(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a human resource agency or an employer may request from the Department of Justice records of all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication involving the offenses specified in subdivision (a) of Section 15660 of the Welfare and Institutions Code of a person who applies for a license, employment, or volunteer position, in which they would have supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person under their care. The department shall furnish the information to the requesting employer and shall also send a copy of the information to the applicant. (b) (1) A request for records under subdivision (a) shall include the applicantâs fingerprints, which may be taken by the requester, and any other data specified by the department. The department shall not require the applicantâs residence address for any request for records pursuant to subdivision (a). The request shall be on a form approved by the department, and the department may charge a fee to be paid by the employer, human resource agency, or applicant for the actual cost of processing the request. However, a fee shall not be charged to a nonprofit organization. Requests received by the department for federal level criminal offender record information shall be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by the department to be searched for any record of arrests or convictions. (2) The following procedures are established under this section: (A) The department, upon receipt of a background check report lacking disposition data, shall conduct research in whatever recordkeeping systems are available in order to obtain complete data. (B) A human resource agency or employer shall register with the department before submitting a request for screening under this section. Each such request shall be voluntary. As a part of the registration, the human resource agency or employer shall agree to comply with state and federal law and shall so indicate by signing an agreement approved by the department. The department may periodically audit human resource agencies and employers to ensure compliance with federal law and this section. (C) The human resource agency or employer shall maintain a waiver signed annually by the applicant, employee, or volunteer allowing the release of the state and federal level criminal history information to the human resource agency or employer. (D) The federal level criminal history information is available to human resource agencies and employers to use only for the purpose of screening employees and volunteers or persons applying to be an employee or volunteer with a human resource agency or employer. The department shall provide this federal criminal history record information directly to the human resource agency or employer as authorized by the written waiver required pursuant to subparagraph (C) for submission of a request to the department. (E) The determination of whether the criminal history record shows that the applicant, employee, or volunteer has been convicted of, or is under pending indictment for, any crime that bears upon the fitness of the applicant, employee, or volunteer to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children, the elderly, the handicapped, or the mentally impaired shall solely be made by the human resource agency or employer. This section does not require the department to make such a determination on behalf of any human resource agency or employer. (F) The human resource agency or employer shall notify the person in writing of their right to obtain a copy of any background screening report, including the criminal history records, if any, contained in the report, to challenge the accuracy and completeness of any information contained in any such report, and to obtain a determination as to the validity of such challenge before a final determination regarding the person is made by the human resource agency or employer reviewing the criminal history information. (c)
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