Amended in Assembly September 6, 2013

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

Senate Bill No. 570

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 begin insert , as defined, end insert 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 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. 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 of the bill, as specified. begin delete The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish the Director’s Advisory Panel, 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. end delete 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.

begin delete

(e) “Panel” means the Director’s Advisory Panel established
pursuant to Section 11999.43.

end delete

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 check under this section.

(b) For persons described in subdivision (a), 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).

(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 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. 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 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 begin delete and
consult the Director’s Advisory Panel established under Section
11999.43 end delete begin insert 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 criteria for
disciplinary guidelines end insert .

(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.

begin delete

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) No less than 75 percent of the panel shall be comprised of
certified AOD counselors with at least five years of experience in
alcohol and drug treatment services, who have submitted
fingerprint images via Live Scan for criminal background checks
under Section11999.41. 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.

end delete

begin delete 11999.44. end delete
begin insert 11999.43. end insert   

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.

begin delete 11999.45. end delete
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 registration
or certification and assist that organization in documenting the
complaint.