BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT
Dr. Richard Pan, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 644 Hearing Date: 4/13/15
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|Author: |Hancock |
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|Version: |4/07/15 As amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Pamela Schneider |
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Subject: State employment: Limited Examination and Appointment
Program: developmentally disabled individuals
SOURCE: East Bay Innovations
Futures Explored
DIGEST: This bill amends provisions of the state's Limited
Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) to allow
developmentally disabled individuals to compete for state jobs
by performing internships in the desired positions.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes LEAP in the state civil service, which provides an
alternative to the traditional civil service exam and
appointment process in order to allow a disabled individual to
compete for a position in state service by proving eligibility
and meeting other specified criteria.
2)Defines "disability" for the purpose of the LEAP program to be
consistent with the definition of "disability" found in state
laws governing fair employment and housing and the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act.
3)Establishes the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) as the
state department with responsibility over administration of
the LEAP program and gives CalHR discretion in creating
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eligibility criteria for participation in LEAP, examination
techniques, and appointment and appeal procedures.
4)Requires, in the state civil service, that applicants meet
minimum qualifications and undergo a competitive process
before being appointed to a position and, in general, creates
ranked hiring lists based on the competitive application
process from which state employers may choose eligible
candidates.
5)Requires, under LEAP, that candidates are first certified as
disabled and meet certain minimum qualifications, which may be
ascertained through written examination, before being placed
on a referral list. CalHR then refers the names of eligible
candidates to agencies that are seeking employees for
LEAP-eligible positions.
6)Requires that LEAP employees are appointed on a temporary and
provisional basis to allow them to demonstrate their abilities
to perform the duties of their positions during a period of
time known as the job examination period. During this time,
LEAP employees do not acquire permanent civil service status
but receive the same salaries and benefits provided to other
temporary state employees.
7)Allows, upon successful completion of the job examination
period, the employing department to appoint the LEAP employee
to an appropriate civil service position.
8)Creates a process for LEAP candidates and employees to appeal
in situations in which CalHR refuses to certify the employee's
eligibility to participate in LEAP or the individual is
rejected during the application, selection, or job examination
period, or is denied reasonable accommodation.
9)Establishes the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, which states that California is responsible for providing
an array of services and supports sufficiently complete to
meet the needs and choices of each person with developmental
disabilities, regardless of age or degree of disability, and
at each stage of life to support their integration into the
mainstream life of the community.
10) Establishes a system of nonprofit "regional
centers" to provide fixed points of contact in the community
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for all persons with developmental disabilities and their
families to coordinate services and supports best suited to
them throughout their lifetimes.
11)Requires that the state make available the expertise of state
employees and programs to support the employment-related needs
of individuals with disabilities, as specified, including
ensuring that state government is a model employer of
individuals with disabilities.
12)Creates a statewide Employment First Policy, prioritizing
opportunities for integrated competitive employment for
working-age individuals with developmental disabilities,
regardless of the severity of their disabilities.
This bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations with regard to people with a
developmental disability and their difficulty in obtaining
employment.
2)Finds that the state hiring process for LEAP is not well
suited to correctly assess the qualifications and abilities of
developmentally disabled individuals due to initial
assessments based on written testing rather than
performance-based testing.
3)Declares the intent of the Legislature to target model
employer practices toward people with developmental
disabilities who are between 18 and 30 years of age and deemed
eligible by the Department of Rehabilitation to receive
supportive employment services.
4)Expands the definition of "disability" to include a person
with a developmental disability that the Department of
Developmental Services deems eligible for services pursuant to
the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act and who
is a consumer of a regional center pursuant to the Lanterman
Act.
5)Prohibits CalHR from requiring a person with a developmental
disability to take or pass a written examination or readiness
evaluation in order to qualify for service in a LEAP position.
6)Requires, instead of a written application, that the LEAP
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examination for an individual with a developmental disability
consist of an internship with a state agency of not less than
1024 hours (i.e., approximately 6 months if full time) in
duration and certification from the employing agency that the
individual has completed the internship and demonstrated the
knowledge, skills, and ability to necessary to successfully
perform the duties of the position.
7)Specifies that a person with a developmental disability who
successfully completes the internship, as required, shall be
determined to meet the minimum qualifications for the position
in which the internship was performed.
8)Requires CalHR to refer the names of persons with
developmental disabilities to appointing powers for LEAP
internship appointments.
9)Allows CalHR to refer the name of a developmentally disabled
person who has successfully completed an internship
examination to appointing powers for consideration for
appointment in the same job classification as the position in
which the internship was successfully completed.
10)Gives CalHR discretion as to the method for referring names,
including working with agencies to identify positions that
could successfully be filled by persons with developmental
disabilities.
11)Allows a state agency that provides a LEAP internship to a
person with a developmental disability to finance the
internship with personnel funds assigned to a vacant or
unfilled position and specifies that doing so does not
eliminate the vacant or unfilled position, and that the funds
may later be reassigned to the unfilled position.
