Childcare: electronic signatures.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, which includes various programs and services, including, among others, general childcare and development programs and migrant childcare and development programs. Existing law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) , provides that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. This bill would specify that a signature required by the Child Care and Development Services Act may be satisfied by use of an electronic signature in compliance with the UETA. The bill would authorize documents with an electronic signature to be created and stored in an electronic format in compliance with the UETA, and would authorize the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions.