070-2006_ DDS and Stakeholders Meet on $19.1 Million Wage Increase

CDCAN
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
DISABILITY RIGHTS NEWS REPORT
#070-2006 July 16, 2006 - Sunday
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Regional Center Funded Services
* Dept of Developmental Services Meets With Regional Center Stakeholders
* Details on $19 Million Wage Increase for Certain Day & Work Activity Programs
* Increase to Be Applied Retroactively to July 1, 2006

SACRAMENTO - The Department of Developmental Services which oversees community-based services for children and adults with developmental disabilities funded by the 21 non-profit regional centers, met with various stakeholders on Thursday July 13, to discuss details on how it will move forward on implementing a one-time $19.1 million or about a 2% wage increase for workers in certain day and work activity programs that are integrated with their communities or converting their programs to do so.

In attendance at the July 13 meeting besides Department staff and advocates from various statewide groups, included representatives from the Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (Democrat - Los Angeles) and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (Democrat - Oakland), the Assembly Budget Committee, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and a representative from the Assembly Republican Caucus.

$19.1 Million Increase In Addition To 3% Increase by Governor
* The $19.1 million or 2% increase for wages for certain day and work activity programs was passed by the Legislature as part of the 2006-2007 State Budget in addition to the 3% rate increase originally proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That 3% increase applies to those day and work activity programs but also for many programs, including Supported Living Services, that were not included for the additional 2% increase for wages.
* The Legislature also passed and the Governor approved a major 26% rate increase for Supported Employment Programs that serve persons with developmental disabilities. Supported employment program providers were not included in the additional $19.1 million increase for certain day and work activity program worker wages.
* No information on how the Department of Developmental Services is moving on the 3% rate increase or the 26% supported employment program increase was discussed at the July 13th meeting.
* The budget related legislation regarding the $19.1 million increase and who is eligible for the funding, was included in AB 1807, which was signed by the Governor July 12, and is linked to the budget bill he signed on June 30 That bill contained other provisions dealing with budget issues related to Medi-Cal, health services and other regional center funding issues.

Work Group Meeting July 31 - Another Meeting By DDS in Early August
* A smaller workgroup will be meeting on July 31 to work out compromises on how the funding could be applied to day and work activity program providers who primarily provide their services at a specific location (site based) or are not fully integrated with the community. Advocates at the meeting disagreed on what should be required for a provider who is willing to convert into a more integrated community-based program before June 30, 2007 in order to be eligible for the $19.1 million wage increase.
* The Department of Developmental Services will meet with stakeholders again sometime in early August in hopes of finalizing guidelines and other details for the $19.1 million wage increase.
* CDCAN will be scheduling a Disability Rights Townhall Telemeeting on these issues in early August inviting the Department of Developmental Services to hear comments and answer questions directly from people across the State.

Agreement on Some Issues
Guided by the budget related bill (AB 1807) that outlined what services and programs could receive the $19.1 million funding meant for wage increases, stakeholders who were present at the July 13th meeting and the Department of Developmental Services worked on details and agreed on the following:
* Increase Retroactive to July 1 - The increase, the Department of Developmental Services said will be effective retroactively beginning July 1, 2006. It was passed by the Legislature as part of the 2006-2007 State Budget and the budget related bill (AB 1807) requires the Department to implement this action within 60 days of passage of the State Budget. The State Budget was signed by the Governor on June 30 - so the Department of Developmental Services has until August 30 to begin implementing the $19.1 million wage increase. Advocates were happy to hear that the increase will be applied retroactively to July 1.
* Certain Mandated Costs Will Be Covered - the Department of Developmental Services agreed with stakeholders that providers who are eligible to receive the $19.1 million wage increase for their workers, will also receive funding to cover any required federal or state costs that is directly tied to this specific increase in worker wages. These mandated or required costs are FICA, state unemployment insurance and worker's compensation and funding will only cover increases in those costs that are directly tied to the $19.1 million wage increase to workers. No funding covering healthcare benefits, etc will be allowed however.
* Five Programs Deemed "Categorically Eligible": the Department of Developmental Services and stakeholders present agreed that because of their non-site based structure, five programs, ( Community Activities Support Services, Community Integration Training Program, Independent Living Specialist, Independent Living, and Infant Development Program) will not be required to go through the self certification process in order to be considered eligible for the wage increase. Instead, these programs will be deemed "categorically eligible" because their programs are completely integrated in the community and are not site-based, though each will still have to submit the normal reporting and other paperwork required.
* Other Programs "Self Certify" - Stakeholders present at the July 13th meeting and the Department of Developmental Services agreed that participation by persons with developmental disabilities who receive services (consumers) in programs that currently spend 51% or greater of total program time in the community shall "self certify"

