Series of Regional Workgroup Meetings Planned as DDS Moves Forward on Task Force Recommendations

The California Disability Community Action Network (CDCAN) is reporting that a conference call was held this afternoon to provide more information on the series of regional workgroup meetings scheduled for the coming weeks that have been organized to consider the implementation of the Developmental Centers Task Force recommendations.

The “pre-meeting” conference call was hosted by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and was intended to review background information on the topics that will be discussed at the three upcoming regional meetings and help prepare representatives for those meetings. The general public was welcome to listen in on the conference call but will be excluded from the workgroup meetings due to space constraints, according to DDS.

CDCAN provided the following background information on the Workgroup sessions:

Earlier this month, the Department of Developmental Services announced a series of three two-day regional stakeholder workgroup meetings in Fresno, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The purpose of the meetings is to help lay the groundwork for the implementation of the recommendations of the California Health and Human Services Agency Task Force on the Future of Developmental Centers' January 13, 2014 report, "Plan for the Future of Developmental Centers in California.”  (Click on the link to access a copy of the report.)

From those recommendations, the Department of Developmental Services developed several proposals that were introduced with proposed revisions to the Governor's Budget in May and were signed approved by the Legislature and signed into law in June by Governor Brown as part of SB 856 -  the Developmental Services 2014-15 Budget trailer bill.

The Department of Developmental Services, as the next step in that process, has asked invited organizations and individuals to participate in a stakeholder process to provide input on these proposals and for the development of regulations related to these initiatives, in addition to input from the general public.

The series of three, two-day workgroup meetings scheduled in late August and early September is meant to  provide initial input on the following topics:

• New Models of Care for Challenging Behavioral Needs
• Enhanced Behavioral Support Homes
• Community Crisis Homes
• Acute Crisis Units at Sonoma and Fairview Developmental Centers
• Community State Staff Program Expansion
• Developmental Center Resident Transition Planning

The Department of Developmental Services indicated, in its announcement earlier this month about the workgroup stakeholder meetings that “…due to the limited capacity of the state conference rooms, these initial stakeholder workgroup meetings are limited to invited participants. There will be additional opportunities for public comment as the stakeholder process proceeds”.

According to the Department of Developmental Services, the series of three workgroup meetings will include representation from throughout California, including organizations representing consumers and consumer advocates, family members, regional centers, and other stakeholders. To ensure that a wide range of local community perspectives are represented, organizations were asked to appoint a different regional representative to each workgroup location (Fresno, Los Angeles and Sacramento).

The Department of Developmental Services also indicated in its earlier announcement that it was “…strongly committed to working with its stakeholders as it seeks feedback in support of the [Developmental Centers] Task Force Recommendations. No final decisions will be made at these workgroup meetings. They are intended as brainstorming sessions to gather input and ideas, not to confirm final solutions. Stakeholders and the public will have additional opportunities outside of this series of workgroup meetings to weigh in with concerns, questions or ideas.”

DATES:

AUGUST 27th and AUGUST 28th

FRESNO (by invitation only)
Hugh Burns State Building

2550 Mariposa Mall, Room 1036

Fresno, CA 93721


SEPTEMBER 3rd and SEPTEMBER 4th
LOS ANGELES (by invitation only)

Junipero Serra Office Building
320 W. 4th Street, Auditorium
Los Angeles, CA 90013



SEPTEMBER 10th and SEPTEMBER 11th
SACRAMENTO (by invitation only)
Department of Health Care Services
1700 K. Street, 1st Floor Conference Room

Sacramento, CA 95811

AGENDA:

To view the agendas for the three regional Workgroup meetings, click on http://www.dds.ca.gov/publicforums/docs/workgroupAgenda.pdf

DDS has outlined talking points for the meetings, including enhanced behavioral support homes, community state staff program expansion, and the acute crisis units proposed at Sonoma Developmental Center and Fairview Developmental Center. You can access that document here: http://www.dds.ca.gov/publicforums/docs/topicPoints.pdf

more BACKGROUND:

You can see a list of stakeholders invited to the Workgroup meetings here: http://www.dds.ca.gov/publicforums/docs/stakeHolderList.pdf

The trailer bill (SB 856) passed earlier this year that contains provisions regarding implementation of the Developmental Center Task Force recommendation can be viewed here: http://www.dds.ca.gov/publicforums/docs/sb856.pdf