Lanterman Transparency Tracker

The Lanterman Transparency Tracker is an interactive tool to help stakeholders monitor the compliance of the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and Regional Centers (RCs) with online transparency requirements in the Lanterman Act and related laws (California Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) divisions 4.1, 4.5, and 4.7 and title 13 of the California Government Code). We performed two compliance evaluations, one in 2019 and one in 2021. The 2019 compliance evaluation was first conducted between August 1 and August 21, 2018, with a follow-up review between July 15 and August 27, 2019 and a final review of DDS compliance between January 2 and January 14, 2020. The 2021 compliance evaluation was conducted between April 16, 2021 and June 17, 2021. (Please note that the 2021 compliance evaluation did not consider any additional disclosure requirements that were implemented after August 5, 2019).

The tool consists of 3 main sections:

  1. A table displaying the statutory requirements, our compliance ratings for each reporting entity, and links to the relevant section of each entity’s website where the information can be found
  2. Graphs that track compliance over time across disclosure requirement and across reporting entity
  3. Notes to the table and graphs

To use the tool:

  • Filter by Year, Collecting Statute, Reporting Statute, Required Disclosure, Reporting Entity, and/or Compliance Level (if desired, choose “ONLY” on the appropriate row of the drop-down menu).
  • To reset data filters, open the appropriate drop-down menu and click the [-] icon at the top-left corner of the menu.
  • To sort the table by column, click the desired column label in the table header. Clicking once will sort in descending order (9 to 1, Z to A, High to Low). Clicking a second time will sort in ascending order (1 to 9, A to Z, Low to High). By default, the table is sorted first alphabetically by required disclosure, then chronologically by year.
  • Hover over a graph to display additional information.
  • If the Tracker freezes, press Ctrl+R or click the refresh icon in the browser’s search bar to reset it.
  • To enter full-screen view, hover over the center panel. A grey bar will appear at the bottom. Click the icon in the right corner of this grey bar.
  • To print/download the tool, click on the “Google Data Studio” button in the bottom right corner. In the newly generated Data Studio tab, click on the downward arrow next to the “Share” button, then click “Download report”. Click “Download” on the pop-up to download the tool as a PDF. Note that this downloaded PDF will not be interactive and will only show the information as it appears on the page.

Notes

Abbreviations:
• DDS = Cal. Department of Disability Services
• RC = Regional Center
• WIC = Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code
• Gov Code =  Cal. Government Code
• CCR = Cal. Code of Regulations
• (TP) =  DDS Transparency Portal
• (PD) = DDS Performance Dashboard

Description of compliance levels:
• High/[H] = All required information presented for all years
• Medium/[M] = At least some required information presented for some years, but some information missing in at least one year
• Low/[L] = No information available for any year

* DDS has instituted 58 disclosure requirements to ensure compliance with state and federal statutes/regulations that govern the implementation and monitoring of Medicaid programs intended to treat individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. These disclosure requirements pertain to DDS and all 21 regional centers that contract with DDS.

** Collecting statutes mandate what information DDS and RCs are required to gather. Reporting statutes mandate how DDS and RCs publish this gathered information.

† WIC §§ 4571(a)-(g) requires DDS to utilize a “quality assurance instrument” to track the quality of services provided to people with I/DD. To satisfy this statute, the state has decided to administer the Adult In-Person Survey (AIPS) biannually. Starting with the passage of Trailer Bill SB 81, the WIC now includes various transparency requirements for RCs related to the AIPS, specifically WIC §§ 4571(h)(1), 4571(h)(2), and 4629.5(b)(16). Read literally, these statutes require RCs to annually present AIPS data to stakeholders at annual board meetings, post notices for such meetings on their internet websites, and publish any reports pursuant to Section 4571. Because the FY 2019-2020 AIPS was postponed due to COVID-19, the most recent version of the AIPS is FY 2017-2018 at the time of this compliance evaluation. Since it would be unfair to expect all RCs to meet these AIPS-related transparency requirements using the outdated FY2017-2018 data, we use a different rating system to distinguish these requirements from other clearer and more intuitively reasonable requirements, with which we expect all RCs to comply at the time of this evaluation. Specifically, we use a [H], [M], and [L] scale with pale colors, instead of a High, Medium, and Low scale with saturated colors, for WIC §§ 4571(h)(1), 4571(h)(2), and 4629.5(b)(16). See the 2021 Rulebook under “Additional Resources” below for a more detailed discussion.

The latest compliance evaluation was performed between April 16, 2021 and June 17, 2021.

Additional Resources

For 2019 Compliance Evaluation

  • A Comprehensive, Machine-Readable Version of the 2019 data, including details on the full scope of each reporting entity’s compliance with the above disclosures, as well as a breakdown of all transparency requirements governing DDS and RC disclosures to the public (including those we did not include in the above table due to their recent vintage, or the fact that they only require data to be made available upon request).
  • A Detailed Rulebook documenting the specific rules we used to rate compliance with each individual disclosure in 2019.

For 2021 Compliance Evaluation

  • A Comprehensive, Machine-Readable Version of the 2021 data, including details on the full scope of each reporting entity’s compliance with the above disclosures, as well as a breakdown of all transparency requirements governing DDS and RC disclosures to the public (including those we did not include in the above table due to their recent vintage).
  • A Detailed Rulebook documenting the specific rules we used to rate compliance with each individual disclosure in 2021.