Disagreement on How To Apply Wage Increase for Site-based Day Programs Converting
There was some disagreement on finalizing guidelines that would make day and work activity programs that are not integrated or currently only provide their services at one location (site based) eligible for the $19.1 million increase. An informal workgroup is scheduled to work out these details on July 31 at 1:00 PM at the offices of the California Rehabilitation Association in Sacramento.
* There was disagreement among stakeholders present on what the specific guidelines for those day program providers who may not meet the 51% criteria but will, by June 30, 2007, convert to more "integrated community settings".
* The Department of Developmental Services suggested in its implementation plan that a day program provider who did not meet the 51% threshold, could be eligible if they plan to convert to integrated community settings where consumers will spend 51% or greater the program time in a non-site based location. Some advocates disagreed with that suggestion saying that it was not enough - while other advocates felt, given the level of funding - it was reasonable.
* The Department of Developmental Services suggested that one approach could be to adopt in some form the proposal by the Association of Regional Center Agencies that linked the $19.1 million wage increase for providers who wish to convert to more integrated community settings with the $3 million allocated this year for the development of new community programs. Some stakeholders disagreed with linking the two together in part because they say the amount of money in both programs is too small of an incentive for providers to make major changes and that they should be considered separately. Some advocates mentioned that passage and enactment of SB 1270 by Sen. Wes Chebsro (Democrat - Arcata) now pending in the Legislature, would be the better way to move foward on system-wide changes to promote community integration. Other advocates insisted that the State should not be providing more additional funding increases to programs that segregate people with developmental disabilities from their community, but instead should require real changes to be made.
* This issue will be the subject of further discussions on July 31 in hopes of working out a compromise specifically on how to implement the provisions of AB 1807 related to these specific programs..
* The Department of Developmental Services, based on the budget related legislation, suggested that work activity program providers could qualify for the wage increase if by June 30, 2007 by adding a new supported employment component to its program or by adding a self employment or micro-enterprise component to its current program. The Department of Developmental Services estimates that about 250 work activity programs could be eligible but no estimate on how many would actually apply or how many would qualify under whatever conversion guidelines are agreed to This issue was not finalized and will be part of the July 31 meeting for further discussion and possible compromise.

Day and Work Activity Programs That Could Qualify
There was also agreement with stakeholders present and the Department of Developmental Services on the following:
* Services and supports provided by a day or work activity program provider meet a person with developmental disabilities' needs as identified and documented in their Individual Program Plan (IPP).
* The program provider has a day program, "look-alike day program" and/or work activity program services and supports.
* The Department of Developmental Services will use the same vendor service codes used in its budget process to identify eligible services for the $19 million wage increase as follows:
Activity Center (Service Code 505)
Adaptive Skills Trainer (Service Code 605)
Adult Developmental Center (Service Code 510)
Behavior Intervention Training (Service Code 048)
Behavior Management (Service Code 515)
Community Integration Training Program (Service Code 056)
Community Activities Support Services (Service Code 063)
Creative Art Program (Service Code 094)
Independent Living (Service Code 520)
Independent Living Specialist (Service Code 635)
Infant Development Program (Service Code 805)
Mobile Day Program (Service Code 091)
Social Recreation (Service Code 525)
Socialization Training Program (Service Code 028)
Work Activity Program (Service Code 954)

Timelines
Though not yet final, the Department of Developmental Services has put together the following timeline to implement the $19.1 million wage increase:
* July 1, 2006 - Rates effective (retroactively) to July 1,2 006.
* By August 5, 2006 - providers who are eligible, submit self certification forms and cost data information at the same time to both the Department of Developmental Services and to their regional center(s).
* By August 30, 2006 - the Department of Developmental Services will notify the regional centers and providers of the amount of their rate increase (for the wage increase) and will allocate funds to regional centers accordingly. The Department of Developmental Services will issue rate letters for the Department's established rates and provide regional centers with information about the amount of the rate increase for other programs.
* By October 31, 2006 - day program providers who are site-based and are converting or work activity program providers who are adding a supported employment or self employment or micro-enterprise component to their program would submit a revised program design for review and approval to their regional center. The specific guidelines regarding day program providers who are site-based or work activity programs, has not yet been finalized and is the subject of disagreement

How Should Potential Eligible Providers Apply
* The Department of Developmental Services will post on its website (and post on on other list services and other mass media) a letter and instructions for applying. This information will not likely be available until early August. The Department's website is:   http://www.dds.ca.gov/
* The Department of Developmental Services says it will mail the same letter and instructions with application to all potentially eligible providers in California.
* The Department of Developmental Services also indicated it will make available a web based application for providers to submit required cost data information to the Department.

Impact to People with Disabilities and Seniors, Provider and Workers
* Impact to Workers:Very important, as this could help provide some level of stability especially if combined with other potential increases, and could help in keeping workers to stay on the job. For those day or work activity program providers who qualify for the $19.1 million increase for wages, the direct care staff are those that, according to the Department of Developmental Services "...provides direct services to consumers. For the purposes of this allocation, eligible staff must provide direct care 75% of the time to be conisdered eligible for the wage pass through. Personnel who are responsible for other staff functions maybe considered direct care staff only during that time when they are providing direct services to consumers or are involved in program preparation functions as defined in Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Section 54302."
* Impact to Providers: Very important. This funding is meant for increases in wages for certain workers The Department of Developmental Services defineswages, for the purposes of the $19.1 million wage pass through, as "as payment for labor or servicfes to workers", and does not include benefits, except those costs directly required by the federal or state government (FICA, workers compensation, unemployment insurance) and only as a direct result of this wage increase.
* Impact to People With Developmental Disabilities: Very important to those people with developmental disabilities (and their families) who may be in those day or work activity programs that qualify or might qualify for the $19.1 million increase for wages for support staff as, combined with other possible increases, could make staff support more stable or change an existing segregated day or work activity program into a more integrated program with their community. Persons with disabilities and seniors not receiving services funded through the regional centers would not be directly impacted by these increases.

CDCAN 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.
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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.