BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2513
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2513 (Bonilla) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:6 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a license for the operation of a
residential community care facility for the care of foster
children be forfeited if the licensee is convicted of identity
theft.
FISCAL EFFECT
On-time GF costs in the range of $1.5 million for the Department
of Social Services (DSS) to rerun and reprocess the background
checks of approximately 22,550 foster care providers.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The theft of foster child and foster youth
identities has been a concern of policy makers for several
years. A prior bill, AB 2985 (Maze), Chapter 387, Statutes of
2006, required county welfare departments to request a credit
report for foster youth and to refer foster youth to an
approved organization that provides counseling services to
victims of identity theft if identity theft was suspected or
discovered. AB 2513, the author contends, would further help
protect foster youth from identity theft by requiring that a
community care facility license be forfeited if the licensee
operates a residential facility for the care of foster
children and is convicted of identity theft.
According to the author, identity theft can significantly
hinder a foster youth's ability to successfully transition to
adulthood upon emancipation from the foster care system
because, most transitioning teenagers, foster youth often do
AB 2513
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not have the family support to help them build credit and
become financially independent.
2)Community Care Licenses . The Department of Social Services
(DSS) Community Care Licensing Division is responsible for
licensing and regulation residential and nonresidential
community care facilities, including child care centers,
family child care homes, residential care facilities for the
elderly, continuing care retirement communities, adult day
care, and residential facilities for foster children. DSS
licenses close to 80,000 facilities throughout the state with
a total capacity of 1.4 million children and adults. Of those
licensed facilities, 22,550 are residential facilities for
foster children. Generally, the criminal background checks
and exclusions apply to all facilities across the board. This
bill, however, would apply specific restrictions to foster
care licensees.
3)Why This Crime and These Licensees ? Under current law, there
are certain conditions whereby a community care license is
forfeited. In terms of criminal convictions, license
forfeiture is reserved for specified serious or violent
felonies (murder, rape, willful injury to a child, lewd or
lascivious acts, etc.). This bill requires forfeiture of a
foster care license when a licensee is convicted of identity
theft.
In addition, under current law, a person who has been
convicted of identity theft, or any other misdemeanor or
felony is automatically denied a community care license.
However, the law gives the director of DSS authority to grant
exemptions for individuals who have been convicted of those
crimes. Under this bill, however, identify theft would be
moved from the list of exemptible crimes to the list of
non-exemptible crimes, for foster care licensees only.
Is there evidence to suggest the current discretion of the
director to exempt individuals who have been convicted of all
but the most serious and violent of crimes is inadequate? For
example, is there a policy rationale for barring people who
have committed identity theft from holding a foster care
license while still allowing the director to provide
exemptions for identity theft for licensees who care for the
elderly in residential care facilities for the elderly
(RCFEs)?
AB 2513
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4)Related Legislation . Currently, AB 1714 (Halderman) adds
felony forgery, felony embezzlement, felony extortion and
felony identify theft to the list of offenses that would
require an In-Home Supportive Services provider waiver. That
bill is currently on the Assembly Third Reading file.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081