BILL NUMBER: AB 2985 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Maze
FEBRUARY 24, 2006
An act to amend Section 1522.41 of, and to add Section 1522.6 to,
the Health and Safety Code, relating to group homes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2985, as amended, Maze Group homes: administrator and employee
requirements.
Under the existing California Community Care Facilities Act, the
State Department of Social Services generally regulates the licensure
and operation of community care facilities, including group homes.
Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor.
This bill would provide , with a
specified exception exceptions ,
provide that no group home may employ any person
under 22 21 years of age in any aspect
of the operation of the group home, and would apply that
requirement to include these provisions to
administrators of group homes.
Because this bill would create a new crime, this bill would result
in a state-mandated local program.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares as
follows:
(a) Children living in group homes are among the most vulnerable
of children, receiving care and treatment for a number of problems,
including mental illness and severe emotional disturbance.
(b) Caring for and treating these children can present strenuous
and difficult situations for their caregivers, presenting significant
demands upon their counseling skills, life experience, and emotional
maturity.
(c) In order to promote a workforce of group home caregivers with
the requisite level of skills, life experience, and emotional
maturity, it is necessary and proper to establish minimum age
standards for group home caregivers.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 1522.6 is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1522.6. (a) No group home may employ a person under 22
21 years of age in any aspect of the operation
of the group home.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any person employed by
a facility on December 31, 2006, subject to the requirement
that the person shall be subject to a new criminal background check
appropriate to employment requirements applicable to the facility.
This subdivision shall not apply to any former employee who is
rehired by a facility on or after January 1, 2007. a
facility who meets any of the following criteria:
(1) The person is employed by the facility on December 31, 2006.
(2) The person is a full-time or part-time college student
participating in a course of study leading to a degree in the
behavioral sciences.
(3) The person is not solely responsible for the care and
supervision of children, and works with another person who is at
least 21 years of age.
(4) The person's duties do not include responsibilities for the
care and supervision of children.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 1522.41 of
the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1522.41. (a) The director, in consultation and collaboration with
county placement officials, group home provider organizations, the
Director of Mental Health, and the Director of Developmental
Services, shall develop and establish a certification program to
ensure that administrators of group home facilities have appropriate
training to provide the care and services for which a license or
certificate is issued.
(b) (1) In addition to any other requirements or qualifications
required by the department, an administrator of a group home facility
shall successfully complete a department-approved certification
program pursuant to subdivision (c) prior to employment. An
administrator employed in a group home on the effective date of this
section shall meet the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision
(c).
(2) In those cases where the individual is both the licensee and
the administrator of a facility, the individual shall comply with all
of the licensee and administrator requirements of this section.
(3) Failure to comply with this section shall constitute cause for
revocation of the license of the facility.
(4) The licensee shall notify the department within 10 days of any
change in administrators.
(c) (1) The administrator certification programs shall require a
minimum of 40 hours of classroom instruction that provides training
on a uniform core of knowledge in each of the following areas:
(A) Laws, regulations, and policies and procedural standards that
impact the operations of the type of facility for which the applicant
will be an administrator.
(B) Business operations.
(C) Management and supervision of staff.
(D) Psychosocial and educational needs of the facility residents.
(E) Community and support services.
(F) Physical needs for facility residents.
(G) Administration, storage, misuse, and interaction of medication
used by facility residents.
(H) Resident admission, retention, and assessment procedures,
including the right of a foster child to have fair and equal access
to all available services, placement, care, treatment, and benefits,
and to not be subjected to discrimination or harassment on the basis
of actual or perceived race, ethnic group identification, ancestry,
national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity, mental or physical disability, or HIV status.
(I) Nonviolent emergency intervention and reporting requirements.
