Bill > AB741

This bill amends California's existing laws regarding the Department of Justice's handling of child abuse reporting for Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs. Currently, CASA programs can submit fingerprint images and related information for employment and volunteer candidates to obtain background checks through the Child Abuse Central Index. The bill introduces a new requirement that the Department of Justice must actively 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 the index. To cover the costs of processing these new ongoing notifications, the department is authorized to increase its fee for CASA employment and volunteer candidate background checks. The bill also makes some minor language updates, such as changing gender-specific pronouns to gender-neutral terms like "their" and clarifying some of the existing legal language. The underlying goal is to enhance the screening and ongoing monitoring of individuals working with vulnerable children in CASA programs by ensuring that any new child abuse investigations are quickly reported to the program.

Budget and Finance, Justice

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB741