Assembly Bill (AB) 4th Extraordinary, Chapter 9, Statutes of 2009, made changes to Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 4686 of the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act.
This statute expands the incidental medical services that may be performed by an in-home respite worker, who is not a licensed health care professional and who is trained by a licensed health care professional to perform these services for consumers of regional centers with stable conditions. These incidental medical services are restricted to gastrostomy, colostomy/ileostomy, and urinary catheter care.
The vendoring regional center is responsible for 1) ensuring that the applicant meets licensing and statutory or regulatory requirements for vendorization; 2) determining the appropriate vendor category for the service to be provided; and, 3) approving or disapproving vendorization based upon their review of the documentation submitted by the applicant.
If you are interested in becoming a vendor, please contact your local regional center. For vendorization questions, please visit the Vendorization, FAQs.
WIC Section 4686(f) states “The treating physician or surgeon shall give assurances to the regional center that the patient’s condition is stable prior to the regional center’s purchasing incidental medical services for the consumer through an appropriately trained respite worker.”
Yes. WIC Section 4686(b) states “In order to be eligible to receive training for purposes of this section, an in-home respite worker shall submit to the trainer proof of successful completion of a first aid course and successful completion of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course within the preceding year.”
Service providers who would like to provide in-home respite incidental medical services should send their proposals for DDS review/approval via email to ClinicalServices@dds.ca.gov or mail to:
Department of Developmental Services 1215 O Street (MS 7-10) Sacramento, CA 95814 Attn: Clinical Services
18. Is there any reimbursement available to agencies to provide training to in-home respite workers?
DDS has informed the regional centers of the new sub-codes for in-home respite incidental medical services training and the provision of these training services. Please discuss further billing questions with your regional center.
Last modified: December 6, 2022