BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2632
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 21, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2632 (Maienschein) - As Amended: May 7, 2014
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:5 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the Department of Social Services (DSS) from
providing a criminal record clearance for a person applying for
employment in a Community Care Facility, Residential Care
Facility for the Elderly and Child Day Care Facilities with a
record of an arrest prior to the completion of an evaluation of
the person's arrest record for employment.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs. DSS indicates this bill corresponds
with the process they implemented in March of this year.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author contends this bill is necessary to ensure
that the state upholds its responsibility to protect
Californians from the potentially dangerous individuals in
DSS-licensed care facilities. This bill provides that every
DSS applicant's arrest record be investigated in a diligent
and timely manner before the applicant is allowed to gain
employment caring for those most at risk for abuse and
exploitation.
2)Background . Under current law, a person who seeks to be
employed by a care facility must undergo a state and federal
criminal background check. This requires applicants to submit
their fingerprints in order to discover whether they have any
convictions that may preclude them from working in care
facilities. If a person has been convicted of a crime, other
than a minor traffic violation, the applicant cannot receive a
AB 2632
Page 2
criminal background clearance from DSS until a further
investigation is conducted. If it is discovered that an
individual has been convicted of a non-exempt crime, such as
rape, a sex offense, murder, or fiscal malfeasance, then a
criminal background clearance cannot be provided.
Additionally, a person's arrest record can be taken into
account. Current law prohibits an arrest record from being
used to deny or terminate a prospective or current employee or
licensee, but DSS may use an incidence of arrest as reason to
conduct a further investigation into the applicant's
background. In conducting the investigation, DSS obtains
information or evidence that may be used in an administrative
hearing to determine that the individual does or does not pose
a threat.
Prior to 2011, DSS conducted applicant reviews for individuals
who had an arrest for a non-exempt crime. In 2011, in
response to delays in conducting timely reviews of applicants
with an arrest record, which can take anywhere from several
weeks to more than six months, DSS changed its policy to clear
all individuals who have arrests, but not convictions on their
record.
In early 2014, concerns were raised regarding this change in
policy. As a result, DSS changed its policy to conduct a
review of applicants who have an arrest for a "referable"
alleged crime, although the definition of a "referable"
alleged crime is unclear. For referable arrests, DSS's
Investigative Bureau, which handles investigations into
criminal background checks, and its Legal Counsel conduct a
multi-tiered review, which can take from five days to several
months depending on the information needed to evaluate the
arrest.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081