Bill Text: CA SB346 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public social services: records.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 658, Statutes of 2013. [SB346 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB346-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 346	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Beall

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   An act to  add Section 10850.32 to   amend
Section 10850 of  the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
public social services.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 346, as amended, Beall. Public  Social Services
Programs:   social services:  records.
   Existing law establishes various public social services programs
to provide for protection, care, and assistance to the people of the
state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and
services to the needy and distressed. Counties are responsible for
administrating  some of  these programs, such as CalWORKs
 and Medi-Cal   , CalFresh, and the Medically
Indigent Services Program or the County Medical Services Program
 . Existing law, in this regard, and with some exceptions,
requires all applications and records concerning any individual made
or kept by any public officer or agency in connection with the
administration of public social services for which grants-in-aid are
received by this state from the federal government be kept
confidential  , and authorizes a county welfare department in the
state to release lists of applicants for, or recipients of, public
social services to any other county welfare department or the State
Department of Social Services  , as specified. 
   This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, authorize
a county welfare department to share information with other local
governmental programs, departments, or entities participating in the
administration of public medical assistance or other social services
programs in that county for the purposes of establishing a
client-centered approach to the provision of those services. The bill
would require the local governmental program, department, or entity
receiving and maintaining information pursuant to these provisions to
comply with applicable state and federal confidentiality and privacy
laws. The bill would require the applicable state department to seek
federal approval if necessary to implement this section with respect
to a particular public medical assistance or social service program.
 
   This bill would provide that if a county administers public social
services through more than one county department or agency, each
county department or agency that administers a public social service
in that county shall be deemed a county welfare department for the
purposes of these provisions. The bill would make other technical,
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes
  no  . State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 10850 of the   Welfare
and Institutions Code  is amended to read: 
   10850.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all
applications and records concerning any individual made or kept by
any public officer or agency in connection with the administration of
any provision of this code relating to any form of public social
services for which grants-in-aid are received by this state from the
United States government shall be confidential, and shall not be open
to examination for any purpose not directly connected with the
administration of that program, or any investigation, prosecution, or
criminal or civil proceeding conducted in connection with the
administration of  any such   that 
program. The disclosure of any information that identifies by name or
address any applicant for or recipient of these grants-in-aid to any
committee or legislative body is prohibited, except as provided in
subdivision (b).
   (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall
publish or disclose or permit or cause to be published or disclosed
any list of persons receiving public social services. Any county
welfare department in this state may release lists of applicants for,
or recipients of, public social services, to any other county
welfare department or the State Department of Social Services, and
these lists or any other records shall be released when requested by
any county welfare department or the State Department of Social
Services. These lists or other records shall only be used for
purposes directly connected with the administration of public social
services. Except for those purposes, no person shall publish,
disclose, or use or permit or cause to be published, disclosed, or
used any confidential information pertaining to an applicant or
recipient. 
   Any 
    (c)     Any  county welfare department
and the State Department of Social Services shall provide any
governmental entity that is authorized by law to conduct an audit or
similar activity in connection with the administration of public
social services, including any committee or legislative body so
authorized, with access to any public social service applications and
records described in subdivision (a) to the extent of the
authorization. Those committees, legislative bodies and other
entities may only request or use these records for the purpose of
investigating the administration of public social services, and shall
not disclose the identity of any applicant or recipient except in
the case of a criminal or civil proceeding conducted in connection
with the administration of public social services. 
   However, this 
    (d)     This  section shall not
prohibit the furnishing of this information to other public agencies
to the extent required for verifying eligibility or for other
purposes directly connected with the administration of public social
services, or to county superintendents of schools or superintendents
of school districts only as necessary for the administration of
federally assisted programs providing assistance in cash or in-kind
or services directly to individuals on the basis of need. Any person
knowingly and intentionally violating this subdivision is guilty of a
misdemeanor. 
   Further, in 
    (e)     In  the context of a petition
for the appointment of a conservator for a person who is receiving or
has received aid from a public agency, as indicated above, or in the
context of a criminal prosecution for a violation of Section 368 of
the Penal Code both of the following shall apply:
   (1) An Adult Protective Services employee or Ombudsman may answer
truthfully at any proceeding related to the petition or prosecution,
when asked if he or she is aware of information that he or she
believes is related to the legal mental capacity of that aid
recipient or the need for a conservatorship for that aid recipient.
If the Adult Protective Services employee or Ombudsman states that he
or she is aware of such information, the court may order the Adult
Protective Services employee or Ombudsman to testify about his or her
observations and to disclose all relevant agency records.
   (2) The court may order the Adult Protective Services employee or
Ombudsman to testify about his or her observations and to disclose
any relevant agency records if the court has other independent reason
to believe that the Adult Protective Services employee or Ombudsman
has information that would facilitate the resolution of the matter.

