PURPOSE

AB 925 aims to increase the employment rate of people with disabilities to rates comparable to those of the general population. California’s Health and Human Services Agency and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency are both charged with improving how state funded health coverage (Medi-Cal) and employment programs work together.

HISTORY

After two years of dialogue with the disability community and Assemblymember Dion Aroner, Governor Gray Davis signed AB 925 into law on September 29, 2002.

AB 925 OBJECTIVES:

• Support equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for Californians with disabilities;
• Ensure that state government is a model employer of individuals with disabilities; and
• Provide state support and participation in benefits planning training projects, funded by private foundations and federal grants.

AB 925 ON EMPLOYMENT AND STATE GOVERNMENT

Labor and Workforce Development Agency

Under AB925, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) has new responsibilities: to monitor, enforce, and report on workforce inclusion of people with disabilities to the Governor and Legislature. Specifically, the LWDA must demonstrate how One Stop Career Centers are serving people with disabilities in accordance with state and federal rules about discrimination.

California Workforce Investment Boards

The California Workforce Investment Board and Local Workforce Investment Boards statewide are required to include people with disabilities, or their representatives. Efforts are made to select people with disabilities who are not employees of state or local government. The California Workforce Investment Board reports to the Governor and Legislature on people with disabilities participation in using One Stop Career Center services and Ticket-to-Work program.

One-Stop Career Centers

Each Local Workforce Investment Board is responsible to provide at least one One Stop Career Center is in full compliance with federal rules for serving people with disabilities.

New Rules for One-Stop Career Centers

One-Stop Career Centers are required to plan, report, and provide services to individuals with disabilities to increase employment rates.

One-Stop Career Centers are required to provide:

• Employment preparation services that are accessible to employers and job seekers with disabilities;
• Information to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries on the implications of work on their benefits. The benefits-related information must include referrals to appropriate benefits planners; and
• Information to individuals with disabilities about Medi-Cal and Medi-Cal’s 250% California Working Disabled Program.

Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities - GCEPD

AB 925 renamed the California Governor's Committee on Employment of Disabled Persons as the California Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (GCEPD) that is under the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The Governor’s Committee is required to include four people with disabilities.

Grantmaking Responsibilities

The Governor’s Committee, in conjunction with the Department of Rehabilitation, is required to make grants - to the extent that funds are available - to counties and local workforce investment boards. The grants can be used to:

• Develop local strategies for enhancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities; and
• Fund comprehensive local and regional benefits planning and outreach programs to assist people with disabilities in removing barriers to work.

Policy Responsibilities

The Governor’s Committee is responsible for improving health coverage and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Additional responsibilities include:

• Consult and advise the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and Health and Human Services Agency on issues related to full workforce inclusion of persons with disabilities.

• Report annually to the Legislature and Governor on the employment status of Californians with disabilities.

• Provide support to the California Workforce Investment Board and local One-Stop Career Centers in their efforts to achieve full compliance with Sections 18002, 18004, 18006, and 18008 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, as found in AB 925.

• Identify the extent to which One-Stop Career Centers are in full compliance with Sections mentioned above. Evaluate reasons for any lack of compliance including needs for additional resources.

• Meet quarterly with the California Health Incentive Improvement Project, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, and this project's steering committee.

In 2003, the Governor’s Committee began to address these new responsibilities and set up a one year AB 925 Steering Committee to organize the new scope of work. The Governor’s Committee has revised their subcommittee roster as follows:

• Agency Liason Subcommittee
• Business Liason Subcommittee
• Education and Employment Subcommittee
• Policy and Planning Subcommittee

With support from:

• Friends of the California Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, Inc.

Primary point of contact for information:

Linda Rogaski, Executive Director, Governor’s Committee
(916) 654-8055 (voice)
(916) 654-9820 (TTY)
Email

The Governor’s Committee receives primary administrative and staff support from the State Employment Development Department (EDD).

AB 925 ON HEALTH COVERAGE AND WORKPLACE PERSONAL ASSISTANCE

Workplace Personal Assistance

California provides In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) to eligible aged, blind, and disabled individuals to allow them to live in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Personal care option services, similar to those provided under the IHSS program, are provided under the Medi-Cal program to certain qualified Medi-Cal recipients.

As of 2003, AB 925 requires California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) to allow services in the individual’s place of employment, under specific conditions.

However, AB 925 does not increase monthly service hours for any individual or allow them to be used in other new locations. The maximum total number of hours allowable remains the same at 283 per month. Eligible individuals can transfer some of their current authorized monthly service hours (determined by the IHSS needs assessment) from the home to the workplace to “obtain, retain, or return to work.”

Current rules allow for IHSS personal assistance accompaniment traveling to medical appointments and other approved sites. These rules do not allow for travel to and from the workplace. While allowance for services to attend college classes or vocational training is not included, the new provisions allow service hours for training that is offered or required by an employer.

AB 925 authorizes workplace personal assistance that is “relevant and necessary in supporting and maintaining employment.” The law clarifies that “workplace services shall not be used to supplant (replace) any reasonable accommodations required of an employer by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or other legal entitlements or third-party obligations.” Such services could be from the California Department of Rehabilitation, the Veterans Administration, workers' compensation coverage, or other entitlement or resource.

Many individuals qualify for other Medi-Cal eligibility categories such as Aged and Disabled Federal Poverty Level, 250% California Working Disabled Program, or Supplemental Security Income-Linked 1619(b) provisions, which may allow them to access IHSS. The new AB 925 provisions would be available to these individuals. Since income and resource limits for the IHSS program have not changed, working individuals are encouraged to check on their eligibility for Medi-Cal’s 250% California Working Disabled Program.

For more information see IHSS in the Workplace.

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is required to report research and other findings to the Governor and Legislature that may explain the low participation rates in the 250% California Working Disabled Program (250% CWD). DHS is required to make cost effective recommendations that could increase participation.