Bill Text: CA AB846 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Foster youth: identity theft.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-08-25 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB846 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB846-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 846	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 7, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonilla
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Liu
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Section 10618.6 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 846, as amended, Bonilla. Foster youth: identity theft.
    Under existing law,   Existing law requires
 a county welfare department  is required  to
request a consumer disclosure, pursuant to federal law, on behalf of
a youth in a foster care placement in the county when the youth
reaches his or her 16th birthday, in order to ascertain whether the
youth has been the victim of identity theft. If the consumer
disclosure reveals any negative items or evidence that identity theft
has occurred, existing law requires the county welfare department to
refer the youth to an approved organization that provides services
to victims of identity theft. Existing law requires the department to
develop a list of approved organizations for this purpose, in
consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association and
others.
   This bill would revise these provisions to require the county
welfare department or the State Department of Social Services to
ascertain whether identity theft may have occurred under the
described circumstances. The bill would authorize the county welfare
department and the State Department of Social Services to refer the
matter to a governmental agency or nonprofit organization that
provides information and assistance to victims of identity theft. The
bill would authorize the governmental agency or nonprofit
organization to take remedial actions to clear the youth's credit
record and to report the results to the county welfare department or
the State Department of Social Services. The bill would require the
Office of  Information Security and  Privacy
Protection, in consultation with the State Department of Social
Services and other specified entities, to develop a list of
governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations to which these
matters may be referred for assistance in responding to an instance
of suspected identity theft.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 10618.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   10618.6.  In the year that a youth in a foster care placement
reaches his or her 16th birthday, the county welfare department or
the State Department of Social Services shall request a consumer
disclosure from each of the national consumer credit reporting
agencies, pursuant to the free annual disclosure provision of the
federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.), on
the youth's behalf, notwithstanding any other  provision of
 law, to ascertain whether or not identity theft may have
occurred. Notwithstanding Section 827, Section 10850, or any other
 provision of  law, both the county welfare
department and the State Department of Social Services are authorized
under this section to make the request on a foster youth's behalf.
If the State Department of Social Services submits the request, the
department shall use the most efficient means possible, such as via a
batch process using lists of youth turning 16 years of age, on a
quarterly or semiannual basis, rather than via individual manual
requests. If a consumer disclosure for the youth exists and if the
consumer disclosure reveals any negative items, or any evidence that
some form of identity theft may have occurred, the State Department
of Social Services or the county welfare department, acting on behalf
of the foster youth, may refer the matter to a governmental agency
or nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to
victims of identity theft. The governmental agency or nonprofit
organization may take remedial action on behalf of the foster youth
to clear his or her credit record and report the results of the
action to the county welfare department or the State Department of
Social Services. The Office of  Information Security and
 Privacy Protection, in consultation with the State
Department of Social Services, the County Welfare Directors
Association, consumer credit reporting agencies, and other relevant
stakeholders, shall develop a list of governmental agencies and
nonprofit organizations to which these matters may be referred for
assistance in responding to an instance of suspected identity theft.
 Nothing in this section shall   This section
shall not  be construed to require the county welfare department
or the State Department of Social Services to make more than one
request for a consumer disclosure on behalf of a youth in care, or to
take steps beyond referring the matter to a governmental agency or
nonprofit organization.