Bill Text: CA SB1367 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 1367 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Home care aid applicant: criminal history.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-25 - From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. [SB1367 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB1367-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate March 25, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1367

Introduced by Senator Pan

February 21, 2020

An act to amend Section 1796.24 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to care facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1367, as amended, Pan. ~~Presence in care facilities: prohibition for conviction of crimes: exemption.~~ Home care aid applicant: criminal history.

The Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate home care organizations, as defined, and to establish and maintain a registry of registered home care aides and home care aide applicants on the department’s internet website. The act requires the department, before approving an individual for registration, to check the individual’s criminal history, as specified, and further requires the department to register a home care aide applicant if the applicant is issued a criminal record clearance or granted a criminal record exemption. The act authorizes the department to grant an exemption if the person’s criminal history indicates that the person is of good character based on the age, seriousness, and frequency of the conviction or convictions. The department is required to develop regulations to establish the criteria to grant an exemption under these provisions.
This bill would prohibit the department from requiring a home care aid applicant to provide a character reference when determining whether to grant a criminal record exemption if the home care aid applicant committed a nonviolent, nonsexual misdemeanor or felony and completed their sentence over 10 years prior to the date of submitting an application pursuant to this section.
The California Community Care Facilities Act generally requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate various types of care facilities, including community care facilities, licensed foster family homes, or certified family homes, and their employees or other caregivers in those facilities, and generally makes violations of these requirements a crime. The act requires the department to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record to determine whether an applicant or specified persons under these provisions have been convicted of a crime, and prohibits the department from approving applicants who have committed specified crimes. The act authorizes the department to grant an exemption from disqualification under these provisions if the department has substantial and convincing evidence to support a reasonable belief that the person is of good character, unless the person was convicted of certain crimes.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to modify the process for an individual who has a criminal record for specific types of nonviolent offenses committed over 10 years ago to acquire a community care license by providing information other than a character reference, including, but not limited to, their employment history or evidence of completing educational goals.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 1796.24 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1796.24.

(a) (1) The department shall establish a home care aide registry pursuant to this chapter and shall continuously update the registry information. Upon submission of the home care aide application and fingerprints or other identification documents pursuant to Section 1796.22, the department shall enter into the home care aide registry the person’s name, identification number, and an indicator that the person has submitted a home care aide application and fingerprints or identification documentation. This person shall be known as a “home care aide applicant.”

(2) A person shall not be entitled to apply to be a registered home care aide and shall have ~~his or her~~ their registration application returned without the right to appeal if the person would not be eligible to obtain a license pursuant to Section 1796.40 or 1796.41.

(b) (1) (A) Before approving an individual for registration, the department shall check the individual’s criminal history pursuant to Section 1522. Upon completion of the searches of the state summary criminal offender record information and the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the home care aide applicant shall be issued a criminal record clearance or granted a criminal record exemption if grounds do not exist for denial pursuant to Section ~~1522.~~ 1522, except as provided in paragraph (4). The department shall enter that finding in the person’s record in the home care aide registry and shall notify the person of the action. This person shall be known as a “registered home care aide.” If the home care aide applicant meets all of the conditions for registration, except receipt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s criminal offender record information search response, the department may issue a clearance if the home care aide applicant has signed and submitted a statement that ~~he or she has~~ they have never been convicted of a crime in the United States, other than a minor traffic violation. If, after approval, the department determines that the registrant has a criminal record, registration may be revoked pursuant to Section 1796.26.

(2) For purposes of compliance with this section, the department may permit a home care organization applicant or a home care organization licensee to request the transfer of a home care aide’s current criminal record clearance or exemption for a licensed care facility issued by the department. A signed criminal record clearance or exemption transfer request shall be submitted to the department and shall include a copy of the person’s driver’s license or valid identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, or a valid photo identification issued by another state or the United States government if the person is not a California resident. Upon request of the licensee or home care aide applicant, the department shall verify whether the individual has a clearance or exemption that can be transferred pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.

(3) The department shall hold criminal record clearances and exemptions in its active files for a minimum of three years after the individual is no longer on the registry in order to facilitate a transfer request.

(4) The department shall not require a home care aid applicant to provide a character reference when determining whether to grant a criminal record exemption if the home care aid applicant committed a nonviolent, nonsexual misdemeanor or felony and completed their sentence over 10 years prior to the date of submitting an application pursuant to this section.

SECTION 1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to modify the process for an individual who has a criminal record for specific types of nonviolent offenses committed over 10 years ago to acquire a community care license by providing information other than a character reference, including, but not limited to, their employment history or evidence of completing educational goals.