BILL NUMBER: SB 570 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 6, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 24, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Division 10.11 (commencing with Section 11999.40) to
the Health and Safety Code, relating to alcohol and other drug
counselors.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 570, as amended, DeSaulnier. Alcohol and other drug counselors.
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.
This bill would require the State Department of Health Care
Services, commencing January 1, 2015, to require each person who
applies to an approved certifying organization to become registered
or certified as an alcohol or other drug counselor (AOD counselor) or
any AOD counselor who is registered or certified as of January 1,
2015, to submit to a criminal background check
obtain a criminal background clearance , as specified. The
bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to
submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related
information for the purpose of obtaining information as to the
existence of past criminal conduct, as specified. The bill would
require the Department of Justice to obtain specified information
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation with respect to an applicant'
s or AOD counselor's past criminal conduct, and to provide this
information to the State Department of Health Care Services. The bill
would require the Department of Justice to charge a reasonable fee
to an individual obt aining a criminal background
check, sufficient to cover the cost of processing the criminal
background check request , and would authorize the
State Department of Health Care Services to establish a reasonable
application fee to be charged to the certifying organization for each
applicant or AOD counselor requesting a background check . The
bill would authorize require the State
Department of Health Care Services , by September 1, 2014,
to establish adopt regulations to
implement the provisions described in the bill, including
establishing an application fee to be charged to the certifying
organization for each applicant or AOD counselor requesting a
background check as specified . The bill would
require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish the
Director's Advisory Panel, and would require each prospective
panel member to obtain a criminal background clearance, as specified.
The bill would authorize the panel to advise the department on
the development of criteria for baseline decisions regarding AOD
counselors, as these decisions relate to criminal background checks,
to review the results of criminal background results,
and to make recommendations to the department regarding the
criteria for disciplinary guidelines. The bill would require the
department and approved certifying organizations to share specified
information.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Division 10.11 (commencing with Section 11999.40) is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
DIVISION 10.11. Alcohol and Other Drug Counselors
11999.40. For purposes of this division, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "AOD counselor" means a person registered or certified as an
alcohol or other drug counselor by an approved certifying
organization.
(b) "Approved certifying organization" means an organization that
the department has approved to register and
or 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 11999.43.
11999.41. (a) Commencing January 1, 2015, the department shall
require approved certifying organizations to require each person who
applies to become registered or certified as an AOD counselor
or and any AOD counselor who is
registered or certified as an AOD counselor as of January 1, 2015, to
submit to a criminal background check via LiveScan,
identifying the department as the recipient
fingerprint images via Live Scan for purposes of obtaining
a criminal background clearance under this section .
(b) For persons described in subdivision (a), and for
prospective members of the Director's Advisory Panel established in
Section 11999.43, the department shall electronically submit to
the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information
required by the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining
both of the following:
(1) The existence and content of a record of state or federal
convictions and state or federal arrests.
(2) Information as to the existence and content of a record of
state or federal arrests for which the Department of Justice
establishes that the person is free on bail or on his or her
recognizance pending trial or appeal.
(c) The Department of Justice shall forward to the Federal Bureau
of Investigation requests for federal summary criminal history
information received pursuant to this section. The Department of
Justice shall review the information returned from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and compile and disseminate a response to the
department.
(d) The Department of Justice shall provide a state or federal
response to the department pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section
11105 of the Penal Code.
(e) The department shall request from the Department of Justice
subsequent notification service, as provided pursuant to Section
11105.2 of the Penal Code, for persons described in subdivision (a)
and members of the Director 's Advisory Panel .
(f) The Department of Justice shall charge the subject of the
criminal background check a reasonable fee sufficient to cover
the cost to the Department of Justice of processing the
request requests described in this
section.
(g) (1) For persons described in subdivision (a), the department
shall review all criminal background information received from the
Department of Justice and determine, based on the regulations
developed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11999.42, whether to
deny an application or revoke a registration or certification based
on the criminal background information. The department shall notify
the individual's certifying organization of the department's
determination.
(2) The department may deny or revoke a registration or
certification pursuant to this subdivision only if the conviction of
a crime is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or
duties of a registered or certified AOD counselor.
(h) An applicant or AOD counselor whose application is denied or
whose registration or certification is revoked pursuant to
subdivision (g) shall have the right to appeal the denial or
revocation in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(i) The department may establish a reasonable application fee to
be charged to the certifying organization for each applicant or AOD
counselor requesting a background check pursuant to this section, not
to exceed the reasonable costs to the department of implementing
this division.
11999.42. The department may establish by regulation both of the
following:
(a) Criteria
11999.42. (a) By September
1, 2014, the department shall adopt regulations to implement
this division, which may include, but is are
not limited to, standards, exemptions, and terms of
rehabilitation for eligibility to become or to continue to be
registered or certified as an AOD counselor, including rebuttable
presumptions with respect to the acceptance or rejection of an
applicant or an AOD counselor with a prior criminal conviction.
(b) A reasonable application fee to be charged to the certifying
organization for each applicant or AOD counselor requesting a
background check, not to exceed the reasonable cost of implementing
this division.
(b) In adopting regulations pursuant to this section, the
department shall convene and consult a stakeholder's group and
consult the Director's Advisory Panel established under Section
11999.43.
(c) The regulations described in subdivision (a) may be adopted as
emergency regulations. The adoption of these regulations is deemed
to address an emergency and to be necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare.
Emergency regulations authorized by this subdivision shall be exempt
from review by the Office of Administrative Law. However, the
department shall transmit those regulations to the Office of
Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and
publication in the California Code of Regulations. Notwithstanding
any other law, for purposes of subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of
the Government Code, the 180-day period, as applicable to the
effective period of an emergency regulatory action and submission of
specified materials to the Office of Administrative Law, is hereby
extended to one year, by which time the department shall have adopted
permanent regulations.
11999.43. 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 of experience in alcohol and drug treatment
services.
(2) (A) Each prospective panel
member shall submit to a criminal background
check via LiveScan for review by the director prior to being
selected for the panel fingerprint images via Live
Scan for criminal background clearance under Section 11999.41. If a
prospective panel member has already submitted to a criminal
background clearance in his or her capacity as a certified
AOD counselor pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11999.41, that
criminal background clearance meets the requirement prescribed by
this subparagraph .
(B) Prior to selecting each member of the panel, the director
shall review the prospective member's criminal background
information.
(b) The panel may do all both of the
following:
(1) Consistent with any applicable regulations established
pursuant to Section 11999.42, 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 or AOD counselor and the circumstances that would
allow for registration or certification of an applicant or AOD
counselor, notwithstanding an applicant's or AOD counselor's prior
criminal conviction.
(2) Based on the criteria developed pursuant to paragraph (1), at
the department's request, review an applicant's or AOD counselor's
LiveScan results and provide a recommendation to the director
regarding an applicant's or AOD counselor's qualifications to receive
a registration or certification.
(3)
(2) Make recommendations to the department regarding
criteria for disciplinary guidelines.
11999.44. An approved certifying organization shall do all 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 regarding disciplinary
actions, including initial denial of a registration or certification.
(c) Report any known criminal convictions of an AOD counselor to
the department.
11999.45. The department shall report any complaints made to the
department against an AOD counselor to the approved certifying
organization that conferred the individual's registration or
certification and assist that organization in documenting the
complaint.