BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2311
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
AB 2311
(Brown) - As Amended March 16, 2016
SUBJECT: Emergency services: sign language interpreters
SUMMARY: Would require California Governor's Office of
Emergency Services (CalOES), in cooperation with the Office for
Access and Functional Needs (OAFN), to provide or contract for a
disaster response sign language interpreter credential program
to train American Sign Language interpreters to effectively
communicate public safety information. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires every state agency and every local agency to utilize
a sign language interpreter who has completed the credential
program to provide interpretation services at every media or
public briefing and any emergency shelter where actionable
information will be disseminated before, during, or after a
state of war emergency, state of emergency, or local
emergency.
2)Imposes a state-mandated local program.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes CalOES by the Governor's Reorganization Plan No.2,
operative July 1, 2013.
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2)Requires CalOES to perform a variety of duties with respect to
specified emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response
activities in the state, including emergency medical services.
3)Specifies that the State Emergency Plan (SEP) shall be in
effect in each political subdivision of the state, and the
governing body of each political subdivision shall take such
action as may be necessary to carry out the provisions
thereof.
4)Requires the Governor to coordinate SEP and those programs
necessary to mitigate the effects of an emergency.
5)Requires the Governor to coordinate the preparation of plans
and programs for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency
by the political subdivisions of the State of California, such
plans and programs to be integrated into and coordinated with
the State Emergency Plan and the plans and programs of the
federal government and of other states to the fullest possible
extent.
6) Requires the director of CalOES to appoint representatives
of the disabled community to serve on the evacuation,
sheltering, communication, recovery, and other pertinent
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) committees.
Representatives of the disabled community shall, to the extent
practicable, be from the following groups:
a) Persons who are blind or visually impaired.
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b) Persons with sensory or cognitive disabilities.
c) Persons with physical disabilities.
7) Requires CalOES, within the SEMS structure, to ensure, to
the extent practicable, that the needs of the disabled
community are met by ensuring all committee recommendations
regarding preparedness, planning, and procedures relating to
emergencies include the needs of people with disabilities.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, "although there
have been many reports written as to the lessons learned from
previous disasters about the lack of accessibility to
information, resources and needed services, the deaf community
continues to be denied access to information and resources at
the time of disasters. The following are examples of recent
disasters in which deaf individuals were denied crucial
information and access:
San Diego Wildfires: Interpreters were not used at news
conferences, nor at shelters
Napa Earthquake: Qualified interpreters were not used at
news conferences; deaf individuals did not know shelters
were available or where they were, become homeless and had
to go to a hotel
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San Bernardino shooting: There was a deaf agency in the
building, they didn't have access to information during the
recovery
Interpreters, If dispatched by a local agency to a
televised press conference, are not shown on screen
We simply cannot keep hoping someone will remember to provide
access for deaf and hard of hearing that uses American Sign
Language. Access denied is a life not saved."
Background : In 2009, the California Legislature merged the
powers, purposes, and responsibilities of the former CalOES with
those of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) into the newly-
created California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA).On July
1, 2013, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s Reorganization Plan #2
eliminated CalEMA and restored it to the Governor's Office,
renaming it the California Governor's Office of Emergency
Services (CalOES), and merging it with the Office of Public
Safety Communications. Today, CalOES is responsible for
overseeing and coordinating emergency preparedness, response,
recovery and homeland security activities within the state.
Office for Access and Functional Needs (OAFN) :
In January 2008, CalOES established the OAFN. The purpose of
OAFN is to identify the needs of people with disabilities and
others with access and functional needs before, during, and
after a disaster and to integrate disability needs and resources
into emergency management systems. OAFN offers guidance to
emergency managers and planners, disability and older adult
service systems for planning and responding during disasters and
recovery.
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) : SEMS is the
system used for coordinating state and local emergency response
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in California. SEMS provides a multiple level emergency
response organization that facilitates the flow of emergency
information and resources. SEMS consists of the Incident
Command System (ICS), mutual aid, the operational area concept
and multi-interagency coordination. SEMS is designed to be
flexible and adaptable to the varied emergencies that can occur
in California, and to meet the emergency management needs of all
responders. Government Code 8607(a), requires CalOES, in
coordination with other state agencies and interested local
emergency management agencies, to establish SEMS by regulation.
SB 1451 (Kehoe), Chapter 600, Statutes of 2006, required CalOES
to ensure that members of the disabled community are represented
on all pertinent SEMS Specialist Committees to ensure that the
needs of people with disabilities are met during emergency and
disaster situations. The bill also required OES to submit a
report to the Legislature and appropriate state and local
agencies by January 1, 2009 containing recommendations regarding
emergency preparedness and the needs of people with
disabilities. The bill also required CalOES to prepare and
disseminate sample brochures and other materials on the
emergency preparedness and evacuations needs of the disabled
community.
