California Will Suspend Nonpublic ABA Agencies That Miss a 30-Day Staff Notice

Governor Newsom signed SB 685 on September 30 as Chapter 975, Statutes of 2026. It rewrites the rules for nonpublic schools and agencies certified by the California Department of Education to serve students under school district contracts, the route many ABA agencies use for school-based work. It takes effect January 1, 2027.

The turn: "may" became "shall"

Under existing law the Superintendent may revoke or suspend a certification for a list of failures. Under SB 685, Education Code §56366.4 says the Superintendent "shall revoke or suspend" it. A late notice that used to be a judgment call becomes grounds the state must act on. The same change applies when an investigation finds pupil health or safety compromised: the department "shall immediately suspend or revoke."

The deadlines that tightened

• 30 days, down from 45: notice of "changes in credentialed, licensed, or registered staff who render special education and related services, ownership, management, or control," of major facility changes, and of significant program changes. Whether "registered" reaches RBTs is our reading. The statute doesn't define it.
• 24 hours, down from 10 days: written notice of "the death of a pupil or any other individual of unnatural causes within the school or agency."
• Background checks: the Superintendent "shall verify," where the old law said may, that each owner, operator and employee has DOJ clearance and subsequent arrest notice service under §44237, and each contractor under §33192. Agencies must produce that evidence on demand.

The bill also drops "nonsectarian" from the definitions and requires applicants to certify, under penalty of perjury, that services to placed pupils are secular.

The limits

Several of the bill's dates apply to nonpublic schools, not agencies. Those are the fingerprint clearance with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing from July 1, 2027, and the staff credential lists from January 1, 2028. CDE hasn't issued guidance on how it will apply the mandatory standard. Medi-Cal agencies face a separate background-check rule under SB 874 by July 1, 2027.

What you must know or do

• Owners of a certified nonpublic agency: start a staffing-change log now that records the hire or exit date of every credentialed, licensed or registered person serving district students, and the date you notified CDE. From January 1, the gap can't exceed 30 days.
• HR: list every 1099 clinician or other contractor who works with district students, and confirm each has DOJ clearance and subsequent arrest service on file under §33192. The Superintendent must now check.
• Clinical directors: write a 24-hour death-notification procedure, with who sends it and to whom, into your incident policy before January 1.