BILL NUMBER: AB 2196 CHAPTERED 09/06/06 CHAPTER 208 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 16, 2006 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2006 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Spitzer (Coauthor: Assembly Member Maze) FEBRUARY 22, 2006 An act to amend Section 1596.857 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to child day care. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2196, Spitzer Child day care: information: registered sex offenders. The existing California Child Day Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of specified types of child day care facilities and day care homes responsible for the regular care of children. Existing law requires each child day care facility to post a written notice accessible to parents and guardians. A willful violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would require the notice to include information stating that the registered sex offender database is available to the public via a specified Internet Web site maintained by the Department of Justice. The bill would require the licensee to provide a copy of the Family Child Care Home Notification of Parents' Rights prepared by the State Department of Social Services, and would grant the provider immunity from liability. By creating a new crime; this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1596.857 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1596.857. (a) Upon presentation of identification, the responsible parent or guardian of a child receiving services in a child day care facility has the right to enter and inspect the facility without advance notice during the normal operating hours of the facility or at any time that the child is receiving services in the facility. Parents or guardians when inspecting shall be respectful of the children's routines and programmed activities. The facility shall inform parents and guardians of children receiving services in the facility of the right of the parents and guardians to inspect the facility pursuant to this section. (b) No child day care facility shall discriminate or retaliate against any child or parent or guardian on the basis or for the reason that the parent or guardian has exercised his or her right under this section to inspect the facility or has lodged a complaint with the department against a facility. (c) If any child day care facility denies a parent or legal guardian the right to enter and inspect a facility or retaliates, the department shall issue the facility a warning citation. For any subsequent violation of this right, the department may impose a civil penalty upon the facility of fifty dollars ($50) per violation. The department may take any appropriate action, including license revocation. (d) Each child day care facility shall permanently post in a facility location accessible to parents and guardians a written notice, available from the department, of the right to make an inspection pursuant to this section and the prohibition against retaliation and the right to file a complaint. In addition, this notice shall include information stating that the specified registered sex offender database is available to the public via an Internet Web site maintained by the Department of Justice as www.meganslaw.ca.gov. The department shall make this written notice available to child day care facility licensees, and shall include on this notice a statement of the right of the parents and guardians to review licensing reports of facility visits and substantiated complaints against the facility on the site of the facility, pursuant to Section 1596.859. (e) At the time of acceptance of each child into a child day care facility after January 1, 2007, the licensee shall provide the child' s parent or guardian with a copy of the Family Child Care Home Notification of Parents' Rights provided by the State Department of Social Services, which shall include information stating that the specified registered sex offender database is available to the public via an Internet Web site maintained by the Department of Justice as www.meganslaw.ca.gov. (f) Upon delivery of the Family Child Care Home Notification of Parents' Rights required pursuant to subdivision (e) to a parent or guardian, a provider is not required to provide any additional information regarding the location and proximity of registered sex offenders who reside in the community where the child care facility or family day care home is located. The provision of the information required by this section to parents and guardians of a child in their care shall not subject the provider to any liability or cause of action against the provider by a registered sex offender identified in the database. (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the person present who is in charge of a child day care facility may deny access to an adult whose behavior presents a risk to children present in the facility and may deny access to noncustodial parents or guardians if so requested by the responsible parent or legal guardian. SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.