Operational Area (OA ): OAs encompass the county and all
political subdivisions within the county. The OA serves as a
focal point for all local emergency management information and
the provision of mutual aid. It manages information, resources,
and priorities among local governments within the OA. The OA
also serves as the coordination and communication link between
the local government level and the regional level. SEMS
regulations authorize each County Board of Supervisors to
designate an OA lead agency.
Bill in practice : Section 1 of AB 2311 requires CalOES and OAFN
to "provide, or contract for, a disaster response sign language
interpreter credential program, which shall train persons on the
use of American Sign Language interpreters to effectively
communicate public safety information".
CalOES currently provides a Disaster Response Interpreter
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Training Course through the California Specialized Training
Institute to local certified American Sign Language interpreters
- once this course is completed, they become certified Disaster
Response Interpreters (DRIs). OAFN is the designated state
agency for activating the DRI's in a state of emergency.
OAFN has Partner Agencies (PAs), which are local community-based
organizations that currently provide on-call sign language
interpreting services on a 24/7 basis for medical, mental health
and law enforcement emergencies - service areas are identified
by the PAs, some which may overlap. Each PA is an independent
organization and is not an employee or agent of CalOES.
In the event of an emergency it is the PAs responsibility to
locate, recruit and dispatch DRI sign language interpreters,
upon request from OAFN, as quickly and efficiently as possible
during a declared emergency. Respond and confirm to OAFN within
30-45 minutes from the time that the request was made with the
name and contact information of the DRI. The process outlined
above, ostensibly, should satisfy the mandate in Section 1 of AB
2311.
Section 2 and 3 of AB 2311 mandates that any state agency or
local governing body "provide interpretation services at every
media or public briefing and any emergency shelter where
actionable information will be disseminated before, during, or
after a state of emergency, state of war emergency, or local
emergency".
Currently, there is no mandate in law requiring state and local
governments to provide a certified DRI sign language interpreter
at every emergency where information is being disseminated.
According to CalOES, there are approximately 100 statewide DRIs
spread across various PAs statewide. The number of certified
DRIs would have to increase exponentially to ensure this mandate
could be met on the state and local level.
Support : The California Association of the Deaf states, "During
times of natural disasters and crises, all warning alert systems
are sound based. CAD recognizes that the eight regions of
California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf & Hard of
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Hearing are often the main source of information and resources
for our Deaf and Hard of Hearing community members because there
is no other place to go. This is especially true when the local
news stations fail to add
closed captioning (text) to their reports and 9-1-1 fails to
respond to TTY or Video
Relay calls."
"In the meantime, barriers to access still exist, especially for
those Deaf Californians who, due to language deprivation or
delays, have not mastered the English language and cannot follow
written instructions and/or captioning shown on media outlets.
Having a sign language interpreter will fill a huge
communication access gap that has been long ignored. It is high
time that county and state officials remove barriers to
communication for public safety reasons so that all Californians
have access to all press/media conferences shown on TV,
including those at the emergency shelters. Supporting AB 2311 is
a step that will save lives."
Related/Prior legislation : AB 615 (Torrico) of 2007/2008
Session, requires OES to consider the needs of people with
limited English proficiency in creating emergency and disaster
response plans. (Assembly Appropriations Committee)
SB 426 (Kehoe) of 2007, establishes a "Deputy Director for
Access and Functional Needs Coordination" position, within OES,
responsible for preparedness, response and recovery services for
individuals of all ages with functional limitations and
disabilities - persons who have one or more functional
limitations that reduce their ability to move, see, hear, walk,
speak, learn, breathe, understand information, respond quickly,
or manipulate or reach controls. (Senate Appropriations
Committee)
SB 1451 (Kehoe), Chapter 600, Statutes of 2006, requires OES to
ensure that members of the disabled community are represented on
all pertinent SEMS Specialist Committees to ensure that the
needs of people with disabilities are met during emergency and
disaster situations. Requires OES to submit a report to the
Legislature and appropriate state and local agencies by January
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1, 2009 containing recommendations regarding emergency
preparedness and the needs of people with disabilities.
Requires OES to prepare and disseminate sample brochures and
other materials on the emergency preparedness and evacuations
needs of the disabled community. Requires OES and the Office of
the State Fire Marshal (SFM) to seek research funding in order
to develop new technologies and information systems that will
assist in the effort to improve emergency services to people
with disabilities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Persons (Co-Sponsor)
California Association of the Deaf (Co-Sponsor)
Deaf Counseling, Advocacy, & Referral Agency
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
Southern California Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Kenton Stanhope / G.O. / (916) 319-2531