CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 258

Introduced by Senator Laird

January 26, 2021

An act to amend Section 9015 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 258, as introduced, Laird. Aging.
Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department, in allocating specified state and federal funding to area agencies on aging, to ensure that priority consideration is given to criteria that reflect the state’s intent to target services to those in greatest economic or social need. Existing law defines “greatest social need” to mean the need caused by noneconomic factors, including physical and mental disabilities, that restrict an individual’s ability to perform normal daily tasks or that threaten the individual’s capacity to live independently.
This bill would revise this definition to include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status as a specified noneconomic factor.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 9015 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

9015.
 “Greatest social need” means the need caused by noneconomic factors that restrict an individual’s ability to perform normal daily tasks or that threaten his or her the individual’s capacity to live independently. These factors include physical or mental disability, language barriers, and cultural or social isolation caused by, among other things, racial and ethnic status, sexual orientation, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, gender identity, or gender expression.