BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1852 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER PROTECTION Susan A. Bonilla, Chair AB 1852 (Campos) - As Amended: April 22, 2014 SUBJECT : Business: services to minors: background checks. SUMMARY : Requires a business providing services to minors, including but not limited to academic tutors and instructors of extracurricular activities, to disclose to parents or guardians the business's policies relating to background checks of employees and the type of background check conducted, and exempts certain child care and medical facilities from this requirement. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires a business that provides services to minors to provide written notice to the parent or guardian of any minor receiving those services regarding the business's policies relating to obtaining criminal background checks for its employees. 2)Requires, if the business obtains criminal background checks for employees, that the written notice include a statement regarding whether the criminal background check includes state and federal criminal history information and the nature of the types of offenses the program looks to identify. 3)Defines a "business that provides services to minors" to mean a business that meets both of the following: a) Its primary purpose is the providing of an extracurricular service or program of instruction, including, but not limited to, academic tutors and instructors of extracurricular activities for purpose of learning; and, b) It has adult employees who have supervisory or disciplinary power over a child or children. 4)Specifies that a "business that provides services to minors" does not include a licensed child day care facility, a day care center, or any medical treatment facility or hospital, as specified. AB 1852 Page 2 5)Specifies that "written notice" may include posting the information on the business's internet Web site. 6)Provides that nothing in this bill shall require or authorize a business, as specified, to disclose confidential criminal history information, as specified. 7)Specifies that compliance of these requirements is not a violation of the Labor Code, as specified. EXISTING LAW 1)Requires the California Department of Justice (DOJ) to maintain state summary criminal history information and to furnish state summary criminal history information to statutorily authorized entities under certain circumstances. (Penal Code Section (PC) 11105(a),(b)) 2)Authorizes a human resource agency or an employer to request from DOJ records of all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication involving specified offenses of a person who applies for a license, employment, or a volunteer position in which he or she would have supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person under his or her care. (PC 11105.3(a)) 3)Requires any request to DOJ for records to include the applicant's fingerprints, and requires DOJ to forward requests for federal level criminal offender record information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to be searched for any record of arrests or convictions. (PC 11105.3(b)) 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 at least 10 days before the prospective employee's or volunteer's start date if a request reveals that he or she has been convicted of specified offenses and has been hired. (PC 11105.3(c)) 5)States that any criminal history information obtained, as specified, is confidential and a recipient shall not disclose its contents other than for the purpose for which it was acquired. (PC 11105.3(h)) AB 1852 Page 3 6)Authorizes DOJ to provide subsequent state or federal arrest or disposition notification to any entity authorized by state or federal law to receive state or federal summary criminal history information to assist in fulfilling employment, licensing, certification duties, or the duties of approving relative caregivers and nonrelative extended family members, upon the arrest or disposition of any person whose fingerprints are maintained on file at DOJ or the FBI as the result of an application for licensing, employment, certification, or approval. (PC 11105.2(a)) 7)Requires 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 to immediately notify DOJ if the applicant is not subsequently employed, or if the applicant is denied licensing certification, or approval. (PC 11105.2(f)) 8)Prohibits a person who is required to register as a sex offender because of a conviction for a crime in which the victim was a minor under 16 years of age from being an employer, employee, or independent contractor or acting as a volunteer with any person, group or organization in a capacity in which the registrant would be working directly and in an unaccompanied setting with minor children on more than an incidental and occasional basis or have supervision or disciplinary power over minor children, and makes a violation of this provision a misdemeanor. (PC 290.95(c),(e)) FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : 1)Purpose of this bill . This bill requires a business providing instructional services to minors, such as music instruction or math tutoring to provide a written notice to the parent or guardian of the participating youth about the business's background check policy for employees. This bill specifically exempts child care facilities such as day care centers and medical facilities from the background check requirements. This bill is sponsored by the author. 2)Author's statement . According to the author, "Parents and AB 1852 Page 4 guardians of children should have as much information available to them as possible so that they can make the best decisions for their children. This should include information on whether or not a business that provides academic tutoring or extracurricular instruction for purposes of learning does background checks on their employees. This information should be disclosed to parents. "This information is available for employees of youth athletic programs but not for ALL businesses providing services to minors. This bill will expand protections that will help allow parents to make informed decisions about which programs they enroll their children in. This bill seeks to operate as a safeguard measure that would provide greater protections against children being assaulted, abused and harmed." 3)DOJ background checks . The DOJ has a robust system for providing criminal history background checks that may be required as a condition of employment, licensing, or certification. Currently, certain governmental and private organizations may conduct criminal offender record information background checks to help screen candidates for employment or volunteering. Law enforcement agencies, public and private schools, non-profit organizations, and in-home supportive care agencies are some of the organizations authorized to conduct these fingerprint-based background checks. This bill does not impose any new background check requirements for companies or businesses that currently do not conduct background checks, but simply requires those businesses to disclose such policies to parents or guardians. This bill also exempts certain day care and medical facilities where employees are most likely already required to obtain background checks as a condition of employment. 4)Current background check policies . AB 465 (Bonilla and Maienschein), Chapter 146, Statutes of 2014, explicitly authorized a community youth athletic league to provide a written notice to participants regarding their background check policies. AB 465 specifically requested background check policy information to be shared with parents of children participating in youth activities. This bill is similar to AB 230 (Maienschein) of 2014, which requires a community youth athletic program to disclose its AB 1852 Page 5 background check policy to parents. This bill mirrors those requirements by requiring businesses which provide extra-curricular services to minors, such as tutors, music and art instructors, or others to provide parents with information about their background check policies. This bill also allows the disclosure notice to be in writing or posted on the business's Web site. 5)Problems with youth businesses . Recent news reports have highlighted criminal behavior engaged in by individuals who are outside of youth athletic leagues and traditional school settings. KABC News reported in August of 2012 that a 21-year-old tutor was arrested for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old girl. Police say the perpetrator met his victim while tutoring her at Tutor Whiz in Corona. Similarly, FOX 40 News reported in October of 2013 that an after-school activity team-leader was arrested for allegedly molesting two teen boys. By requiring those businesses which provide instructional services to minors to disclose their background check policies, this bill aims to provide parents with additional information relevant to the safety and security of a program before enrolling a child. 6)Technical amendment . On page 2, line 16, strike "program" and insert "business". 7)Related legislation . AB 230 (Maienschein) of 2014 requires a community youth athletic program, beginning January 1, 2016, to provide written notice of its criminal background check policy to the parent or guardian of any youth participating in the program. This bill is pending in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. 8)Previous legislation . AB 465 (Bonilla and Maienschein) Chapter 146, Statutes of 2013, authorizes a community youth athletic program to request state- and federal-level background checks for a volunteer coach or hired coach candidate. AB 1027 (Bonilla) of 2013, would have authorized a community youth athletics program to request state- and federal-level background checks for a volunteer coach or hired coach AB 1852 Page 6 candidate. This bill was held in Assembly Public Safety Committee. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Crime Victims United of California Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 319-3301