BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1136
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1136 (Huff and Mitchell)
As Amended June 25, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Stone, Maienschein, Ian |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Calderon, Garcia, Grove, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Lowenthal | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Lowenthal |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Permits county child welfare agencies (CWA) to receive
additional criminal history and licensing information for
certified and licensed foster care providers and permits county
CWAs to request individual criminal summary information, as
defined, for the purposes of assessing the appropriateness of a
foster care placement. Specifically, this bill :
1)Permits the Department of Social Services (DSS) to share
"summary information related to a criminal record clearance or
exemption" with a county CWA for the purposes of enabling the
county CWA to consider the reasons for the exemption as a
factor in the placement of a child in a licensed or certified
foster home.
2)Permits DSS and county CWAs to share information regarding
applicants, licensees, certificates, or individuals who have
been subject to any administrative action resulting in the
denial, suspension, probation, or revocation of a license,
permit, or certificate, or in the exclusion of any person from
a facility who is subject to a background check, as specified.
3)Defines "summary information" as information pertaining to the
specific crimes for which a criminal exemption was requested
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and a summary of the evidence DSS used in making its
determination to grant the exemption and limits information to
one page for each crime exempted.
4)Prohibits DSS from disclosing the names of individuals who are
not the subject of the exemption request and limits county
CWAs from disclosing information related to the exemption
beyond what is necessary, as determined by DSS and in
accordance with state and federal law, to assess the
appropriateness of placing a child in a licensed or certified
foster home.
5)Requires DSS to issue an all-county letter, as specified, no
later than March 1, 2015, specifying the process as to how
summary information may be requested by a county, how it shall
be issued by DSS and how it may be used by counties in
implementation of this section.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill presents minor and absorbable costs to DSS
to provide the required information.
COMMENTS :
Consideration of convictions and arrests: Under current law, a
person who wishes to be a foster home caregiver or be employed
by a foster care facility, including a foster family agency,
must undergo a state and federal criminal background check.
This requires applicants to submit their fingerprints to the
California Department of Justice (DOJ) to discover whether they
have any convictions that may preclude them from working in care
facilities, which serve some of California's most vulnerable
populations, such as foster youth, the elderly, and the
disabled. If the applicant has no arrests or convictions, the
DOJ provides DSS with a "clearance notice," which allows DSS to
continue its licensing and certification review of the
applicant.
However, if it is discovered that a person has been convicted of
a crime, other than a minor traffic violation, the applicant
cannot receive a criminal background clearance until a further
investigation is conducted. If, through this additional
evaluation, it is discovered that an individual has been
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convicted of a non-exemptible crime, such as rape, a sex
offense, murder, or fiscal malfeasance, then a criminal
background clearance cannot be provided.
Additionally, a person's arrest record is permitted to be taken
into account. However, current law specifically forbids an
arrest record from being used to deny or terminate a prospective
or current employee or licensee. Still, DSS may use an
incidence of arrest as reason to conduct a further investigation
into the applicant's background to determine whether the
individual may pose a threat to the health and safety of clients
or residents of a care facility. In conducting the
investigation, DSS is required to obtain information relating to
the nature and cause of the arrest and any other information or
evidence that may be used in an administrative hearing to make
the determination that the individual does or does not pose a
threat. This results in DSS having to acquire arrest record
information from the responsible law enforcement agency.
In cases where an applicant has been convicted of an exemptible
crime, DSS, through its Caregiver Background Check Bureau
(CBCB), is required to process an exemption only if requested by
the applicant. If requested, the CBCB is required, by both
federal and state laws and regulations, to conduct a thorough
investigation and evaluation of the applicant. It should also
be noted that the CBCB may deny an exemption if the applicant
fails to comply with any portion of the application process,
fails to respond to any requests of DSS relating to additional
information or clarification, and if it is determined that the
applicant is not of such good character as to justify issuance
of an exemption.
Role of counties in the evaluation and selection of foster
family homes: Current licensing law is complicated, but
specific as to whether licensing functions may be administered
at the state or county level on a county-by-county basis. The
purpose is to allow county CWAs, through a contract with the
state, to conduct their own licensing functions in order to make
appropriate foster care placements. Currently, DSS has
established contracts with 39 counties to perform licensing
activities for 69% of the state's foster family homes.
Contracting counties are required under statute and contract to
follow most of the state's statutory and regulatory requirements
for licensure of these facilities.
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State law also permits county CWAs to contract with foster
family agencies (FFA), which are licensed through the state, to
recruit and retain foster family homes and group care
facilities. Under these arrangements, county CWAs provide
oversight of FFAs, which are permitted under state law to
certify that foster family homes and group care facilities
comply with state law, including licensing requirements. As a
result, foster family homes and group care facilities operated
by FFAs are not licensed by DSS, rather, they are certified to
be in compliance with state licensing laws by the FFA and
therefore deemed to be equivalent to a license.
However, county CWAs are permitted to conduct criminal
background checks to conduct an investigation involving alleged
abuse or neglect against a child; to assess the appropriateness
of placement of a child with a relative or non-related extended
family member (NREFM); to attempt to locate a parent or guardian
of a child who is the subject of a dependency petition; and to
assess the appropriate placement for the re-entry of a nonminor
into extended foster care.
Under this permission, relative and NREFM caregivers are treated
differently due to the stated policy preference of state and
federal child welfare law that blood relatives and NREFMs are
prioritized for consideration of placement for the child.
Through this authority, relative and NREFM placements are
required to undergo a criminal background check, on an emergency
basis. As a matter of state policy, this allows county CWAs to
conduct an immediate criminal background check for relatives and
NREFMS only in order to immediately place a child who has been
removed from his or her family in a timely manner.
Need for the bill: Stating the need for the bill, the author
writes:
When the state removes children from their homes for
their personal safety, the state and county assume an
obligation to keep these vulnerable children from
greater abuse or neglect a second time. Yet state law
prohibits the sharing of vital applicant criminal
waiver information with county welfare agencies,
responsible for the placement of at-risk and special
needs children.
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Foster Family Agencies (FFAs) are privately operated,
nonprofit agencies, licensed to recruit, certify,
train and support foster parents for children needing
placements for more intensive care - as an alternate
to group homes. Private agencies now care for 15,000
children statewide, yet county child welfare workers
are legally barred from knowing the facts involving
criminal exemptions given to potential foster parents.
Even though child safety is a top priority for all
child welfare workers, county welfare agencies are
required to place children in "safe homes" with
limited information. Recent accounts of abuse and
four child deaths within private foster family
agencies tragically demonstrate with urgency, the need
to change current law.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0004290