Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, establishes the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to, among other things, develop, review, and revise the California Developmental Disabilities State Plan, and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the plan. Existing law authorizes the state council to implement the state plan by conducting specified activities, including, among other things, appointing an authorized representative for persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law authorizes the appointment of an authorized representative to assist the person in expressing the person’s desires and in making decisions and advocating for the person’s needs, preferences, and choices, when the person with developmental disabilities has no parent, guardian, or conservator legally authorized to represent them, and the person has either requested the appointment of a representative or the rights or interests of the person, as determined by the state council, will not be properly protected or advocated for without the appointment of a representative.

This bill would limit the appointment to up to one year, and would authorize the state council to conduct an investigation to determine whether the interests of the person will not be properly protected or advocated for without the appointment of a representative.

Existing law prescribes the order of preference for selection of the representative to be the person’s parent, involved family members, or a volunteer selected by the state council, if the person does not express a preference, and requires the request of the parents or involved family members to be appointed to be honored unless the person expresses otherwise or good cause otherwise exists.

The bill would define “good cause” for these purposes to exist when the proposed authorized representative has made, or is likely to make, decisions that are inconsistent with the expressed wishes of the person with developmental disabilities or inconsistent with protecting the person’s rights or interests.