Long-Range Plan, 1990-95
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INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE
The California Department of Developmental Services (the Department) has prepared the Long-Ranize Plan 1990 - 1995 (LRP 90-95) to guide and encourage a positive, coordinated response to service needs for persons with developmental disabilities over the next five years. The LRP 90-95 both describes significant issues facing the developmental services system in California and proposes goals and objectives to address and resolve those issues.

The Department offers the LRP 90-95 as a tool for directing the service system toward excellence. We hope that this document will serve as a focal point for communication, planning, and coordination throughout the service system and as a primary statement of the Department's dedication to improving the lives of the persons it serves in accordance with the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act)[1].'
!.California Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I Code), § 4500, et seq. See glossary for definitions of acronyms and e-vpl4nation of clinical and technical terms used in this plan.

The Department has accomplished many goals over the years and has brought about significant and positive changes in the system. However, until this series of long-range plans was initiated, these changes occurred largely through an informal planning process. With this edition of the plan, the Department continues its formal effort to advance the service system toward desired ends in a unified, systematic manner.

This plan is not mandated by any law, regulation, or other requirement. The Department initiated this series of long-range plans voluntarily, in recognition of the importance of long-range planning for moving the service system toward desired goals. It is the result of a careful process undertaken to identify the most important issues in the developmental disabilities service system and to decide the best ways to resolve those issues. It will serve as a blueprint for action and as a guideline for change in the years ahead.

 

PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND REVISION PROCESS
The LRP 90-95 builds upon the goals and objectives that were presented in the preceding plans. Objectives in each goal area describe activities, planned and sponsored by the Department, which are intended to substantially improve some aspect of the service system.

Three criteria were used in deciding which Department activities to include among the objectives in the LRP 90-95:

  • The purpose of the activity must be more than completion of a necessary maintenance function. The activity must be intended to improve or refine some facet of the service delivery system.

  • The activity was selected by the Department as being important for moving the service system toward desired goals, given the Department's mission and guiding principles. Under this criterion, activities imposed upon the Department via legislation, litigation or other mandate may but will not necessarily become part of the LRP 90-95.

  • The activity must be stated in measurable terms and contain clearly identifiable end products and due dates.

At each step, the Department has sought comments and recommendations from the public at large and from the various organizations with a role in the service system. The comments received were used in developing the new plan, as were suggestions from Department staff. Additionally, staff from the Department's Office of Planning and Policy Development (OPPD) attended and took notes at each of the Senate Resolution 9 (SR9) hearings [2]. These notes were also used as a source for information pertinent to topics in the LRP 90-95.
2. Senate Resolution 9, of 1989, called for an investigation of the implementation of the Lanterman Act. 7his investigation was conducted by a panel of legislators through a series of 15 public hearings held throughout the state in 1989 and 1990. Regional center clients, parents of persons with developmental disabilities, vendors, advocates, regional center staff, and administrators of numerous agencies presented testimony regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the developmental disabilities services system established by the Lanterman Act.

 

Characteristics of the Long-Range Plan 1990 - 1995
The LRP 90-95 is an extension and refinement of the previous plan (LRP 88-93), not a totally new document. This plan continues the direction and goals of the previous plan while presenting a combination of new, original, and reformulated objectives to attain these goals. Many objectives have been modified significantly, either to build upon previous accomplishments or to reflect new ways of dealing with barriers that hindered those accomplishments. Other objectives have been combined or reformulated to more closely reflect changing emphases in goal areas. The previous two goals for prevention and early intervention have been merged. Some portions of the text of the plan have been extensively revised, while others are largely carried over from the preceding plan. A chart summarizing the correspondence between the LRP 88-93 and the LRP 90-95, and the progress that was made on the 88-93 objectives, is included as Appendix B.

It is important to note that the goals and objectives in this plan are not presented in order of priority. All six goal areas are equally important. Similarly, the arrangement of objectives under each goal should not be interpreted to mean that those appearing at the top of the list are more important than those at the bottom. 'Me arrangement of goals and objectives reflects only the desire to present material in a logical manner that is both meaningful and informative to the reader. For this reason, some objectives that are continued from the LRP 88-93 have been renumbered in this plan.

 

Subsequent Process
The objectives in the LRP 90-95 will be implemented under the direction of the responsible division or office in the Department. The objectives have been assigned to units of the Department for formulation into the management-by-objectives format, through which accomplishment of objectives may be tracked. Appendix D describes the functions of the major divisions and offices of the Department. and Appendix E lists the part of the Department responsible for each objective.

The implementation of the plan will occur through the normal budgetary, legislative, and administrative processes. Objectives that require new resources or authorizations will be submitted for formal approval in the form of budget change proposals, legislation, or both. Completion of plan objectives will depend upon the Department's success in acquiring these approvals. Budgetary constraints or legislative disapproval will require postponement or modification of objectives.

