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SPONSOR: |
Feldman |
DATE TYPED: |
02/08/02 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
State Plan to Address Olmstead Decision |
SB |
SJM 54/aSRC |
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ANALYST: |
Chabot |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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|
FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
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$50.0
See
Narrative |
Non-Recurring |
General Fund |
LFC Files
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR)
Governor’s Committee on Concerns of the
Handicapped (GCCH)
Department of Health (DOH)
Human Services Department (HSD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of SRC Amendment
The Senate Rules Committee amendment changes
line 21 on page 3 to read as follows:
“departments,
agencies, advocacy groups, providers of services to people with
disabilities, groups whose members”
This amendment adds providers of services to the
membership of the task force to assess the impact of the Olmstead decision.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Joint Memorial 54 resolves that GCCH lead
a task force, with the cooperation and participation of HSD, DOH and other
appropriate agencies and stakeholders, to develop a comprehensive and coordinated
state plan in response to the United States Supreme Court’s Olmstead
decision including timelines for implementation and fiscal impact on the
state. It is further resolved that HSD
and DOH will report to the interim legislative Health and Human Services
Committee in their October 2002 meeting and that these reports include an
assessment on the numbers of people currently in institutional settings
statewide and their ability to live in community-based settings.
Significant
Issues
The United States Supreme Court in 1999 in the
case of Olmstead v. L.C. provides the legal framework to enable persons
with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting appropriate to their individual
needs. The court ruled that “States
are required to place persons with mental disabilities in community settings
rather than in institutions when the State’s treatment professionals have determined
that community placement is appropriate, the transfer from institutional care
to a less restrictive setting is not opposed by the affected individual, and
the placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources
available to the State and the needs of others with mental disabilities.” It further stated that “Undue
institutionalization qualifies as discrimination ‘by reason of
disability.’”
On June 18, 2001, President Bush signed
Executive Order No. 13217, Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals with
Disabilities that provides for the federal government to assist states and
localities in implementing the court’s ruling throughout the United
States. The development of a statewide
plan will enable will allow individuals to return to less restrictive
settings. A comprehensive action plan
could also serve as a defense against lawsuits filed under title 2 of the
American with Disabilities Act and the Olmstead decision.
GCCH states that they have the administrative
capacity to lead the task force; however, an appropriation of $50.0 would allow
them to contract facilitators, arrange meeting rooms throughout the state, and
contract with experts in compiling the report.
Considerable staff time will be needed to gather the information,
analyze the data and write the report.
With a staff of only seven FTE, GCCH could use outside assistance in
preparing the report. GCCH has a
history of working with the New Mexico disability community and will solicit
their support in the study.
DVR states there may be individuals currently in
institutional settings that should be in settings with increased independence. When this occurs, some of these need to be
referred to DVR for assessment of attaining a vocational goal, planning for and
providing the services to secure that employment. This could have an impact on the division in the form of
increased referral and assessment costs and staff time for the case
management. This would need to
quantified during the study.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
No appropriation is
included in this Joint Senate Memorial but costs by participants will be incurred.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
GCCH will have to
determine who will participate in developing the plan especially other state
agencies not specified in the joint memorial and representative
stakeholders. A meeting schedule,
objectives and timelines will need to be developed to ensure that the required
reports are made to the interim legislative Health and Human Services Committee
in their October 2002 meeting.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The joint memorial specifies that GCCH will lead
the task force but does require the agency to report to the interim legislative
Health and Human Services Committee.
Recommend that page 3, line 25 and page 4, line 1 be changed to
read:
“BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the governor’s committee on concerns of the handicapped,
the human services department and the department of health jointly report to
the legislative health”
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Since DOH and HSD did
not respond to this joint memorial, they should testify on their willingness to
support the task force.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
[1]Begin typing on the * in replace mode. Do not add or delete spaces.