BILL ANALYSIS
AB 366
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 366 (Mullin)
As Amended January 26, 2004
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 8, 2003) |SENATE: |34-0 |(April 22, |
| | | | | |2004) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
operate the substitute employee registry (SER) pilot program
providing clearance for temporary child care employees until
January 1, 2007, authorizes continued operation at DSS'
discretion thereafter, and makes related changes to the SER
program.
The Senate amendments :
1)Add legislative findings on the value of SERs and their
licensing and oversight under quality initiatives in the
state's Child Care and Development Fund plan.
2)Authorize DSS to adopt regulations to permit registries to
submit fingerprint images to the Department of Justice for
child care workers associated with registries.
3)Require DSS to operate the substitute child care registry
pilot program until January 1, 2007, and thereafter authorizes
DSS to operate the program at its discretion.
4)Define SER for the purpose of the California Community Care
Facilities Act.
5)Revise the list of counties participating in the SER program,
reducing the total from 11 to seven, adding Orange and
Sacramento counties, and deleting six other counties.
6)Require DSS to report to the Legislature by March 31, 2004, on
the use of state personnel for the SER program and on the
program's status and progress.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 366
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1)Establishes procedures for licensure of child care facilities
by DSS.
2)Requires all employees of a licensed child care facility to
receive a criminal record clearance from DSS.
3)Authorizes DSS to operate a substitute child care employee
registry pilot program in 11 California counties to permit the
registries to submit fingerprint cards and child abuse index
information to child care providers who need prescreened,
qualified employees on short notice.
4)Authorizes DSS to charge registry providers an offsetting
administrative fee to cover DSS' costs for the program.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Provided that child care workers employed by SER shall be
registered with the registry, not the individual child care
facility temporarily employing him or her.
2)Clarified that employee records must be maintained at the
central office of each registry rather than at the facility.
FISCAL EFFECT : $133,000 is included in the 2003-04 Budget for
operation of this program, but budget control language prevents
expenditures exceeding the amounts collected from fees by
registries. There are minor costs to prepare the report to be
submitted to the Legislature.
COMMENTS : SER pilot projects were initially authorized by SB
933 (Thompson), Chapter 311, Statutes of 1998, to permit the
child care industry to employ temporary workers whose criminal
and health background clearances are obtained and job
qualifications verified by a central registry rather than by
individual child care centers. SER screening permits temporary
employees to fill in on short notice when staff absences and
other emergencies occur.
Once cleared, each employee is given a DSS-approved certificate
allowing facilities to hire him or her assured that the
standards have been met. Child care facilities thereby avoid
the time and expense of performing the screenings themselves.
SERs are not permitted to hire persons who require an exemption
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from the criminal background clearance.
The demonstration project covered 11 counties over the past
three years, and it is generally considered by the child care
community to have been a success meriting statewide expansion.
However, the projects were ended by DSS on September 1, 2002,
due to budgetary pressures. SB 646 (Ortiz), Chapter 669,
Statutes of 2002, continued SERs and authorized DSS to charge
registry providers an offsetting administrative fee.
Lack of funding has prevented the SER project from being
renewed. The 2003-04 Budget appropriated $133,000 for the
registries, but control language prevented DSS from spending
more for this purpose than is collected from fees. Only two or
three registries can be expected to be operational in fiscal
year 2003-04, and the fees from these registries cannot be
expected to fund the cost of administering the program. The
report to the Legislature required by March 31, 2004, will
provide information about the progress of re-establishing the
SER project.
The number of projects is reduced by the bill from 11 to seven,
eliminating Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Barbara, Santa Cruz and Venture, and adding Orange and
Sacramento counties.
Analysis Prepared by : Casey McKeever / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0004537