BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2036|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2036
Author: Lopez (D)
Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 4-0, 6/14/16
AYES: McGuire, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/31/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Online child care job posting services: background
check service providers: enforcement
SOURCE: California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
DIGEST: This bill requires an online child care job posting service to
post specified statements related to background checks and a
parent's right to complaint information on its Internet Web
site. This bill also authorizes a civil penalty to be imposed
and collected for violations of these requirements.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act to
provide for the licensure and regulation of child care
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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 (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)
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.
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3)Requires 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
include a statement on its Internet Web site in California
about California's official background check for
license-exempt child care providers, as specified.
4)Requires online child care job posting services that provide
online information in California about licensed child care
providers to also provide instruction on how to obtain
information regarding any substantiated or inconclusive
complaint about licensed child care providers, as specified.
5)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
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.
6)Establishes that 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 $1,000 for each offense.
7)Authorizes the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county
counsel to bring an action to impose a civil penalty after
doing both of the following:
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a) Providing the online job posting service or background
check service provider with reasonable notice of
noncompliance, as specified.
b) Verifying that the violation was not corrected within
the timeframe as required in the notice of noncompliance.
8)Requires the civil penalty to be deposited into the General
Fund, if the action is brought by the Attorney General.
9)Requires the civil penalty to be deposited into the treasurer
of the city in which the judgment is entered, if the action is
brought by a city attorney.
10)Requires the civil penalty to be paid to the treasurer of the
county in which the judgment is entered, if the action is
brought by county counsel.
11)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
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.
Background
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
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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 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
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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.
Prior Legislation
AB 589 (Lopez, 2015) was similar to AB 2036. AB 589 was held in
the Assembly Human Services Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to an analysis prepared by the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill could have the following fiscal effect:
Unknown, but potentially significant cost pressures to the DOJ
for bringing an action to impose civil penalties for
violations. To the extent that the Attorney General brings an
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action on all violations this cost would be significant. Costs
to DOJ could be lower and potentially absorbable depending on
the distribution of responsibility for imposing penalties
between the AG, city attorneys, and county counsels.
Potential revenue from assessing civil penalties for
violations.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network (source)
BANANAS
California Association for the Education of Young Children
Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles
Choices for Children
Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County
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
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
California Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the process of
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.
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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
consumers using the job posting sites to determine what the
background check includes and what it does not include.
This bill requires online companies that advertise child care
services to post a statement about the California TrustLine
registry and CDSS, as specified. It also requires a written
description of the background check provided by background check
service provider. The bill makes a background check service
provider responsible for providing the online child care job
posting service with certain information and provides the
Attorney General, city attorneys and county counsel with
enforcement authority, but also allows an individual to bring
civil action if the company violates the law.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The Department of Finance writes
that it is opposed to this bill "because it would result in
General Fund costs that are not included in the 2016 Budget
Act." Specifically, Finance writes that DOJ estimates the need
for four ongoing positions and $357,000 General Fund in 2016-17
and $606,000 (GF) ongoing in order to implement the provisions
of this bill.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/31/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
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Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Obernolte
Prepared by: Taryn Smith / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/16/16 9:10:38
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