Holidays

Elimination of the Uniform Holiday Schedule

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The 2021-22 Budget signed by Governor Newsom has eliminated the Uniform Holiday Schedule.

Background Information

The Uniform Holiday Schedule was established by the Department of Developmental Services during the Great Recession, as a way of achieving budget savings through required closures of developmental services on 14 designated days. Under this schedule service providers would not be able to bill for services on these dates.

In 2015, the Department of Developmental Services (Department) informed regional centers that a federal court issued an injunction barring the enforcement of the Uniform Holiday Schedule and Half-Day Billing rule. On August 26, 2016, the United States district court granted the Department’s request and the injunction was lifted, and in 2018, The Governor reintroduced the proposal for service providers to adopt a 14 day uniform holiday schedule. Advocates provided extensive testimony to legislators indicating that on top of the current funding freeze, the imposition of these additional unpaid holidays was an excessive financial hardship.

Although the final budget negotiations with the Governor approved the Uniform Holiday Schedule (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section 4692) in 2018, it was agreed that the implementation would be suspended. Suspensions have since been extended each year, until eliminated effective July 2021.

Prior to the DDS requirement in 2009 to adopt 14 Uniform Holidays , the day program service providers in the Harbor Regional Center service area had agreed to a 10 day uniform holiday schedule specifically to assist HRC in facilitating and coordinating transportation services.

We request that all day program service providers advise us of their holiday schedule, and suggest that our day program service providers will continue this holiday schedule:

  1. New Year’s Day
  2. Martin Luther King Day
  3. President’s Day
  4. Memorial Day
  5. Independence Day
  6. Labor Day
  7. Thanksgiving Day
  8. Day after Thanksgiving
  9. Christmas Eve
  10. Christmas Day

Harbor Regional Center will make every effort to coordinate transportation services if a day program service provider plans to observe different or fewer holidays. At this time we are unable to make this transportation commitment, but we will work with each service provider who chooses a different holiday schedule on an individual basis in an effort to ensure that clients who need transportation will be transported their programs.

For more information visit the Department of Developmental Services website.