Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities and other conditions, and their families. Under existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers, or arrange for their provision through other publicly funded agencies. Existing law defines “services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities” to mean specialized services and supports or special adaptations of generic services and supports directed toward the alleviation of a developmental disability, or toward the social, personal, physical, or economic habilitation or rehabilitation of an individual with a developmental disability, or toward the achievement and maintenance of an independent, productive, and normal life. Under existing law, specialized medical and dental care are included within that definition.

This bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, would require the department, no later than July 1, 2027, to contract with a public or private California dental school or college to administer the Oral Health for People with Disabilities Technical Assistance Center Program to improve dental care services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities by reducing or eliminating the need for dental treatment using sedation and general anesthesia. The bill would require the department to prioritize contracting with a public California dental school or college to administer the program. The bill would authorize the contracted California dental school or college to partner with a public or private dental school or college, and would require the schools to meet certain criteria relating to location, accreditation, and a demonstrated record of working with regional centers. The bill would require the contracted school or partnership, among other responsibilities, to work with the department to engage up to 21 regional centers to participate, provide practical experience, systems development, and expertise in relevant subject areas, to train, monitor, and support regional center and oral health personnel, and to collect and analyze program data with the support of participating regional centers and oral health providers. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report of the collected data to the Legislature, and to provide guidance and establish protocols to support the program, among other things. The bill also would specify regional center duties, including identifying consumers who can benefit from the program, and establishing vendor agreements with interested oral health professionals.