Amended in Assembly June 30, 2015

Amended in Senate June 1, 2015

Amended in Senate April 7, 2015

Senate Bill No. 644

Introduced by Senator Hancock

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Sections 19240, 19241, 19242, and 19242.2 of, and to add Sections 19241.5, 19242.05, and 19242.3 to, the Government Code, relating to state employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 644, as amended, Hancock. Limited Examination and Appointment Program: persons with developmental disabilities.

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 preclude an examination for end delete begin insert permit end insert a person with a developmental disability begin delete from including end delete begin insert to either complete end insert a written examination or readiness evaluation begin delete and would, instead, require that the competitive examination consist of an end delete begin insert or an internship, as specified, to qualify for service under LEAP. The bill would require that the use of an end insert internship begin insert as a competitive examination in this context consist of a successful completion of an internship end insert with a state agency begin delete that is end delete begin insert of end insert not less than 512 hours in duration and begin insert a specified certification by the agency. The bill would end insert 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 require the department to create that internship program in coordination with the State Department of Developmental Services and the Department of Rehabilitation, as specified. The bill would authorize a state agency that provides the internship or appoints a person with a 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 or other available funds assigned to a vacant or unfilled position, as specified, but would provide that on-the-job support services are not the financial or programmatic responsibility of any state agency engaged in establishing the LEAP internship process. The bill would specify that LEAP is not a mandate on any state agency employer or job applicant except to the extent specifically directed by the State Personnel Board.

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) Persons with developmental disabilities have to struggle to
find gainful employment. Statewide unemployment among people
with developmental disabilities of working age is approximately
90 percent.

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

(c) Within the community of people with developmental
disabilities, people diagnosed with autism are the fastest growing
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 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 developmental disabilities
to be exposed to real work through internships.

(2) The opportunity for people with 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 a person with a
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 developmental disabilities because
it relies on written testing as an assessment tool and is not
performance based. As a result, very few people with
developmental disabilities are represented in the state workforce.

(h) The Governor and the Legislature must address the lack of
access people with 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 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 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 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) “Developmental disability” has the definition set forth in
Section 4512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

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

(3) “LEAP” means the Limited Examination and Appointment
Program implemented and administered by the department pursuant
to this chapter.

(4) “Person with a 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 persons 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 19241 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

19241.  

The department, consistent with board rules, shall be
responsible for the implementation of this chapter, which may
provide for the establishment of eligibility criteria for participation,
special job classifications, examination techniques, the creation
of a LEAP internship program for persons with developmental
disabilities in coordination with the State Department of
Developmental Services and the Department of Rehabilitation,
and appointment and appeals procedures.

SEC. 4.  

Section 19241.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

19241.5.  

This chapter establishes the Limited Examination and
Appointment Program as a voluntary, additional method of
applying for state employment and is not a mandate on any state
agency employer or job applicant except to the extent specifically
directed by the board.

SEC. 5.  

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) (1) The department or its designee shall begin delete not require end delete begin insert permit end insert
a person with a developmental disability to begin delete take or pass end delete begin insert chose to
complete end insert a written examination or readiness begin delete evaluation end delete begin insert evaluation,
or to complete an internship as described in subparagraphs (A)
and (B), end insert in order to qualify for service in a position under the
Limited Examination and Appointment Program. The begin insert use of an
internship as a end insert competitive examination of a person with a
developmental disability shall consist of both of the following:

(A) Successful completion of an internship with a state agency
of at least 512 hours in duration.

(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.

(2) A person with a developmental disability who successfully
completes the begin insert examination or end insert internship 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.

(c) Examination results may be ranked or unranked.

SEC. 6.  

Section 19242.05 is added to the Government Code, immediately following Section 19242, to read:

19242.05.  

(a) The LEAP internship program created in
accordance with Section 19241 shall be designed to allow persons
with developmental disabilities to meet the minimum qualifications
of the LEAP classification to which he or she seeks an examination
appointment. The length of a LEAP internship shall be for a
minimum period of 512 working hours.

(b) A person with a developmental disability who successfully
completes a LEAP internship upon certification by the appointing
power shall be considered as meeting the referral requirements
necessary to be eligible for an examination appointment, as
specified in Section 19242.2, without being required to pass a
written examination or readiness evaluation.

(c) The LEAP internship program may be accessed as an unpaid
or paid internship if the state agency providing the internship has
available funding authority within its personnel budget.

SEC. 7.  

Section 19242.2 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

19242.2.  

(a) The department or its designee shall refer the
names of persons with disabilities who meet eligibility criteria for
participation and the minimum qualifications of the job
classification 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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

SEC. 8.  

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 a developmental disability or appoints a person with
a developmental disability to a position under the Limited
Examination and Appointment Program may finance the internship
or position with personnel or any other funds available for this
purpose and 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) (1) A state agency that provides an internship to a person
with a developmental disability or appoints a person with a
developmental disability to a position under the Limited
Examination and Appointment Program shall allow the person to
receive on-the-job support, as determined by the Department of
Rehabilitation or the State Department of Developmental Services
pursuant to existing rules and the service authorization of those
supported employment programs, as a reasonable accommodation
for the person’s disability.

(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:

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

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

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

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

(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.

(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 begin delete individual end delete
begin insert person end insert is applying for.

(5) If a job examination period is required prior to the permanent
hiring of a qualified begin delete individual end delete begin insert person end insert 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.

(6) On-the-job supportive services are allowable to the extent
authorized by other state programs and are not the financial or
programmatic responsibility of any state agency engaged in
establishing the LEAP internship process.