BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Senator McGuire, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 2036 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Lopez | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------| |Version: |May 27, 2016 |Hearing | June 14, 2016 | | | |Date: | | |----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------| |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Taryn Smith | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Online child care job posting services: background check service providers: consumer education SUMMARY This bill requires an online child care job posting service to post specified information related to background checks on its Internet Web site and provides for an enforcement process to be administered by the Attorney General. The bill requires fines to be collected deposited in the Child Health and Safety Fund and authorizes the funds to be available 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. ABSTRACT Existing law: 1) Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act to provide for the licensure and regulation of child care facilities, specifies types of facilities and providers exempt from licensure requirements, and requires the Community Care Licensing Division to regulate child care licensees. (HSC 1596.70 et seq.) 2) Directs the California Department of Social Services AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 2 of ? (CDSS) to establish and continuously update a TrustLine registry containing information on license-exempt child care providers who have submitted TrustLine background-check information and who have undergone the specified background check. (HSC 1596.60 et seq.) 3) Includes in California's system of child care and development programs "resource and referral programs," charged with providing information and referrals to parents regarding child care in their area that meets the needs of the child and parents. (Education Code 8208, 8210 et seq.) 4) Creates in the state Treasury the Child Health and Safety Fund and allows for expenditure of moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for training investigative and licensing field staff, site visits of day care centers and family day care homes, and other purposes as specified. (WIC 18285) AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 3 of ? This bill: 1)Defines "online child care job posting service" to mean any person or business that provides or offers to provide child care providers. 2)Defines "background check services provider" to mean any person or business that provides or offers to provide background check services. 3)Requires an online child care job posting service posting information on an Internet Web site in California to include a description of, or link to, statements related to both of the following: a) TrustLine information, as specified, and the TrustLine registry toll-free telephone number and website; and b) The requirement that "nonexempt" family child care homes be licensed in the state, parents' right to receive information regarding substantiated or inconclusive complaints about any child care provider, and how to obtain such information. 1)Requires any online child care job posting service that provides access to a background check for the child care providers it lists to provide a written description of the background check, as specified. 2)Requires background check service providers offering background checks through the Internet Web sites of online child care job posting services, as specified, to provide a written description of the background checks offered, that includes, at a minimum: a) A detailed description of what is included in the AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 4 of ? background check; and b) A chart that lists each county in the state and the databases that are checked for each county, including specified information for each database, as applicable. 3)Requires the Attorney General, upon receiving a complaint, to review the online child care job posting service or background check service provider named in the complaint and further requires a notice of violation to be served upon a provider if the Attorney General determines the provider has violated the provisions of this bill, as specified. 4)Requires the Attorney General, in the first case of alleged noncompliance, to provide written notice of the violation to the online child care job posting service or background check service provider. Further requires that the recipient of the notice of violation will have 30 calendar days to correct the violation or request a hearing on the matter, and provides for a process and requirements regarding the submission of evidence of compliance. 5)Requires the Attorney General to adopt regulations, consistent with due process, governing the notice, hearing, and submission of evidence. 6)Requires the Attorney General to impose a fine of $1,000 per violation for second and subsequent violations, as specified. 7)Requires any fines imposed and collected to be deposited into the Child Health and Safety Fund and to be made available upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. 8)Permits an individual damaged by a willful violation of the provisions of this bill to bring a civil cause of action against an online child care job posting service or background check service provider, permits the court to award equitable AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 5 of ? relief, and specifies that the rights and remedies provided in the provisions of this bill are in addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law, as specified. FISCAL IMPACT According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill may result in potential ongoing costs of approximately $100,000 (General Fund) to the Department of Justice, assuming 2,000 complaints per year at a cost of $50 per case to review the complaint and provide written notice of violation, if necessary. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION Purpose of the bill: According to the author, finding and obtaining child care providers has changed in recent years. When parents begin their child care search, many begin online and use the search terms "babysitters" or "nannies" and online child care job posting services make up the majority of websites that are provided by search engines, per the author. The author states that many of these companies advertise that their providers have passed background checks which leads a consumer to believe that they are making the most informed and safest decisions about the individual(s) hired to care for their child(ren). However, according to the author, the background checks are typically conducted by a third party background check service. The author states that these background check services do not include the comprehensive fingerprint data and child abuse report information included in California's TrustLine check. The author also states that it is difficult for child care consumers using the job posting sites to determine what the background check includes and what it does not include. This bill would require online companies that advertise child care services provided by license-exempt child care providers (such as babysitters and nannies) to