Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services licenses and regulates, among other things, community care facilities, foster family home or certified family home, residential care facilities for persons with a chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facilities for the elderly, and child day cares. Existing law requires the department, prior to issuing a license or special permit to operate any of those facilities, to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record to determine whether the applicant or any other person, as specified, has been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation, or arrested for certain crimes, or for any crime for which the department cannot grant an exemption if the person was convicted and the person has not been exonerated. Existing law requires an individual to obtain either a criminal record clearance or a criminal record exemption from the department prior to his or her employment, residence, or initial presence in those facilities listed above. Existing law prohibits the department from using a record of arrest to deny, revoke, or terminate any application, license, employment, or residence unless the department investigates the incident and secures evidence that is admissible in an administrative hearing to establish conduct by the person that may pose a risk to the health and safety of any person who is or may become a client. This bill would prohibit the department, with regard to those facilities, from issuing a criminal record clearance to a person who has violated or who has been arrested for specified crimes or for any crime for which the department is prohibited from granting a criminal record exemption prior to the department's completion of an investigation of the incident to establish conduct by the person that may pose a risk to the health and safety of any person who is or may become a client. The bill would also require the department, subsequent to licensing but prior to a person's employment, residence, or initial presence in a specified facility, to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record to determine whether a person not exempt from fingerprinting or other person, as specified, has been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation, arrested for certain crimes, or for any crime for which the department cannot grant an exemption.
Sponsored bills
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program that requires each county and city and county to prepare and submit to the department a countywide integrated waste management plan. The act requires a business, which is defined as a commercial or public entity, that generates more than 4 cubic yards of commercial solid waste per week or is a multifamily residential dwelling of 5 units or more, to arrange for recycling services. Existing law also requires jurisdictions to implement a commercial solid waste recycling program meeting specified elements. This bill would, commencing April 1, 2016, require a business that generates a specified amount of organic waste per week to arrange for recycling services for that organic waste in a specified manner. The bill would decrease the amount of organic waste under which a business would be subject to those requirements from 8 cubic yards or more to 4 cubic yards or more on January 1, 2017. The bill would also require a business that generates 4 cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste per week, on and after January 1, 2019, to arrange for organic waste recycling services and, if the department makes a specified determination, would decrease that amount to 2 cubic yards, on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would require the contract or work agreement between a business and a gardening or landscaping service to require the organic waste generated by those services to comply with the requirements of this act. This bill would require each jurisdiction, on and after January 1, 2016, to implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste from the businesses subject to this act, except as specified with regard to rural jurisdictions, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties on local governmental agencies. The bill would require each jurisdiction to report to the department on its progress in implementing the organic waste recycling program, and the department would be required to review whether a jurisdiction is in compliance with this act. This bill would authorize a local governmental agency to charge and collect a fee from an organic waste generator to recover the local governmental agency's costs incurred in complying with this act. This bill would require the department to identify and recommend actions to address permitting and siting challenges and to encourage the continued viability of the state's organic waste processing and recycling infrastructure, in partnership with the California Environmental Protection Agency and other specified state and regional agencies. The bill also would require the department to cooperate with local jurisdictions and industry to provide assistance for increasing the feasibility of organic waste recycling and to identify certain state financing mechanisms and state funding incentives and post this information on its Internet Web site. (2) 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.
Existing law authorizes the defendant or the people, in cases where the defendant has been charged with a serious felony, as defined, or in a case of domestic violence, to have a witness examined conditionally, as specified, if there is evidence that the life of the witness is in jeopardy. Existing law specifies the information required to be stated in the affidavit applying to examine a witness conditionally, including the nature of the offense charged. This bill would authorize the defendant or the people to apply for an order that the witness be examined conditionally when the defendant has been charged with human trafficking and there is evidence that the victim or material witness has been or is being dissuaded by the defendant or a person acting on behalf of the defendant, by intimidation or physical threat, from cooperating with the prosecutor or testifying at trial. This bill would also allow a court to examine a victim or material witness conditionally if the court finds there is a reasonable basis to believe that the witness will not attend the trial because he or she is under the direct control of the defendant or another person involved in human trafficking and, by virtue of this relationship, the defendant or other person seeks to prevent the witness or victim from testifying. The bill would conform the affidavit requirements for applying to examine a witness conditionally.
