Amended in Senate April 7, 2015

Senate Bill No. 644

Introduced by Senator Hancock

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Sections 19240, 19242, and 19242.2 of, and to add Section 19242.3 to, the Government Code, relating to state employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 644, as amended, Hancock. begin delete State employment: end delete Limited Examination and Appointment begin delete Program. end delete begin insert Program: persons with developmental disabilities. end insert

Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Limited Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) to provide an alternative to the traditional civil service examination and appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with disabilities in the state civil services. Existing law authorizes the department to conduct competitive examinations to determine eligibility for appointment under LEAP and requires the department to refer the names of eligible applicants who meet the minimum qualifications of a job classification to the appointing powers for examination appointments, as specified.

This bill would begin delete require the competitive examination for a person with an intellectual or developmental disability, as defined, to consist of a competitive end delete begin insert preclude an examination for a person with a developmental disability from including a written examination or readiness evaluation and would, instead, require that the competitive examination consist of an end insert internship with a state agency that is not less than 1,024 hours in duration and require the department to refer the names of eligible applicants who successfully complete the internship to the appointing powers for examination appointments. The bill would also authorize a state agency that provides the internship or appoints a person with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability to a position under LEAP to allow that person to receive on-the-job support and finance the internship or position with personnel funds assigned to a vacant or unfilled position, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Individuals with developmental disabilities have to struggle
to find gainful employment. Statewide unemployment among
people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities of working
age is approximately 90 percent.

(b) According to California’s Employment Development
Department, the average annual earnings of employed individuals
with developmental disabilities is approximately five thousand
five hundred dollars ($5,500).

(c) Within the community of people with begin delete intellectual or end delete
developmental disabilities, people diagnosed with autism are the
begin delete fastestgrowing end delete begin insert fastest growing end insert population, making up
approximately 50 percent of the annual new caseload of regional
centers in some areas of the state.

(d) Seven years after exiting the K-12 school system, one in
three adults with autism still does not have paid work experience
or a college or technical education.

(e) Nationally recognized employment internship training
models like Project SEARCH have demonstrated that many people
with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities can be successfully
employed in jobs that earn a living wage.

(f) The key elements of successful programs like Project
SEARCH are:

(1) The opportunity for people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental
disabilities to be exposed to real work through internships.

(2) The opportunity for people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental
disabilities to receive on-the-job customized training and support
during internships.

(3) The opportunity for employers, in an internship setting, to
experience firsthand the quality of work of an individual with begin delete an
intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability.

(g) The existing state hiring process for people with disabilities,
known as the Limited Examination and Appointment Program, or
LEAP, is not well suited to correctly assess the qualifications and
abilities of many people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental
disabilities because it relies on written testing as an assessment
tool and is not performance based. As a result, very few people
with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities are represented in
the state workforce.

(h) The Governor and the Legislature must address the lack of
access people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities have
to employment opportunities with the State of California and take
steps to become a “model employer” to demonstrate the potential
of this untapped workforce.

(i) In enacting this measure, the Legislature intends to create
more access to state employment for people with begin delete intellectual or end delete
developmental disabilities by allowing successful internship
performance in a state agency, in lieu of a written test, to serve as
meeting the minimum qualifications for consideration for hire into
an entry-level position with the State of California. The Legislature
further intends to grant flexibility to state agencies to hire persons
with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities who meet specific
needs of those agencies into entry-level positions without requiring
those persons to be able to perform the full range of tasks typically
required by the entry-level job classification.

(j) The Legislature intends that these model employer practices
be targeted at people with begin delete intellectual or end delete developmental disabilities
who are between 18 and 30 years of age and are deemed eligible
by the Department of Rehabilitation to receive supported
employment services. If this population is left without purposefully
designed pathways to employment, these young adults will remain
at a high risk of public dependency throughout the course of their
lives.

SEC. 2.  

Section 19240 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

19240.  

(a) The department, consistent with board rules, shall
be responsible for the administration of the Limited Examination
and Appointment Program. This program shall provide an
alternative to the traditional civil service examination and
appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with
disabilities in the state civil service.

(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(1) “Disability” has the definition set forth in Section 12926,
as that section presently reads or as it subsequently may be
amended.