post a statement about the California TrustLine registry and, if the service provides access to a background check, a written description of the background check provided by the background check service provider. The bill makes a background check service provider AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 6 of ? responsible for providing the online child care job posting service with certain information and makes the Attorney General responsible for enforcement, but allows an individual to bring civil action if the company violates the law. Licensed and License Exempt Child Care Providers CDSS is responsible for licensing child care providers, which fall into two general categories: commercial child care centers and family child care homes. CDSS is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws and regulations that govern licensed child care providers. Such laws and regulations include general health and safety requirements, staff-to-child ratios, and training requirements. However, not all child care providers are required to be licensed. Examples of some license-exempt child care providers are: Relatives of a child being cared for (i.e., parents, adult siblings, aunts, uncles, first cousins, step-relatives and grandparents) Any arrangement providing care for children of only one family in addition to the operator's own children Before-and-after school programs and extended day care programs operated by public or private schools Background Checks All licensed child care providers are required to undergo a criminal background check and screening. Nannies and babysitters are, in most cases, license-exempt providers. Some, but not all, of license-exempt child care providers have completed a criminal background screening and clearance process. Employment agencies that place nannies and babysitters with families are required by state law to register caregivers with TrustLine upon placement. Additionally, license-exempt providers who provide child care to families receiving subsidized child care (via CalWORKs) must register with TrustLine, unless they are a grandparent, aunt, or uncle of the child in care. TrustLine TrustLine is a registry of license-exempt child care providers who have cleared a criminal background check that includes a AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 7 of ? check of the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) administered by the Attorney General and the California Department of Justice's (DOJ) California Criminal History System. It can involve a check of criminal history records at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Child care providers listed on TrustLine do not have either of the following: disqualifying criminal convictions or substantiated reports of child abuse found on CACI. Applicants for the TrustLine registry must complete a form, submit fingerprints, and pay a one-time fee to CDSS. Fees can vary, and start at approximately $135. Child care seekers can check if an individual is listed on the registry by calling a toll-free number. There is not fee for a parent to check the background of a potential child care provider via TrustLine. Child care job posting services A number of Internet Web sites provide a referral services for child care seekers to locate would-be child care providers. Some sites provide lists of vetted care providers. Others allow potential child care providers to create their own profile and directly publicize their availability to provide child care. There is a wide range of background check services offered via these websites. A number of the larger, more well-known job-posting sites offer the option of requesting background checks of selected providers for a fee. These background checks are conducted by third party vendors, which do not have access to the official databases maintained by DOJ or the FBI. Some sites offer a variety of screening levels or tiered background checks. Additionally, some sites post the results of background checks, while other sites require background checks only under certain circumstances in order for providers to publicize their availability for work. According to the sponsor, a number of third-party vendors are used by different job-posting sites to conduct these background checks. AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 8 of ? Related legislation: AB 589 (Lopez, 2015) was similar to AB 2036. AB 589 was held in the Assembly Human Services Committee. COMMENTS In order to add clarity to the bill, the Committee recommends the following amendments: WIC 18890.2.(a) (1) An online child care job posting service posting information on an Internet Web site in California shall include a description of, or link to, the following statements:(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 statement, which must 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 about potential child care providers who are required to be licensed in California shall include the following statement, which must be accessible no more than one click away from the providers' profile.The Nonexempt family child care homes and child care centers are required to be licensed by the State of California."Pursuant toOliver's LawHealth and Safety Code section 1596.859, parents have the right to receive information regarding any substantiated or inconclusive complaint aboutanylicensed child care provider s . That information is public and can be acquired by visiting theStateCalifornia Department of Social Services' Internet Web site at "www.ccld.ca.gov." (b) If the online child care job listing service provides access AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 9 of ? to a background check for the child care providers listed on its Internet Web site, 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 as defined in (c)to it by the background check service provider. (c) Background check service providers thatofferprovide background checks forthrough the Internet Web sites in California ofonline child care job posting services in California shall provide to the online child care job posting servicesincludea written description of the background checks conductedoffered by the background check service providerthat 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. PRIOR VOTES ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Assembly Floor: |79 - | | |0 | |-----------------------------------------------------------+-----| |Assembly Appropriations Committee: |19 - | | |0 | |-----------------------------------------------------------+-----| |Assembly Human Services Committee: |6 - | | |1 | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- POSITIONS AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 10 of ? Support: California Child Care Resource and Referral Network (sponsor) BANANAS California Association for the Education of Young Children Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles Choices for Children Community Action Partnership Community Child Care Council (4Cs) of Alameda County Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County Contra Costa Child Care Council First 5 Association of California Northern Director's Group Options for Learning Solano Family & Children's Services UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 Oppose: None -- END --