SECTIONS 4571 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 4571

4571. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure the
well-being of consumers, taking into account their informed and
expressed choices. It is further the intent of the Legislature to
support the satisfaction and success of consumers through the
delivery of quality services and supports. Evaluation of the services
that consumers receive is a key aspect to the service system.
Utilizing the information that consumers and their families provide
about such services in a reliable and meaningful way is also critical
to enable the department to assess the performance of the state's
developmental services system and to improve services for consumers
in the future. To that end, the State Department of Developmental
Services, on or before January 1, 2010, shall implement an improved,
unified quality assessment system, in accordance with this section.
(b) The department, in consultation with stakeholders, shall
identify a valid and reliable quality assurance instrument that
includes assessments of consumer and family satisfaction, provision
of services, and personal outcomes. The instrument shall do all of
the following:
(1) Provide nationally validated, benchmarked, consistent,
reliable, and measurable data for the department's Quality Management
System.
(2) Enable the department and regional centers to compare the
performance of California's developmental services system against
other states' developmental services systems and to assess quality
and performance among all of the regional centers.
(3) Include outcome-based measures such as health, safety,
well-being, relationships, interactions with people who do not have a
disability, employment, quality of life, integration, choice,
service, and consumer satisfaction.
(c) To the extent that funding is available, the instrument
identified in subdivision (b) may be expanded to collect additional
data requested by the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
(d) The department shall contract with an independent agency or
organization to implement by January 1, 2010, the quality assurance
instrument described in subdivision (b). The contractor shall be
experienced in all of the following:
(1) Designing valid quality assurance instruments for
developmental service systems.
(2) Tracking outcome-based measures such as health, safety,
well-being, relationships, interactions with people who do not have a
disability, employment, quality of life, integration, choice,
service, and consumer satisfaction.
(3) Developing data systems.
(4) Data analysis and report preparation.
(5) Assessments of the services received by consumers who are
moved from developmental centers to the community, given the
Legislature's historic recognition of a special obligation to ensure
the well-being of these persons.
(e) The department, in consultation with the contractor described
in subdivision (d), shall establish the methodology by which the
quality assurance instrument shall be administered, including, but
not limited to, how often and to whom the quality assurance will be
administered, and the design of a stratified, random sample among the
entire population of consumers served by regional centers. The
contractor shall provide aggregate information for all regional
centers and the state as a whole. At the request of a consumer or the
family member of a consumer, the survey shall be conducted in the
primary language of the consumer or family member surveyed.
(f) The department shall contract with the state council to
collect data for the quality assurance instrument described in
subdivision (b). If, during the data collection process, the state
council identifies any suspected violation of the legal, civil, or
service rights of a consumer, or if it determines that the health and
welfare of a consumer is at risk, that information shall be provided
immediately to the regional center providing case management
services to the consumer. At the request of the consumer, or family,
when appropriate, a copy of the completed survey shall be provided to
the regional center providing case management services to improve
the consumer's quality of services through the individual planning
process.
(g) The department, in consultation with stakeholders, shall
annually review the data collected from and the findings of the
quality assurance instrument described in subdivision (b) and accept
recommendations regarding additional or different criteria for the
quality assurance instrument in order to assess the performance of
the state's developmental services system and improve services for
consumers.
(h) All reports generated pursuant to this section shall be made
publicly available, but shall not contain any personal identifying
information about any person assessed.
(i) All data collected pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be
provided to the state council, but shall contain no personal
identifying information about the persons being surveyed.
(j) Implementation of this section shall be subject to an annual
appropriation of funds in the Budget Act for this purpose.