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California discipline takes months to years longer than targets

Seven California licensing boards took, on average, an extra year or longer than their targets to complete formal discipline involving licensees in 2012-13, says a report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, which looked at data from boards under the central Department of Consumer Affairs.

The longest delays were at the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, which took 988 days past targets. Others leading the list were the vocational nursing board (693 days), veterinary medical board (592 days), acupuncture board (448 days), podiatry board (404 days),  psychology board (388 days), and speech pathology/audiology board (363 days).

The report says that the governor’s budget proposals might reduce the backlog. For 2014-15, the governor is proposing to add 90 positions at DCA’s boards and bureaus, and to start requiring annual reporting of complaint and disciplinary workload statistics, case processing times, staffing levels, and effectiveness at meting targets.

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