BILL NUMBER: AB 366 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 26, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 5, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 3, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mullin
FEBRUARY 14, 2003
An act to amend Sections 1502 and 1522.02 of , and to add
Sections 1596.7912 and 1596.7991 to, the Health and Safety
Code, relating to care facilities, and declaring the urgency thereof,
to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 366, as amended, Mullin. Child care: substitute employee
registry.
Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services to
adopt regulations to create substitute employee registries for
persons working at more than one facility licensed by the department,
in order to permit these registries to submit fingerprint cards and
child abuse index information for child care registries.
This bill would authorize the department to adopt the above
regulations in order to permit these registries, instead, to submit
fingerprint images and related information to the Department of
Justice, in accordance with prescribed provisions, for workers who
are associated with the registries, and would require the Department
of Justice to assess all processing fees associated with these
provisions. It would also require that the responses from the
Department of Justice be provided to the department, and would permit
these responses to include information from specified sources.
Existing law additionally authorizes the department to operate a
substitute child care employee registry pilot program for the above
purposes, pursuant to specified criteria, and to charge a reasonable
annual licensing fee to participating registry facilities.
This bill, instead, would require, until January 1, 2007
2008 , the department to operate this substitute
child care employee registry pilot program, and on and after that
date, would authorize the department, in its discretion, to operate
the pilot program. The bill would require the department to provide
each registry under the pilot program with a facility number, and
would require that the child care worker be registered with the
registry, and not with an individual child care facility that
temporarily employs the child care worker. The bill would
exempt the Department of Justice from processing criminal background
checks submitted by registries as a result of the bill's requirements
until July 1, 2005. The bill would require the registry to
maintain all employee records for a child care worker at its
central the office located in the region
where services are provided, subject to inspection or
electronic transfer to by the department
if requested . This bill also would authorize the
department to adopt emergency regulations to implement the pilot
program. The bill would revise and expand requirements
applicable to substitute employee registries, thereby changing the
definition of an existing crime and imposing a state-mandated local
program.
The bill would define "substitute employee registry" for purposes
of the California Community Care Facilities Act and the
California Child Day Care Act .
Existing law permits the department to limit the pilot program to
specified counties.
This bill would revise the list of counties that may participate
in the pilot program and would require the department to limit
the pilot project to those counties .
The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature
by March 31, 2004 May 1, 2005 ,
specified information concerning the pilot program.
This bill would declare legislative intent to reallocate certain
unearned contract funds to cover costs associated with the substitute
employee registry project.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is in the interest of the safety of children and the
quality of their care to maintain the teacher and child staff ratios
in child care centers and schools as required by current law.
(b) Substitute employee registries are a valuable resource for
filling vacancies with fully qualified substitute employees.
(c) The licensing and oversight of substitute employee registries
are within the purview of quality initiatives in the state's plan
under the Child Care and Development Fund as provided by the Congress
of the United States.
(c) The licensing and oversight of substitute employee registries
are within the general purview of the state's plan under the Child
Care and Development Fund as provided by the Congress of the United
States. Nothing in this act shall require or appropriate additional
federal quality initiative funds to the State Department of Education
to subsequently augment the State Department of Social Services
funding for licensing oversight of these registries and their
employees.
SEC. 2. Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
1502. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Community care facility" means any facility, place, or
building that is maintained and operated to provide nonmedical
residential care, day treatment, adult day care, or foster family
agency services for children, adults, or children and adults,
including, but not limited to, the physically handicapped, mentally
impaired, incompetent persons, and abused or neglected children, and
includes the following:
(1) "Residential facility" means any family home, group care
facility, or similar facility determined by the director, for 24-hour
nonmedical care of persons in need of personal services,
supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of
daily living or for the protection of the individual.
(2) "Adult day program" means any community-based facility or
program that provides care to persons 18 years of age or older in
need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for
sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of
these individuals on less than a 24-hour basis.
(3) "Therapeutic day services facility" means any facility that
provides nonmedical care, counseling, educational or vocational
support, or social rehabilitation services on less than a 24-hour
basis to persons under 18 years of age who would otherwise be placed
in foster care or who are returning to families from foster care.
Program standards for these facilities shall be developed by the
department, pursuant to Section 1530, in consultation with
therapeutic day services and foster care providers.
