BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 846
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 846 (Bonilla) - As Amended: March 31, 2011
SUBJECT : Foster youth: identity theft
SUMMARY : Adds authorization for the Department of Social
Services (DSS) to request consumer credit report disclosures
(credit reports) and referrals on behalf of a foster youth in
the state's care for the purpose of detecting possible identity
theft. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds DSS to the entities authorized to request credit reports
on behalf of foster youth in an effort to determine whether
identity theft may have occurred.
1)Clarifies that the foster youth's credit report shall be
requested in the year that the youth reaches his or her 16th
birthday from each of the national credit reporting agencies.
2)Requires, if DSS submits the credit report request, the
department use the most efficient methods possible, such as
batch processing for lists of youth turning 16 years on a
quarterly or semiannual basis, rather than on an individual
basis.
3)Adds the Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection
(OISPP) to the entities tasked with compiling a list of
governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations permitted to
respond to possible identity theft on a foster youth's behalf.
4)Clarifies that DSS or the county welfare department may
fulfill the requirements of the law by requesting one credit
report on behalf of the foster youth, and by referring the
matter to an approved governmental agency or nonprofit
organization.
5)Makes additional clarifying and technical amendments.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes a system of child welfare services for abused and
neglected children which is overseen by a single state agency
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and administered by individual counties.
2)Requires that, when a youth in foster care reaches his or her
16th birthday, the county welfare department shall request a
free annual credit report on behalf of the youth to determine
whether identity theft has occurred. Welfare and Institutions
Code (WIC) 10618.6.
3)Requires the county welfare department to refer the youth to
an approved counseling organization providing services to
victims of identity theft if the credit report shows negative
items, or evidence of identity theft. WIC 10618.6.
4)Directs DSS, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors
Association (CWDA) and consumer credit reporting agencies, to
develop a list of approved organizations that may provide
assistance to foster youth who may be victims of identity
theft. WIC 10618.6.
5)Clarifies that county welfare departments may fulfill the
requirements of the law by requesting one credit report on
behalf of the foster youth, and by referring the foster youth
to an approved organization.
6)Makes it a crime for a person to willfully obtain personal
identifying information, such as a person's social security
number, identification number, name, address, etc., for any
unlawful purpose, including obtaining credit, without the
person's consent. Penal Code Section 530.5.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Background : Minors rarely have credit histories as they are not
allowed to apply for and open credit accounts of their own. In
some cases, parents or guardians may provide access to credit by
including the minor as a joint account holder on the parent's
account, or by listing the minor as an authorized user on one of
the parent's accounts. Absent these scenarios, minors should
not have access to credit, and as such, for the most part, do
not have a credit history prior to their 18th birthday.
Establishing credit under a minor's identity in cases of
identity theft often involves using some pieces, but not all, of
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the minor's personal information, making it difficult for credit
reporting agencies to properly match the minor to potentially
fraudulent accounts. When a parent or guardian suspects their
child's identity has been stolen, the parent or guardian may
request a credit report on the minor's behalf in writing.
Unfortunately, foster youth are especially vulnerable to
identity theft. The scope of the problem is unknown, but likely
to happen as foster youth may experience frequent placement
changes where sensitive personal information changes hands. It
is often not until the minor "ages out" of foster care, and
applies for credit or an apartment, that the identity theft is
discovered. Identity theft can derail a foster youth's ability
to successfully transition to adulthood before it has begun, as
it can create costly and time-consuming barriers to applying for
jobs or housing, and opening a bank account, or applying for
credit. Without a parent or guardian to safeguard a minor's
credit or make a written request on their behalf, it is
incumbent upon the state to assume the role of the parent,
including the responsibility to protect a youth's
creditworthiness.
Need for this bill: The Legislature sought to address these
issues with the passage of AB 2985 (Maze), Chapter 387, Statutes
of 2006. AB 2985 put in place the existing requirements for
county welfare departments to request an annual free credit
report when a foster youth turns 16, and to provide foster youth
with referrals to nonprofit organizations providing assistance
for identity theft. At any given time, there are an estimated
5,000 16-year-old foster youth in California.
According to the author, this bill is necessary to facilitate a
streamlined and effective implementation of existing law. Under
current law, credit report requests are issued on an individual
basis. According to the County Welfare Director's Association
(CWDA), this bill expands a practice currently in place in Los
Angeles County, of requesting credit reports for foster youth on
a semiannual basis via batch processing. The author and
supporters of this bill contend that this method is more
efficient, and allows the state and counties to target referrals
and responses to only those cases of suspected identity theft.
Support: In support of this bill, CWDA writes:
This bill is clean up to AB 2985 (Maze, Statutes of
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2006)?Specifically, this bill clarifies that the
request may be made by the state or a county and
authorizes the requesting entity to refer the youth
directly to a governmental or nonprofit organization
that provides information and assistance with identity
theft and other credit problems. The bill further
authorizes that entity to take remedial action on
behalf of the foster youth to clear his or her credit
record and to report the results of the action to the
appropriate agency?.
This legislation builds on a pilot project currently
being conducted by Los Angeles County and the state
Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection.
ÝThis bill] specifies that the chosen
approach-whether at the state or county level-should
be the most efficient option and may include batch
requests to be made periodically to the credit
reporting agencies, consistent with the pilot, rather
than having 136 separate entities (human services and
probation departments) submitting independent
requests, which would create both workload and data
privacy concerns.
Prior Legislation:
This bill is substantially similar to AB 2698 (Block) of 2010
and AB 1324 (Bass) of 2009. AB 2698 was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger over concerns that this bill would shift county
responsibilities over to the state. AB 1324 was also vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger with the following message:
I signed a measure in 2006 to protect foster youth
from identity theft that has not yet been fully
implemented because of the state's fiscal challenges.
This funding was appropriated in 2008 and when fully
implemented, existing law will help foster youth that
have been the victims of identity theft. Since the
current program is still not fully operational, I
believe this measure is premature and may have the
unintended consequence of shifting county workload to
the state.
If, through the implementation, it becomes clear that
foster youth are not being served in the way the law
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intended, I would be willing to reconsider this
matter.
AB 2985 (Maze) Chapter 387, Statutes of 2006 enacted existing
requirements for county welfare departments to request a credit
report for foster youth, upon turning 16 years of age, and to
refer foster youth to an approved organization that provides
counseling services to victims of identity theft if identity
theft was suspected or discovered.
AB 846
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Urban Counties Caucus (UCC)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Michelle Doty Cabrera / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089