BILL NUMBER: AB 685	CHAPTERED  10/10/01

	CHAPTER  679
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 10, 2001
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 10, 2001
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 13, 2001
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 10, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 6, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 30, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 18, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 5, 2001
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 16, 2001

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wayne
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Burton)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner, Bates, Chan, Cohn,
Daucher, Goldberg, Havice, Jackson, Kehoe, Leach, Liu, Matthews,
Migden, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Reyes, Strom-Martin, Thomson,
Wiggins, and Zettel)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Alpert, Escutia, Figueroa, Karnette, Kuehl,
Ortiz, Soto, and Speier)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2001

   An act to add Section 1597.467 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to family day care homes.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 685, Wayne.  Family day care homes:  reporting requirements:
unannounced visits.
   Existing law requires family day care homes to be licensed by the
State Department of Social Services.
   This bill would require licensees of family day care homes to
report to parents any act of violence against a child or any injury
to a child, and to the department any injury to a child that requires
medical treatment, the death of any child, or any unusual incident
or child absence that threatens the physical or emotional health or
safety of any child.  This bill would also permit the department to
develop the report forms to be used for reporting purposes pursuant
to this bill and would require the department to maintain the reports
filed pursuant to this bill in a manner that allows the department
to report the data to the Legislature.
   This bill would permit the department, either directly or by
contract and to the extent that funds are available, to conduct an
evaluation of the effectiveness of unannounced visits to licensed
family day care homes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1597.467 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
   1597.467.  (a) Whenever any licensee under this chapter has
reasonable cause to believe that a child in his or her care has
suffered any injury or has been subjected to any act of violence
while under the licensee's care, the licensee shall, as soon as
possible, report that injury or act of violence to the parent,
parents, or guardian of that child.
   (b) (1) A report shall be made to the department by telephone or
fax during the department's normal business hours before the close of
the next working day following the occurrence during the operation
of a family day care home of any of the following events:
   (A) Death of any child from any cause.
   (B) Any injury to any child that requires medical treatment.
   (C) Any unusual incident or child absence that threatens the
physical or emotional health or safety of any child.
   (2) In addition to the report required pursuant to paragraph (1),
a written report shall be submitted to the department within seven
days following the occurrence of any events specified in paragraph
(1).  The report shall contain all of the following information:
   (A) Child's name, age, sex, and date of admission.
   (B) Date and nature of the event.
   (C) Attending physician's name and findings and treatment, if any.

   (D) Disposition of the case.
   (c) The department may develop the report form to be used for
reporting purposes pursuant to this section, and shall maintain all
reports filed under this section in a manner that allows the
department to report the data to the Legislature.
   (d) The failure of a licensee to report, as prescribed by this
section, any injury of, or act of violence to, a child under the
licensee's care may be grounds for the suspension of his or her
license pursuant to this chapter, but shall not constitute a
misdemeanor.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall relieve any licensee of any
obligation imposed by other law including, but not limited to, laws
relating to seeking medical attention for a child or reporting
suspected child abuse.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

   (a) The process for conducting unannounced site visits of licensed
family day care homes allows licensees to closely approximate the
date of the visit, which may reduce the ability of the State
Department of Social Services to observe the normal operation of and
activities within the licensee's facility and thereby accurately
assess compliance with health and safety regulations.
   (b) In order to determine whether an additional unannounced site
visit would provide greater protection to children in these
facilities, an evaluation is needed of the current process for
unannounced visits.
  SEC. 3.  The State Department of Social Services may, to the extent
that funds are available, conduct, either directly or pursuant to a
contract with a public or private entity, an evaluation to determine
the overall effectiveness of unannounced site visits to licensed
family day care homes, including the issue of the frequency of these
visits.  This evaluation may include, but is not limited to, a
comparative evaluation based on information collected in a pilot
project in which the effectiveness of the increased frequency of
licensed family day care home site visits, among other things, is
tested.  If the department proceeds with the evaluation, the
department shall seek non-General Fund resources for the
implementation of the evaluation.