BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 766 (Yee) - Ancillary Day Care Centers
Amended: April 25, 2013 Policy Vote: Human Services 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 6, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 766 requires ancillary day care centers to
comply with certain requirements, including the requirements to
maintain specified care provider-child ratios and ensure the
presence, at all times, of at least one care provider who is 18
years of age or older. This bill also requires any person who is
responsible for engaging with children in an ancillary day care
center to be registered as a TrustLine provider.
Fiscal Impact:
Expands TrustLine registry: Potentially significant costs
to the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the
Department of Justice, fully recovered by fees charged to
applicants.
Investigation/Enforcement: This bill will likely result in
creased complaints to DSS, which would likely increase
investigations. This bill may result in the need for DSS to
promulgate regulations governing its interaction with
ancillary day care centers. See staff comments.
Background: Ancillary day care centers are day care center
associated with an athletic club, grocery store, or other
business or group of businesses for which the day care center is
ancillary to its principal business activity and which provides
day care services, with or without a fee, for the children of
the clients or customers while the clients or customers are
engaged in shopping for, or purchasing, goods or services from
that business or group of businesses. Existing law exempts
ancillary day care centers from licensure under the California
Child Care Facilities Act.
Existing law does require, however, that ancillary day care
providers be registered under California's "TrustLine"
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fingerprint registry administered by the Department of Social
Services (DSS). (HSC 1596.656)
The TrustLine fingerprint registry database conducts background
checks on license-exempt child care providers such as
babysitters, nannies, transport escort services and child care
providers in license-exempt child care centers, including
ancillary day care centers. The registry is maintained by DSS,
which contracts certain administrative functions to the
California Child Care Resource and Referral Network.
Existing law requires DSS to deny an application if the
TrustLine applicant has been convicted of a crime, other than a
minor traffic violation, unless the director grants an
exemption, as specified. (HSC 1596.607)
Proposed Law: SB 766 requires ancillary day care centers to
maintain ratios of no more than 10 children to each care
provider for children under 6, and a ratio of no more than 15
children to each care provider for children ages 7-17. This bill
further requires ancillary day care centers to ensure the
presence of at least one care provider who is 18 years or older,
to ensure that substitute care providers are cleared through the
state's fingerprinting registry, and to ensure that at least one
care provider present in the center has received training in
pediatric CPR and first aid. Additionally, this bill requires
ancillary day care centers to establish health and safety
protocols informing staff and parents about facility policies
related to medical emergencies.
Related Legislation: AB 222 (Adams) Ch. 431/2010 allows persons
under 18 years of age to be employees of ancillary day care
centers without being registered for TrustLine, and allows
employees whose clearance is pending to continue to work until
DSS denies their TrustLine application and any right to appeal
has been exhausted or expired.
SB 702 (DeSaulnier) Ch.199/2009, established the definition of
"ancillary day care center" and required any person providing
child care services in an ancillary day care center to obtain a
TrustLine clearance. Additionally, it required the TrustLine fee
to include the full cost of processing the applications and
maintaining the registry not to exceed the actual cost of the
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processing and maintenance activities.
Staff Comments: This bill places various new requirements on
ancillary day care centers, without creating enforcement
authority or procedures. The costs of this bill are unknown
because the responsibility to enforce, and likelihood of
enforcement, is unclear. The DSS, which regulates licensed day
care centers, has indicated that it does not regulate ancillary
day centers and does not have the authority to enforce
requirements on those entities.
This bill requires ancillary day care centers to comply with
new, specific staffing ratio and training requirements. It is
not clear how those requirements would be enforced. DSS has
indicated that if a complaint was received, it could investigate
the complaint but has no authority to cite, penalize, or
otherwise enforce a change of action on the part of the
ancillary day care center. A criminal complaint would be
referred to local law enforcement, but there is no mechanism for
enforcing an administrative requirement. As requirements imposed
upon ancillary day care centers increase, it is likely that
enforcement mechanisms will be necessary and regulations will
have to be promulgated to guide DSS (or any enforcing agency) on
processes for handling complaints and violations.
This bill expands the requirement in existing law for TrustLine
registry. Existing law requires an adult "who provides child
care or supervision" in an ancillary day care center to register
with Trustline. This bill expands that provision to anyone who
is "responsible for engaging with children cared for" in such a
facility. Ancillary day care centers currently pay fees for
their employees to register (approximately $170 per applicant),
which cover all costs to DSS administration, TrustLine, and the
Department of Justice to process the application and
registration.