SECTIONS 19000-19020 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 19000-19020

19000. (a) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(1) Work is a valuable and important activity, both for
individuals and society, and fulfills the need of an individual to be
productive, promotes independence, enhances self-esteem, and allows
for participation in the mainstream of life.
(2) Disability is a natural part of human experience and in no way
diminishes the capacity of individuals to live independently, enjoy
self-determination, make choices, contribute to society, pursue
meaningful careers, and enjoy inclusion and integration in the
economic, political, social, cultural, and educational mainstream of
society.
(3) As a group, individuals with disabilities experience
staggering levels of unemployment and poverty.
(4) Increased employment of, and independent living for,
individuals with disabilities can be achieved by providing
individualized training, independent living services, educational and
support services, and meaningful opportunities for employment in
integrated work settings with reasonable accommodations.
(5) Individuals with disabilities, including individuals with the
most severe disabilities, have demonstrated their ability to achieve
gainful employment in integrated settings if appropriate services and
supports are provided.
(6) The provision of vocational rehabilitation services can enable
individuals with disabilities, including individuals with the most
severe disabilities, to pursue meaningful careers by securing gainful
employment commensurate with their abilities and capabilities.
(b) The purpose of this division is to assist the Department of
Rehabilitation in operating comprehensive, coordinated, effective,
efficient, and accountable programs of vocational rehabilitation and
independent living that are designed to assess, plan, develop, and
provide services for individuals with disabilities, particularly
individuals with the most severe disabilities, consistent with their
strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and
capabilities, so that these individuals may prepare for and engage in
gainful employment and live more independently.
(c) The Department of Rehabilitation's vocational rehabilitation
and independent living programs shall be consistent with the national
policy toward people with disabilities articulated in the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) and the
Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 (Public Law 105-220).
(d) It shall be the goal of the Department of Rehabilitation to
provide individuals with disabilities with the tools necessary to do
all of the following:
(1) Make informed choices and decisions.
(2) Maximize employment, independence, and economic and social
self-sufficiency in the mainstream of society.
(3) Achieve equality of opportunity and inclusion and integration
into all aspects of society.
(e) The Department of Rehabilitation's vocational rehabilitation
and independent living programs, projects, and activities shall be
carried out in a manner consistent with the following principles:
(1) Respect for individual dignity, personal responsibility,
self-determination, and pursuit of independent living and meaningful
careers, based on informed choice of individuals with disabilities.
(2) Respect for the privacy, rights, and equal access of
individuals with disabilities, including, but not limited to, the use
of accessible formats.
(3) Individuals with disabilities, including individuals with the
most severe disabilities, shall be generally presumed to be capable
of engaging in gainful employment, and the provision of
individualized vocational rehabilitation services can improve their
ability to become gainfully employed.
(4) Promotion of independence, inclusion, integration, and full
participation of individuals with disabilities.
(5) Individuals with disabilities shall be provided the
opportunities to obtain competitive employment in integrated
settings.
(6) Individuals with disabilities shall be active participants in
their own rehabilitation programs, including, but not limited to,
making meaningful and informed choices about the selection of their
vocational goals and objectives and the vocational rehabilitation
services they receive.
(7) Support for the involvement of a parent, a family member, a
guardian, an advocate, or an authorized representative, if an
individual with a disability requests, desires, or needs that
support.
(8) Individuals with disabilities and their advocates are full
partners in the vocational rehabilitation and independent living
programs and shall be involved on a regular basis and in a meaningful
manner with respect to policy development and implementation.
(9) Qualified vocational rehabilitation counselors, and other
qualified personnel facilitate the accomplishment of the employment
and independent living goals and objectives of an individual.
(10) Accountability measures must facilitate and not impede the
accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the department's
programs, including providing vocational rehabilitation and
independent living services to, among others, individuals with the
most severe disabilities.

19001. There is in the Health and Welfare Agency the Department of
Rehabilitation.

19002. The Department of Rehabilitation is under the control of an
officer known as the Director of Rehabilitation. As used in this
division "department" and "director" refer to the Department of
Rehabilitation and the Director of Rehabilitation, respectively,
unless the context otherwise requires.

19003. The director is appointed by the Governor, subject to
confirmation by the Senate, and holds office at the pleasure of the
Governor. The annual salary of the director is provided for by
Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
Upon recommendation of the director, the Governor may appoint a
chief deputy director of the department who shall hold office at the
pleasure of the Governor. The salary of the chief deputy director
shall be fixed in accordance with law.

19004. The provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150),
Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the Government Code apply to the
director and the director is the head of a department within the
meaning of the chapter.

19005. The department is vested with all necessary powers and
authority to cooperate with the government of the United States or
any agency or agencies thereof in the administration of any act of
Congress and rules and regulations lawfully adopted thereunder
relating to individuals with disabilities or their vocational
rehabilitation and independent living.

19005.1. The Department of Rehabilitation is hereby designated as
the sole state agency with full power to supervise every phase of the
administration of the state plan for vocational rehabilitation
services. All decisions affecting eligibility for and the nature and
scope of vocational rehabilitation services to be provided will be
made by the department through its organizational units.

19005.5. (a) The Department of Rehabilitation shall establish a
program authorizing rehabilitation professionals serving industrially
injured workers under the provisions of Labor Code Section 139.5 to
refer clients to the Department of Rehabilitation for federal
targeted jobs tax credit eligibility determination. The Department
shall set forth the specific requirements, procedures, and
eligibility criteria. The Department shall not be required to
certify, for purposes of the federal targeted jobs tax credit,
industrially injured workers who do not meet the eligibility
requirements set forth in the federal Rehabilitation Act.
(b) The Department shall be authorized to collect a fee from the
insurer or self-insured employer in the amount necessary to determine
eligibility and to certify the industrially injured worker for this
program.

