(a) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 11170, the Department of Justice shall make available to a licensed adoption agency, as defined in Section 8530 of the Family Code, information regarding a known or suspected child abuser maintained in the Child Abuse Central Index, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11170, concerning any person who has submitted to the agency an application for adoption.
(b) A licensed adoption agency, to which disclosure of any information pursuant to subdivision (a) is authorized, is responsible for obtaining the original investigative report from the reporting agency, and for drawing independent conclusions regarding the quality of the evidence disclosed and the sufficiency of the evidence for making decisions when evaluating an application for adoption.
(c) Whenever information contained in the Department of Justice files is furnished as the result of an application for adoption pursuant to subdivision (a), the Department of Justice may charge the agency making the request a fee. The fee shall not exceed the reasonable costs to the department of providing the information. The only increase shall be at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved cost-of-living adjustment for the department. In no case shall the fee exceed fifteen dollars ($15).
All moneys received by the department pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Department of Justice Sexual Habitual Offender Fund pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (b) of Section 11170.
(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 842, Sec. 19. Effective January 1, 2005.)