CDCAN
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
DISABILITY RIGHTS NEWS REPORT
#061-2006  June 24, 2006 - Saturday
Advocacy Without Borders:
Connecting people with disabilities & seniors to rights and unified action
IN MEMORY OF WARREN A. MATTINGLY WHO PASSED AWAY MAY 24
1225 8th Street Suite 480 - Sacramento, CA 95814  916/446-0013  Fax: 916/446-0026
To Respond to THIS email report reply to: martyomoto@rcip.com   
CDCAN website: www.cdcan.us

Alta California Regional Center
* Phil Bonnet Selected As New Head of Sacramento Area Regional Center
* Currently Redwood Coast Regional Center Director n Eureka
* Promises to "Restore Trust" &  Promote "Shared Vision of Excellence"
* Selection Widely Praised by Disability Advocates, Families & Providers

SACRAMENTO -  In an action widely praised by disability advocates across the State, Phil Bonnet, the executive director of Redwood Coast Regional Center in Eureka, was selected to head Alta California Regional Center, one of 21 non-profit organizations that contracts with the State to coordinate and oversee services for over 200,000  infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities in California. 

Alta California Regional Center, with a $200 million budget, is one of the largest of the 21 regional centers and provides those coordination and oversight services to over 14,000 infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities in Sacramento and 9 other counties [Alpine, Clousa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba]. 
Redwood Coast Regional Center, based in Eureka serves about 3,000 infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino counties.  Each of the 21 non-profit regional centers contracts with the California Department of Developmental Services.  The regional centers in turn contract with local community-based organizations and individuals to actually provide services and supports for infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities that regional centers fund including independent living, supported living services, supported employment and work activity programs, residential services, respite, early interventions services and day programs.  Other programs and services, such as In-Home Supportive Services, Medi-Cal, and special education that persons with developmental disabilities may also receive, are funded by county or school agencies.

Advocates Say Bonnet Will Promote Inclusion of People With Disabilities
The announcement, made by the Alta California Regional Center board president Gail Janke on Friday (June 23), was greeted with strong support from disability advocates, including persons who receive services through the regional center, families with children with disabilities, community-based providers who all noted his ability to build and create partnerships that they believed promotes independence and inclusion of persons with disabilities in their communities. 

Bonnet, who was recognized last October by the Supported Life Institute, a statewide group promoting inclusion of people with disabilities in communities, will begin his new job on September 1.  He succeeds Gary Blumenthal, who announced his resignation in January after just 8 months on the job to return to Kansas as head of an agency that provides services to his adult brother, who has developmental disabilities.  Blumenthal was hired several months after longtime executive director Jim Huyck stepped down.  Yolanda Bestgen, deputy director of Alta California Regional Center, has been acting director since Blumenthal's departure.

Bonnet Promises Partnership With Community
Bonnet, married with children and currently living in Eureka, accepted the position saying that  he believed "...working together with our partners in the community with a shared vision for the future" can "restore trust and create an environment that promotes and recognizes excellence" within the regional center and "from our community service providers."

Saying he was "appreciate of the opportunity" of being selected by the Alta California Regional Center Board,  Bonnet  looked forward to a "long and successful relationship" with the regional center's " valued employees and dedicated service providers" and promised to "do my best on behalf of the thousands of consumers and families who are counting on Alta Regional Center for critically needed services".

Regional Center Board Expresses "Optimism"
Janke, commenting on Bonnet's selection, said that "...the commitment he has shown for persons with developmental disabilities along with his knowledge and experience were viewed as an asset for Alta California Regional Center," and expressed optimism that he will bring "positive leadership to the agency" as it remains focused "on fulfilling the primary duty of providing and supporting case management to persons with developmental disabilities" to promote a future where all individuals are "valued members of their communities". 

Janke took special notice to express her appreciation - and that of the Alta California Regional Center Board, of the work of staff of the regional center and of contributions of acting director Yolanda Bestgen and the management team that ran the organization over past several months in a statement to them saying that "...we also take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the employees of Alta California Regional Center.  Thank you for providing the day-to-day services that are so valuable to persons with developmental disabilities.  You are opening doors of opportunity for consumers and their families.  Keep up the good work!  We recognize the contributions of Ms Bestgen and the Executive Management Team in their roles of leading the agency's day-to-day operations".

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.  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.