SB 316: Placement of children: criminal records check.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, before issuing a license or special permit to any person to operate or manage a community care facility, including a foster family home, to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record regarding the applicant, as specified. Existing law requires the department to deny an application if the applicant has been convicted of any crime other than a minor traffic violation unless the applicant has been granted an exemption. Existing law prohibits the department from granting criminal records exemptions if a person has been convicted of certain crimes. Existing law also requires the department to implement a resource family approval process, as specified, that includes a criminal records clearance of all adults residing in, or regularly present in, the home. Existing law makes the criminal records exemption criteria applicable to foster care provider applicants applicable to resource family applicants.

This bill would authorize the department, or, in the case of a resource family applicant, an early implementation county, to grant a criminal records exemption for a foster care provider applicant or resource family applicant for certain crimes previously ineligible for exemption. The bill would also require, if a foster care provider applicant or resource family applicant has been convicted of an offense that is not specifically eligible or ineligible for exemption, the criminal history to be considered as part of the foster care provider licensing process or resource family approval process. The bill would require the department to consider all reasonably available information when determining whether to grant criminal records exemptions for any community care facility applicant.

Existing law requires the county welfare department, prior to temporarily placing a child with a relative or nonrelative extended family member, to consider the results of a criminal records check, as specified. Existing law also requires the county social worker, prior to placing a child in the home of a relative, or the home of any prospective guardian or other person who is not a licensed or certified foster parent, to consider the results of a criminal records check, as specified. Existing law prohibits these placements if the person has been convicted of any crime other than a minor traffic violation, unless an exemption has been granted, as specified.

This bill would authorize placement, or temporary placement, as applicable, of the child pending approval of a criminal records exemption if all parties agree that the placement is in the best interests of the child. The bill would also require, if the person has been convicted of an offense that is not specifically eligible or ineligible for exemption, the criminal history to be considered in determining if the placement is in the best interest of the child.

By imposing a higher level of service on county employees, the bill would impose 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.