Bill Text: CA AB676 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Child care and development: occupational health and safety training.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB676 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB676-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 29, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 30, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 27, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 676

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Introduced by Assembly Member Limón

February 15, 2017

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An act to add Section 6354.8 to the Labor Code, and to amend Section 1596.86 of, and to add Section 1596.8663 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to child care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 676, as amended, Limón. Child care and development: occupational health and safety training.

Existing federal law, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, which is administered by the State Department of Education in California, requires that a state plan include requirements that specified child care providers receive minimum health and safety training relating to, among other things, the prevention and control of infectious diseases and the handling and storage of hazardous materials in order to receive funding for child care.

Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of child day care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks. Willful or repeated violation of the act, or regulations promulgated under the act, is a misdemeanor.

This bill would, effective July 1, 2018, require an early educator, as defined, to attend a one-time, two-hour, peer-led training on occupational health and safety risks specific to the child care profession, and on how to identify and avoid those risks. The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to select an entity to provide this training. The bill would require that entity to develop the curriculum for the training and to provide periodic updates on health and safety issues for early educators who have completed the training, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to administer the contract with the entity selected to provide the training and to provide the entity with contact information for family day care home providers who have and have not attended the training.

This bill would require the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation to establish and maintain an Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program relating to occupational health and safety risks specific to early education professionals that includes specified components, including, among others, a discussion of the risks of chemical and biological hazards, infectious diseases, and physical hazards and stress, and how to identify and minimize those risks. The bill would require an early educator to attend that training within 6 years of it first being offered, or within 3 months of the person becoming an early educator, whichever occurs later. The bill would also establish the Early Educators’ Safety and Health Education Fund and specify that moneys in the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the commission to establish and maintain the training. The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2018. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NOYES  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Improving occupational safety and health in all lines of work is a priority for the State of California, and that focus should extend to early educators.

(b) Early educators are at risk for occupational safety and health risks on the job, including from toxic chemicals, illness, stress, and physical hazards such as lifting and bending. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, childcare workers have musculoskeletal injury rates comparable to those of industrial truck and tractor operators and construction equipment operators. workers in the child care services industry are 18 percent more likely than the working population as a whole to experience a lost-time injury on the job, with back injuries occurring at nearly double the rate of the general working population.

(c) Research demonstrates that in-person, peer-led training is superior to conventional learning methods because it creates a comfortable and nonintimidating learning environment, leads to academic, motivational, and social benefits, and has a positive effect on attitudes, norms, knowledge, behaviors, and health and achievement outcomes.

(d) California has an interest in ensuring that the early education workforce is well-trained, stable, and engaged. Early educators who are well-trained, stable, and engaged will be able to provide higher quality care to children, improving children’s developmental outcomes and allowing parents to go to work knowing their children are being well cared for. Well-trained and stable early educators will also be more able to provide vital stakeholder input to policymakers. Facilitating early educator involvement with associations or organizations that foster professional development and stakeholder engagement will help California achieve these goals.

(e) The federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBG)(42 U.S.C. Sec. 9857 et seq.) was reauthorized in 2014 (Public Law 113-186) and rules implementing the law became effective on November 29, 2016. The changes to the law include a requirement that early educators complete preservice or orientation training on topics including infectious disease prevention and control, building and physical premises safety, emergency preparedness and disaster response, and handling and storage of hazardous materials and disposal of biocontaminants. Requiring early educators to complete in-person, peer-led occupational health and safety training will satisfy several of the new CCDBG health and safety requirements. This training will also help early educators with child development permits satisfy the 105 hours of professional growth activities necessary to renew their permits. The training will also improve health and safety for early educators and the children in their care, and will therefore benefit the families of the children served and the economy of the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 6354.8 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6354.8.

 (a) The Early Educators’ Safety and Health Education Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program within the workers’ occupational safety and health training and education program established or maintained pursuant to Section 6354.7.

(b) The commission shall establish and maintain an Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program. The purpose of the program shall be to develop training for early educators about occupational safety and health, and to deliver that training program to early educators throughout the state. The commission may conduct the program directly or by means of contracts, subcontracts, interagency agreements, or a combination thereof.

(c) The program shall develop and provide, at a minimum, all of the following training programs for early educators:

(1) A one-time, two-hour, in-person, peer-led training session on occupational safety and health risks specific to the early education profession.

(2) An alternative to the in-person, peer-led training to be offered to early educators who are unable to attend an in-person training because of distance or another compelling reason.

