Opinion ID: 2634509
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Regional Centers Are Responsible for Only Periodic Monitoring

Text: Regional centers have important but limited monitoring responsibilities. A regional center representative is required to monitor the provision of care and services supplied by a provider to ensure they are provided in accordance with the developmentally disabled person's IPP. (§§ 4742, 4743.) During monitoring visits to a provider, the regional center liaison is required to, among other things, review staff schedules for compliance with the approved service level requirements, review staff personnel files to ensure compliance with the regulations pertaining to training and testing, and select and review a randomly chosen sample of 20 percent of the facility's records to ensure that services are being provided to the developmentally disabled persons in accordance with their IPP's. (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 17, § 56048, subd. (d).) The regional center liaison must inform the administrator of the facility of any substantial inadequacies found in the care and services provided, the specific corrective actions necessary, and the date by which those actions must be completed. (§ 4745.) A regional center may terminate its contract with a provider if it determines the provider has not complied with the contract or with applicable law and regulations. (§ 4648.1, subd. (d).) If conditions constituting an immediate danger to a developmentally disabled person come to the attention of a regional center, the regional center must investigate the situation immediately, and if the immediate danger cannot be corrected within 24 hours of verification, the regional center must take immediate steps to relocate the developmentally disabled person. (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 17, § 56053.) However, the Legislature did not require of regional centers anything like the hour-by-hour monitoring that would have been required to prevent Bobby's tragic death. A regional center is required to establish a schedule of regular periodic review and reevaluation to ascertain that planned services have been provided, that objectives have been fulfilled within the times specified, and that consumers and families are satisfied with the individual program plan and implementation. (§ 4646.5, subd. (a)(6), italics added.) A regional center representative must meet with a developmentally disabled person at least quarterly to review progress towards achieving the IPP objectives. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 17, § 56047, subd. (a).) No fewer than two unannounced monitoring visits to a care facility are to be conducted by a regional center each year. (§ 4648.1, subd. (a).) The regional center liaison is required to visit the facility at least once a year. (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 17, § 56048, subd. (d)(1).) A service coordinator may be responsible for monitoring dozens of consumers. [6] Stretched so thin, the service coordinators could not possibly provide the continuous monitoring contemplated by the Court of Appeal.