(2) The department shall adopt separate program requirements for
initial certification for persons who are employed as group home
administrators on the effective date of this section. A person
employed as an administrator of a group home facility on the
effective date of this section, shall obtain a certificate by
completing the training and testing requirements imposed by the
department within 12 months of the effective date of the regulations
implementing this section. After the effective date of this section,
these administrators shall meet the requirements imposed by the
department on all other group home administrators for certificate
renewal.
(3) Individuals applying for certification under this section
shall successfully complete an approved certification program, pass a
written test administered by the department within 60 days of
completing the program, and submit to the department the
documentation required by subdivision (d) within 30 days after being
notified of having passed the test. The department may extend these
time deadlines for good cause. The department shall notify the
applicant of his or her test results within 30 days of administering
the test.
(d) The department shall not begin the process of issuing a
certificate until receipt of all of the following:
(1) A certificate of completion of the administrator training
required pursuant to this chapter.
(2) The fee required for issuance of the certificate. A fee of one
hundred dollars ($100) shall be charged by the department to cover
the costs of processing the application for certification.
(3) Documentation from the applicant that he or she has passed the
written test.
(4) Submission of fingerprints pursuant to Section 1522. The
department may waive the submission for those persons who have a
current clearance on file.
(5) (A) That person is at least 22 21
years of age.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any person employed
by a facility on December 31, 2006, subject to the
requirement that the person shall be subject to a new criminal
background check appropriate to employment requirements to the
facility. This subparagraph shall not apply to any former employee
who is rehired by a facility on or after January 1, 2007.
by a facility who meets any of the following criteria:
(i) The person is employed by the facility on December 31, 2006.
(ii) The person is a full-time or part-time college student
participating in a course of study leading to a degree in the
behavioral sciences.
(iii) The person is not solely responsible for the care and
supervision of children, and works with another person who is at
least 21 years of age.
(iv) The person's duties do not include responsibilities for the
care and supervision of children.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person not certified under this
section to hold himself or herself out as a certified administrator
of a group home facility. Any person willfully making any false
representation as being a certified administrator or facility manager
is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(f) (1) Certificates issued under this section shall be renewed
every two years and renewal shall be conditional upon the certificate
holder submitting documentation of completion of 40 classroom hours
of continuing education related to the core of knowledge specified in
subdivision (c). For purposes of this section, an individual who is
a group home facility administrator and who is required to complete
the continuing education hours required by the regulations of the
State Department of Developmental Services, and approved by the
regional center, may have up to 24 of the required continuing
education course hours credited toward the 40-hour continuing
education requirement of this section. Community college course hours
approved by the regional centers shall be accepted by the department
for certification.
(2) Every administrator of a group home facility shall complete
the continuing education requirements of this subdivision.
(3) Certificates issued under this section shall expire every two
years on the anniversary date of the initial issuance of the
certificate, except that any administrator receiving his or her
initial certification on or after July 1, 1999, shall make an
irrevocable election to have his or her recertification date for any
subsequent recertification either on the date two years from the date
of issuance of the certificate or on the individual's birthday
during the second calendar year following certification. The
department shall send a renewal notice to the certificate holder 90
days prior to the expiration date of the certificate. If the
certificate is not renewed prior to its expiration date,
reinstatement shall only be permitted after the certificate holder
has paid a delinquency fee equal to three times the renewal fee and
has provided evidence of completion of the continuing education
required.
(4) To renew a certificate, the certificate holder shall, on or
before the certificate expiration date, request renewal by submitting
to the department documentation of completion of the required
continuing education courses and pay the renewal fee of one hundred
dollars ($100), irrespective of receipt of the department's
notification of the renewal. A renewal request postmarked on or
before the expiration of the certificate shall be proof of compliance
with this paragraph.
(5) A suspended or revoked certificate shall be subject to
expiration as provided for in this section. If reinstatement of the
certificate is approved by the department, the certificate holder, as
a condition precedent to reinstatement, shall submit proof of
compliance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (f), and shall
pay a fee in an amount equal to the renewal fee, plus the delinquency
fee, if any, accrued at the time of its revocation or suspension.
