California Health and Safety Code 1568.29 – (a) Prior to licensure, the following individuals shall be …
(a) Prior to licensure, the following individuals shall be subject to and complete a background check pursuant to Section 1522:
(1) An applicant.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1568.29
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
- Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
(2) An adult residing or regularly present in an applicant or licensee’s home.
(3) Additional individuals who have contact with a client, as determined necessary by the department by rules, regulations, or written directives.
(b) Subsequent to initial licensure, a person specified in subdivision (a) who is not exempted from fingerprinting under subdivision (f) shall obtain either a criminal record clearance or an exemption from disqualification pursuant to Section 1522 prior to employment, residence, or initial presence in a medical foster home for veterans.
(c) A person initiating a background examination pursuant to subdivision (a) shall submit their fingerprints to the Department of Justice by electronic transmission in a manner approved by the department, unless exempt under subdivision (f).
(d) A law enforcement agency or other local agency authorized to take fingerprints may charge a reasonable fee to offset the costs of fingerprinting for the purposes of this chapter.
(e) The Department of Justice shall use the fingerprints to search state and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal offender record information pursuant to Section 1522.
(f) A person who is a current licensee or employee in a facility licensed by the department, a certified administrator, or a registered TrustLine provider need not submit fingerprints to the Department of Justice and may transfer their current criminal record clearance or exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (h) of Section 1522.
(g) Before issuing a criminal record clearance or exemption to an individual described in subdivision (a), the department shall review the individual’s state summary criminal offender record information and the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to Section 1522.
(h) The department shall not prohibit a person from being employed or having contact with a veteran resident in a medical foster home for veterans on the basis of a denied criminal record exemption request or arrest information unless the department complies with the requirements of Section 1568.295.
(i) The department shall hold criminal record clearances and exemptions in its active files for a minimum of three years in order to facilitate a transfer request.
(j) Other than the applicant or licensee, a member of a United States Department of Veterans Affairs interdisciplinary home care team who provides medical, rehabilitative, or preventive services to a veteran resident in a medical foster home for veterans, including, but not limited to, Home-Based Primary Care and Spinal Cord Injury-Home Care, is exempt from requirements applicable under this section.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 381, Sec. 2. (AB 2119) Effective January 1, 2023.)