BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 2036 (Lopez) - Online child care job posting services:   
          background check service providers:  enforcement
          
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          |Version: June 16, 2016          |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0     |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016    |Consultant: Debra Cooper        |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 2036 would require an online child care job posting  
          service to post a specified statement related to background  
          checks and a specified statement about a parent's right to  
          specified complaint information on its Internet Web site. This  
          bill would also require a fine to be imposed and collected for  
          violations of these requirements, and for the fine to be  
          deposited in the Child Health and Safety Fund and upon  
          appropriation, be available for education and training of child  
          day care facility providers. 


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           Significant costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of  
            $357,000 in fiscal year 2016-17 and ongoing costs of $606,000  
            per year. Assuming 2,000 complaints per year, costs include  
            reviewing online child care job posting services and  
            background check providers, identifying violations, providing  







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            written notices for violations, and imposing fines for repeat  
            violations. (GF)


           Potential revenue to DSS from assessing fines for violations.  
            (Child Health and Safety Fund)


          Background:  TrustLine is a statewide registry of in-home child care  
          providers who have cleared a criminal background check, which  
          includes a check of records from DOJ and FBI databases.  
          TrustLine screens out individuals who have been convicted of  
          disqualifying criminal convictions or substantiated child abuse  
          reports found on the Child Abuse Central Index. Child care  
          seekers can contact the TrustLine toll-free number to check if a  
          caregiver is listed on the registry.
          A number of Internet Web sites provide referral services for  
          child care seekers to locate child care providers. Many of these  
          websites offer the option of requesting background checks of  
          selected providers. These background checks are conducted by  
          third party vendors who don't have access to DOJ or FBI  
          databases. 




          Proposed Law:  
            This bill would:
                 Define "online child care job posting service" and  
               "background check services provider."
                 Require 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  
               to post on its website a specified statement about  
               "TrustLine," California's official background check for  
               license-exempt child care providers. 
                 Require an online child care job posting service that  
               provides online information about potential child care  
               providers who are required to be licensed in California to  
               post on its website a specified statement about parents'  
               right to receive information regarding complaints about any  
               child care provider.
                 Require an online child care job posting service that  
               provides access to a background check for the child care  








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               providers it lists to provide a written description of the  
               background check, and require the background check service  
               provider to provide a written description of the background  
               checks offered. 
                 Require the Attorney General (AG), upon receiving a  
               complaint, to review the online child care job posting  
               service or background check service provider named in the  
               complaint, and if a violation was identified, to provide a  
               written notice of the violation, as specified.
                 Require an online child care job posting service or  
               background check service provider that has received a  
               written notice of violation to correct the violation or  
               request a hearing on the matter within 30 days. 
                 Require the AG to impose a fine of $1,000 per violation  
               for second and subsequent violations, as specified. 
                 Require collected fines to be deposited into the Child  
               Health and Safety Fund and be made available, upon  
               appropriation by the Legislature, for among other things,  
               education and training of child day care facility providers  
               to bring a civil cause of action for damages, as provided.
                 Authorize an individual damaged by a willful violation  
               of these provisions to bring a civil cause of action  
               against an online child care job posting service or  
               background check service provider, as specified.




          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 589 (Lopez, 2015) would have established  
          provisions similar to AB 2036, assigning enforcement  
          responsibilities to the Department of Social Services, instead  
          of the AG. This bill was held in the Assembly Human Services  
          Committee.


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