(4) "Foster family agency" means any organization engaged in the
recruiting, certifying, and training of, and providing professional
support to, foster parents, or in finding homes or other places for
placement of children for temporary or permanent care who require
that level of care as an alternative to a group home. Private foster
family agencies shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit
basis.
(5) "Foster family home" means any residential facility providing
24-hour care for six or fewer foster children that is owned, leased,
or rented and is the residence of the foster parent or parents,
including their family, in whose care the foster children have been
placed. The placement may be by a public or private child placement
agency or by a court order, or by voluntary placement by a parent,
parents, or guardian. It also means a foster family home described
in Section 1505.2.
(6) "Small family home" means any residential facility, in the
licensee's family residence, that provides 24-hour care for six or
fewer foster children who have mental disorders or developmental or
physical disabilities and who require special care and supervision as
a result of their disabilities. A small family home may accept
children with special health care needs, pursuant to subdivision (a)
of Section 17710 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In addition
to placing children with special health care needs, the department
may approve placement of children without special health care needs,
up to the licensed capacity.
(7) "Social rehabilitation facility" means any residential
facility that provides social rehabilitation services for no longer
than 18 months in a group setting to adults recovering from mental
illness who temporarily need assistance, guidance, or counseling.
Program components shall be subject to program standards pursuant to
Article 1 (commencing with Section 5670) of Chapter 2.5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(8) "Community treatment facility" means any residential facility
that provides mental health treatment services to children in a group
setting and that has the capacity to provide secure containment.
Program components shall be subject to program standards developed
and enforced by the State Department of Mental Health pursuant to
Section 4094 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or
discourage placement of persons who have mental or physical
disabilities into any category of community care facility that meets
the needs of the individual placed, if the placement is consistent
with the licensing regulations of the department.
(9) "Full-service adoption agency" means any licensed entity
engaged in the business of providing adoption services, that does all
of the following:
(A) Assumes care, custody, and control of a child through
relinquishment of the child to the agency or involuntary termination
of parental rights to the child.
(B) Assesses the birth parents, prospective adoptive parents, or
child.
(C) Places children for adoption.
(D) Supervises adoptive placements.
Private full-service adoption agencies shall be organized and
operated on a nonprofit basis.
(10) "Noncustodial adoption agency" means any licensed entity
engaged in the business of providing adoption services, that does all
of the following:
(A) Assesses the prospective adoptive parents.
(B) Cooperatively matches children freed for adoption, who are
under the care, custody, and control of a licensed adoption agency,
for adoption, with assessed and approved adoptive applicants.
(C) Cooperatively supervises adoptive placements with a
full-service adoptive agency, but does not disrupt a placement or
remove a child from a placement.
Private noncustodial adoption agencies shall be organized and
operated on a nonprofit basis.
(11) "Transitional shelter care facility" means any group care
facility that provides for 24-hour nonmedical care of persons in need
of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for
sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of
the individual. Program components shall be subject to program
standards developed by the State Department of Social Services
pursuant to Section 1502.3.
(12) "Transitional housing placement facility" means a community
care facility licensed by the department pursuant to Section 1559.110
to provide transitional housing opportunities to persons at least 17
years of age, and not more than 18 years of age unless the
requirements of Section 11403 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
are met, who are in out-of-home placement under the supervision of
the county department of social services or the county probation
department, and who are participating in an independent living
program.
(13) "Substitute employee registry" means any organization
licensed pursuant to Section 1522.02 to provide cleared employees to
a community care facility on a temporary placement basis.
(b) "Department" or "state department" means the State Department
of Social Services.
(c) "Director" means the Director of Social Services.
SEC. 3. Section 1522.02 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
1522.02. (a) The department may adopt
regulations to create substitute employee registries for persons
working at more than one facility licensed pursuant to this chapter,
Chapter 3.01 (commencing with Section 1568.01), Chapter 3.2
(commencing with Section 1569), or Chapter 3.4 (commencing
with Section 1569.70), Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
1596.90), or Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1597.30), in order
to 1569.70), in order to permit these
registries to submit fingerprint images and related information
pursuant to Section 1596.871, to the Department of Justice for
workers who are associated with the registries so that these
facilities have available cleared care staff.
Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1596.871,
the The Department of Justice shall assess all
processing fees associated with this subdivision. The responses from
the Department of Justice shall be provided to the department and
may include information from its Criminal Index and Identification
(Cal-CII) system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, if
appropriate, the Child Abuse Central Index pursuant to subparagraph
(A) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 11170 of the Penal
Code.
