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