(3) Periodic updates on health and safety issues and other educational information to be shared with early educators who have completed the training described in paragraph (1) or (2).

(d) The in-person, peer-led training session described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), shall include all of the following:

(1) A discussion of all of the following risks and how the risks can be identified and minimized in a child care setting:

(A) Chemical and biological hazards.

(B) Infectious diseases.

(C) Physical hazards and stress.

(2) Small-group and large-group discussion.

(3) Presentations by associations or organizations that foster professional development and stakeholder engagement opportunities for early educators, upon approval by the program, based on a determination that presentations by those organizations would be relevant and useful to the early educators and further the interests of the state in a well-trained and engaged workforce.

(e) The program shall comply with the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), which includes, among alternative communication options, providing the same type of training materials in any non-English language spoken by a substantial number of members of the public whom the State Department of Social Services serves.

(f) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Commission” means the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation.

(2) “Early educator” means a person who works at a licensed child day care facility, as defined in Section 1596.750 of the Health and Safety Code, who is the licensee, an administrator, or an employee of that facility, and whose duties include providing child care services directly to children. It does not include volunteers or employees whose duties do not involve direct care for children.

(3) “Peer-led training” means a training session for early educators that is led by one or more other early educators who have had training on promoting safety and health in their workplaces and on how to lead training sessions effectively.

(4) “Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program” or “Program” means the Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program established pursuant to subdivision (b).

(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2018.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1596.86.

 (a) The director shall annually publish and make available to interested persons a list or lists covering all licensed child day care facilities, other than small family day care homes, and the services for which each facility has been licensed or issued a special permit. The lists shall also specify the licensed capacity of the facility and whether it is licensed by the department or by another public agency.

(b) To encourage the recruitment of small family day care homes and protect their personal privacy, the department shall prevent the use of lists containing names, addresses, and other identifying information of facilities identified as small family day care homes, except as necessary for administering the licensing program, facilitating the placement of children in these facilities, and providing the names and addresses to resource and referral agencies funded by the State Department of Education, food and nutrition programs funded by the State Department of Education, alternative payment programs funded by the State Department of Education, county programs under the Greater Avenues for Independence Act of 1985 (Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), the entity selected to provide occupational health and safety training pursuant to Section 1596.8663, Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation for purposes of conducting the Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program pursuant to Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code and Section 1596.883, family day care organizations, or specialized health care service plans licensed under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, as contained in Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1340), which provide employee assistance program services that include child care referral services. Upon request, parents seeking local day care services may receive the names and telephone numbers of local small family day care providers.

(c) The department, in consultation with the Child Development Division of the State Department of Education, shall adopt regulations relating to the confidentiality of information provided pursuant to subdivision (b) on small family day care homes. These regulations shall include procedures for updating lists or other information on small family day care providers to ensure referral only to licensed homes in good standing with the department. A person or entity violating the regulations under this subdivision may be denied access by the department to information on small family day care homes and shall be reported by the department to the appropriate funding or licensing department.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 1596.8663 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1596.8663.

(a)As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Early educator” means either of the following:

(A)A person who provides child care services directly to children on a person-to-person basis at a licensed child day care facility, as defined in Section 1596.750, and is either a child care provider, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed child day care facility.

(B)A person who provides child care services directly to children on a person-to-person basis under a publicly funded child care program, and is a child care provider who is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792.

(2)“Contact information” means an early educator’s name, home address, mailing address, telephone number or numbers, email address, if available, and unique provider identification number, if applicable.

(3)“Peer-led training” means an in-person training session for early educators that is led by one or more other early educators who have had specific training in how to lead the sessions.

(4)“Publicly funded child care program” means a program that subsidizes early learning and care for children and that is administered by the State Department of Education, the department, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, child care voucher programs, the California State Preschool Program, child care center contracts, subsidized child care centers operated by school districts, and programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, but not including teachers in the K–12 public education system or before- or after-care programs operated by K–12 public school systems.

(b)The department shall require an early educator to attend a one-time, two-hour, peer-led training session on occupational health and safety risks specific to the child care profession, and on how to identify and avoid those risks.

1596.8663.

 (a) (1) In addition to other required training, and except as provided in paragraph (3), every early educator shall complete the in-person training session described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code.

