Health care facilities: criminal background checks.

(1) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate community care facilities, residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facilities for the elderly, child care centers, and family child care homes. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal record for all applicants for licenses for these facilities and specified other employees and officers of these facilities. Existing law prohibits persons with specified convictions from obtaining a license, permit, or certificate. Existing law provides a process by which the department can grant an exemption from these prohibitions. This bill, among other things, would limit the disqualifying convictions to a directly and adversely related crime within the preceding 5 years or a directly and adversely related violent felony, as defined. The bill would authorize the department to grant an exemption for any of these convictions and would prohibit the department from denying an exemption on the basis of a charge for which pre- or post-plea diversion program has been completed, a conviction that was dismissed, an infraction or citation, or a conviction for which the applicant has obtained rehabilitative relief, including a certificate of rehabilitation or a pardon from the Governor. This bill would require the department to retain specified information, including application forms and other documents submitted by applicants and notices provided to applicants, for 3 years. The bill would also require the department to retain the number of applicants for each license type and the number of applications requiring criminal history inquiries, as well as other statistical information, and would require the department to make that information public on an annual basis, while ensuring the confidentiality of the individual applicants. Existing law authorizes the department to prohibit a person from being a member of the board of directors, an executive director, or an officer of a community care facility, residential care facility for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facility for the elderly, or child care center if he or she, among other things, engaged in conduct that is inimical to the health, morals, welfare, or safety of either the people of the state or an individual in or receiving services from the facility or engaged in acts of financial malfeasance concerning the operation of the facility. Under existing law, an excluded person has 15 days after the order of exclusion to file a written appeal. This bill would require the excluded person to have, in the course of fulfilling the functions or duties of the business or profession for which application is made, engaged in conduct within the preceding 5 years that is inimical to the health, morals, welfare, or safety of an individual in or receiving services from the facility or financial malfeasance within the preceding 5 years. The bill would authorize an excluded person to file a written appeal within 30 days of the order of exclusion. (2) Existing law requires the department to register home health aides. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal record for all applicants for the registry. Existing law prohibits a person with specified convictions from inclusion on the registry. Existing law provides a process by which the department can grant an exemption from these prohibitions. This bill would limit the disqualifying convictions to a directly and adversely related crime within the preceding 5 years or a directly and adversely related violent felony, as defined. The bill would authorize the department to grant an exemption for any of these convictions.