BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 366|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 366
Author: Mullin (D)
Amended: 8/23/04 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE HEALTH & HUMAN SERV. COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/25/03
AYES: Ortiz, Aanestad, Alarcon, Ashburn, Battin, Chesbro,
Escutia, Figueroa, Kuehl, Vasconcellos, Vincent
NO VOTE RECORDED: Florez, Romero
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 8/29/03
AYES: Alpert, Battin, Aanestad, Ashburn, Bowen, Escutia,
Karnette, Machado, Murray, Poochigian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Burton, Johnson, Speier
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/03 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child care: substitute employee registry
SOURCE : ChildCare Careers
DIGEST : This bill requires, rather than authorizes, the
State Department of Social Services (DSS) to operate, until
January 1, 2008, the substitute employee registry for child
care workers, and authorizes DSS to operate it after that.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/23/04 (1) reestablishes the
authority of DSS to operate or allow to operate child care
substitute employee registries, until January 1, 2008, as a
pilot program limited to the counties of Alameda, Contra
Costa, Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo and
CONTINUED
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Santa Clara, and (2) provide for up to $400,000 per year to
support personnel and oversight costs at DSS associated
with the pilot project and states that these funds come
from the reallocation of unearned child care contract funds
administered by the State Department of Education.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Establishes provisions for licensure of child care
facilities by 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
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 until January 1,
2008, and authorizes DSS, in its discretion, to operate
it after that.
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2.Requires DSS to provide each registry with a facility
number.
3.Allows DSS to limit the program to seven specified
counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange, Sacramento, San
Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
4.Requires DSS to charge participating registries a
reasonable application fee and annual licensing fee.
5.Specifies that the child care worker shall be associated
with the registry and not with the individual child care
facility that temporarily employs him or her. Requires
each registry to maintain employee background and
employment records at the registry's office located in
the region where services are provided. Provides that
all files are subject to inspection by the department.
6.Requires DSS to report to the Legislature, by 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
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. Requires a copy of
any emergency regulations adopted by DSS pursuant to the
bill to also be transmitted with the report.
Comments
Substitutes employees 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
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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.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Up to $400,000 from reallocation of unearned child care
contract funds administered by the State Department of
Education to support DSS personnel and oversight costs.
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/26/04) (Unable to reverify at time
of writing)
ChildCare Careers (source)
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
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh,
Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett,
Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton, Dymally,
Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,
Haynes, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Jackson, Keene,
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Kehoe, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Lieber,
Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Matthews, Maze,
McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano,
Nation, Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra,
Pavley, Plescia, Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Salinas,
Samuelian, Simitian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland,
Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Wesson
CP:cm 8/22/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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