(a) The department shall convene a working group that shall include the Director of Health Care Services, the Director of Social Services, and the Director of the California Department of Aging, or the program staff from each of those departments who have direct responsibility for the programs listed in subdivision (b) of Section 14139.32, and may include the Director of Rehabilitation, or program staff from those departments with direct responsibilities for programs that may be included as a service in any pilot project site, and representatives from each pilot project site upon its selection.
(b) The department shall consult with the working group during the designing of the pilot program, in the selection of the pilot project sites, and in the monitoring of the program under this article, and shall utilize the working group as a resource for problem solving and a means of maintaining interdepartmental and intersite communication.
(c) The working group shall strive to ensure that the pilot program under this article makes maximum use of home-based and community-based services, and throughout the continuum of care for each beneficiary, encourages the use of the least restrictive environment in which the beneficiary can receive appropriate care.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 438, Sec. 20. (AB 1468) Effective September 22, 2012.)