Background checks: volunteers.

Existing law authorizes a human resource agency, as defined, or an employer to request from the Department of Justice records of all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication for specified offenses for a person who applies for a license, employment, or volunteer position, in which he or she would have supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person under his or her care. Existing law defines "human resource agency" for those purposes as a public or private entity, excluding specified licensing agencies, responsible for determining the character and fitness of a person who is applying for a license, employment, or as a volunteer within the human services field, as specified, or applying to be a volunteer who transports individuals impaired by drugs or alcohol, or applying to adopt a child or be a foster parent. Existing law requires the department to furnish the information to the agency or employer and to send a copy of the information to the applicant. Existing law exempts a nonprofit organization from the fee otherwise charged by the department for processing those requests. This bill would exempt a human resource agency tracking volunteer information provided to community-based organizations, as defined, from the fee otherwise charged by the department for processing a request for those records. The bill would revise the definition of "human resource agency" for those purposes to include a public or private entity responsible for tracking information related to a person who is applying as a volunteer within the human services field that involves the care and security of children, the elderly, the handicapped, or the mentally impaired, and includes a 3rd-party organization that tracks volunteer-related information that is provided to community-based organizations. The bill would authorize these newly described human resource agencies to request subsequent arrest notification from the department for those volunteers, and would define "community-based organization" for those purposes.