The plan will be updated biannually but will continue to cover five-year periods. Future editions of the plan will be based on progress made on objectives, comments received on the objectives, and events or problems that arise during the two-year period between plans.

The Department has included a form for public input on the last page of this plan and will explore additional avenues to encourage broad public comment in preparation for the next edition.

 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Underlying the LRP 90-95 is a series of guiding principles. These principles derive from the intent and provisions of the Lanterman Act as well as from the Department's understanding of what constitutes effective services for persons with developmental disabilities. The following guiding principles underlie the LRP 90-95.

Persons with developmental disabilities should:

  • live, work, and participate in settings that are the least restrictive to individual liberty and that are integrated into community life;

  • have a pattern of daily living like that of people without disabilities;

  • live the most productive and independent lives of which they are capable and be provided the opportunity to work, if that is appropriate;

  • live in their families' homes until at least age 18, as occurs for most children without disabilities;

  • live in small facilities of not more than 15 beds when community-based out-of-home care is the preferred living arrangement;

  • live in settings where the services are of high quality, where the environment is stable and safe, where attitudes are caring and supportive, and where individuals are free from abuse and exploitation;

  • have the opportunity to learn the basic life skills that are necessary for living and working in the community; and

  • have their human, civil, legal, and service rights respected and protected at all times.

Patterns of services and facilities should be:

  • planned in a systematic and orderly manner;

  • sufficient to meet the needs of each person;

  • monitored and evaluated to ensure accountability, high quality, and effectiveness in helping people to live more independent, productive, and normal lives.

 

DEPARTMENT MISSION
It is the intention of the Department to oversee the provision of the highest quality individualized services within established legislative and administrative mandates and available resources and appropriations. The Department's mission is to provide leadership, policy direction, and administration of a statewide system to accomplish the following:

  • prevent developmental disabilities or reduce the severity of these disabilities and their effects upon individuals and their families;

  • improve the quality of life and services for individuals and their families;

  • ensure that the services provided through the Department are accessible to and appropriate for meeting the needs of individuals and their families;

  • work in partnership with other agencies, the local community, parents, and persons with developmental disabilities to encourage and facilitate innovations in the service system that will enhance the lives of persons with developmental disabilities and their families;

  • encourage and facilitate the coordination of services among other departments of the government that also provide services to persons with developmental disabilities; and

  • advance California's role as a national leader in the field of developmental services.

 

ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE LONG-RANGE PLAN
In developing this plan the Department has assumed that, except where specifically noted otherwise, conditions will remain relatively stable. Where trends can be identified from previous years' data, it is assumed that those trends will continue, except where noted otherwise.

The plan assumes that California and the rest of the nation will have general economic stability, with neither significant increases nor significant decreases in unemployment, cost of living, or rate of economic growth.

The plan assumes that social and population trends of the past few decades will continue over the next five years. As the largest state in the nation, California will continue to experience both overall growth in its population and increases in the proportion of its population comprised of new immigrants.

Additionally, the plan assumes that the developmental services system will continue to have strong support. The efforts of multiple advocacy organizations to fight for services for persons with developmental disabilities will continue and no significant organizational or administrative changes are expected in the system of services for persons with developmental disabilities.

However, given the continuing federal deficit and competition for limited resources at both the federal and state levels, the plan also assumes that it will continue to be difficult to obtain additional federal or state funding to augment the existing system of services for persons with developmental disabilities.

Although the plan calls for continuing and increased efforts to prevent developmental disabilities, the plan does not assume that there will be any dramatic or immediate changes in rates with which developmental disabilities occur. Likewise, no substantial developments in methods of alleviating developmental disabilities during the period covered by the plan are anticipated that would significantly affect the number of clients served by the regional centers. Both general population growth and continuing problems with substance abuse and AIDS will continue to influence the size of the population served by the regional centers.

The plan assumes that persons with developmental disabilities will benefit from ongoing improvements in health and medicine such that longer and healthier life spans may result for them as well as for the general population. As a result, there will be a growing need for services for older persons with developmental disabilities and for infants with severe medical conditions who are saved by advances in life-saving medical technology.

Finally, the plan embodies the aspiration that persons with developmental disabilities win receive increasing acceptance as members of society with the same rights and privileges. These include, wherever appropriate for the needs of the individual, participation in "generic" social, recreational, and educational services; residence in normal neighborhood settings; and integration into the full array of community and neighborhood resources.

Where modifications of these assumptions are known, proposed, or reasonably can be predicted, they are noted in the discussion of the specific objective upon which they have an impact.

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