[Wasagdu] resolution against CA Guide Dog Board
Becky Frankeberger
b.butterfly at comcast.net
Thu Jul 9 23:57:19 UTC 2015
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.
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