(b) (1) The department shall, until January 1, 2007, operate a
substitute child care employee registry pilot program for the
purposes of subdivision (a). On and after January 1, 2007, the
department may, in its discretion, operate the substitute child care
employee registry pilot program.
(2) The department may charge participating registries a
reasonable annual licensing fee. Except for fees associated with
criminal background clearances, no licensing fees shall be charged to
temporary employees of these registries.
(3) The pilot program shall be subject to all of the following:
(A) The pilot program shall be limited to screening employees for
facilities licensed as child care facilities.
(B) Registries may not hire or retain any child care worker for
employment at a child care facility who requires an exemption from
the criminal background clearance requirements of law.
(C) The department shall only guarantee the authenticity of
criminal background and child abuse index information that registries
provide to child care facilities. Any other information about a
child care worker shall be verified by the registry and certified
through a certificate issued by the registry.
(D) The department shall provide each registry with a facility
number. The child care worker shall be registered with the registry,
and not with the individual child care facility that temporarily
employs him or her. Each registry's facility number shall remain
valid unless suspended or revoked by the department in the manner
specified for other licensed community care facilities. Each
registry shall maintain all employee background and employment
records at its central office subject to physical inspection or
electronic transfer to the department if requested.
(E) The department may limit the pilot program to the Counties of
Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo,
and Santa Clara.
(c) The department may adopt emergency regulations to implement
subdivision (b). The adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a
regulation authorized by this subdivision is deemed to be necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and
safety, or general welfare, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and
11349.6 of the Government Code, and the department is hereby exempted
from the requirement that it describe specific facts showing the
need for immediate action. For purposes of subdivision (e) of
Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the 120-day period, as
applicable to the effective period of an emergency regulatory action
and submission of specified materials to the Office of Administrative
Law, is hereby extended to 180 days.
SEC. 4. Section 1596.7912 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
1596.7912. "Substitute employee registry" means any organization
licensed pursuant to Section 1522.02 to provide cleared employees to
a child care facility on a temporary placement basis.
SEC. 5. Section 1596.7991 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
1596.7991. (a) The department shall, until January 1, 2008,
operate a substitute child care employee registry pilot program for
the purposes of subdivision (b). Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b), on and after January 1, 2008, the department may, in
its discretion, operate the substitute child care employee registry
pilot program.
(b) (1) The department shall adopt regulations to create a
substitute employee registry pilot program for persons working at
more than one facility licensed pursuant to this chapter, Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 1596.90), or Chapter 3.6 (commencing with
Section 1597.30), in order to permit these registries to submit
fingerprint images and related information, pursuant to Section
1596.871, to the Department of Justice for workers who are associated
with the registries so that these facilities have available cleared
care staff. Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 1596.871, the Department of Justice shall assess all
processing fees associated with this subdivision. Fees charged for
background clearance processing for a potential employee of a
substitute employee registry shall be no different than fees charged
for background clearance processing for a potential employee of a
licensed child care facility. The responses from the Department of
Justice shall be provided to the department and may include
information from its Criminal Index and Identification (Cal-CII)
system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Child Abuse
Central Index pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of
subdivision (b) of Section 11170 of the Penal Code.
(2) (A) The department shall charge participating registries a
reasonable application fee and a reasonable annual licensing fee for
each office within the region in which they are providing services,
as identified in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (3). The revenues
collected from licensing fees pursuant to this section shall be
utilized by the department to support activities related to
monitoring facilities identified in Section 1596.7912 for compliance
with laws and regulations when appropriated for this purpose. The
revenues collected shall be used in addition to any other funds
appropriated in the annual Budget Act in support of the licensing
program.
(B) The department shall not utilize any portion of the licensing
revenues sooner than 30 days after notification in writing of the
purpose and use, as approved by the Department of Finance, to the
Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and the
chairpersons of the committee in each house that considers
appropriations for each fiscal year. The department shall submit a
budget change proposal to justify any new positions or any new
related support costs on an ongoing basis. However, nothing in this
subdivision shall prohibit the department from initiating the pilot
program if funding pursuant to Section 8278 of the Education Code is
made available to the department.
(C) Except for fees associated with criminal background
clearances, no licensing fees shall be charged to temporary employees
of these registries.
(3) The pilot program shall be subject to all of the following:
(A) The pilot program shall be limited to screening employees for
facilities licensed as child care facilities.
