Bill Text: CA AB138 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 138 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Elder Economic Planning Act of 2011.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 668, Statutes of 2011. [AB138 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB138-Introduced.html

BILL NUMBER: AB 138	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beall

                        JANUARY 13, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 9100 and 9400 of, and to add Section 9009
to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 138, as introduced, Beall. Elder Economic Planning Act of 2011.

   The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act creates the California
Department of Aging, with prescribed duties, including the
development of the state plan on aging.
   This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, the
department to report data from the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index (Elder Index), as defined, for each service area included in
the state plan.
   The act also establishes area agencies on aging with specified
duties, including creation of a plan for the agencies that considers
available data and population trends, assesses the need for services,
identifies sources of funding for services, and develops and
implements a plan for the delivery of services based on the need.
   This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, that the
plan utilize the Elder Index to specify the cost of meeting basic
needs for elders in each planning and service area, and identify the
number or percentage of elders living at or below the Elder Index.
   The federal Older Americans Act provides for various programs,
including the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), an
employment and training program for employed, low-income seniors.
This program is locally administered by area agencies on aging.
   This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, that the
area agencies on aging use the Elder Index to track
state-administered SCSEP participants progress toward economic
sustainability.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Elder
Economic Planning Act of 2011.
  SEC. 2.  Section 9009 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   9009.  (a) "Elder Economic Security Standard Index" means an
index, available on the Internet, that quantifies the costs in the
private market for meeting the basic needs of elders, including, but
not limited to, the costs of essential household items, food, health
care, shelter, transportation, and utilities.
   (b) The Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated
biennially by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for
Health Policy Research, using publicly available data sources on the
costs to live in each county of the state.
  SEC. 3.  Section 9100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   9100.  (a) There is in the  Health and Welfare Agency
  California Health and Human Services Agency,  the
California Department of Aging.
   (b) The department's mission shall be to provide leadership to the
area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and
community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes
or least restrictive homelike environments.
   (c)  (1)    In fulfilling its mission, the
department shall develop minimum standards for service delivery to
ensure that its programs meet consumer needs, operate in a
cost-effective manner, and preserve the independence and dignity of
aging Californians. In accomplishing its mission, the department
shall consider available data and population trends in developing
programs and policies, collaborate with area agencies on aging, the
commission, and other state and local agencies, and consider the
views of advocates, consumers and their families, and service
providers. 
   (2) The department shall report the Elder Economic Security
Standard Index data for each service area in its state plan, but only
if the Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated and made
available to the department. 
   (d) The minimum standards for  its   the
department  programs shall ensure that the system meets all of
the following requirements:
   (1) Have the flexibility to respond to the needs of 
individuals,   individuals and  their families and
caregivers.
   (2) Provide for consumer choice and self-determination.
   (3) Enable consumers to be involved in designing and monitoring
the system.
   (4) Be equally accessible to diverse populations regardless of
income, consistent with  existing  state and federal
law.
   (5) Have consistent statewide policy, with local control and
implementation.
   (6) Include preventive services and  home and community
based   home- and community-based  support.
   (7) Have cost containment and fiscal incentives consistent with
the delivery of appropriate services at the appropriate level.
  SEC. 4.  Section 9400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   9400.  (a) The Legislature hereby declares and recognizes the area
agencies on aging to be the local units on aging in California that
are supported from an array of sources, including federal funding
largely through the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
 3001,   3001  et seq.), state and local
 government   governmental  assistance, the
private sector, and individual contributions for services.
   (b) Area agencies on aging shall operate in compliance with the
Older Americans Act and applicable regulations.
   (c) Each area agency on aging shall maintain a professional staff
that is supplemented by volunteers, governed by a board of directors
or elected officials, and whose activities are reviewed by an
advisory council consisting primarily of older individuals from the
community.
   (d)  (1)    Each area agency on aging shall
create a plan that considers available data and population trends,
assesses the needs for services provided under this division
reflective of the community needs, identifies sources for funding
those services, and develops and implements a plan for delivery of
those services based on those needs. Each plan shall include
developing area home- and community-based systems of care that
maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive
environment, providing better access to these services through
information and referral, outreach, and transportation, and
advocating for the elderly on local, state, and national levels. 

   (2) Each plan shall use the Elder Economic Security Standard Index
to specify the costs in the private market of meeting the basic
needs of elders in each planning and service area, and identify the
number or percentage of elders who are living at or below the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index. This paragraph shall be implemented
only if the Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated and
made available to the area agencies on aging. 
   (e) Area agencies on aging shall function as the community link at
the local level for development of home- and community-based
services provided under the department's programs.
   (f) The area agencies on aging shall implement subdivision (b) of
Section 9100 at the local level, with particular emphasis on
coordinating with the local systems to enable individuals to live out
their lives with maximum independence and dignity in their own homes
and communities through the development of comprehensive and
coordinated systems of home- and community-based care.
Nothing in this   This  division shall  not
 preclude local determination and designation of service
coordinators other than area agencies on aging, for development and
implementation of the long-term care integration pilot projects set
forth in Article 4.05 (commencing with Section 14139.05) of Chapter 7
of Part 3 of Division 9.
   (g) In fulfilling their mission, area agencies on aging shall
build upon the resources and the commitment unique to each community
and shall be guided by a 10-point description of a community-based
system that shall do all of the following:
   (1)  Have   Provide  a visible focal
point of contact where anyone can go or call for help, information,
or referral on any aging issue.
   (2) Provide a range of service options.
   (3) Ensure that these options are readily accessible to all older
individuals, whether independent, semi-independent, or totally
dependent,  no matter what   regardless of 
their income.
   (4) Include a commitment of public, private, and voluntary
resources committed to supporting the system.
   (5) Involve collaborative decisionmaking among public, private,
voluntary, religious, and fraternal organizations, as well as older
individuals and consumers in the community.
   (6) Offer special help or targeted resources for the most
vulnerable older individuals, those in danger of losing their
independence.
   (7) Provide effective referral from agency to agency to ensure
that information or assistance is received,  no matter
  regardless of  how or where contact is made in
the community.
   (8) Evidence sufficient flexibility to respond with appropriate
individualized assistance, especially for the vulnerable older
individuals.
   (9)  Have   Provide    a unique
character that is tailored to the specific nature of the community.
   (10)  Be directed   Provide direction 
by leaders in the community who have the respect, capacity, and
authority necessary to convene all interested persons to assess
needs, design solutions, track overall success, stimulate change, and
plan community responses for the present and for the future. 
   (h) The area agencies on aging shall use the Elder Economic
Security Standard Index to track the progress of participants in the
state-administered Senior Community Service Employment Program, but
only if the Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated and
made available to the area agencies on aging. 
  SEC. 5.  This act shall not be construed to mandate changes in the
current funding allocations to area agencies on aging made pursuant
to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section
9112 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
  SEC. 6.  This act shall not be construed, based on the use of the
Elder Economic Security Standard Index, to affect means-tested
programs administered through the Mello-Granlund Older Californians
Act.