A statewide Family Empowerment and Disability Council, composed of the executive directors for the Family Empowerment Centers on Disability, shall be established. Membership on the Family Empowerment and Disability Council may also include the executive director or representative from the Early Start Family Resource Centers, funded by the State Department of Developmental Services, and from the parent centers funded by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.). The department shall contract with an outside entity experienced with developing a statewide technical assistance disability network to facilitate the council. A base amount of two hundred forty-six thousand dollars ($246,000) shall be made available, from the annual appropriation made for the Family Empowerment Centers on Disability, to support the work of the council. The Family Empowerment and Disability Council shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:

(a) Provide central coordination of training and information dissemination, content, and materials for Family Empowerment Centers on Disability to ensure parents across the state have equitable access to training and information.

Terms Used In California Education Code 56410

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts

(b) Develop a technical assistance system and activities to support continuous improvement of the Family Empowerment Centers on Disability in accordance with a plan developed in conjunction with the directors of the Family Empowerment Centers on Disability.

(c) Ensure that an outside entity provides assistance in developing a statewide technical assistance disability network, and performs an annual, independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the services provided by Family Empowerment Centers on Disability that shall include, but is not limited to, an evaluation of the data points listed in subdivision (b) of Section 56411. The goal shall be to improve center management, parental satisfaction with the services received, and the quality and effectiveness of services delivered.

(d) Assist each center to build its capacity to serve its geographic region.

(e) Conduct media outreach and other public education efforts to promote the goals of the Family Empowerment Centers on Disability.

(f) Support and participate with the department in activities aligned with improvement activities within the statewide system of support established pursuant to Section 52059.5.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 44, Sec. 92. (AB 130) Effective July 9, 2021.)

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