Bill Text: CA AB1744 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: California Department of Aging.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)

Status: (Vetoed) 2014-09-30 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB1744 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1744-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1744	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 8, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 20, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Brown
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Atkins)
   (  Coauthor:   Assembly Member 
 Yamada   Coauthors:   Assembly Members
  Cooley,   Levine,   and Yamada  )

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2014

   An act to add Section 9104 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to aging.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1744, as amended, Brown. California Department of Aging.
   The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act creates the California
Department of Aging 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. Existing law requires the department, in
accomplishing its mission, to consider available data and population
trends in developing programs and policies, collaborate with area
agencies on aging, the California Commission on Aging, and other
state and local agencies.
   This bill would require the department to convene a blue-ribbon
panel, comprised of at least 12 members, as specified, to make
legislative recommendations to improve services for unpaid and family
caregivers in California, as provided. The bill would require the
committee to prepare a report of its findings and recommendations and
provide it to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2016. The bill
would make related findings and declarations.
   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
California Caregiver Act of 2014.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) A caregiver can be any relative, partner, friend, or neighbor
who has a significant relationship with, and who provides a broad
range of assistance to, an older person or an adult with a chronic or
disabling condition.
   (b) At present, there is no complete inventory of caregiving
programs available to Californians performing unpaid caregiving
services for an aging or disabled family member, friend, or neighbor.