19006. The department may adopt, amend, or repeal, in accordance
with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, such rules
and regulations as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to carry
out its duties and powers.

19007. The director may, with the approval of the Director of
Finance, accept on behalf of, and in the name of, the state such
gifts, donations, bequests, and devises as may be made to the
department or to any school or other institution administered by the
director or the department which in his judgment would be of benefit
to the state and, if made to a school or other institution, would be
of benefit to the school or other institution. Gifts, donations,
bequests, and devises may be made subject to such conditions or
restrictions as the director may deem advisable.

19008. To the extent resources are available, the department may
utilize funds from appropriations by Congress, by gifts, grants, or
reimbursements from private or public sources or by state
appropriations, or both, or by transfer of funds from other state
departments subject to usual budgetary controls for the purpose of
establishing and operating rehabilitation programs, including an
orientation center for the blind, or of providing vocational
rehabilitation or independent living services including related
administrative costs, or of cooperating with other public or private
agencies for these purposes.

19008.5. (a) The department is authorized to solicit and accept
gifts, contributions, and grants from any source, public or private,
to establish, implement, and maintain an awards program.
(b) (1) There is hereby established the Public Awards Fund, which
is continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for
the purpose of this section.
(2) The director may receive contributions pursuant to this
section and deposit them in the Public Awards Fund for use pursuant
to subdivision (c).
(3) Sections 11005 and 16302 of the Government Code shall not
apply to funds under this section.
(c) In order to achieve the public policy of the State of
California, as specified in Section 19000, the director may present
awards to those employers, architects, clients, ex-clients, disabled
Californians nominated or selected for the Hall of Fame, and other
persons whose superior cooperation and contributions to the
employment of the handicapped deserve special recognition.

19009. No period of residence in this state is required for
participation in any program administered by the department, except
as required by federal law or regulations.

19009.5. No person shall have his or her rehabilitation services
reduced due to the receipt of any private grants, scholarships, or
awards, provided for the purpose of postsecondary education, except
insofar as federal law may require service reductions due to these
scholarships, grants, or awards when provided by postsecondary
institutions.

19010. Pursuant to agreements the department shall cooperate with
the federal government in carrying out the purposes of any federal
statutes pertaining to the purposes of this division and may adopt
the methods of administration found necessary by the federal
government for the proper and efficient operation of the agreements
or plans for vocational rehabilitation and independent living
services and may comply with the conditions as may be necessary to
secure the full benefits of such federal statutes.

19011. The people of the state accept the provisions and benefits
of the act of Congress entitled "The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of
1998 (Public Law 105-220) and any subsequent amendments thereto.

19012. In accepting the provisions and benefits of the act of
Congress referred to in Section 19011, the people of the state agree
to observe and comply with all of its requirements.

19013. (a) (1) The department may cooperate with other departments,
agencies, and institutions, both public and private, in providing
the services authorized by this division to individuals with
disabilities, in studying the problems involved therein, and in
establishing, developing, and providing, in conformity with the
purposes of this division, such programs, facilities, and services as
may be necessary or desirable.
(2) Cooperation may include contracts and cost-sharing agreements,
to the extent permitted by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L.
93-112), as amended, and the implementing federal regulations.
(3) Within the scope of the federal Rehabilitation Act, through
cooperative agreements with other public agencies, the department
shall maximize the resources of each agency to better mutually serve
individuals with disabilities through enhanced services. To provide
these services, within the provisions of federal law, the department
and other agencies shall share facilities, utilize existing
eligibility and assessment information, participate in cross-training
for agencies participating in cooperative programs, and engage in
other cooperative activities to reduce duplication of services and to
provide a new enhanced pattern of services for individuals with
disabilities.
(b) The department may cooperate with the State Department of
Education and with the state public postsecondary education system to
provide instruction, individual counseling and guidance, and related
rehabilitation services for eligible students with disabilities.
(c) The department may cooperate with school districts, with
public secondary schools, and with the state public postsecondary
education system to employ personnel to assist in the vocational
orientation of students with disabilities.

19013.5. (a) In performing any rehabilitative services or in
contracting with other public or private agencies for rehabilitative
services, the department shall take into consideration the needs of
non-English-speaking individuals with disabilities and shall provide
language assistance to those individuals participating in the
department's public or private rehabilitation programs.
(b) To the extent funds are available, the department also shall
take into consideration the needs of individuals with disabilities
who rely on alternate modes of communication, such as manual
communication, tactile, oral, and nonverbal communication devices,
and shall provide communication assistance to those individuals
participating in the department's programs.

19014. The Department of Rehabilitation and the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement shall formulate a plan of cooperation for the
referral and rehabilitation of persons in industry.

19015. The department may enter into reciprocal agreements with
other states to provide for the services authorized by this division
to residents of the state concerned.

19016. The department may prepare and promulgate regulations and
statements of policy governing the protection of records and
confidential information, the manner and form of filing applications,
eligibility and investigation and determination thereof, for
vocational rehabilitation services, procedure for fair hearings and
such other regulations and policies as are found necessary to carry
out the purposes of this division.

19017. The department may conduct research and compile statistics
relating to the provision of services or the need of services by
individuals with disabilities.

19018. Financial need shall be considered in the furnishing or
denial of services in accordance with the Federal Vocational
Rehabilitation Act and regulations adopted thereunder.

19020. (a) On and after July 1, 1993, the department shall
recommend to each organization or agency, the purpose of which is to
provide services to individuals who are blind, that receives grants
or contracts from the department, the number of blind members of the
board that is appropriate to meet the needs of the community being
served by that board.
(b) As used in this section, "blind" means the same as defined in
Section 12050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.