APPENDIX X

Sample Section 4731 Complaint

Date

Executive Director
Regional Center
1234 Lanterman St. (See Appendix Y for your regional center’s address)
City, CA Zip

Dear (Regional Center Executive Director):

This is a complaint about a denial of rights. It is filed under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4731 on behalf of name(s) of consumer(s). This complaint concerns a pattern and practice which violates the Lanterman Act’s guarantee of individual program planning and is filed on behalf of all other similarly situated consumers of the regional center. [Note: you can file a complaint on behalf of one or more individual consumers or on behalf of a group or class if the practice you are complaining about is wide spread.]

First, state the important facts as clearly as possible. For example:

FACTS

Jane Consumer is a 3 year old child with a severe disability. She has significant medical needs that require trained care providers. Jane’s mother is planning to return to work 25 hours per week.

On March 15, 1999 an IPP meeting was held for Jane. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how day care assistance can be provided for Jane and her family. At the meeting, Jane’s planning team agreed that her day care provider will need to be qualified as a nurse’s aide.

Regional Center refused to provide any assistance however. It based this refusal on its Purchase of Service Policy, No. 30-234 which states that it will not provide any day care assistance unless the parent(s) are working at least 30 hours per week. This complaint challenges that policy as an illegal restriction on necessary services. In addition, Regional Center has a second purchase of service policy, No. 30-235, which states that it will provide a maximum of 20 hours of assistance each week. [These are examples of actual regional center policies. Note: You can file a complaint to challenge a policy or practice even if it has not yet been applied to you. It is better practice however to do so only when it is likely to be, as in this example.]

Now, tell why the regional center’s policy or practice violates the law. In this instance you could simply say, “Regional Center’s policies are arbitrary limits on services that violate the Lanterman Act’s requirement that services for consumers and their families must be based on individual need.” Because it may be helpful to you to have additional citations to the statutes, we set out a lengthier version of the legal argument below. You could make a much more elaborate argument than we have here, but consumers and family members are not expected to know all of the legal arguments before a complaint can be filed. The regional center and Department of Developmental Services should consider the law while investigating your complaint.

ARGUMENT

California, through the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, has created a comprehensive service entitlement program which grants developmentally disabled Californians statutory rights, including the right to treatment and habilitation services that are planned individually to meet the needs of the consumer. Welfare & Institutions Code §§ 4501, 4646-4648.

Regional Center's policies of only providing day care assistance when the parent(s) work more than 30 hours per week and limiting assistance to 20 hours per week, contradicts the Lanterman Act's mandate that regional centers provide services according to their clients' individual needs. If the first policy is eliminated, the second will still illegally restrict the services that the Consumer family receives. Thus this complaint challenges both policies. Regional center guidelines which impose such categorical restrictions on the purchase of services without regard to the individual clients’ needs violate the procedures and service rights consumers are entitled to. Because of these blanket limitations on day care assistance, Jane’s IPP team is unable to determine the amount of day care assistance her family should receive, based on individual need. This violates the right to individual program planning and service delivery. §§ 4646, 4646.5, 4648.

Regional Center’s policy limits have no authority in the Lanterman Act. They have no place or justification in a system that is built around consideration of individual needs. The fact that Regional Center may on occasion grant an exception to its policy or that consumers have an appeal process available to them does not fix an otherwise illegal policy. To comply with the law, Regional Center would be required to grant an exception in every instance the need exceeds its limits, rendering the limits meaningless. Similarly, consumers cannot be required to file an appeal to secure the candid program planning process they are otherwise entitled to under the Act. Fair hearing appeals are designed to address questions of fact. Here, there is not yet a dispute of facts, only an illegal policy that prevents honest consideration of need.

To resolve this complaint we are asking that Regional Center:

·       Rewrite its purchase of service policies to remove limitations on the number of hours parents must work before day care is provided and to remove the cap on the number of hours of day care assistance that will be provided.

·       Train case managers and supervisory staff in the new policies and the requirement that services be planned and provided based on individual need.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

 

 

Your Name