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Assembly committee advances bill allowing provisional hires for foster-care residential staff
Summary
The Assembly Human Services Committee voted unanimously to pass AB 276 to allow children's residential agencies to provisionally hire out-of-state candidates who have cleared DOJ, FBI and California Child Abuse Central Index checks, while awaiting out-of-state registry results, with restrictions on unsupervised contact.
The California State Assembly Human Services Committee on Monday voted to move AB 276 to the Assembly Public Safety Committee after hearing testimony that lengthy out-of-state background checks are delaying hiring at children's residential programs.
Assemblymember Bennett, the bill's author, told the committee that "AB 276 provides a practical and urgently needed solution to a staffing crisis at agencies who serve foster youth." He said the measure would allow agencies to provisionally hire qualified employees while they await out-of-state child abuse registry results, but only after those employees have cleared the Department of Justice, the FBI and California's Child Abuse Central Index.
"Prospective employees must clear the checks through the DOJ, the FBI, and the California Child Abuse Central Index before beginning their work," Bennett said, and the bill would bar provisional employees from any unsupervised contact with children until the full out-of-state background check is complete. Annie Thomas, representing the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, told the committee many providers "are facing a severe workforce shortage that threatens their ability to care for these youth" and said delays sometimes last more than a year.
Dr. Teresa Plant, regional director of Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families, described recent hiring challenges at a program near a naval base, saying her top candidate had lived in two other states in the past five years because of military transfers. She said applicants have faced "excessively long wait times, averaging 3 to 6 months," and that long delays force candidates to take other jobs and leave positions unfilled.
Supporters said AB 276 aligns state practice with federal standards and with policies in other states that permit supervised provisional employment after specified checks. No witnesses testified in opposition in the hearing room. Committee members asked clarifying questions about what out-of-state checks could reveal beyond state and federal criminal background checks; Thomas responded that out-of-state checks can identify substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect, which vary by state in scope and criteria.
The committee passed the bill on a voice and roll-call vote. The motion to pass AB 276 to the Assembly Public Safety Committee was moved by Assemblymember Calderon and seconded by Assemblymember Jackson; the roll call recorded ayes from Lee, Castillo, Calderon, El Hawari, Jackson and Celeste Rodriguez. The committee also adopted its committee rules at the start of the hearing and advanced a consent calendar later in the session.
