Amended in Senate August 15, 2016

Amended in Senate June 16, 2016

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 Bill No. 2036

Introduced by Assembly Member Lopez

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Cristina Garcia)

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: enforcement.

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 providing online information about nonlicensed potential child care providers to include a specified statement regarding the trustline registry on its Internet Web site in California. The bill would also require an online child care job posting service providing online information about licensed potential child care providers to include a begin delete specified end delete statement regarding a parent’s right to specified complaint information on its Internet Web begin delete site. end delete begin insert site end insert begin insert in California end insert begin insert . end insert If an online child care job posting service provides access to a background check, the bill would require the service to include, on its Internet Web begin delete site, end delete begin insert site in California, end insert a written description of the background check provided 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. begin delete 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. end delete begin insert The bill would authorize an online child care job posting service or background check service provider to be liable for a civil penalty for failing to comply with these requirements and would authorize the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel to bring such an action if certain requirements are met. end insert 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:

SECTION 1.  

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

 

Chapter  2.3. Online Child Care Job Posting Services

 

18890.  

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

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

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

18890.2.  

(a) (1) An online child care job posting service that
provides online information about potential child care providers
who are not required to be licensed in California shall include the
following begin delete statement, end delete begin insert statement on its Internet Web site in
Californ end insert begin insert ia, end insert which begin delete must end delete begin insert shall end insert be accessible no more than one click
away from the providers’ profile:

“Trustline is California’s official background check for
license-exempt child care providers (i.e. babysitters and nannies)
and the only authorized screening program in California with
access to fingerprint records at the California Department of Justice
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and access to the California
Child Abuse Central Index. The Trustline registry toll-free
telephone number is 1-800-822-8490.”

(2) An online child care job posting service that provides online
information in California about potential child care providers who
are required to be licensed in California shall include the following
statement on its Internet Web site in California, which shall be
accessible no more than one click away from the providers’ profile:

“Pursuant to Section 1596.859 of the Health and Safety Code,
parents have the right to receive information regarding any
substantiated or inconclusive complaint about licensed child care
providers. That information is public and can be acquired by
visiting the California Department of Social Services’ Internet
Web site at “www.ccld.ca.gov.””

(b) If the online child care job begin delete listing end delete begin insert posting end insert service provides
access to a background check for the child care providers listed
on its Internet Web begin delete site, end delete begin insert site in Californi end insert begin insert a, end insert it shall provide, by
means of a one-click link on each California child care provider
profile for which background checks are offered, the written
description of the background check provided to it, as described
in subdivision (c).

(c) Background check service providers that provide background
checks for online child care job posting services in California shall
provide to the online child care job posting services a written
description of the background checks conducted that includes at
a minimum:

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

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

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

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

(C) How often the information is updated.

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

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

begin delete

18890.4.  

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

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

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

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

end delete begin insert

begin insert 18890.4. end insert   

(a) An online child care job posting service or
background check service provider that fails to comply with the
requirements of this chapter may be liable for a civil penalty of
one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each offense. The Attorney
General, a city attorney, or a county counsel may bring an action
to impose a civil penalty pursuant to this section after doing both
of the following:

(1) Providing the online job posting service or background
check service provider with reasonable notice of noncompliance.
The notice shall inform the online job posting service or
background check service provider that it will be subject to a civil
penalty if it does not correct the violation within 30 days from the
date the notice is sent to the online job posting service or
background check service provider.

(2) Verifying that the violation was not corrected within the
30-day period described in paragraph (1).

(b) The civil penalty shall be deposited into the General Fund
if the action is brought by the Attorney General. If the action is
brought by a city attorney, the civil penalty shall be paid to the
treasurer of the city in which the judgment is entered. If the action
is brought by a county counsel, the civil penalty shall be paid to
the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is entered.

end insert

18890.6.  

(a) In addition to the authority granted to the Attorney
begin delete General end delete begin insert General, a city attorney, or a county counsel end insert in Section
18890.4, an individual damaged by a willful violation of the
provisions of this chapter may bring a civil cause of action against
an online child care job posting service or background check
service provider for damages, including, but not limited to, general
damages, special damages, and punitive damages.

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

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