Disability Thrive Initiative

The cost of 24-hour out-of-home care through the state’s regional centers for children with developmental disabilities will drop for some parents in California. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) this week signed into law AB 564 by Assembly member Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton).                     The new law raises the threshold for paying a parental fee for those families with a child in 24-hour out-of-home care through the regional centers, so that families earning between 100% and 200% of federal poverty level can now be exempted from the fee. Read more.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Thursday a bill that would require applicants looking to get licensed to run a residential care facility for the elderly to disclose prior ownership of any type of facility in any state.  The bill — AB 601 — was authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, and establishes specific suitability requirements for all licensing applicants, according to a news release from the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.  Read more.

Families and care providers for special needs adults across the state rely on Denti-Cal, a subset of Medi-Cal for their dental needs.

Dentists and care providers now say as a result of Denti-Cal policies that have been enacted by the state Department of Health Care Services, or are soon to be enacted, many special needs patients’ wait times for proper dental care has stretched to several months, almost a year in some cases. It used to take Karen Farnsworth just a few weeks to schedule a doctor or dental appointment for Terry O’Donnell, who is severely autistic and blind.

“Now just to get preventative care it takes two to three months, sometimes up to six months,” said Farnsworth.  Read more.

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing an elementary school for allegedly barring a student with disabilities from bringing her service dog to class unless a handler comes too.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Justice Department said that the Gates Chili Central School District in Rochester, N.Y. is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for “failing to reasonably modify its policies, practices or procedures” to allow a student known in court papers as D.P. to bring her service dog to school without conditions. Read more.

Four years after approving legislation that ended the anti-blight redevelopment program in California, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill giving local agencies a way to pay for similar projects.

Assembly Bill 2, by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, authorizes local governments in economically depressed areas to use certain tax revenue for public works and affordable housing improvements and to help businesses.

Read more.

The state Legislature adjourned without approving a change required by the federal government to avoid losing $1.1 billion in Medi-Cal funding.  Democrats and Republicans are pointing fingers, with each blaming the other.

California’s managed care organizations tax only applies to those that participate in Medi-Cal. Read more.