BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 465|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 465
Author: Bonilla (D) and Malenschein (D), et al.
Amended: 6/18/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De Le�n, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Youth sports: criminal background checks
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill specifically provides that a community
youth athletic program can request state and federal level
criminal history information from Department of Justice (DOJ)
for a volunteer or paid coach.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that the DOJ shall maintain state summary criminal
history information and authorizes DOJ to furnish state
summary criminal history information to statutorily
authorized entities.
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2. States that, notwithstanding any other law, a human resource
agency or an employer may request from DOJ records of all
convictions or any arrest pending adjudication involving the
offenses specified of a person who applies for a license,
employment, or volunteer position, in which he/she will have
supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person
under his/her care. DOJ shall furnish the information to the
requesting employer and shall also send a copy of the
information to the applicant.
3. Provides that a request for these records shall include the
applicant's fingerprints, which may be taken by the
requester, and any other data specified by DOJ. The request
shall be on a form approved by DOJ, and DOJ may charge a fee
to be paid by the employer, human resource agency, or
applicant for the actual cost of processing the request.
However, no fee shall be charged to a nonprofit organization.
Requests received by DOJ for federal level criminal offender
record information shall be forwarded to the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) by DOJ to be searched for any record
of arrests or convictions.
4. Requires the agency or employer to notify the parents or
guardians of any minor who will be supervised or disciplined
by the employee or volunteer where a specified request
reveals that a prospective employee or volunteer has been
convicted of specified offenses, and the agency or employer
hires the prospective employee or volunteer. The notice
shall be given to the parents or guardians with whom the
child resides, and shall be given at least 10 days prior to
the day that the employee or volunteer begins his/her duties
or tasks.
5. States that the above notification requirement shall not
apply to a misdemeanor conviction for unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor, or to a conviction for spousal rape
or domestic violence.
6. Defines a "human resource agency" as a public or private
entity, excluding any agency responsible for licensing of
specified facilities, responsible for determining the
character and fitness of a person who is:
A. Applying for a license, employment, or as a volunteer
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within the human services field that involves the care
and security of children, the elderly, the handicapped,
or the mentally impaired.
B. Applying to be a volunteer who transports individuals
impaired by drugs or alcohol.
C. Applying to adopt a child or be a foster parent.
7. Provides that any entity that submits the fingerprints of an
applicant for employment, licensing, certification, or
approval to DOJ for the purpose of establishing a record at
DOJ or the FBI to receive notification of subsequent arrest
or disposition shall immediately notify DOJ if the applicant
is not subsequently employed, or if the applicant is denied
licensing certification, or approval.
This bill provides that a community youth athletic program may
request state and federal level criminal history information for
a volunteer coach or hired coach candidate and provides for the
ability to request subsequent arrest information.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/13)
California Catholic Conference
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Crime Victims United of California
Solano County Sheriff's Office
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Existing law requires anyone pursuing a position in a
public school district, whether employed or working as a
volunteer in a pupil activity program to submit
fingerprints electronically to the Department of Justice.
The Department performs the background check through the
Automated Criminal History System (ACHS) - a centralized,
automated system containing criminal history summary
information on persons arrested and fingerprinted. The
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submission of scanned fingerprints ensures a complete and
accurate background check. However, current law does not
extend this requirement to private youth organizations,
creating an unequal protection of our children. While the
larger national youth sports organizations such as the
American Youth Soccer Organization and Little League
Baseball Inc. already require volunteers who work with
minor children to undergo fingerprinted criminal background
checks, other youth organizations only require coaches to
self-report if they have a criminal history.
In California schools, all volunteers who work with
students in a pupil activity program are required to
acquire an Activity Supervisor Clearance Certificate. Part
of this process is a DOJ fingerprint background check.
Such volunteers work with students in scholastic programs,
interscholastic programs, and extracurricular activities.
According to the California Interscholastic Federation, the
following sports qualify as interscholastic athletic
programs: basketball, cross country, football, golf, track
and field, volleyball, wrestling, soccer, tennis,
badminton, baseball, field hockey, gymnastics, lacrosse,
skiing, snowboarding, softball, swimming and diving, and
water polo. Scholastic programs include activities like
the debate team and chess team, among others. Coaches can
either be hired by districts or act as volunteer coaches
for school sponsored extra-curricular activities. These
activities include scholastic and interscholastic programs,
but also include other activities like cheer team, drill
team, dance team, color guard and marching band.
Studies show two thirds of sexually abused victims never
tell an adult because of feeling shame or a fear of
punishment. Coaches often serve as role models to children
and are entrusted with authoritative duties. This can
leave a child particularly vulnerable to abuse and
manipulation. This bill would provide better oversight
protection of individuals left alone with children by
extending background checks to all youth sports
organizations.
In 2012, a Bay Area soccer coach pleaded guilty to sexually
abusing a thirteen year old girl who was also a player on
the team he coached. Had a thorough criminal background
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check been administered, a prior domestic violence charge
would have been discovered on the individual's record.
To provide consistency and ensure all minors are protected,
it is necessary to require background checks on all
volunteer coaches in youth sports organizations. The
California Legislature has already established standards to
prevent individuals with abusive and violent histories from
being employed by school districts or involved with any
sports teams that are administered by public schools.
AB 465 clarifies that all community youth athletic programs
in California are authorized to administer criminal
background checks on volunteer coaches and also authorizes
leagues to request subsequent arrest notification from the
Department of Justice. This ensures that the most
appropriate individuals work with our children and any new
offenses that may influence hiring decisions are
communicated to leagues. While not precluding these
individuals from serving as coaches, AB 465 allows leagues
to have access to this information when making hiring
decisions.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Holden, Logue, Waldron, Vacancy
JG:d 7/1/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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