SDRC board to meet locally
EL CENTRO – For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the San Diego Regional Center board of directors will convene a meeting next week in the Imperial Valley.
The SDRC is one of the state’s 21 regional centers that are tasked with providing information and services for persons with developmental disabilities.
As part of the board’s visit, board members are scheduled to visit StrikeZone IV and Mozzarelli Pizza in El Centro, which employs individuals with developmental disabilities and which is operated by the non-profit ARC Imperial Valley.
The visit to the bowling alley and pizzeria is to acknowledge the successful e orts that have been made locally to employ individuals with developmental disabilities, said Carlos Flores, executive director of SDRC.
“They’re a great example,” Flores said.
The efforts of ARC Imperial Valley also reflect statewide efforts to ensure individuals with developmental disabilities are provided employment opportunities, Flores said.
That statewide campaign stems from the Employment First policy, a 2013 law that requires the state’s regional centers consider employment services for its clients before considering other available services, such as workshops and day services.
Currently, the state is in the process of making considerable changes to the manner in which it provides services for individuals with developmental disabilities in order to comply with federal guidelines.
“Services need to focus more on community involvement for all of our clients,” Flores said, “including increased access to the community, individual freedom and meaningful activities like real work.”
The state of California receives nearly $3 billion annually in reimbursement from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for services provided to about 300,000 developmentally disabled individuals, Flores said.
The state Department of Developmental Services submitted a Home and Community-based Services Waiver that details its proposed changes in services, Flores said.
The federal government has 90 days either to approve or deny the application, as well as ask state officials additional questions regarding its application. It has already provided the state preliminary approval.
“The director of (the state Department of) Developmental Services said she feels confident we will get approval of our application,” Flores said.
In the meantime, the state has embarked on a self-determination initiative that will include a pilot program involving 1,200 clients from across the state.
The pilot program will provide an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to have more say in the services they receive. Historically, individuals have only had the option of choosing among vendor services available through regional centers.
As part of the pilot program, clients will receive a budget and will work with their respective regional centers to develop their service needs based on their allotted budget, Flores said.
“Self-determination gives people a lot more freedom to create their services,” Flores said. “It doesn’t have to be vendor services.”
Probably one of the more significant changes afoot related to providing services for developmentally disabled individuals is the pending closure of the state’s remaining developmental centers, typically referred to as institutions.
The state is in the process of closing its last three facilities, the Sonoma, Porterville and Fairview developmental centers, and is expected to do so by the end of 2019.
The closures also reflect a transition toward having individuals with developmental disabilities live in residential homes within communities, Flores said.
“This is a significant movement in California,” Flores said. “A 100-year history of providing institutional care in California is coming to an end.”
The SDRC board of directors meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, at the El Centro Elementary School District’s Parent Training Center, 1420 W. Commercial Ave., El Centro.