(c)The department may establish a schedule according to which all

(2) All early educators shall be required to complete the in-person training within no more than six years of when the training is first offered pursuant to this section, offered, or within three months of the person becoming an early educator, whichever occurs later. The department shall determine, with the entity selected to provide the training, the number of early educators to be trained annually and the prioritization as to which early educators will be trained first. No more than 15,000 early educators shall be trained in the first year of the program. after the program is first offered.

(d)Alternatives to the in-person, peer-led training session, including, but not limited to, online and teleconference options,

(3) The alternative training, described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code, to the in-person training shall be offered on a case-by-case basis to for early educators who have been unable to attend a training because of geographic distance or other compelling reason within six years of when the training is first offered pursuant to this section, offered, or within three months of the person becoming an early educator, whichever occurs later.

(e)The training session shall include all of the following:

(1)A discussion of all of the following risks and how the risks can be identified and minimized in a child care setting:

(A)Chemical and biological hazards.

(B)Infectious disease.

(C)Physical hazards and stress.

(2)Small-group and large-group discussion.

(3)An opportunity for an early educator to learn from current early educators.

(4)Presentations by associations or organizations that foster professional development and stakeholder engagement about professional development and stakeholder engagement opportunities for early educators, upon approval by the department, based on a determination that presentations by those organizations would be relevant and useful to the early educators and further the interests of the state in a well-trained, engaged workforce.

(5)An opportunity for an early educator to give feedback on the training he or she has received.

(f)The entity selected pursuant to subdivision (g) to provide the training required by this section shall develop the curriculum for the training session in consultation with the State Department of Public Health and with direct input from early educators. The curriculum shall be reviewed and approved by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations.

(g)The Department of Industrial Relations shall, on a competitive basis, select a nonprofit entity to provide the occupational health and safety training required by this section. The Department of Industrial Relations shall select an entity that has experience providing occupational health and safety training to early educators, as described in this section.

(h)The department shall administer the contract with the entity selected to provide the occupational health and safety training.

(i)

(4) The training required by this section shall be coordinated, to the extent possible, with other preservice training requirements for early educators and with resource and referral networks, so as to reduce the burden on early educators. Once an early educator has completed the training, he or she shall not be required to complete it again if he or she moves to another early education job.

(j)The entity selected to provide the training shall take attendance at the training and shall inform the department of the names and other identifying information of the early educators who have attended.

(k)(1)On a monthly basis, beginning one month prior to the date of the first occupational health and safety training, the department shall provide to the entity selected to provide the training lists of the contact information of family day care home providers who have attended the training, and of those who are required to attend the training but have not yet attended. The entity selected to provide the training shall use the contact information in these lists only for the purpose of accomplishing the training goals described in this section, including publicizing the training and providing periodic updates to early educators as required pursuant to subdivision (l). The entity shall not sell the lists to, or share the lists with, third parties.

(2)The department shall compile the lists of contact information described in paragraph (1) with the assistance of the State Department of Education and any other state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the contact information for family day care home providers who are required to attend the training.

(b) The completion of the training described in subdivision (a) by all early educators at a child day care facility shall be a condition of licensure for that facility. Administration and enforcement of this requirement shall be in accordance with the administration and enforcement procedures for mandated reporter training set forth in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of, and subdivisions (c), (d), and (e) of, Section 1596.8662.

(c) (1) The department shall provide to the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation lists of the contact information of licensed family day care home providers who are required to attend the training. The commission shall use the contact information only for the purposes of carrying out the Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program described in Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code, including publicizing the training and providing the periodic updated to early educators specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code. The commission shall not share the lists with, or sell the lists to, third parties except any entity with which it contracts or subcontracts to carry out the Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program.

(3)

(2) Upon written request of a family day care home provider, the department shall remove the family day care home provider’s home mailing address and home telephone number from the lists described in paragraph (1) before the release of the list. lists. A family day care home provider who opts out of the disclosure of his or her home mailing address and home telephone number shall still be required to attend the training required by this section.

(l)The entity selected to provide the training shall provide early educators with periodic updates on health and safety issues, and other educational information relevant to the training using the contact information in the lists described in subdivision (k) and the attendance data described in subdivision (j).

(m)The department and the entity selected to provide the training shall comply with the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), which includes, among alternative communication options, providing the same type of training materials in any non-English language spoken by a substantial number of members of the public whom the department serves.

(d) For purposes of this section, “early educator” has the same meaning as in subdivision (f) of Section 6354.8 of the Labor Code.

(n)

(e) This section shall take effect become operative on July 1, 2018.

SEC. 5.

 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.