2022-10-26 SGPRC Board Meeting (Full Video)
Channel: Aligra, Inc.
Date: 2022-12-30

We have been advised by the First Amendment Coalition (www.FirstAmendmentCoalition.org) that this video recording may be posted for public review in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Act.

New SGPRC Executive Director Jesse Weller's first director's report to the Board of Directors highlighted the governor's notice the Covid19 state of emergency that has been in place since 2020 will end February 28, and the need to be aware of potential procedural changes as a result of the transition out of pandemic mode.  

Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 870, preventing the age of onset disability diagnoses to increase from 18 to 22. As of right now, eligibility ends after age 18, and individuals will not qualify for DDS services if they are diagnosed at 19 or older. Weller said the issue may be revisited in the future. 

Weller said the Hoover commission will be doing a lot of work on service access and disparities in the regional center. Assembly Bill 1663, legislation signed into law in September giving courts abilities to review conservatorships, as well as giving more disabled individuals more say over their support systems, is being utilized to review the state program and individual conservatorships. 

"Super important," Weller said. "Lots of work about looking into alternatives for conservatorships and supported decision making. Lots of work there around oversight and review of anyone conserved in California, particularly in our system."  

Carl Argila requested a meeting with Weller during the earlier public comments portion to discuss concerns regarding his son's conservatorship. BOD President Gisele Ragusa credited Weller for presenting figures on the number of individuals served and new referrals, a practice she said ceased in recent times. 

A considerable portion of the meeting focused on the 2021 full implementation of the Self-Determination Program (SDP) which was introduced as law in 2013.  Opportunity for pilot program enrollment was based on the number of lottery tickets awarded each regional center.  

DDS originally awarded 102 of 2500 statewide spots to the SGPRC, but "a second round was done due to low initial enrollment. It got expanded beyond the 2500," said Rosa Chavez, associate director of family and transition services.  

The regional center provides up to $2,500 for a Person Centered Plan associated with the SDP process. Chavez said a lot of training occurred behind the scenes to prepare prior to the program's official start in July, which included continuation of training during the pandemic. 

"We've come a long ways," Chavez said. "We went from 39 enrolled families at the start of the year, to now going on going 93. We've more than doubled in less than a year. Which goes to show that centralization of the SDP program has really helped our regional center transition those facilities successfully."

Weller reported SGPRC received more than $93,000 for SDP in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.  The program is now available to all those eligible under the Lanterman Act.  Each regional center is required to have a Local Advisory Committee to oversee SDPs and report recommendations in public meetings. 

"The SGPRC is [known] for being proactive in communicating and facilitating accessibility to new programs," said Yaned Busch, specialized services manager for special projects.  "We began by mailing out letters to all individuals eligible under the Lanterman Act to let them know about the Self Determination Program and open enrollment."

Busch said more than 400 families have inquired about the SDP, and that as of right now there is one service coordinator for the 93 SDP cases.  The regional center originally planned for a 40 to one ratio. 

"We have to do some innovative thinking," Busch said about fixing the ratio.

In response to inquiry from Ragusa, Busch said the biggest challenge for SDP is families learning how to become SDP employers. 

The meeting closed with the annual review of the whistleblower policy and procedure.  The main purpose of the policy is to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, Ragusa said.  No specific policy updates were pointed out, but Ragusa said recent revisions were made with assistance from the Enright and Associates law firm.