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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 16, 2016 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Debra Cooper | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 1 of ? 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 AB 2036 (Lopez) Page 2 of ? 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. -- END --