Delinquency fees, if any, accrued subsequent to the time of its
revocation or suspension and prior to an order for reinstatement,
shall be waived for a period of 12 months to allow the individual
sufficient time to complete the required continuing education units
and to submit the required documentation. Individuals whose
certificates will expire within 90 days after the order for
reinstatement may be granted a three-month extension to renew their
certificates during which time the delinquency fees shall not accrue.
(6) A certificate that is not renewed within four years after its
expiration shall not be renewed, restored, reissued, or reinstated
except upon completion of a certification training program, passing
any test that may be required of an applicant for a new certificate
at that time, and paying the appropriate fees provided for in this
section.
(7) A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) shall be charged for the
reissuance of a lost certificate.
(8) A certificate holder shall inform the department of his or her
employment status and change of mailing address within 30 days of
any change.
(g) Unless otherwise ordered by the department, the certificate
shall be considered forfeited under either of the following
conditions:
(1) The department has revoked any license held by the
administrator after the department issued the certificate.
(2) The department has issued an exclusion order against the
administrator pursuant to Section 1558, 1568.092, 1569.58, or
1596.8897, after the department issued the certificate, and the
administrator did not appeal the exclusion order or, after the
appeal, the department issued a decision and order that upheld the
exclusion order.
(h) (1) The department, in consultation and collaboration with
county placement officials, provider organizations, the State
Department of Mental Health, and the State Department of
Developmental Services, shall establish, by regulation, the program
content, the testing instrument, the process for approving
certification training programs, and criteria to be used in
authorizing individuals, organizations, or educational institutions
to conduct certification training programs and continuing education
courses. The department may also grant continuing education hours for
continuing courses offered by accredited educational institutions
that are consistent with the requirements in this section. The
department may deny vendor approval to any agency or person in any of
the following circumstances:
(A) The applicant has not provided the department with evidence
satisfactory to the department of the ability of the applicant to
satisfy the requirements of vendorization set out in the regulations
adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision (j).
(B) The applicant person or agency has a conflict of interest in
that the person or agency places its clients in group home
facilities.
(C) The applicant public or private agency has a conflict of
interest in that the agency is mandated to place clients in group
homes and to pay directly for the services. The department may deny
vendorization to this type of agency only as long as there are other
vendor programs available to conduct the certification training
programs and conduct education courses.
(2) The department may authorize vendors to conduct the
administrator's certification training program pursuant to this
section. The department shall conduct the written test pursuant to
regulations adopted by the department.
(3) The department shall prepare and maintain an updated list of
approved training vendors.
(4) The department may inspect certification training programs and
continuing education courses to determine if content and teaching
methods comply with regulations. If the department determines that
any vendor is not complying with the requirements of this section,
the department shall take appropriate action to bring the program
into compliance, which may include removing the vendor from the
approved list.
(5) The department shall establish reasonable procedures and
timeframes not to exceed 30 days for the approval of vendor training
programs.
(6) The department may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed one
hundred fifty dollars ($150) every two years, to certification
program vendors for review and approval of the initial 40-hour
training program pursuant to subdivision (c). The department may also
charge the vendor a fee, not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100)
every two years, for the review and approval of the continuing
education courses needed for recertification pursuant to this
subdivision.
(i) The department shall establish a registry for holders of
certificates that shall include, at a minimum, information on
employment status and criminal record clearance.
(j) Subdivisions (b) to (i), inclusive, shall be implemented upon
regulations being adopted by the department, by January 1, 2000.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, vendors
approved by the department who exclusively provide either initial or
continuing education courses for certification of administrators of a
group home facility as defined by regulations of the department, an
adult residential facility as defined by regulations of the
department, or a residential care facility for the elderly as defined
in subdivision (k) of Section 1569.2, shall be regulated solely by
the department pursuant to this chapter. No other state or local
governmental entity shall be responsible for regulating the activity
of those vendors.
SEC. 3. 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.