(a) (1) The department shall establish a home care aide registry pursuant to this chapter and shall continuously update the registry information. Upon submission of the home care aide application and fingerprints or other identification documents pursuant to Section 1796.22, the department shall enter into the home care aide registry the person’s name, identification number, and an indicator that the person has submitted a home care aide application and fingerprints or identification documentation. This person shall be known as a “home care aide applicant.”

(2) A person shall not be entitled to apply to be a registered home care aide and shall have his or her registration application returned without the right to appeal if the person would not be eligible to obtain a license pursuant to Section 1796.40 or 1796.41.

(b) (1) Before approving an individual for registration, the department shall check the individual’s criminal history pursuant to Section 1522. Upon completion of the searches of the state summary criminal offender record information and the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the home care aide applicant shall be issued a criminal record clearance or granted a criminal record exemption if grounds do not exist for denial pursuant to Section 1522. The department shall enter that finding in the person’s record in the home care aide registry and shall notify the person of the action. This person shall be known as a “registered home care aide.” If the home care aide applicant meets all of the conditions for registration, except receipt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s criminal offender record information search response, the department may issue a clearance if the home care aide applicant has signed and submitted a statement that he or she has never been convicted of a crime in the United States, other than a minor traffic violation. If, after approval, the department determines that the registrant has a criminal record, registration may be revoked pursuant to Section 1796.26.

(2) For purposes of compliance with this section, the department may permit a home care organization applicant or a home care organization licensee to request the transfer of a home care aide’s current criminal record clearance or exemption for a licensed care facility issued by the department. A signed criminal record clearance or exemption transfer request shall be submitted to the department and shall include a copy of the person’s driver’s license or valid identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, or a valid photo identification issued by another state or the United States government if the person is not a California resident. Upon request of the licensee or home care aide applicant, the department shall verify whether the individual has a clearance or exemption that can be transferred pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.

(3) The department shall hold criminal record clearances and exemptions in its active files for a minimum of three years after the individual is no longer on the registry in order to facilitate a transfer request.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 29, Sec. 37. (SB 855) Effective June 20, 2014. Provisions implemented as of January 1, 2016, pursuant to Section 1796.61.)