(2) “Developmental disability” has the definition set forth in
Section 4512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(3) “Person with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability”
means a person who the State Department of Developmental
Services deems eligible for services pursuant to the Lanterman
Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Division 4.5
(commencing with Section 4500) of the Welfare and Institutions
Code) and who is a consumer of a regional center pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 4620) of the act.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if the definition of
“disability” used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (Public Law 101-336) would result in broader protection of
the civil rights of individuals with a mental or physical disability,
as defined in subdivision (b), then that broader protection shall be
deemed incorporated by reference into, and shall prevail over
conflicting provisions of, the definition in subdivision (b). The
definition of “disability” contained in subdivision (b) shall not be
deemed to refer to or include conditions excluded from the federal
definition of “disability” pursuant to Section 511 of the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12211).

SEC. 3.  

Section 19242 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

19242.  

(a) The department or its designee shall conduct
competitive examinations to determine the qualifications and
readiness of persons with disabilities for state employment. The
examinations may include an on-the-job-performance evaluation
and any other selection techniques deemed appropriate.

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The department or its designee shall not require a person
with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability to take or pass
a written examination or readiness evaluation in order to qualify
for service in a position under the Limited Examination and
Appointment Program. The begin insert competitive end insert examination of a person
with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability shall consist of begin delete a competitive internship with a state agency that is not less than
1024 hours in duration. end delete begin insert both of the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) Successful completion of an internship with a state agency
of at least 1,024 hours in duration.

end insert begin insert

(B) Certification by the state agency that the employee has
completed the internship and has demonstrated the skills,
knowledge, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the
requirements of the position.

end insert begin insert

(2) A person with a developmental disability who successfully
completes the examination required by this subdivision is deemed
to meet the minimum qualifications, as determined by the board,
for the position in which the internship was performed.

end insert

(c) Examination results may be ranked or unranked.

SEC. 4.  

Section 19242.2 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

19242.2.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The department or its designee shall refer the
names of persons with disabilities who meet eligibility criteria for
begin delete participation, end delete begin insert participation and end insert the minimum qualifications of the
job classification begin delete or successfully complete an internship pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 19242, as determined by the board, end delete
and any other requirements deemed appropriate by the board to
appointing powers for examination appointments. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, and to provide for appropriate
job-person placement, all candidates meeting referral requirements
shall be eligible for examination appointment. The department
may prescribe the method for referring names to appointing powers.

begin insert

(b) (1) The department or its designee shall refer the names of
persons with developmental disabilities to appointing powers for
selection for participation in an internship examination as set forth
in subdivision (b) of Section 19242.

end insert begin insert

(2) The department or its designee may refer the names of
persons with developmental disabilities who have successfully
completed an internship examination to appointing powers for
consideration for appointment in the same job classification as
the position in which the applicant successfully completed his or
her internship.

end insert begin insert

(3) The department may prescribe the method for referring
names to appointing powers, including, but not limited to, working
with the appointing power to identify positions that could
successfully be filled by persons with developmental disabilities.

end insert

SEC. 5.  

Section 19242.3 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

19242.3.  

(a) A state agency that provides an internship to a
person with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability or appoints
a person with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability to a
position under the Limited Examination and Appointment Program
may finance the internship or position with personnel funds
assigned to a vacant or unfilled position. A state agency that
transfers funds from a vacant or unfilled position pursuant to this
section does not eliminate the vacant or unfilled position, and may
return or assign funds to fill the position.

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert A state agency that provides an internship to a person
with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability or appoints a
person with begin delete an intellectual or end delete begin insert a end insert developmental disability to a
position under the Limited Examination and Appointment Program
shall allow the person to receive on-the-job support as a reasonable
accommodation for the person’s disability.

begin insert

(2) On-the-job supportive services, in addition to the services
set forth in subdivision (q) of Section 4851 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, may consist of, but need not be limited to, time
spent with a job coach on any of the following:

end insert begin insert

(A) Conducting job analysis, specific training, and supervision
of the intern while the intern is engaged in his or her internship.

end insert begin insert

(B) Conducting skills building training, including, but not limited
to, adaptive functional and social skills training and support as
necessary to ensure internship adjustment.

end insert begin insert

(C) Working with families and other support networks to ensure
internship adjustment.

end insert begin insert

(D) Evaluation of performance of the intern, including, but not
limited to, communication with the internship supervisor.

end insert begin insert

(3) The services of the job coach are not the responsibility of
the state agency providing the internship, unless the agency is
otherwise the direct payor of those services.

end insert begin insert

(4) In order for the internship to meet the minimum
qualifications of the desired position, the internship shall be
successfully completed, as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section
19242, in the same job classification as the position the individual
is applying for.

end insert begin insert

(5) If a job examination period is required prior to the
permanent hiring of a qualified individual with a developmental
disability, the appointing authority may apply some or all of the
internship hours performed to meet some or all of the job
examination period requirement.

end insert