BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1136|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1136
Author: Huff (R) and Mitchell (D), et al.
Amended: 6/25/14
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/22/14
AYES: Liu, Berryhill, DeSaulnier, Hancock
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 5/28/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,
Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/7/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Foster care providers: criminal records
SOURCE : County of Los Angeles
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Social Services
(DSS) to provide, upon the request of a county child welfare
agency, a list of each person who has received a criminal
records exemption related to a licensed or certified foster
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home, so that the county may assess the appropriateness of
placing a child in the foster home with which the individual is
associated, as specified.
Assembly amendments narrow the provisions of this bill and 1)
remove requirements that the Department of Justice (DOJ) forward
each request for federal summary criminal history information to
the FBI and compile and disseminate responses to the county
child welfare agency, as specified, 2) remove the requirement
that a county child welfare agency be provided a list of each
person who has received a criminal records exemption related to
a licensed or certified foster home, 3) add a definition of
"summary information," and 4) make clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Enacts the Community Care Facilities Act, administered by DSS
which provides for the licensure and oversight of out of home
placements of abused and neglected children.
2.Requires DSS and county agencies with foster family homes
licensing authority to secure both California and Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal history information to
determine whether the applicant or other specified non-exempt
persons, including other adults residing in the home, have
ever been convicted of any crime other than a minor traffic
violation or arrested for the specified crimes.
3.Requires DOJ to maintain state summary criminal history
information and provides for DOJ to furnish state and federal
summary criminal history information to any authorized agency
or organization as specified, when the information is used for
employment, licensing or certification purposes.
4.Provides that DSS may grant an exemption to a criminal
conviction exclusion (except as specified) if the Director has
substantial and convincing evidence to support a reasonable
belief that the person convicted of the crime is of good
character in order to justify granting the exemption.
5.Requires DSS to check the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)
prior to granting a license to, or otherwise approving, any
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individual to care for or reside with children, and to
investigate any reports received from the CACI.
6.Permits the sharing of information between specified agencies
about applicants, licensees, certificates, or individuals who
have been the subject of any administrative action resulting
in the denial, suspension, probation, or revocation of
license, permit, or certificate, or the exclusion of any
person from the facility who is subject to a background check.
This bill:
1.Requires, upon request by a county child welfare agency, DSS
to provide a list identifying each person who has received a
criminal records exemption pursuant to existing law related to
a licensed or certified foster home so that the county may
assess the appropriateness of placing a child who has been
detained or is a dependent of the court in the licensed or
certified foster home with which the individual is associated.
2.Defines "summary information" to mean information pertaining
to the specific crimes for which the exemption was requested
and a summary of the evidence DSS used in making its
determination to grant the exemption. Requires the
information to be limited to one page for each crime exempted.
3.Prohibits DSS, in providing the summary information, from
disclosing the names of individuals who are not the subject of
the exemption request.
4.Prohibits county child welfare agencies from disclosing
information related to the exemption beyond what is necessary,
as determined by DSS and in accordance with state and federal
law, to assess the appropriateness of placing a child in a
licensed or certified foster home.
5.Requires DSS to implement this section by means of an
all-county letter issued on or before March 1, 2015, that
specifies the process by which a county may request summary
information, how the information will be issued by DSS, and
how the information may be used by a county.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor and
absorbable costs to DSS to provide the required information.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/8/14)
County of Los Angeles (source)
AFSCME
Association of Community Human Service Agencies
California Police Chiefs Association
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California State Foster Parent Association
California Youth Connection
Children Now
County Welfare Directors Association of California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Orange County Board of Supervisors
San Diego County
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/8/14)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
East Bay Community Law Center
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
The Social Justice Law Project
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, county child
welfare agencies do not have access to a list of foster parents
and employees who have received a criminal history exemption
granted by the DSS Community Care Licensing Division. The
author states that counties are responsible for placing children
in foster home placements without the background information
that was utilized by DSS to authorize a criminal history
exemption. The author states that, if enacted, this bill would
authorize the sharing of critical information between the state
and county welfare agencies to improve child safety in foster
placements.
As evidence for the need for this bill, Los Angeles County, the
sponsor, points to recent tragedies in Los Angeles County where
four foster children died after being placed in foster homes
certified by private foster family agencies. In one instance, a
two-year-old child was beaten into a coma and suffered mental
disability and blindness in one eye after he and two other
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children were placed into the home of a woman who had been
accused of abusing children and whose partner had a history of
drug abuse. In another, a two-year-old girl was killed after
being placed into the home of a woman with a theft conviction.
All deaths occurred in certified family homes that are certified
by private agencies, and the county social workers responsible
to monitor the care and safety of the children were unaware that
the individuals had criminal records that, according to the
sponsor, may have warranted increased visitation or scrutiny.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Social Justice Law Project
writes that this bill would require DSS to share outdated and
incomplete criminal history information which "infringes on the
right of privacy guaranteed by Article I, section 1 of the
California Constitution. (This information) is not supported by
a compelling or substantial state interest, undermines the
substantial government interest in ensuring that criminal
history information is complete, and is inconsistent with the
decisions in both Loder v. Municipal Court and Central Valley v
Younger." Additionally, this organization states that DOJ
advises agencies seeking approval to obtain criminal history
information that "the retention and sharing of information
between employers and licensing agencies is strictly prohibited.
The retention and sharing of information infringe upon the
right of privacy as defined in the California Constitution, and
fails to meet the (standard of) compelling state interest."
The East Bay Community Law Center writes that this bill creates
duplicative work for counties and would have DSS send an
avalanche of criminal history information to local child welfare
agencies about whom the department has already licensed. The
organization states that the bill is unnecessary as there is no
evidence, data or reports showing that the DSS exemption process
is overly-inclusive of people with criminal records or that
foster children are at higher risk from individuals with
exemptions than they are with other foster parents.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/7/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
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Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fox, Vacancy
JL:e 8/8/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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