(1) Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department of Social Services. A person who violates the act is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to civil penalty and suspension or revocation of his or her license. Existing law requires an administrator of a residential care facility for the elderly to successfully complete a department-approved certification program prior to employment that requires, among other things, a minimum of 40 hours of classroom instruction on a uniform core of knowledge, which includes resident admission, retention, and assessment procedures, and passage of a written test administered by the department. This bill would change the minimum hours of classroom instruction to 80 hours, including 60 hours of in-person instruction, and would add additional topics to the uniform core of knowledge, including the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs for use in controlling the behavior of persons with dementia. The bill would also require the department to take specific actions with regard to the test, including ensuring that it consists of at least 100 questions. This bill would prohibit a licensee, or officer or employee of the licensee, from discriminating or retaliating against any person receiving the services of the licensee's residential care facility for the elderly, or against any employee of the licensee's facility, on the basis, or for the reason that, the person, employee, or any other person dialed or called 911. This bill would require a residential care facility for the elderly that accepts or retains residents with prohibited health conditions, as defined by the department, to assist residents with accessing home health or hospice services by appropriately skilled professionals, acting within their scope of practice, to ensure that residents receive medical care as prescribed by the resident's physician and contained in the resident's service plan. The bill would define an "appropriately skilled professional" as an individual who has training and is licensed to perform the necessary medical procedures prescribed by a physician, which includes, but is not limited to, a registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or respiratory therapist. The bill would provide that an appropriately skilled professional is not required if a resident is providing self-care, as defined by the department, and there is documentation in the resident's service plan that the resident is capable of providing self-care. (2) Existing law requires the Director of Social Services to ensure that licensees, administrators, and staffs of residential care facilities for the elderly have appropriate training to provide the care and services for which a license or certificate is issued. Existing law requires the department to develop a uniform core of knowledge for the continuing education of administrators of residential care facilities for the elderly. This bill would also require the department to develop a uniform core of knowledge jointly with the California Department of Aging for the initial certification of administrators, and add additional topics to the uniform core of knowledge, including, but not limited to, applicable laws and regulations and residents' rights. (3) Existing law requires that employees who assist residents with the self-administration of medications at a licensed residential care facility for the elderly, which provides care for 16 or more persons, complete 16 hours of initial training, consisting of 8 hours of hands-on shadowing training and 8 hours of other training or instruction, to be completed within the first 2 weeks of employment. If that facility provides care for 15 or fewer persons, existing law requires employees to complete 6 hours of initial training, consisting of 2 hours of hands-on shadowing training and 4 hours of other training or instruction, to be completed within the first 2 weeks of employment. This bill would require employees at a licensed residential care facility for the elderly that provides care for 16 or more persons, to complete 24 hours of initial training, consisting of 16 hours of hands-on shadowing training and 8 hours of other training or instruction, to be completed within the first 4 weeks of employment. For facilities providing care for 15 or fewer persons, the bill would increase those training requirements to 10 hours of initial training, consisting of 6 hours of hands-on shadowing training, and 4 hours of other training, to be completed within the first 2 weeks of employment. This bill would require all residential care facilities for the elderly to provide training to direct care staff on postural supports, restricted conditions or health services, and hospice care that includes 4 hours of training on the care, supervision, and special needs of those residents, prior to providing direct care to residents. The bill also would require 4 hours of training thereafter of in-service training per year on the subject of serving those residents. (4) Because a violation of any of the above provisions would be a misdemeanor, this 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. (5) This bill would make its provisions operative on January 1, 2016. (6) This bill would become operative only if AB 1570 is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2015.
