Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy
starts
hiring process
O n July 1, 1999, PAI advocates will start providing coordinated advocacy services for regional center consumers. Senate Bill 391, which went into effect in August 1997, says that the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) must contract out clients' rights advocacy services to an independent nonprofit corporation. Because of PAI's history of advocating for people with disabilities, DDS chose PAI. A contract between PAI and DDS formed the Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy (OCRA). Before OCRA, most clients' rights advocates (CRAs) were regional center employees.
OCRA will assign one CRA and one CRA intake coordinator/assistant to each regional center. If possible, each CRA will have an office at a regional center. Otherwise, OCRA will find another agency, such as an area board, to house the advocate.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between each regional center and OCRA will govern their working relationship. The MOUs will try to individualize CRA services at each regional center. A major goal is to prevent gaps in the scope of services consumers receive. "Developing the Memoranda of Understanding will help us provide services that will be most helpful to consumers," says OCRA Director Jeanne Molineaux. "The MOUs we have negotiated so far seem to be a step in the right direction."
The hiring process for most of the CRAs began in January 1999. For more information about positions with OCRA, call PAI's job hotline at 916-658-2659, or point your browser to PAI's web site at
http://www.pai-ca.org.
At its November meeting, the executive committee of PAI's board of directors chose the first seven members of OCRA's advisory committee. Advisory committee members will all be regional center consumers and family members. They will make recommendations to OCRA on policies, procedures, priorities, and other matters. This will help to ensure that OCRA effectively meets the needs of the consumer community it serves. Members are:
• Ronald Allan, Exeter, Central Valley Regional Center;
• Nancy Clyde, Sacramento, Alta Regional Center;
• Maria Jimenez, Chula Vista, San Diego Regional Center;
• Harvey Lapin, Northridge, North Los Angeles County Regional Center;
• Dan Meadows, Stockton, Valley Mountain Regional Center;
• Barbara Nelson, Fortuna, Redwood Coast Regional Center; and
• Edward Young, San Francisco, Golden Gate Regional Center.
OCRA's services will be extensive. CRAs will provide information, referral, technical help, and brief service. To the extent that resources are available, they will represent consumers directly. Services will cover many legal areas, including special education, regional centers, Social Security, Medi-Cal, IHSS, and conservatorship. CRAs will also look into complaints about abuse and neglect, denial of rights, special incident reports, and other mandated areas.
Harvey Lapin, the father of a regional center consumer and a new advisory board member, put OCRA's services into perspective when he said, "The new office is something that many advocates have put much effort towards for many years. Other states have this system and it works. It's long overdue and I'm hoping regional centers, CRAs and OCRA can work closely together for positive results."
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