In-home supportive services: criminal background checks.

Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, or disabled persons are provided with supportive services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires a county to investigate the background of a person who seeks to become a supportive services provider and who is not listed on the registry of a public authority or nonprofit consortium. Existing law also requires a county, by no later than July 1, 2010, to complete a criminal background check for a provider who is providing in-home supportive services prior to October 1, 2009, and who is not listed on a public authority or nonprofit consortium registry, as a condition of the provider's continued enrollment in the IHSS program. Existing law requires these investigations to include criminal background checks conducted by the Department of Justice, as specified. Existing law requires these background checks to be conducted at the provider's expense. This bill would instead prohibit a provider or a person who seeks to become a provider from being assessed a fee for any investigation or criminal background check conducted pursuant to the above-described provisions. The bill would also prohibit the Department of Justice from assessing a fee to a county to cover the cost of furnishing the criminal background checks described above. To the extent the bill would create new duties for counties for the provision of criminal background checks, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.