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AB-2126 • 2026

Community care facilities: criminal background exemptions.

Community care facilities: criminal background exemptions.

Children Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Elhawary
Last action
2026-04-22
Official status
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify which offenses qualify for the exemption.

Community Care Facilities: Criminal Background Exemptions for Foster Youth

This law allows current or former foster youth who have committed certain crimes before turning 21 to work as peer support specialists without a criminal background check.

What This Bill Does

  • Expands the definition of a peer support specialist to include current and former foster youth based on their experience with trauma, recovery, and navigating systems.
  • Requires the State Department of Social Services to give exemptions from disqualification for certain offenses committed by foster youth before they turned 21 years old if they are working as peer support specialists.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Current and former foster youth who want to work as peer support specialists
  • The State Department of Social Services which licenses community care facilities

Terms To Know

Peer Support Specialist
A person with lived experience in mental health or substance use recovery who helps others going through similar challenges.
Exemption from Disqualification
An exception that allows someone to work despite having a criminal record, if they meet certain criteria.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify which offenses qualify for the exemption.
  • It is unclear how this will affect federal regulations and approvals since it involves changes to existing laws governing community care facilities.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-22 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  2. 2026-04-20 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

  3. 2026-04-16 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended.

  4. 2026-04-15 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 14).

  5. 2026-03-16 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Coms. on HUM. S. and PUB. S.

  6. 2026-02-19 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

  7. 2026-02-18 California Legislative Information

    Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 2126, as amended, Elhawary.
Community care facilities: criminal background exemptions.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including various behavioral and mental health services that are rendered by Medi-Cal enrolled providers.
Existing law requires the department, subject to any necessary federal waivers or approvals, to establish statewide requirements for counties or their representatives to use in developing certification programs for the certification of peer support specialists, who are individuals who self-identify as having lived experience with the process of
recovery from mental illness, substance use disorder, or both.
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, and childcare centers. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal record for all applicants for licenses for these facilities and services and specified other employees and officers of these facilities. Existing law requires the department to issue an exemption from disqualification to certain applicants who have been convicted of an offense, if the individual’s state and federal criminal history information independently supports a reasonable belief that the applicant is of present good character necessary to justify the granting of an exemption, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to use its discretion in evaluating a
an individual for the purposes of making an exemption decision, as necessary to protect the health and safety of a child.
This bill would
add to the definition of a peer support specialist to include a current or former foster youth based on their experience of trauma, recovery, and system navigation. The bill would
require the department to issue an exemption from disqualification for current or former foster youth who have been convicted of certain offenses that occurred prior to the individual reaching 21 years of age and the youth will be employed in a peer support capacity and not a caregiving capacity and would not require any additional evidentiary showing.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
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