Amended in Assembly June 27, 2013

Amended in Senate May 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 16, 2013

Senate Bill No. 570

Introduced by Senator DeSaulnier

February 22, 2013

An act to add begin delete Section 6253.32 to the Government Code, relating to public records. end delete begin insert Division 10.11 (commencing with Section 11999.40) to the Health and Safety Code, relating to alcohol and other drug counselors. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 570, as amended, DeSaulnier. begin delete Public records: copy charges: retrieval. end delete begin insert Alcohol and other drug counselors. end insert

begin insert

Existing law provides for the registration, certification, and licensure of various healing arts professionals. Existing law provides for various programs to eliminate alcohol and drug abuse, and states the finding of the Legislature that state government has an affirmative role in alleviating problems related to the inappropriate use of alcoholic beverages and other drug use.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to require each person who applies to an approved certifying organization to become certified as an alcohol or other drug counselor (AOD counselor) to submit to a criminal background check, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish the Director’s Advisory Panel for purposes, among other things, of reviewing the results of the criminal background checks, reviewing complaints made against AOD counselors, and advising the department on the development of criteria for baseline decisions regarding AOD counselors, as these decisions relate to criminal background checks. The bill would require the department and approved certifying organizations to share specified information.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require the department to contract to have an occupational analysis for the profession of alcohol and other drug counseling completed no later than January 1, 2015.

end insert begin delete

The California Public Records Act provides that any person may receive a copy of any identifiable public record from any state or local agency upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication or a statutory fee if applicable.

end delete begin delete

This bill would prohibit a public agency from charging for copies of records available in portable digital format (PDF), or for a copy of data that is extracted from a database, if new programming is not required to extract the data.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Division 10.11 (commencing with Section
11999.40) is added to the end insert begin insert Health and Safety Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Division  begin insert 10.11. end insert   Alcohol and Other Drug
Counselors

 

begin insert 11999.40. end insert   

For purposes of this division, the following
definitions apply:

(a) “AOD counselor” means a person who has been certified
as an alcohol or other drug counselor.

(b) “Approved certifying organization” means an organization
that the department has approved to certify AOD counselors.

(c) “Department” means the State Department of Health Care
Services.

(d) “Director” means the Director of Health Care Services.

(e) “Panel” means the Director’s Advisory Panel established
pursuant to Section 11999.42.

begin insert 11999.41. end insert   

In order to protect consumers utilizing alcohol and
drug abuse treatment services, the department shall require
approved certifying organizations to require each person who
applies to become certified as an AOD counselor to submit to a
criminal background check via LiveScan, identifying the
department as the recipient.

begin insert 11999.42. end insert   

The department shall establish the Director’s
Advisory Panel.

(a) The director shall select the members of the panel in
accordance with the following:

(1) Each panel member shall be a certified AOD counselor and
have at least five years experience in alcohol and drug treatment
services.

(2) Each panel member shall submit to a criminal background
check via LiveScan for review by the director prior to being
selected for the panel.

(b) The panel shall do all of the following:

(1) Review LiveScan results pursuant to Section 11999.41, and
advise the director as to whether the applicant should be accepted,
based on the LiveScan results.

(2) Review complaints made against AOD counselors and advise
the director with respect to disciplinary actions, including
revocation, suspension, and referral for criminal prosecution.

(3) For purposes of improving quality assurance in the
profession of alcohol and other drug abuse counseling, advise the
department on the development of criteria for baseline decisions
regarding AOD counselors, as these decisions relate to criminal
background checks. These criteria may include, but are not limited
to, the circumstances that would warrant the automatic rejection
of an applicant and the circumstances that would allow for
certification of an applicant, notwithstanding an applicant’s prior
criminal conviction.

(4) Make recommendations to the department regarding the
initial entry into the profession of counseling and continuing
participation in the profession.

(5) Make recommendations to the department regarding criteria
for disciplinary guidelines.

(6) Make recommendations to the department for creating
systems for sharing information about violators between the
department and approved certifying organizations.

begin insert 11999.43. end insert   

An approved certifying organization shall do both
of the following:

(a) Report complaints made against an AOD counselor to the
department, and assist in documenting these complaints.

(b) Comply with the department’s decisions, based upon the
panel’s recommendations, regarding disciplinary actions, including
initial denial of a certification.

(c) Report any known criminal convictions of an AOD counselor
to the department.

begin insert 11999.44. end insert   

The department shall report any complaints made
to the department against an AOD counselor to the approved
certifying organization that conferred the individual’s certification
and assist that organization in documenting the complaint.

begin insert 11999.45. end insert   

The department shall contract to have an
occupational analysis for the profession of alcohol and other drug
counseling completed no later than January 1, 2015. This analysis
shall include an examination of the varying levels of certification
and licensure of individuals providing counseling services, and
an examination of how these varying levels affect the
implementation of the California Health Benefit Exchange. This
analysis also shall define scopes of practice for common levels of
certification in the profession.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 6253.32 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

6253.32.  

Notwithstanding any other law, a public agency shall
not charge for copies of records under either of the following
circumstances:

(1) The records are available in portable digital format (PDF).

(2) The records consist of data extracted from a database, if new
programming is not required to extract the data.

end delete