Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 25, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2036


Introduced by Assembly Member Lopez

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Cristina Garcia)

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February 16, 2016


An act to add Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 18890) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to business.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2036, as amended, Lopez. Online child care job posting services: background check service providers: consumer education.

Existing law prohibits a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation from operating, establishing, managing, conducting, or maintaining a child day care facility without a current valid license.

Existing law requires the Community Care Licensing Division of the State Department of Social Services to regulate child care licensees. Existing law requires the department to establish a registry of child care providers who are not required to be licensed, but who have undergone criminal background checks. These license-exempt providers are known as registered trustline child care providers. Existing law also requires a licensed child day care facility to make available to the public licensing reports and other licensing documents that pertain to a facility visit or a substantiated complaint investigation, among other licensing issues.

Existing law establishes in the State Treasury the Child Health and Safety Fund. Existing law authorizes the department to allocate these funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes that include, among other things, technical assistance, orientation, training, and education of child day care facility providers.

This bill would require an online child care job posting service posting information on an Internet Web site in California to include, among other things, a statement about the trustline registry and, if the service provides access to a background check, a written description of the background check provided to it by the background check service provider. The bill would make a background check service provider responsible for providing the online child care job posting service with certain information. The bill would make the Attorney General responsible for the enforcement of these provisions, as specified. The bill would impose a fine of $1,000 per violation for a 2nd or subsequent violation of these requirements, after written notice and an opportunity for a hearing. The bill would require fines to be deposited in the Child Health and Safety Fund and would authorize these fines to be available, upon appropriation, for, among other things, education and training of child day care facility providers. The bill would also authorize an individual damaged by willful violation of these provisions to bring a civil cause of action for damages, as provided.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 18890)
2is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to
3read:

4 

5Chapter  2.3. Online Child Care Job Posting Services
6

 

7

18890.  

For the purposes of this chapter, the following
8definitions apply:

9(a) “Online child care job posting service” means any person
10or business that provides or offers to provide child care providers.

11(b) “Background check service provider” means any person or
12business that provides or offers to provide background check
13services.

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18890.2.  

(a) An online child care job posting service posting
2information on an Internet Web site in California shall include a
3description of, or link to, the following statements:

4(1) Trustline is California’s official background check for
5license-exempt child care providers (i.e. babysitters and nannies)
6and the only authorized screening program in California with
7access to fingerprint records at the California Department of Justice
8and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and access to the California
9Child Abuse Central Index. Thebegin delete trustlineend deletebegin insert Trustlineend insert registry toll-free
10begin insert telephoneend insert number is 1-800-822-8490.

11(2) Nonexempt family child care homes and child care centers
12are required to be licensed by the State of California. Pursuant to
13Oliver’s Law, parents have the right to receive information
14regarding any substantiated or inconclusive complaint about any
15child care provider. That information is public and can be acquired
16by visiting the State Department of Social Services’ Internet Web
17site at “www.ccld.ca.gov.”

18(b) If the online child care job listing service provides access
19to a background check for the child care providers listed on its
20Internet Web site, it shall provide, by means of a one-click link on
21each California child care provider profile for which background
22checks are offered, the written description of the background check
23provided to it by the background check service provider.

24(c) Background check service providers that offer background
25checks through the Internet Web sites in California of online child
26care job posting services in California shall provide to the online
27child care job posting services a written description of the
28background checks offered by the background check service
29provider that includes at a minimum:

30(1) A detailed description of what is included in the background
31check.

32(2) A chart that lists each county in California and the databases
33that are checked for each county, including the following
34information for each database, as applicable:

35(A) The source of the data, the name of the database used, and
36a brief description of the data included in the database.

37(B) The date range of the oldest data and the most recent data
38included.

39(C) How often the information is updated.

P4    1(D) How the databases are checked (by name, social security
2number, fingerprints, etc.).

3(E) A list of the counties for which no data is available.

4

18890.4.  

(a) Upon a complaint received by the Attorney
5General, the Attorney General shall review the online child care
6job posting service or background check service provider named
7in the complaint. If the Attorney General determines that an online
8child care job posting service or background check service provider
9is in violation of this chapter or any rules or regulations adopted
10under this chapter pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act
11(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
12Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), a notice of violation
13shall be served upon the online child care job posting service or
14background check service provider. Each notice of violation shall
15be in writing and shall specify the nature of the violation and the
16statute, rule, or regulation alleged to have been violated, describe
17the opportunity for a fair hearing pursuant to regulations adopted
18by the Attorney General consistent with the requirements described
19in subdivision (b), and specify the potential fine that may be
20imposed for a second or third violation pursuant to subdivision
21(c).

22(b) In the first case of alleged noncompliance, the Attorney
23General shall provide written notice of the violation to the online
24child care job posting service or background check service
25provider. The online child care job posting service or background
26check service provider shall have 30 calendar days to correct the
27violation or request a hearing on the matter. If the online child care
28job posting service or background check service provider has
29evidence that the Internet Web site in question is in compliance,
30the online child care job posting service or background check
31service provider shall submit proof of that compliance directly to
32the Attorney General. Evidence of compliance may be in the form
33of printouts, Internet Web site links, screenshots, or other means
34determined to be acceptable to the Attorney General. Consistent
35with due process, the Attorney General shall adopt regulations to
36govern the notice, hearing, and the submission of evidence for
37purposes of this section.

38(c) For second and subsequent violations, after reasonable
39written notice and time to correct the violation, and the opportunity
40for a fair hearing on the matter, pursuant to regulations adopted
P5    1by the Attorney General, if the online child care job posting service
2or background check service provider is found to be in violation
3of this chapter, the Attorney General shall impose a fine of one
4thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation.

5(d) Any fines imposed and collected pursuant to this section
6shall be deposited into the Child Health and Safety Fund created
7in Section 18285 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. These fines
8and penalties shall be available, upon appropriation by the
9Legislature, for the purposes described in subdivisions (d), (e),
10and (f) of Section 18285 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

11

18890.6.  

(a) In addition to the authority granted to the Attorney
12General in Section 18890.4, an individual damaged by a willful
13violation of the provisions of this chapter may bring a civil cause
14of action against an online child care job posting service or
15background check service provider for damages, including, but
16not limited to, general damages, special damages, and punitive
17damages.

18(b) The court in an action pursuant to this section may award
19equitable relief, including, but not limited to, an injunction, costs,
20and any other relief the court deems proper.

21(c) The rights and remedies provided in this chapter are in
22addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law.



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