12)Requires that a state agency that provides a LEAP internship
to a person with a developmental disability shall allow the
person to receive on-the-job supportive services as a
reasonable accommodation.
13)Clarifies that on-the-job supportive services may consist of
time spent with a job coach who assists the developmentally
disabled person, as specified, and states that services of
the job coach are not the responsibility of the state agency
providing the internship unless the state agency is a direct
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payor of those services.
14)Specifies that in order for the internship to meet the
minimum qualifications of the desired position, it must be
successfully completed in that same position.
15)Specifies that if a job examination period is required prior
to permanently hiring a qualified developmentally disabled
individual, the hiring agency may apply some or all of the
internship hours performed to meet some or all of the job
examination period requirement.
Background
LEAP
The current process for LEAP eligibility is as follows: an
individual is certified as disabled by the State Department of
Rehabilitation. The individual must then meet minimum
qualifications (MQs) for the LEAP position (only certain state
classifications are LEAP qualified). The MQs are met by
successful completion of a written (often online) exam or
readiness evaluation. Once the MQs are met, the LEAP applicant's
name is placed on an unranked hiring list that is available to
any state agency that has LEAP positions available and is
seeking LEAP candidates. The hiring authority may then contact
individuals on the list for interviews and job placements.
The LEAP candidate then serves a job examination period that is
typically 9 months in length but can be longer. Upon successful
completion of the job examination period, the LEAP employee may
then be appointed to a permanent state position. Then the
employee must also serve the traditional 6 month probationary
period before becoming a permanent state civil service employee.
Regional Centers
California's 21 nonprofit regional centers are part of a system
of care for individuals with developmental disabilities overseen
by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Each
regional center provides local services and supports to
individuals through contracts with DDS, including diagnosis and
assessment of eligibility as well as planning, providing access
to and coordinating the services and supports that are needed.
Regional center participants are referred as "consumers."
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Services for consumers are determined through individual program
plans.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 1041 (Chesbro, Chapter 667, Statutes of 2014) creates a
statewide Employment First Policy and sets forth requirements
related to the inclusion of employment opportunities and
services in a regional center participant's individual program
plan.
AB 287 (Beall, Chapter 231, Statutes of 2009) establishes the
Employment First Committee as a standing committee of the State
Council on Developmental Disabilities to identify strategies and
best practices for significantly increasing the numbers of
people with developmental disabilities in competitive integrated
employment and the number who earn wages at or above minimum
wage.
AB 925 (Aroner, Chapter 1088, Statutes of 2002) requires, in
addition to other measures intended to bring adults with
disabilities into gainful employment, that the state government
become a model employer of individuals with disabilities.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT:
East Bay Innovations (co-source)
Futures Explored (co-source)
Ala Costa Centers
Alameda County Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory
Council
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Disabilities Services Association
Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area
East Bay Development Disabilities Legislative Coalition
The Arc California
United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
OPPOSITION:
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None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
According to the author:
Currently, 92% of Californians with intellectual
disabilities of working age are jobless. Unemployment for
adults with ID/DD [i.e., intellectual/ developmental
disabilities] is chronic and severe nationwide. Less than
5% of young adults with ID/DD leave K12 and go directly
into employment and less than 30% go into post-secondary or
career technical education. If young people with ID/DD
exiting K12 education are not connected to employment they
tend to rely on public benefits and services their entire
lives.
LEAP is often not an effective alternative to the standard
civil service examination for individuals with ID/DD
because it relies on a written test to initially evaluate
candidates. Many people with ID/DD can successfully be
employed in jobs involving complex tasks but need time and
customized training to learn the job. Written tests are
not a valid measure of their abilities.
Several states have adopted "model employer" practices to
ensure that people with ID have access to state employment
opportunities. Being a model employer will enable the
State to demonstrate to other public sector and to private
sector employers how to unlock the potential of this
untapped workforce.
Alameda and Santa Clara Counties use a similar method of
allowing successful job performance after adequate time on
the job to become the "test" for civil service purposes for
workers with ID/DD to become public employees.
According to sponsors, the current LEAP structure, because it
relies on written tests to initially evaluate candidates, "often
precludes individuals with intellectual and developmental
disabilities from accessing the program."
"SB 644 would allow an individual with an intellectual or
developmental disability to successfully complete an internship
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at a state agency with a minimum of 1024 hours, in lieu of a
readiness evaluation as currently required by LEAP. The
internship would be used to evaluate whether that individual is
eligible for state civil service employment."
Futures Explored notes that they support over 300 individuals
engaged in the workforce to some degree. "We have found that
internship/apprenticeship type programs have allowed our folks
to get jobs that would have historically been viewed as beyond
their capabilities if only a test or interview were used."