BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Deborah V. Ortiz, Chair
BILL NO: AB 366
A
AUTHOR: Mullin
B
AMENDED: June 23, 2003
HEARING DATE: June 25, 2003
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FISCAL: Appropriations / Urgency
6
6
CONSULTANT:
Hailey / ak
SUBJECT
Child care: substitute employee registry.
SUMMARY
Establishes the substitute employee registry (SER) for
child care workers as an ongoing program, and clarifies
that employee records of a child care worker employed by a
registry are to be maintained by the registry and not the
individual child care facilities where the substitute is
assigned.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1.Establishes provisions for licensure of child care
facilities by the State Department of Social Services
(DSS), including child care centers and family child care
homes.
2.Requires all employees, residents, owners, and operators
of a licensed child care facility to receive a criminal
records clearance from DSS.
3.Authorizes but does not require DSS to operate a
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STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 366 (Mullin) Page
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substitute child care employee registry pilot program in
11 California counties.
4.Permits a registry to submit fingerprint cards and child
abuse index information requests in order to secure a
clearance for substitute child care workers.
5.Authorizes DSS to charge registry providers an offsetting
administrative fee to cover the department's costs for
the program.
6.Prohibits a registry from hiring a child care worker for
placement at a child care facility if that worker
requires an exemption from the criminal background
clearance requirements of law.
7.Requires the registry to verify all other requirements of
law that a child care worker must meet (e.g., age, TB
clearance, education and training).
This bill:
1.Requires DSS to operate the program.
2.Requires DSS to provide each registry with a facility
number.
3.Allows DSS to limit the program to six specified
counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange, San Francisco,
San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
4.Limits DSS to charging participating registries a
reasonable administrative fee.
5.Provides that all employee records for a child care
worker employed by a registry shall be maintained by the
registry, not the individual child care facility
temporarily employing him or her.
6.Contains an urgency clause.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
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Substitute employee registries (SERs) were initially
authorized by SB 933 (Thompson), Chapter 311, Statutes of
1998, to permit licensed child care facilities to employ
temporary workers whose criminal background clearances and
other information required by licensing were already
obtained and verified. SER screening permits temporary
employees to fill in on short notice when staff absences
and other emergencies occur. SB 933 allowed DSS to
establish SERs on a pilot basis.
The registry gave each cleared employee a certificate
approved by DSS to show to the child care facility,
ensuring that all standards had been met. Child care
facilities therefore had a pool of substitute teachers and
workers, and the facilities could avoid the time and
expense of performing the screenings themselves.
Continued---
The demonstration project covered eleven counties for three
years. DSS ended the pilot program on September 1, 2002,
citing budgetary pressures. Last year, the Legislature
passed and the governor signed SB 646 (Ortiz) Chapter 669,
Statutes of 2002 to continue the SERs. It authorized DSS
to charge registry providers an offsetting administrative
fee.
To date, lack of funding has prevented DSS from renewing
the SER program. The governor is requesting that the
2003-04 Budget Act include $133,000 for 2.0 limited-term
staff to implement SB 646.
This bill clarifies that the employee records of
substitutes and temporary workers be kept at the SER,
rather than at the child care facilities where the employee
may be assigned.
Similar prior committee action
In order to keep track of requests for criminal records
clearances and to inform a SER of any subsequent arrest or
conviction of a child care worker employed by a SER, this
bill requires DSS to assign a facility number to each
registry. Earlier this year, this Committee passed SB 106
(Alpert), which would establish a similar process for
organizations wanting to maintain a registry of persons
with cleared backgrounds who want to volunteer as a mentor
of a child in foster care.
Discussion
The intention of the bill is to have DSS receive criminal
records and Child Abuse Central Index information from the
Department of Justice (DOJ), review those records, and
inform the registry of each individual's clearance or
denial. The author postponed the hearing of the bill -
originally set for June 11 - so that DSS and DOJ could
complete their reviews of the language. The most recent
set of amendments accommodates concerns raised by the two
departments.
The initial pilot was in 11 counties. The bill that passed
the Assembly included 11 counties. DSS requested an
amendment narrowing to six counties the number it must
include in the continuation of the program, although the
bill's language allows DSS to include additional counties.
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Dropped from earlier lists are Monterey, Sacramento, San
Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and
Ventura counties. The amendments now identify five Bay
Area counties and Orange County.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 73 - 0Pass
Assembly Appropriations: 24 - 0Do Pass
Assembly Human Services: 5 - 0Do Pass as Amended
POSITIONS
Support: ChildCare Careers (sponsor)
Bright Horizons
Child Development Policy Institute
Contra Costa County, Community Services
Department
Kidango
PALCARE
Professional Association for Childcare
Education
RSR -- Relief Staff Registry
San Juan Bautista Child Development Center
Oppose: None received
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