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CALIFORNIA'S MOVE TO THE COMMUNITY CONTINUES
2001
Text of AB
896
February 26: Initiative Would Have Institutions
Close for Good
April 13: Measure To Close Institutions
Moves Forward
May 2: Director Says California's
Institutions Will Close
June 11: Unification Bill
Advances
August 23: Systems Unification Measure On
Hold, For Now
Text of AB 896 as introduced
Here is
the text of AB 896 which was introduced in February 2001 by Assemblywoman Dion
Aroner. It would move the state of California toward becoming a fully
community-based service system:
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0851-0900/ab_896_bill_20010223_introduced.html
You can read a simplified text of AB 896 at the Oaks Group
website:
http://www.oaksgroup.org/ab896
Initiative Would Have Institutions Close for
Good
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 26, 2001
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- Like many other states, California has been
moving from an institution-based service system for people with developmental
disabilities to a community-based service system. Over the last three decades,
the population of the state's institutions, called "developmental centers", has
dropped 72 percent.
The resistance from pro-institution groups is as strong as ever. And there are still 4,000 people living in those developmental centers.
But last week, Assemblywoman Dion Aroner from Berkeley introduced a bill that would transfer resources from the state's five remaining institutions and use it to develop homes in the community and to improve pay for direct support staff working in the community. If it is approved as introduced, AB 896 would develop a unified, community-based service system out of the current dual system.
Even though community advocates see de-institutionalization as a human rights issue, it will likely be money that will make the difference. California's community-based service system serves about 170,000 people at an average cost of $11,700 a year per person. The state also houses 3,800 Californians in five developmental centers, at an average of $166,753 a year per person. In other words, the state spends about 25 percent of its developmental disabilities budget on 2 percent of the people it serves.
At the same time, the aging institution facilities themselves may help to bring about de-institutionalization. Two of the institutions are over 100 years old. The buildings themselves are decaying and the cost to renovate them and to bring them up to code is estimated at over a billion dollars.
This article from Sunday's Sacramento Bee attempts to give a balanced
approach to the "institution versus community" debate. But the writer's poor
attention to detail makes me wonder about the accuracy of any of his
information. For example, Billy Coffelt's father is Bill Coffelt, not Bruce
Coffelt. The family is from Vallejo, not Vacaville. And, as Billy's father has
pointed out several times, it is not known how the boy was injured while at the
Oaks Unit at Sonoma Developmental Center twelve years ago.
"A SYSTEM
DIVIDED: INEQUITIES IN TREATMENT OF DISABLED HAVE PUT FAMILIES AT ODDS"
http://www.capitolalert.com/news/old/capalert04_20010225.html
A suit filed on behalf of Coffelt and other institution residents
resulted in over 2,000 Californians moving from developmental centers and into
the community during the 1990s. The Oaks Group website, administered by Bill
Coffelt, recently published a web page that has links to several video news
segments regarding the Coffelt case, going all the way back to 1989.
http://oaksgroup.org/billy/
Terry Boisot's column from September 26, 2000, entitled
"SELF-DETERMINATION" includes references to Elizabeth MacKenzie and her family,
who are mentioned in the Sacramento Bee article above:
http://news.newspress.com/sbcc/0926disable.htm
Measure To Close Institutions Moves
Forward
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 13, 2001
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA--Last week, a bill that would phase out
California's five institutions, known as developmental centers, was approved by
the Assembly Human Services Committee.
California's community-based service system serves about 170,000 people at an average cost of $11,700 a year per person. The state also houses 3,800 Californians in five developmental centers, at an average of $166,753 a year per person. In other words, the state spends about 25 percent of its developmental disabilities budget on 2 percent of the people it serves.
Assembly Bill 896, written by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, would unify the system by transferring resources from the expensive, out-dated institutions and use it to develop homes in the community and to improve pay for direct support staffs working in the community. If it is approved as written, the moves could begin as early as 2003.
The measure is being opposed by the state employee's union and the association of parents whose children are currently housed at the developmental centers.
Columnist Terry Boisot, whose son has disabilities, testified before the
committee last week in support of the bill. Her Tuesday column in the Santa
Barbara NewsPress included her testimony:
http://news.newspress.com/sbcc/0410disable.htm
Director Says California's Institutions Will
Close
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 2,
2001
POMONA, CALIFORNIA--Institutions for Californians who have
developmental disabilities will be a thing of the past, according to Clifford
Allenby, director of California's Department of Developmental Services.
In a Los Angeles Times article about Lanterman Developmental Center, Allenby is quoted as saying that closing the state's five institutions is "inevitable".
"Lanterman at some point in time in the not too distant future will not exist," Allenby said of the institution at Pomona.
On February 23rd, Berkeley Assemblywoman Dion Aroner introduced a bill that would transfer resources from California's five remaining institutions, called "developmental centers", and use it to develop homes in the community and to improve pay for direct support staff working in the community. If it is approved, Aroner's AB 896 would develop a unified, community-based service system out of the current dual system.
In the LA Times story, Allenby says that even if AB 896 is not approved, the institutions will gradually be down-sized and closed.
"Eventually, clients will all be living in the community," he said.
California's community-based service system for people with developmental disabilities serves about 170,000 people at an average cost of $11,700 a year per person. The state also houses about 3,800 Californians in five developmental centers, at an average of $166,753 a year per person. In other words, the state spends about 25 percent of its developmental disabilities budget on 2 percent of the people it serves.
The aging facilities themselves may help to bring about deinstitutionalization. Two of the institutions are over 100 years old. The buildings themselves are decaying and the cost to renovate them and to bring them up to code is estimated at over a billion dollars.
Unification Bill Advances
By Dave
Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
June 11, 2001
SACRAMENTO,
CALIFORNIA--Last week, people with developmental disabilities in California
moved another step toward having a unified, community-based service system.
By a final vote of 47 to 24, the California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 896. The measure would pull resources from the state's five expensive, out-dated institutions to develop homes in the community and to improve pay for direct support staffs working in the community.
California's current community system serves about 170,000 people at an average cost of $11,700 a year per person. The state also houses 3,800 Californians in five developmental centers, at an average of $166,753 a year per person. In other words, the state spends about 25 percent of its developmental disabilities budget on 2 percent of the people it serves. AB 896 would combine resources, and redistribute funding with an emphasis on community-based services.
The bill now heads to the State Senate, where it is to be heard in a Senate committee.
Systems Unification Measure On Hold, For
Now
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August 23,
2001
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA--Assembly Bill 896, the measure that would
move money for people with developmental disabilities from California's
institutions and use it to develop homes in the community, will not be voted on
until after January 1, 2002.
During a two-hour long hearing before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday afternoon, several advocates for community-based services testified on the importance of passing the measure during the next legislative session. Some members of the committee also said they would work hard during the upcoming session to make sure it passes.
Introduced by Berkeley Assemblywoman Dion Aroner this February, AB 896 proposed to develop a single, community-based service system out of the current system that heavily favors the state's five remaining institutions, here called developmental centers.
Currently, the state spends about 25 percent of its developmental disabilities budget on the 2 percent of Californians living in institutions, here called developmental centers. California's community-based service system serves about 170,000 people at an average cost of $11,700 a year per person. The state houses about 3,800 Californians in five developmental centers, at an average of $166,753 a year per person.
The Oaks Group website has links to a number of documents related to AB
896:
http://www.oaksgroup.org/ab896/id66.htm
Wednesday's Sacramento Bee ran an opinion piece in favor of AB
896:
http://www.sacbee.com/voices/news/voices01_20010822.html
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