BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 470


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          Date of Hearing:  April 14, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES


                                  Kansen Chu, Chair


          AB  
                      470 (Chu) - As Introduced  February 23, 2015


          SUBJECT:  In-Home Supportive Services:  fingerprinting


          SUMMARY:  Establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)  
          Fingerprint Account in the State Treasury.  


          Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Establishes the IHSS Fingerprint Account and requires all  
            moneys assessed for IHSS criminal background checks to be  
            deposited in the account.



          2)Requires the funds in the IHSS Fingerprint Account to be  
            continuously appropriated to the Department of Justice (DOJ)  
            to offset the fingerprinting and background check costs  
            incurred by the department, as specified, and for maintenance  
            and improvement to the systems from which criminal background  
            information is obtained.



          3)Makes other technical, non-substantive changes.
          EXISTING LAW:










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          1)Establishes the IHSS program as a benefit available to  
            Medi-Cal beneficiaries that provides in-home care and  
            supportive services to low-income aged, blind, or disabled  
            persons who are unable to provide or care for themselves and  
            who cannot live safely in their homes without assistance.   
            Defines supportive services within the program to include  
            domestic services, personal care services, protective  
            supervision, paramedical services, and other services, as  
            specified.  (WIC 12300 et seq.)

          2)Authorizes counties to establish a public authority or  
            contract with a nonprofit consortium for the purpose of  
            carrying out the delivery of in-home supportive services,  
            which includes requesting criminal background checks for  
            prospective IHSS providers from the DOJ.  (WIC 12301.6) 

          3)Maintains an IHSS recipient's right to hire, fire, and  
            supervise the work of any in-home supportive services  
            personnel providing services for him or her, despite the  
            employer responsibilities of a public authority or nonprofit  
            consortium, as specified.  (WIC 12301.6 (c))

          4)Requires a criminal background check to be conducted for any  
            prospective IHSS providers, as specified.  (WIC 12301.6(e),  
            12305.86(a))

          5)Establishes the following related to the role of the DOJ in  
            conducting IHSS provider criminal background checks when  
            requested by an employer:

             a)   Requires the DOJ to secure a criminal record of an IHSS  
               provider to determine whether he or she has been convicted  
               of committing or attempting to commit certain exclusionary  
               crimes, as specified;

             b)    Establishes a process and a 30-day timeline for the DOJ  
               to report the criminal record information obtained to the  
               employer;

             c)   Authorizes an employer to deny employment to any person  
               who is the subject of a criminal record report from the DOJ  
               and the report indicates that the person has committed an  








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               exclusionary crime, as specified.  Maintains an employer's  
               ability to not hire any person who is the subject of a DOJ  
               report if the report reveals that the individual has not  
               committed any of the specified crimes;

             d)   Requires the DOJ to charge a fee to cover the costs of  
               conducting background checks; and

             e)   States the intent of the Legislature that the DOJ charge  
               a fee to cover its cost in obtaining and providing criminal  
               record information, as specified, within the 30 calendar  
               day requirement.  (WIC 15660)



          6)Requires criminal background checks to be conducted at the  
            expense of a prospective IHSS provider.  (WIC 12301.6  
            (e)(2)(A)(i))



          7)Authorizes the DOJ to charge a fee to a person or entity  
            making a request for criminal history information related to  
            an application for employment, licensing, or certification  
            that the DOJ determines to be sufficient to cover the cost of  
            furnishing the information.  Additionally allows the DOJ to  
            add a surcharge to the fee to fund maintenance and  
            improvements to the systems from which the information is  
            obtained.  Provides that all moneys received by the DOJ  
            through the collection of certain fees, as specified, shall be  
            deposited in a special account in the General Fund to be  
            available for expenditure by the DOJ to offset costs and for  
            system maintenance and improvements, upon appropriation by the  
            Legislature. (PC 11105(e))

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:


          In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS):  The IHSS program provides  








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          personal care and domestic services to nearly 460,000 qualified,  
          low-income individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled.   
          Through the IHSS program, recipients are cared for and assisted  
          with activities of daily living, allowing them to remain safely  
          in their own homes and avoid institutionalization.  IHSS  
          services include:  paramedical services, such as giving  
          medications and changing a colostomy bag; non-medical personal  
          care services, such as toileting, dressing, and transportation;  
          domestic services, such as housework, shopping for groceries and  
          meal preparation; and, protective supervision for those who, due  
          to cognitive impairment or dementia, cannot be left alone for  
          extended periods. 