   (c) 
    (f)  The State Department of Social Services may make
rules and regulations governing the custody, use, and preservation of
all records, papers, files, and communications pertaining to the
administration of the laws relating to public social services under
their jurisdiction. The rules and regulations shall be binding on all
departments, officials and employees of the state, or of any
political subdivision of the state and may provide for giving
information to or exchanging information with agencies, public or
political subdivisions of the state, and may provide for giving
information to or exchanging information with agencies, public or
private, that are engaged in planning, providing, or securing social
services for or in behalf of recipients or applicants; and for making
case records available for research purposes, provided that making
these case records available will not result in the disclosure of the
identity of applicants for or recipients of public social services
and will not disclose any personal information in a manner that would
link the information disclosed to the individual to whom it
pertains, unless the department has complied with subdivision (t) of
Section 1798.24 of the Civil Code. 
   (d) 
    (g)  Any person, including every public officer and
employee, who knowingly secures or possesses, other than in the
course of official duty, an official list or a list compiled from
official sources, published or disclosed in violation of this
section, of persons who have applied for or who have been granted any
form of public social services for which state or federal funds are
made available to the counties is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
   (e) 
    (h)  This section shall not be construed to prohibit an
employee of a county welfare department from disclosing confidential
information concerning a public social services applicant or
recipient to a state or local law enforcement agency investigating or
gathering information regarding a criminal act committed in a
welfare department office, a criminal act against any county or state
welfare worker, or any criminal act witnessed by any county or state
welfare worker while involved in the administration of public social
services at any location. Further, this section shall not be
construed to prohibit an employee of a county welfare department from
disclosing confidential information concerning a public social
services applicant or recipient to a state or local law enforcement
agency investigating or gathering information regarding a criminal
act intentionally committed by the applicant or recipient against any
off-duty county or state welfare worker in retaliation for an act
performed in the course of the welfare worker's duty when the person
committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the
victim is a state or county welfare worker. These criminal acts shall
include only those that are in violation of state or local law.
Disclosure of confidential information pursuant to this subdivision
shall be limited to the applicant's or recipient's name, physical
description, and address. 
   (f) 
    (i)  The provisions of this section shall be operative
only to the extent permitted by federal law and shall not apply to,
but exclude, Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of this
division, entitled "Basic Health  Care",   Care,"
 and for which a grant-in-aid is received by the state under
Title XIX of the federal  Social Security Act  (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1396 et seq.)  . 
   (j) For the purposes of this section, if a county administers
public social services through more than one county department or
agency, each county department or agency that administers a public
social service in that county shall be deemed a county welfare
department for the purposes of administering that public social
service.  
   (k) Except as provided in subdivision (i), public social services,
as defined in Section 10051, includes publicly funded health care
services established under this division.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 10850.32 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
   10850.32.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a county welfare
department may, without the need to provide written documentation
that consent has been obtained from the client, share information
with other local governmental programs, departments, or entities
participating in the administration of public medical assistance or
other social services programs in that county for the purposes of
establishing a client-centered approach to the provision of those
services.
   (b) Any local governmental program, department, or entity
receiving and maintaining information pursuant to this section shall
comply with all applicable state and federal confidentiality and
privacy laws.
   (c) This section shall be implemented only to the extent permitted
by federal law.
   (d) If federal approval is necessary to implement this section
with respect to a particular public medical assistance or social
service program, the applicable state department shall seek that
approval.