State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind: membership: out-of-state schools: followup services.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Consumer Affairs a State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind, which is comprised of 7 members appointed by the Governor. Existing law requires 2 of the board members to be persons who are blind or visually impaired who use guide dogs. This bill would instead require at least 3 board members to be persons who are blind or visually impaired who use guide dogs. Under existing law, the board has exclusive authority in this state to issue licenses for the instruction of persons who are blind or visually impaired in the use of guide dogs and for the training of guide dogs for use by persons who are blind or visually impaired. Under existing law, the board also has exclusive authority in this state to issue licenses to operate schools for the training of guide dogs and the instruction of persons who are blind or visually impaired in the use of guide dogs. Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, give, hire, or furnish under any other arrangement, any guide dog or to engage in the business or occupation of training a guide dog unless he or she holds a valid and unimpaired license issued pursuant to the provisions governing guide dogs. A violation of those provisions is a crime. This bill, whenever an individual has received training or instruction from a specified certified school outside of this state, would authorize personnel from that school to provide that individual with any followup services within this state with respect to the specific guide dog for whom training or instruction was originally provided outside of this state, as specified. The bill would require the personnel, not less than 3 days prior to arriving in this state, to notify the board of their intent to provide those services. This bill would, if specified conditions are met, authorize followup emergency services. If those services are to be provided due to emergency circumstances, as determined by the school based on specified examples, the bill would authorize that notice to be provided within 24 hours after the personnel arrive in this state. The bill would prohibit the board from requiring the school to provide the name of the individual who will be receiving followup services, however, it would permit the board to require a school to provide the name of the individual to whom services have been provided to investigate personnel providing those services, so long as the investigation is based on reasonable grounds for determining that personnel may have provided substandard care. The bill would also authorize the board to refuse to allow personnel who have committed certain acts for which the board could suspend or revoke a license to provide those services, and would place those personnel under the disciplinary jurisdiction of the board while they provide those services. The bill, until January 1, 2018, would require the board to prepare a factsheet regarding various functions of the board, to post that factsheet on its Internet Web site, and to provide copies to each of the licensed guide dog schools. The bill, until January 1, 2018, would also require a licensed guide dog school to provide copies of the factsheet to every student receiving training from that school. Because the failure of a licensed guide dog school to provide those copies and the failure of personnel to provide that notification would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.