4860. (Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 12, Sec. 13.)

(b) The hourly rate for group services shall be set by the department and posted to its internet website. Consumers in a group shall be scheduled to start and end work at the same time, unless an exception that takes into consideration the consumer’s compensated work schedule is approved in advance by the regional center. The department, in consultation with stakeholders, shall adopt regulations to define the appropriate grounds for granting these exceptions. When the number of consumers in a supported employment placement group drops to fewer than the minimum required in subdivision (p) of Section 4851, the regional center may terminate funding for the group services in that group, unless, within 90 days, the program provider adds one or more regional centers, or Department of Rehabilitation-funded supported employment consumers to the group.

(c) When Section 4855 applies, fees shall be authorized for the following:

(1) A three-hundred-sixty-dollar ($360) fee shall be paid to the program provider upon intake of a consumer into a supported employment program. No fee shall be paid if that consumer completed a supported employment intake process with that same supported employment program within the previous 12 months.

(2) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid upon placement of a consumer in an integrated job, except that no fee shall be paid if that consumer is placed with another consumer or consumers assigned to the same job coach during the same hours of employment.

(3) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid after a 90-day retention of a consumer in a job, except that no fee shall be paid if that consumer has been placed with another consumer or consumers, assigned to the same job coach during the same hours of employment.

(e) The department, with regional center participation, shall conduct an annual survey of providers, in a format determined by the department, to collect the following information:

(1) The number of employment placements in the previous 12 months.

(2) Types of employment in which consumers are placed.

(3) The cost components of the rates in subdivisions (a) and (b), including, but not limited to, the amount used for hourly wages of job coaches, administration, and placement search costs.

(4) The number of hours each consumer works and the consumer’s hourly wage.

(5) Any other information determined by the department.

(f) In its 2017–18 May Revision fiscal estimate, the department shall describe the results of the survey described in subdivision (e).