   (c) Rising demand and shrinking families to provide caregiving
support suggest that California needs a comprehensive person- and
family-centered policy for long-term services and supports systems
that would better serve the needs of older persons with disabilities,
support family and friends in their caregiving roles, and promote
greater efficiencies in public spending.
   (d) California ranked 30th out of 50 states and the District of
Columbia on the 2011 State Long-Term Services and Supports Scorecard
sponsored by the SCAN Foundation, American Association of Retired
Persons (AARP), and the Commonwealth Fund.
   (e) Family support is a key driver in remaining in one's home and
community, but it comes at substantial costs to the caregivers, their
families, and to society. If family caregivers were no longer
available, the economic cost to California's health care and
long-term services and supports systems would increase
astronomically.
   (f) In 2009, approximately 4 million family caregivers in
California provided care to an adult with limitations in daily
activities at any given point in time, and over 5.8 million provided
care at some time during the year.
   (g) In 2009, California's family caregivers provided an estimated
 3,850,000   3,850,000,000  hours of unpaid
labor caring for their loved ones. The estimated economic value of
their unpaid contributions was approximately $47 billion.
   (h) In 2009, 59 percent of all family caregivers were employed
full or part time. Family caregivers typically spend 20 hours a week
caring for a family member who needs help with bathing, dressing, and
other kinds of personal care, as well as household tasks such as
shopping and managing finances.
   (i) Nationally, 46 percent of family caregivers performed medical
or nursing tasks for care recipients with multiple chronic physical
and cognitive conditions. More than three-quarters of family
caregivers who provided medical or nursing tasks were managing
medications, including administering intravenous fluids and
injections.
   (j) Almost one-half of family caregivers were administering five
to nine prescription medications a day, and one in five was helping
with 10 or more prescription medications a day. Yet, 61 percent of
these caregivers reported that they trained themselves to perform
medication management.
   (k) Only 31 percent of caregivers reported being visited at home
by a health care professional. In addition, 27 percent of caregivers
report that they have no additional assistance from a family member,
health care professional, or home health aide.
   (l) Nationally, more than 8 in 10 caregivers are over the age of
50. Family caregivers are aging and are increasingly from 
diverse,   diverse  social, racial, ethnic, and
political backgrounds.
   (m) For many families in the midst of caregiving, there is deep
worry and concern about the quality of care and quality of life.
   (n) Families do not know who to call or where to go to get the
right kind of affordable help when they need it.
   (o) In just 13 years, as the baby boomers age into their 80s, the
decline in the caregiver support ratio is projected to shift from a
slow decline to a free fall in California.
   (p) To avoid bankrupting our health and social service systems
serving the elderly and persons with disabilities, it is imperative
that California prepare by identifying strategies that will promote
appropriate, person-centered services for families struggling with
providing care to a family member.
   (q) It is in the interest of the state to better serve the
approximately 4,000,000 families statewide who are currently
struggling to care for an aging or disabled family member, many of
whom are also in the workforce.
   (r) There is an immense need for caregiving resources and
services. As California's population ages and as California becomes
increasingly diverse, it is also in the interest of the state to
adequately serve the following emerging caregiver populations:
   (1) Caregivers from the Black, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific
Islander communities.
   (2) Families of individuals with developmental disabilities.
   (3) Persons who cannot access or are not eligible for existing
caregiver support programs.
   (4) Non-English speakers, and ethnically and racially diverse
populations that need caregiving programs to be provided in a
culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.
   (5) Those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community.
   (6) Rural residents.
  SEC. 3.  Section 9104 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   9104.  (a) The department shall convene a blue-ribbon panel on
family caregiving and long-term services and supports. The panel
shall be jointly chaired by the director of the department or his or
her designee and a representative  of AARP California, except
that all   elected by the members of the panel. All
 decisions regarding the expenditure of state funds shall be
made by the department representative. The panel shall be comprised
of at least 12 members  who shall serve at the pleasure of
the department and AARP, and shall include all   , 
 each of whom shall be representative of one or more  of
the following  categories  :
   (1)  One   A  person with experience in
the field of academic research on caregiving.
   (2)  One   A  family caregiver for an
adult with a chronic or disabling condition.
   (3)  One   A    representative
of the mental health community.
   (4)  One   A  representative of the
California caregiver resource centers.
   (5)  One   A  representative of the
national Alzheimer's Association.
   (6) One   A  representative of an
organization that provides community-based adult services.
   (7)  One   A  representative of an
organization that provides an adult day program.
   (8)  One   A  representative of an
organization that provides services to caregivers.
   (9)  One   A    representative
of an unpaid or family caregiver consumer organization.
   (10)  One   A representative with expertise
in and knowledge of the specific needs of  culturally and
linguistically diverse  caregiver   caregivers
and the unique challenges of delivering services to family caregivers
who face cultural or linguistic barriers  .
   (11)  One   An    adult with a
chronic or disabling condition who receives care from an unpaid
caregiver or family member.
   (b) The blue-ribbon panel shall do all of the following:
   (1) Review the current policies and practices of state, local, and
community programs available to caregivers of adults with chronic or
disabling conditions, and consider how the needs of family
caregivers should be assessed and addressed so that they can continue
in their caregiving role without being overburdened.
   (2) Consider the recommendations of other state plans, including,
but not limited to, the Olmstead Plan, the Long-Range Strategic Plan
on Aging, the State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease, and the State Plan
on Aging.
   (3) Compile an inventory of the resources available to family
caregivers.
   (4) Determine gaps in services to family caregivers and identify
barriers to participation in current programs.
   (5) Consider cultural and linguistic factors that impact
caregivers and care recipients who are from diverse populations.
   (6) Consult with a broad range of stakeholders, including, but not
limited to, people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, adults with
disabling or chronic conditions, family caregivers, community-based
and institutional providers, caregiving researchers and academicians,
formal caregivers, the Caregiver Resource Centers, the California
Commission on Aging, and other state entities.
   (7) Solicit testimony on the needs of family caregivers, including
the designation of caregivers, training, respite services, medical
leave policies, delegation of tasks to nonmedical aides, and other
policies.
   (8) Identify best practices both in California and in other
states.
   (9) Explore expanding those best practices in caregiving programs
to populations that are not currently targeted.
   (10) Develop at least three legislative recommendations to improve
the provision of services for unpaid and family caregivers in
California. These recommendations shall address all of the following:

   (A) Community-based support for California's diverse population of
caregivers for adults with chronic or disabling conditions.
   (B) Choices for care and residence for persons with Alzheimer's
disease and their families.
   (C) The family caregiving competence of health care professionals.

   (11) Prepare and provide to the Legislature a report of its
findings and recommendations on or before July 1, 2016.
   (12) Provide ongoing advice and assistance to the department and
the Legislature as to the needs and priorities of unpaid and relative
caregivers.
   (c) (1) Members shall serve without compensation, but shall
receive reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses
actually incurred in the performance of their official duties.
   (2) The panel shall meet on a bimonthly basis.
   (3) All meetings of the panel shall be open to the public and
adequate notice shall be provided in accordance with the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

   (d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (11) of subdivision (b) is inoperative on July 1, 2020,
pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
   (2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (11) of
subdivision (b) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of
the Government Code.