BILL ANALYSIS
AB 366
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 366 (Mullin)
As Amended August 23, 2004
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 8, 2003) |SENATE: |34-0 |August 25, |
| | | | | |2004 |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
operate a substitute child care employee registry (SER) pilot
program providing clearance for temporary child care employees
until January 1, 2008, authorizes continued operation at DSS'
discretion thereafter, provides, 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)Define "substitute employer registry" to mean any organization
licensed to provide cleared employees to a child care facility
on a temporary placement basis.
3)Require DSS to adopt regulations to permit registries to
submit fingerprint images to the Department of Justice for
child care workers associated with registries.
4)Require DSS to operate the substitute child care registry
pilot program until January 1, 2008, and thereafter authorizes
DSS to operate the program at its discretion.
5)Require rather than permit DSS to charge participating
registries reasonable application and licensing fees for each
office within the region in which they are providing services,
with the revenues collected used by DSS to monitor child care
facilities participating in the SER program.
6)Prohibit DSS from using any portion of the licensing revenue
sooner than 30 days after notification in writing to the Joint
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Legislative Budget Committee.
7)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, and
limit the pilot program only to those counties
8)Require DSS to report to the Legislature by May 1, 2005, on
the use of state personnel for the SER program and on the
program's status and progress.
9)Prohibit licensing fees from being charged to temporary
employees of the SERs, except for fees association with
criminal background clearances.
10)Express legislative intent to support DSS costs for operating
the pilot program by reallocating unearned child care contract
funds, that the allocation of funds be accomplished by
interagency agreement between SDE and DSS, not to exceed
$400,000, less any licensing fees collected.
11)Provide that DSS is not required to process criminal
background checks for child care employees until July 1, 2005,
to the extent that the bill creates increased background
clearance caseload for the Department of Justice.
EXISTING LAW :
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:
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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 : Up to $400,000 reallocated from unearned and
unspent child care contract funds, which would otherwise be
allocated to specified purposes, i.e., SDE accounts payable,
reimbursement of alternative payment programs, and one-time
expenditures to benefit children in subsidized child care.
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
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.
The number of projects in the bill 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.
Senate amendments provide that the SER projects are to be funded
by a combination of licensing fees charged to participating
registries and unspent and unearned child care contract funds.
The unspent funds currently are allocated for designated
purposes such as SDE accounts payable and reimbursement of
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alternative payment programs for the provision of additional
services. The total cost is not to exceed $400,000, less
revenues generated by the licensing fees. The bill makes clear
that funding is not to come from federal funds available to
improve the quality of care.
Analysis Prepared by : Casey McKeever / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0008764