Existing law prohibits a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation from operating, establishing, managing, conducting, or maintaining a child day care facility without a current valid license.

Existing law requires the Community Care Licensing Division of the State Department of Social Services to regulate child care licensees. Existing law requires the department to establish a registry of child care providers who are not required to be licensed, but who have undergone criminal background checks. These license-exempt providers are known as registered trustline child care providers. Existing law also requires a licensed child day care facility to make available to the public licensing reports and other licensing documents that pertain to a facility visit or a substantiated complaint investigation, among other licensing issues.

Existing law establishes in the State Treasury the Child Health and Safety Fund. Existing law authorizes the department to allocate these funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes that include, among other things, technical assistance, orientation, training, and education of child day care facility providers.

This bill would require an online child care job posting service providing online information about nonlicensed potential child care providers to include a specified statement regarding the trustline registry on its Internet Web site in California. The bill would also require an online child care job posting service providing online information about licensed potential child care providers to include a statement regarding a parent’s right to specified complaint information on its Internet Web site in California. If an online child care job posting service provides access to a background check, the bill would require the service to include, on its Internet Web site in California, a written description of the background check provided by the background check service provider. The bill would make a background check service provider responsible for providing the online child care job posting service with certain information. The bill would authorize an online child care job posting service or background check service provider to be liable for a civil penalty for failing to comply with these requirements and would authorize the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel to bring such an action if certain requirements are met. The bill would also authorize an individual damaged by willful violation of these provisions to bring a civil cause of action for damages, as provided.