BILL NUMBER: SB 570 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
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 obtain a criminal background clearance
check , 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 obtaining a
criminal background check, sufficient to cover the cost of processing
the criminal background check request, and would authorize
request. The bill would require the State
Department of Health Care Services to establish a reasonable
application fee , sufficient to cover the department's actual
reasonable administrative costs in implementing the provisions of the
bill, to be charged to the certifying organization for each
applicant or AOD counselor requesting a background check. The
bill would require the fees to be deposited into the Alcohol and
Other Drug Counselor Professions Fund, which would be created by the
bill. The bill would require the fund to be administered by the State
Department of Health Care Services, and would make moneys in the
fund available, upon appropriation , for
purposes of administering the provisions of the bill. The bill
would require the State Department of Health Care Services, by
September 1, 2014, to adopt regulations to implement the provisions
described in of the bill, 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 consisting of members who
meet specified criteria . 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, 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 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 and any
AOD counselor who is registered or certified as an AOD counselor as
of January 1, 2015, to submit fingerprint images via Live Scan for
purposes of obtaining a criminal background clearance
check 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.
(a).
(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 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.
(3) The department shall not deny or revoke a registration or
certification pursuant to this subdivision solely on the basis of
convictions stemming from prior use of drugs or alcohol, provided the
individual meets the terms of rehabilitation established in
regulations developed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
11999.42.
(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 shall
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. section. The department shall set the fee
at an amount that is sufficient to cover, but shall not
exceed, the actual reasonable costs of administering this division.
(j) The Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor Professions Fund is
hereby created in the State Treasury, to be administered by the
department. The fund shall consist of the fees specified in
subdivision (i). Moneys in the fund shall be available, upon
appropriation, for the purposes specified in subdivision (i).
11999.42. (a) By September 1, 2014, the department shall adopt
regulations to implement this division, which may
shall include, but are not limited to, individualized
assessment 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) 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 . The
panel shall consist of subject matter experts in accordance
with the following:
(1) Each panel member shall be a certified AOD counselor
and have No less than 75 percent of the panel shall be
comprised of certified AOD counselors wit h
at least five years of experience in alcohol and drug treatment
services.
(2) (A)
Each prospective panel member shall
submit services, who have submitted fingerprint
images via Live Scan for criminal background clearance
checks 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
11999.41. Prior to selecting each member of the panel,
the director shall review the prospective member's criminal
background information.
(2) Each remaining member of the panel shall be an individual, not
certified as an AOD counselor, whom the director determines to be a
subject matter expert in the area of substance abuse.
(b) The panel may do 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 allow for registration or certification of an applicant
or AOD counselor, notwithstanding an applicant's or AOD counselor's
prior criminal conviction.
(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.