This assembly bill was introduced by Assembly Members Addis and Garcia on February 16, 2023. The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act assigns the State Department of Developmental Services the responsibility of offering various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. It also mandates the department to ensure the appropriateness and quality of these services and supports. In accordance with this law, the department collaborates with regional centers to deliver services and supports to those with developmental disabilities. The proposed Disability Equity and Accountability Act of 2023 aims to introduce changes to the existing act. These changes include gathering pertinent data and enhancing oversight of regional center operations and performance. The bill calls for an evaluation of regional center performance by the department, utilizing a standardized set of performance measures in specific domains such as community integration, employment, equity in access, case management, client and family choice, experience and satisfaction, human and civil rights, and health and safety. The bill necessitates the establishment of standards with benchmarks for good performance and minimum benchmarks for improvement efforts by regional centers, specified by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill mandates the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to annually create, update, and review a uniform process for regional centers to develop corrective action plans in response to below-standard performance. The department is also required to oversee the development and assessment of corrective action plans undertaken by regional centers. As part of the planning process for a statewide data automation system, the bill directs the department to create a project charter by March 1, 2025, with approval from relevant authorities. This charter development process should involve input from program consumers, families, researchers, quality and outcome evaluators, regional centers, and service providers. The charter should encompass components such as an impact statement, project guiding principles, and program goals, with a focus on optimizing performance and business processes for delivering intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) system services to regional center consumers. Current legislation mandates the department, in collaboration with stakeholders, to identify a valid and reliable quality assurance instrument assessing consumer and family satisfaction, linguistically competent service provision, and specified personal outcomes. This proposed bill, however, stipulates that the department must submit a report to the Legislature by March 1, 2025, outlining any unmet requirements of this section. The report should encompass survey results for all consumers, including those not availing services, and present specific steps and a schedule for meeting these requirements. Existing law expresses the Legislature's intent to ensure that the regional center system's individual program plan (IPP) and service provision prioritize the individual and their family, considering their needs and preferences. An IPP is required for eligible individuals within 60 days of assessment completion. The bill reinforces this intent and additionally emphasizes that plan goals should allow for innovation and nontraditional service delivery. The service coordinator, during the initial IPP meeting and each annual review, must provide oral and written information about the Self-Determination Program to the consumer or their authorized representative. The bill mandates the regional center service coordinator to share program details within 5 business days of the consumer expressing interest. Furthermore, the bill directs the department to establish, by January 1, 2026, a standardized set of services and supports, including supported living services, to be made available to consumers during IPP negotiations. It also requires the department to comprehensively review and streamline the vendorization processes for service providers, creating a uniform statewide vendorization process.