Section 4784.

(a) The Director of Developmental Services shall establish, annually review, and adjust as needed, a schedule of parental fees for services received through the regional centers. Effective July 1, 2009, this schedule shall be revised to reflect changes in economic conditions that affect parents' ability to pay the fee, but not to exceed an inflationary factor as determined by the department.

(b) The parental fee schedule established pursuant to this section shall be exempt from Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(c) In establishing the amount parents shall pay, the director shall take into account all of the following factors:

(1) The current cost of caring for a child at home, as determined by the most recent data available from the United States Department of Agriculture's survey on the cost of raising a child in California, adjusted for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the survey date to the date of payment adjustment.

(2) Medical expenses incurred prior to regional center care.

(3) Whether the child is living at home.

(4) Parental payments for medical expenses, clothing, incidentals, and other items considered necessary for the normal rearing of a child.

(5) Transportation expenses incurred in visiting a child.

(d) The parental fee schedule shall exempt families with an income below the federal poverty level from assessment and payment of the parental fee.

(e) (1) The adjusted fee shall be assessed in full for children, when the out-of-home placement commences on or after July 1, 2009.

(2) For children placed out-of-home prior to July 1, 2009, the department shall determine the increase in the parental fee above the amount assessed using the fee schedule in effect on June 30, 2009. This fee increase shall be implemented over three years, with one-third of the increase added to the fee on July 1, 2009, one-third of the increase added to the fee on July 1, 2010, and the final third added to the fee on July 1, 2011.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation to the contrary, commencing July 1, 2009, all fees collected shall be remitted to the State Treasury to be deposited as follows:

(1) Fees collected up to the amount that would be assessed using the fee schedule in effect on June 30, 2009, shall be deposited into the Program Development Fund established in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 4670) to provide resources needed to initiate new programs, consistent with approved priorities for program development in the state plan.

(2) Fees collected using the July 1, 2009, schedule that are greater than the amount that would have been assessed using the fee schedule in effect on June 30, 2009, shall be deposited into the Program Development Fund and shall be available for expenditure by the department to offset General Fund costs.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, 4th Ex. Sess., Ch. 9, Sec. 27. Effective July 28, 2009.)