[nagdu] [Wasagdu] resolution against CA Guide Dog Board

[Debby Phillips]

We should have been on board with a resolution of our own.  I 
would have tried to get together with others to work on it, but 
was told that it was already being done.  In the meantime, blind 
folks who choose to receive dogs from schools outside the state 
of California may not be getting the follow up they need.     
Debby and Nova

 ---- Original Message ------
From: Becky Frankeberger via WASAGDU <wasagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Wasagdu] resolution against CA Guide Dog Board
Date sent: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:57:19 -0700

Why NAGDU didn't present this resolution, I have no idea.  I just 
hope it
passes at the aCB Convention.



Here is the text of the GDUI Resolution:
Resolution 2015 California restrictions on follow-up services
WHEREAS,  around  1948, the California legislature created the 
California
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind (the board), pursuant to
Section 7200.5 of the state's Business and Professions Code; and

WHEREAS, the Board rapidly developed procedures governing the
development of guide dog training programs (called schools),
fund-raising for such programs, and the licensing of the schools
and  their instructors; and

WHEREAS, thanks to the Board's efforts, California became the 
first
and  only state to mandate regulations for certifying the quality 
of guide
dog training programs and the competency of instructors through a
comprehensive examination and licensing procedure for California
schools and their instructors and for instructors from out of 
state
who seek to serve students in California even with after-care; 
and

Whereas, since 1989, the International Guide Dog Federation
(IGDF), an
international association of guide dog schools, which has grown 
to
at least  80 member schools worldwide, has required its member
schools to  undergo an accreditation protocol that is at least as
rigorous as the
California state licensure requirements  for guide dog schools 
and
instructors; and

Whereas, in recent years the board has, contrary to its earlier
practice, begun to strictly enforce state regulations that 
prohibit
the activities of unlicensed instructors in California to the 
extent
that instructors from IGDF-accredited schools, regardless of the
demonstrated abilities of these instructors, or the accreditation
from  the IGDF achieved by these schools, are prohibited from 
providing
after-care services to graduates of these schools unless the
particular instructors providing such services have been
individually  licensed by the State of California, and Board; and

Whereas these practices punish California  guide  dog users for
choosing to receive their training from out-of-state  schools,
including schools with a long-standing track record of  providing
outstanding services to their students, and

Whereas an inability to receive after-care in a timely manner 
from
instructors who have familiarity with their graduates and  their
dogs  and who utilize guide dog training techniques familiar both 
to
instructors and their graduates can put the safety of guide dog 
users
who need after-care at great risk;

Whereas, this treatment by the State of California  clearly 
violates
principles
of consumer choice with respect to training which are universally
upheld and valued by
the  American Council of the Blind.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this organization calls on
the legislature and Governor of the state of California to enact
legislation during the 2016  session to permit instructors
employed by IGDF accredited schools to provide follow-up
services to  their graduate guide dog teams in California, 
without requiring
these  instructors to be licensed by the state; and

  be IT FURTHER  RESOLVED that this organization calls on the 
Governor
of the State
of  California to reach out to the Board to create approaches to
alleviating the dangerous situation described above by 
encouraging the
creation of an interim approach that will allow after-care 
services to
be delivered by out-of-state instructors;

  and be it further  Resolved: that copies of this resolution 
shall be
sent to the
Governor  of the State of California, to the members of the 
California State
Legislature, and to the members and Executive Officer of the
California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind.


Penny Reeder, President
Guide Dog Users, Inc.