(B) A registry may not hire or retain any child care worker for
employment at a child care facility who is not eligible for an
exemption or who requires an exemption from the criminal background
clearance requirements of law. Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of
subdivision (c) of Section 1596.871, a child care worker who is an
applicant for employment with a registry or a child care worker
associated with a registry may not seek an exemption on his or her
own behalf.
(C) The department shall only guarantee the authenticity of
criminal background and child abuse index information that is
provided to the registries. Any other information about a child care
worker shall be verified by the registry and certified through a
certificate issued by the registry.
(D) A registry shall maintain an office in each region in which
the registry provides services, as identified in subparagraph (F).
Each registry shall maintain employee background and employment
records at the registry's office located in the region where services
are provided. All files are subject to inspection by the
department.
(E) The department shall provide qualified registry applicants
with a facility number for each office in each region in which the
registry provides services, as indicated in subparagraph (D). The
child care worker shall be associated with the registry, and not with
the individual child care facility that temporarily employs him or
her. Each registry's facility number shall remain valid unless
suspended or revoked by the department in the manner specified for
other licensed community care facilities or until the department
terminates the pilot program.
(F) The department shall limit the pilot program to the Counties
of Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco, San
Mateo, and Santa Clara. For purposes of this pilot program, regions
are identified as follows: Region 1-Sacramento County; Region
2-Orange County; Region 3-Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San
Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties. A registry may not offer or provide
substitute employee registry services to chid care facilities
located outside the pilot counties. Nothing in this subdivision
shall limit any pilot registry from offering standard employment
agency services in any county of California.
(G) A registry shall be subject to all provisions of this chapter
relating to administrative actions, criminal sanctions, citations,
and civil penalties.
(c) The department shall adopt emergency regulations to implement
subdivision (a). The adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a
regulation authorized by this subdivision is deemed to be necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and
safety, or general welfare, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and
11349.6 of the Government Code, and the department is hereby exempted
from the requirement that it describe specific facts showing the
need for immediate action. For purposes of subdivision (e) of
Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the 120-day period, as
applicable to the effective period of an emergency regulatory action
and submission of specified materials to the Office of Administrative
Law, is hereby extended to 180 days.
SEC. 6. The State Department of Social Services shall report
to the Legislature, by March 31, 2004 May 1,
2005 , whether state personnel are filling the authorized
positions for the substitute child care employee registry pilot
program, including the proportion of each person's time allocated to
the substitute employee registry (SER) project, the number of
counties and substitute employee registries participating in the
pilot program as of February 28, 2004, and any barriers encountered
in the implementation of the pilot program. A copy of any emergency
regulations adopted by the State Department of Social Services
pursuant to Section 1522.02 1596.7991
of the Health and Safety Code shall also be transmitted with the
report.
SEC. 5.
SEC. 7. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to support the
State Department of Social Services personnel and oversight costs,
and any report to the Legislature, associated with the substitute
employee registry pilot project, as provided in Section 1596.7991 of
the Health and Safety Code, by the reallocation of unearned contract
funds, pursuant to Section 8278 of the Education Code. This is
intended to be the first expenditure of any funds of this nature
authorized by the Budget Act for one-time use for child development
programs. However, these funds are intended to be in addition to any
existing quality expenditures.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the allocation of
these funds shall be accomplished by interagency agreement between
the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social
Services and shall not exceed four hundred thousand dollars
($400,000) in any fiscal year. The amount of such allocation is
intended not to exceed the actual cost incurred, or projected to be
incurred, by the State Department of Social Services less any
licensing fees collected, or projected to be collected, by the State
Department of Social Services from substitute employee registries
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 1596.7991 during the affected period.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to authorize this
reallocation, not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000)
in any fiscal year, on a year-by-year basis for the duration of the
child care substitute registry pilot project.
SEC. 8. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 9. To the extent that this act establishes a new class of
child care employees for substitute employment registries pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 1596.7991, and creates an increased
criminal background clearance caseload for the Department of Justice,
the department is not required to process criminal background checks
for those employees until July 1, 2005. To the extent that
clearances for child care employees of standard employment agencies
are processed, or can be processed, by the Department of Justice
under any other provision of law, the department shall continue to
process those background checks prior to July 1, 2005 and may charge
the standard fee for that service.
SEC. 10. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to expedite criminal background checks so as to enable
temporary child care employees to fill emergency vacancies in child
care facilities as soon as possible, it is necessary that this act
take effect immediately.