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AB-1513 Registered home care aides: disclosure of contact information.(2017-2018)



Current Version: 09/15/17 - Enrolled

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AB1513:v93#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  September 15, 2017
Passed  IN  Senate  September 11, 2017
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 13, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  September 06, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  July 18, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  June 27, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 19, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 05, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1513

Introduced by Assembly Member Kalra

February 17, 2017

An act to amend Section 1796.29 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to home care services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1513, Kalra. Registered home care aides: disclosure of contact information.
Existing law establishes the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act, which provides for the licensure and regulation of home care organizations, as defined, by the State Department of Social Services, and for the registration of home care aides. The act requires the department to establish and maintain a registry of registered home care aides and home care aide applicants on the department’s Internet Web site, as provided. The act prohibits the registry on the Internet Web site from providing any additional, individually identifiable information about a registered home care aide or home care aide applicant. Existing law authorizes the department to maintain additional information for registered home care aides or home care aide applicants, as necessary for the administration of the act, but prohibits the department from making that information publicly available on the registry. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed 180 days, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill would require, beginning September 1, 2018, an electronic copy of a registered home care aide’s name, telephone number, and cellular telephone number, if available, on file with the department to be made available, upon request, to a labor organization, as specified. The bill would prohibit a labor organization from using or disclosing this information, as specified. The bill would also require the department to establish a simple opt-out procedure by which a registered home care aide may request that his or her contact information on file with the department not be disclosed in response to a request by a labor organization. The bill would require the department to provide a written notice with information about the opt-out procedure to registered home care aides, as specified. Because a violation of the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act is punishable as a misdemeanor and this bill would expand requirements under the act, 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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 1796.29 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1796.29.
 The department shall do all of the following in the administration of the home care aide registry:
(a) Establish and maintain on the department’s Internet Web site the registry of registered home care aides and home care aide applicants.
(1) To expedite the ability of a consumer to determine if a registered home care aide or home care aide applicant has passed a background examination, pursuant to Section 1796.23, the Internet Web site shall enable consumers to look up the registration status by providing the registered home care aide’s or home care aide applicant’s name and registration number. The Internet Web site shall also provide the registration status, the status of the background examination, the registration expiration date, and, if applicable, the home care organization with which the affiliated home care aide is associated.
(2) The Internet Web site shall not provide any additional, individually identifiable information about a registered home care aide or home care aide applicant. The department may request and may maintain additional information for registered home care aides or home care aide applicants, as necessary for the administration of this chapter, that shall not be publicly available on the home care aide registry.
(b) Update the home care registry upon receiving notification from a home care organization that an affiliated home care aide is no longer employed by the home care organization.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, information regarding a registered home care aide is not subject to public disclosure pursuant to this chapter, except as provided in subdivision (d).
(d) Beginning September 1, 2018, an electronic copy of a registered home care aide’s name, telephone number, and cellular telephone number, if available, on file with the department shall be made available, upon request, to a labor organization in which a provider of in-home supportive services, as described in Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or a registered home care aide, already participates and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers of home care aides concerning access to training, grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work. The labor organization shall not use this information for any purpose other than employee organizing, representation, and assistance activities. The labor organization shall not disclose this information to any other party.
(e) The department shall establish a simple opt-out procedure by which a registered home care aide may request that his or her contact information on file with the department not be disclosed in response to a request described in subdivision (d).
(f) (1) On or before July 1, 2018, the department shall provide written notice to all registered home care aides that registered before July 1, 2018, that their information may be shared with a labor organization, as described in subdivision (d). The written notice shall provide a registered home care aide the option to change his or her mailing address on file with the department. The written notice shall also include instructions on how to utilize the opt-out procedure described in subdivision (e).
(2) Commencing July 1, 2018, the department shall provide the written notice described in paragraph (1) as part of the application process to become a registered home care aide.
(g) This section applies solely to an individual who provides services as a home care aide under this chapter.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.