Existing law, the Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department of Social Services. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would establish specified rights for residents of privately operated residential care facilities for the elderly, including, among other things, to be accorded dignity in their personal relationships with staff, to be granted a reasonable level of personal privacy of accommodations, medical treatment, personal care and assistance, and to confidential treatment of their records and personal information, as specified. The bill would require, at admission, a facility staff person to personally advise a resident and the resident's representative, as described, of these and other specified rights and to provide them with a written copy of these rights. By expanding the scope of a crime, this 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.
The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its pension plan or plans to comply with the act, as specified. Among other things, PEPRA prohibits a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan from exceeding specified retirement formulas for new members and prohibits an enhancement of a public employee's retirement formula or benefit adopted after January 1, 2013, from applying to service performed prior to the operative date of the enhancement. PEPRA defines terms for those purposes, including defining "new member" to include an individual who becomes a member of any public retirement system for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who was not a member of any other public retirement system prior to that date; an individual who becomes a member of a public retirement system for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who was a member of another public retirement system prior to that date, but who was not subject to reciprocity under specified law; or an individual who was an active member in a retirement system and who, after a break in service of more than 6 months, returned to active membership in that system with a new employer. This bill would specifically exclude from the definition of "new member" a judge, as defined in specified existing law, elected to office before January 1, 2013.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program (Cal Grant Program) , establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions, as defined. The existing definition of a qualifying institution includes, among other institutions, California private or independent postsecondary educational institutions that participate in the Pell Grant Program and in at least 2 of the following federal campus-based programs: federal Work-Study, the Perkins Loan Program, and the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant Program. Existing law requires the commission to certify by October 1 of each year a qualifying institution's latest 3-year cohort default rate and graduation rate as most recently reported by the United States Department of Education. This bill would express findings and declarations, would delete "campus-based" from the description of the federal programs referenced above in connection with the California private or independent postsecondary educational institutions that are defined as qualifying institutions, and would replace the Perkins Loan Program with the Stafford Loan Program for purposes of qualifying a private or independent postsecondary educational institution for Cal Grants Awards. The bill would change the date the commission needs to certify the institution's latest official 3-year cohort default rate and graduation rate to November 1, and would define the graduation rate of a qualifying institution to be the percentage of full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduate students who graduate in 150% or less of the expected time to complete the degree requirements as most recently reported by the United States Department of Education. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions and make conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
(1) Under existing law, when the Department of Motor Vehicles determines that an applicant is lawfully entitled to a driver's license, the department is required to issue that license to the applicant. Existing law specifies the contents of a driver's license and requires the application for a driver's license or identification card to contain a space for an applicant to indicate whether he or she has served in the Armed Forces of the United States and to give his or her consent to be contacted regarding eligibility to receive state or federal veterans' benefits. This bill would, commencing November 11, 2015, allow an in-person applicant for a driver's license or identification card to request the driver's license or identification card be printed with the word "VETERAN." The applicant would be required to present verification of veteran status to the Department of Motor Vehicles, on a form developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs in consultation with the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill would require county veterans service offices to verify an applicant's veteran status for these purposes, as specified. The department would be required to print the word "VETERAN" on the face of a driver's license or identification card issued to a person who makes that request and presents that verification to the department. (2) Existing law establishes certain fee amounts for the applications for, and renewal of, driver's licenses and identification cards. This bill would require the department to charge an additional one-time fee of $5 to a person who requests that the person's driver's license or identification card be designated as provided above.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would require, by July 1, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop a transition assistance program for veterans who have been discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard of any state, as specified. The bill would require the program to include certain California-specific transition assistance information.
(1) Existing law provides that a person, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3 or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001–02 academic year, and who, if he or she is an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed an affidavit, as specified, is exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University. This bill would provide that a student may qualify for exemption from nonresident tuition pursuant to the above-referenced provision either by high school attendance in California for 3 or more years or by either elementary or secondary school attendance, or both, in California for a total of 3 or more years and attainment of credits earned in California from a California high school equivalent to 3 or more years of full-time high school coursework, in addition to the other conditions referenced above. Because this bill would require community college districts to determine whether students qualify for exemption from nonresident tuition, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 these statutory provisions.