Department of Justice: child abuse reporting.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not specify an effective date for when the changes will take effect.

Department of Justice: Child Abuse Reporting Changes

This law requires CASA programs to conduct state and federal background checks on their employees and volunteers, and mandates the Department of Justice to notify these programs if new child abuse records involving their staff are added.

What This Bill Does

• Requires CASA programs to submit fingerprint images and related information for conducting state and federal criminal history background checks on employment and volunteer candidates.
• Mandates the Department of Justice to monitor the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) and notify CASA programs when a new record about child abuse involving their employees or volunteers is added.
• Imposes requirements on CASA programs to request that notifications be stopped for individuals who are no longer working with them.
• Authorizes the Department of Justice to increase fees to cover costs related to these background checks and notifications.

Who It Names or Affects

• CASA programs that hire or accept volunteers
• The Department of Justice

Terms To Know

Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)

A database kept by the Department of Justice with reports about child abuse and severe neglect.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program

An organization that trains volunteers to advocate for children in court cases involving child welfare issues.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when the changes will start.
• It is unclear how much more fees CASA programs might have to pay.

Official Summary Text

AB 741, Ransom.
Department of Justice: child abuse reporting.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain an index of all reports of child abuse and severe neglect submitted by an agency mandated to make those reports. Existing law requires the department to make relevant information contained in the index available to specified law enforcement agencies, county welfare departments, and other agencies that are conducting a child abuse investigation.
Existing law authorizes a designated Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program to submit fingerprint images and related information of employment and volunteer candidates to the department for the purpose of obtaining information as to the existence and nature of a record of a child abuse investigation contained in the Child Abuse Central Index, state- or federal-level convictions, or state- or federal-level arrests for which the
department establishes that the applicant was released on bail or on their own recognizance pending trial. Existing law requires the department to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing the requests for federal-level criminal offender record information and prohibits the department from charging a fee for state-level criminal offender record information.
This bill would instead require a CASA program to submit fingerprint images and related information of employment and volunteer candidates to the department for the purpose of conducting a state and federal criminal history background check. The bill would require the department to monitor the Child Abuse Central Index and notify the CASA program if a record of a child abuse investigation involving a CASA employee or volunteer is added to that index. The bill would impose notification and
review requirements on a CASA program to request that the department remove the notification for an individual who is no longer employed by or volunteering with the CASA program, as specified. The bill would require the department to terminate notification for an individual upon receipt of that request. The bill would authorize the department to increase its fee for a CASA employment and volunteer candidate to cover the cost of processing those subsequent notifications.

Current Bill Text

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