made.
Public Comment To Be Taken at the 5/17 Hearing on the following IHSS proposed regulations:
* IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines (ORD #1205-21)I
* IHSS Waiver Plus Program (ORD #1105-18)
* IHSS Quality Assurance Regulations (ORD #1105-20)

Public Comment Deadline on 3 IHSS Proposed Regulations May 17 by 5:00 PM
How To Send Public Comments on the Proposed IHSS Regulations above.
Important - make sure to reference the specific proposed regulation AND the number (ie "ORD #1205-21 for IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines") If sending a email, be sure to include in your letter the Office of Regulation Development (ORD) reference number and proposed regulation title on the email subject line on one or all of the following proposed regulations:
* IHSS Hourly Task Guidelines (ORD #1205-21)
* IHSS Waiver Plus Program (ORD #1105-18)
* IHSS Quality Assurance Regulations (ORD #1105-20)
Hand deliver
Hand deliver to the Department of Social Services OR hand deliver at the public hearing on May 17
Send Comments By Fax :
Department of Social Services fax: 916/654-3286
Send Comments By Email
e-mail to ord@dss.ca.gov
Send Comments By US Mail (or other delivery):
Office of regulations Development, Department of Social Services
744 P Street, MS 7-192
Sacrameto, CA 95814
For More Information (but NOT to make comments):
Department of Social Services Phone: 916/657-2586

CDCAN TOWNHALL TELEMEETING ON IHSS ISSUES
APRIL 25, 2006 Tue 1 PM to 2:45 PM
Issue: In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
Impact of Quality Assurance Program
Also brief update on SSI/SSP budget issues
Featuring Christian Griffith (Assembly Budget Committee consultant on IHSS and SSI/SSP issues)
and also many disability advocates, IHSS public authority and advisory members.
Step One: Dial this toll free number for the CDCAN Townhall Telemeeting:
* 1-800-839-9416   [NEW different number as of April 13]
Step Two: Then type in the passcode (or participant code or pin number)
* 5510298 [NEW for the April 25th Telemeeting ONLY]
* You will connected into the townhall telemeeting AUTOMATICALLY without operator assistance
Note: Questions, comments are encouraged by all those who participate
See CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us for more information.

CDCAN Capitol News Reports and Alerts
These CDCAN Reports are partially funded by a small grant from the USC UCEDD, Grant #90DD0540 from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. The opinions expressed or content in these reports do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the USC UCEDD.
The California Disability Community Action Network is a non-partisan link to tens of thousands of Californians in every community, including people of color, people of every type of disability, including people with physical disabilities, people with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain and other injures, people with mental health needs, seniors, people with MS, Alzheimer's and others, and all of their families, community organizations and providers, direct care and other workers, and other advocates. These action alerts and news reports is for all of them.   If you would like to get on this distribution (and conversely, get off of it) please send an email with that request to: martyomoto@rcip.com OR sign up via the NEW CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us Sharing information is part of our organizing effort. Please feel free to forward or copy this (attribution is nice but not necessary). We're all in this together!
MANY THANKS to Training Toward Self Reliance, UCP, California NAELA, Californians for Disability Rights, Inc (CDR), CHANCE Inc, Parents Helping Parents, Arriba, Strategies Toward Empowering People, Parents Helping Parents, Asian American parents groups, Resources for Independent Living and many other Independent Living Centers, several regional centers, People First chapters, IHSS workers, other self advocacy and family support groups, developmental center families, and hundreds of individuals including Bob Scrivano, Maureen Fitzgerald, Terri Lantz, Christal Hopkins, Lisa Brown, Anna Wang, Dennis Dishaw, Bob Benson, David Engberg, Connie Arnold, and so many others who through their support and contributions, make the non-partisan CDCAN reports and townhall telemeetings possible. Thanks also to partnerships and the good people with the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and also the Department of Health Services, the Department of Developmental Services, Department of Social Services and the CA Health and Human Services Agency and other agencies, and the State Legislature and staff, the Legislative Analyst Office. Good people who do good things can make a difference together.