[nagdu] CA State Board tries to regulate out-of-state schools

[lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com]

Hi Everyone,
This letter is strange in that it was supposed to have been sent to guide 
dog schools outside of California. I wonder what the point was since 
out-of-state guide dog schools train their own instructors.

Unless it is to discourage - for insnstance - Seeing Eye from sending out 
its instructors to work with their California graduates??  Seeing Eye has a 
West Coast Instructor who lives in AZ who is the usual one to come and visit 
us grads when we need them. They also come and interview prospective 
students.  Hmmmmm. Tecnically, a Seeing Eye instructor is not licensed by 
the Guide Dog Board to "practice" the role of a guide dog instructor.

What do you all think, California graduates from schools outside California?

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Angie Matney" <angie.matney at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 5:21 PM
Subject: [nagdu] CA State Board tries to regulate out-of-state schools


> Have people seen this letter from the California State Board of Guide Dogs 
> for the Blind to out-of-state dog-guide programs? The text follows the 
> link.
>
> http://www.guidedogboard.ca.gov/forms_pubs/outofstateletter.shtml
>
> Letter to out-of-state schools
> Re: Compliance with California State Law Pertaining to Guide Dogs
>
> Dear Out-of-State School:
>
> On July 8, 1947, Governor Earl Warren signed into law the Guide Dog Act. 
> This act was established to keep out maverick guide dog schools, protect 
> the visually impaired by setting minimum standards of training, provide 
> oversight for the disposition
> of donor funds and maintain minimum competency of training for licensed 
> guide dog instructors.
>
> The purpose of this letter is twofold. First, the Board wishes to inform 
> all out-of-state schools the statutes requiring compliance with licensure 
> requirements for instruction in the state of California. Second, the Board 
> has a process for compliance -
> namely the examination for an instructor license. If a candidate for 
> licensure meets the minimum requirements to sit for the examination, they 
> are eligible for licensure status. The examination is given twice per year 
> and involves a one-day Written
> Exam
> and a one-day Oral/Practical Exam. Fingerprints are also required before 
> taking the examination.
>
> First, California law requires a license for the sale or the giving of a 
> guide dog. Business and Professions Code section 7210 requires that:
>
> It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, give, hire or 
> furnish under any other arrangement, any guide dog or seeing-eye dog or to 
> engage in the business or occupation of training any such dog unless he 
> holds a valid and unimpaired
> license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
>
> Second, California law requires guide dog instructors to be licensed. An 
> instructor "means a person who instructs blind persons in the use of guide 
> dogs or who engages in the business of training, selling, hiring, or 
> supplying guide dogs for the blind."
> California law as set forth in 16 CCR section 2284 requires:
>
> Anyone instructing a blind person in the use of a guide dog must be 
> licensed by the Board, provided, however, that a school may employ 
> apprentices to assist in such instruction. No apprentice shall act as an 
> instructor except under the direct and
> immediate supervision of a licensed instructor.
>
> Last, B&P Code Section 7213 provides that:
>
> Violation of any provision of this chapter is a misdemeanor.
>
> The process for obtaining an instructor license begins with an 
> examination. To qualify to take the examination, the individual must have 
> the following qualifications as set forth in Statute (B&P Code Section 
> 7209) -- which states the following:
>
> [P]erson to be eligible for examination as an instructor must (1) have a 
> knowledge of the special problems of the blind and how to teach them, (2) 
> be able to demonstrate by actual blindfold test under traffic conditions 
> his ability to train guide dogs with
> whom a blind person would be safe, (3) be suited temperamentally and 
> otherwise to instruct blind persons in the use of guide dogs, and, (4) 
> have had at least three years actual experience, comprising such number of 
> hours as the Board may require,
> as an instructor, and have handled twenty-two (22) man-dog units; or its 
> equivalent, as determined by the Board, as an apprentice under a licensed 
> instructor or under an instructor in a school satisfactory to the Board.
>
> Applicants for the instructor license are required to take both a written 
> and practical/oral examination. Applicants must provide a 15-30 minute 
> video demonstrating instruction skills. A panel of subject matter experts 
> will review the video and evaluate
> the candidate's oral defense of said video. The five steps to licensing 
> are available on the Board's Web site. Applicants may also obtain the 
> application for examination at www.guidedogboard.ca.gov
>
> The instructor licenses are good for one year and are renewed each year 
> thereafter for a fee of $100. Along with the fee, an instructor must 
> provide the Board with evidence of continuing education (either 8 hours of 
> course/seminar attendance or 16
> hours of attendance at meetings of guide dog users or organizations of the 
> blind).
>
> If you have any questions about the laws cited above, please feel free to 
> contact me at               (916) 574-7825       . Thank you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Antonette Sorrick
>
> ANTONETTE SORRICK
> Executive Officer, State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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