March 18, 2011 – In the Lanterman Act’s forty-one year history it has come under attack by governors, legislators and bureaucrats many times. Two governors have made unsuccessful attempts to suspend it; over the years administrative department officials have repeatedly tried to define it more narrowly and restrict access to services and supports; and legislators have made attempts – many of them unsuccessful – to reduce funding and thereby limiting services.
Currently, Work Groups at the Department of Development Services (DDS) are meeting at the direction of the Legislature to decide how to cut $174,000,000 from the state budget by further limiting services. Data from the DDS’ online survey, which many of us completed, is one source of information used for this effort. This Work Group process will be over in a few short weeks and we are deeply concerned about the way it is being conducted.
Instead of looking at alternative ways to manage the budge that would have far less impact on the daily lives of people with developmental disabilities, the DDS is only looking at ways to cut the budget by reducing direct services.
This attempt is deemed a search for “Best Practices” (a euphemism for the previously used phrase “Services Standards”) and we feel it is a nice way of saying, “What is the easiest and quickest way to break the promise of the Lanterman Act?” The term “Best Practices” is misleading because what is being developed has nothing to do with how services are provided, but instead will be a set of limits on what services the state will provide.
So, not only are people with developmental disabilities and their families about to experience these cuts through the limiting of services and supports, they have been asked to provide suggestions on how these cuts will be done. Some have likened this to “helping plan your own funeral.”
The DDS and the Legislature have said the cuts will be made without eliminating the rights established by the Lanterman At. They’ve said that the IPP process will be honored. But is this really possible? And how will we know if their promise is kept? As a community of people who receive services and supports from the State of California, many of us do not have a clear understanding of our legal rights when we go through the individual program planning process.
We may not fully appreciate what we are about to lose as individuals and families, and as a community. It is critical that people with developmental disabilities and their families understand their rights under current law, so we can evaluate whether the DDS’ changes will really honor the IPP process and the entitlement, or whether they are really re-defining and limiting the entitlement. What follows is a partial list that we call your IPP Bill of Rights. Some of these are paraphrased so they are easier to understand, but they are all part of the Lanterman Act.
Your IPP Bill of Rights
1) You have a right to an Individual Program Plan and a right to make many choices in your life including how you spend your time, how you learn, where and how you work, how you spend leisure time, and how you pursue your future. This is the heart of the Lanterman Act: that you, not the state or the regional center, know what you need. Now the state wants to define “Best Practices” but the promise of the Lanterman Act is that you decide what is best for you.
2) You have a right to have your choices respected and to be presented with opportunities by public and private agencies to exercise your decision-making.
3) You have the right to have your needs and preferences taken into account when you develop your IPP.
4) You have the right to receive relevant information in an understandable form to aid you in making choices and developing your IPP.
5) You have the right to have a designated representative receive written notice of all meetings to develop and revise your IPP and to receive all notices sent to you.
6) You have a right to have all services and supports you receive written into your IPP, whether they are free, you pay for the service or the regional center incurs the cost.
7) You have a right to an IPP that is complete and accurate at the time you sign it.
8) You have the right to have a decision-maker present at your IPP planning meeting.
9) You have the right to audio record your IPP by giving 24-hour notice.
10) You have the right to convene another meeting within 15 days if a final agreement cannot be reached at your IPP meeting.
11) You can request a review of your IPP at any time. You have a right to review and/or change your IPP within 30 days after your request is submitted.
12) You have a right to a Fair Hearing if you do not agree with the plan as a whole or any part of it.
13) You have a right to include in your IPP the start date and timelines for your services and supports.
14) You have a right to identify in your IPP the provider and/or vendor of each service that you will be using.
15) You have a right to file a complaint directly to the director of a regional center or to the director of the Department of Developmental Services if you believe your rights have been withheld or denied by a regional center or a service provider. If you or your family member qualifies for services and you didn’t realize you had these rights, you are not alone. As we have conducted parent meetings around the state, we rarely find individuals who understand all of these and other legal rights found in Section 4646 of the Welfare and Institutions Code of California.