          County social workers determine eligibility for IHSS and the  
          authorized hours of care after conducting a standardized in-home  
          assessment, and periodic reassessments, of an individual's  
          ability to perform specified activities of daily living.  Once  
          eligible, recipients are responsible for hiring, firing,  
          directing and supervising their own IHSS provider or providers.   
          Prior to receiving payment for services, providers must complete  
          a provider enrollment process, which includes submitting  
          fingerprint images for a criminal background check and  
          participating in the provider orientation.  


          Background check requests:  Since the implementation of the IHSS  
          provider criminal background check requirement, which was  
          included in 2009 budget trailer bill language, most counties  
          have relied on their public authorities to conduct those  
          background checks.  In 2014, public authorities submitted  
          115,984 "applicant transactions" (requests for criminal  
          background information) to the DOJ for predominantly IHSS, and  
          some other in-home care, provider applicants.  Of those  
          transactions, 73.58% were dispensed with immediately and the  
          other 26.42 % required technical review by the DOJ.  The  
          department processed and dispensed with 95% of the requests  
          within 30 days, meaning 5,773 of the 115,984 requests required  
          further technical review beyond the 30-day timeframe.  While  
          technical reviews are sometimes triggered due to the DOJ system  
          rejecting illegible fingerprint images, they are most frequently  
          triggered when criminal history information is missing,  
          including arrest information that is not accompanied by  








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          disposition information.  Incomplete records can result in an  
          extensive manual process to, at minimum, contact the booking  
          agency, get in touch with the arresting agency, and obtain the  
          necessary disposition information, all of which delays the  
          completion of a criminal background check report for a  
          requesting agency or employer.


          Pending regulations impacting providers:  Additionally, the  
          Department of Social Services, which oversees the IHSS program,  
          is in the process of finalizing changes to current IHSS  
          regulations that would, among other things, establish a firm  
          timeline for IHSS provider applicants to complete the enrollment  
          process, including providing fingerprints and undergoing  
          criminal background checks.  Asserting that the current  
          enrollment process is too open-ended because it lacks firm  
          deadlines for prospective providers to meet enrollment  
          requirements, the proposed regulations would require that all  
          IHSS provider enrollment requirements be met within 90 calendar  
          days of a provider completing any one of the requirements or  
          when a recipient designates the individual as his or her  
          prospective provider.  While this timeline is intended to help  
          counties operate more efficiently with respect to processing  
          IHSS provider applications, it may put prospective IHSS  
          providers at a disadvantage if for some reason their criminal  
          background check reports are not able to be furnished by the DOJ  
          within that 90-day period.


          Need for this bill:  The DOJ processes approximately two million  
          state level background checks annually.  Under current law, the  
          DOJ charges fees to process background checks for a number of  
          different categories of applicants for licenses and paid and  
          volunteer employment.  Some of these categories include people  
          applying for positions involving the care and supervision of  
          children, the elderly and people with disabilities; individuals  
          seeking to volunteer to transport individuals impaired by drugs  
          or alcohol, and; people applying to adopt a child or to be  
          foster parents.  The fees collected by the DOJ for processing  
          background checks for all of these individuals are deposited  
          into a special account in the General Fund and can be  
          appropriated by the Legislature back to the DOJ to offset the  








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          costs of administering background check requirements and  
          maintaining the systems that assist in obtaining the information  
          necessary to meet those requirements.  While current law  
          requires the DOJ to collect fees to offset the administration of  
          criminal background checks of providers in the IHSS program,  
          sponsors of this bill note that there is no mechanism to  
          similarly appropriate the moneys collected through the IHSS  
          provider background check fees back to the DOJ.  


          While insufficient disposition information doesn't necessarily  
          mean that an arrest resulted in a conviction, let alone an  
          exclusionary crime, the DOJ is required by statute to make a  
          "genuine effort" to determine the disposition of any arrest that  
          is not accompanied by a corresponding disposition.  While the  
          DOJ is fulfilling its statutory requirement by seeking  
          information from local authorities to fill gaps in a prospective  
          IHSS provider's background, the author contends that care for  
          consumers is delayed.  According to the author, "With over  
          450,000 consumers in California relying on IHSS providers for  
          their care and well-being, it is imperative that a sufficient  
          number of providers be available for such care.  While  
          background checks are a necessary requirement to ensure the  
          safety of consumers, neither consumers nor providers are served  
          by unnecessary delays in the employment process.  This bill will  
          better ensure that qualified providers are able to get to work  
          expeditiously so that IHSS consumers in California have  
          appropriate and adequate care."


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:


          Support


          California Association of Public Authorities (CAPA)-sponsor 
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  
          (AFSCME) AFL-CIO 
          California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
          Congress of California Seniors 
          SEIU California 








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          UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 

          Opposition

          None on file.

          Analysis Prepared  
          by:              Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089