BILL NUMBER: SB 496	CHAPTERED  07/21/03

	CHAPTER  75
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 21, 2003
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 21, 2003
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JULY 7, 2003
	PASSED THE SENATE  MAY 8, 2003
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 9, 2003

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Alpert

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2003

   An act to add Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 13879.80) to
Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to drug endangered
children.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 496, Alpert.  Drug endangered children.
   Existing law establishes a pilot program of technical and
financial assistance for counties, entitled the California Drug
Endangered Child Protection Act in the Office of Criminal Justice
Planning.  Existing law provides that counties implementing a drug
endangered children program and receiving funds pursuant to the
program shall establish multiagency drug endangered child response
teams in cooperation with local, state, and federal law enforcement
agencies, and the county departments of health and children's
services to perform certain services, as specified, including
response to cases involving a drug endangered child.  Existing law
also provides that district attorneys in counties receiving funds
under this chapter shall concentrate enhanced prosecution efforts and
resources upon individuals who endanger children through exposure to
the clandestine manufacture of controlled substances.
   This bill would encourage every law enforcement and social
services agency in this state to, by January 1, 2005, develop, adopt,
and implement written policies and standards for their response to
narcotics crime scenes where a child is either immediately present or
where there is evidence that a child lives.  This bill would provide
that these policies would reflect the fact that exposing a child to
the manufacturing, trafficking, and use of narcotics is criminal
conduct and that a response coordinated by law enforcement and social
services agencies is essential to the child's health and welfare, as
specified.  This bill would also encourage communities to form
multijurisdictional groups to develop standards and protocols that
address specified issues with respect to law enforcement response to
drug endangered children.


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


  SECTION 1.  Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 13879.80) is added
to Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 8.6.  LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO DRUG ENDANGERED
CHILDREN

   13879.80.  (a) Every law enforcement and social services agency in
this state is encouraged to develop, adopt, and implement written
policies and standards for their response to narcotics crime scenes
where a child is either immediately present or where there is
evidence that a child lives, by January 1, 2005.  These policies
shall reflect the fact that exposing a child to the manufacturing,
trafficking, and use of narcotics is criminal conduct and that a
response coordinated by law enforcement and social services agencies
is essential to the child's health and welfare.
   (b) The needs of a drug endangered child are best served with
written policies encouraging the arrest of an individual for child
endangerment where there is probable cause that an offense has been
committed coordinated with an appropriate investigation of the child'
s welfare by child protective agencies. Protocols that encourage a
dependency investigation contemporaneous with a law enforcement
investigation at a narcotics crime scene, when appropriate, are
consistent with a child's best interest.
   13879.81.  Communities are encouraged to form multijurisdictional
groups that include law enforcement officers, prosecutors, public
heath professionals, and social workers to address the welfare of
children endangered by parental drug use.  These coordinated groups
should develop standards and protocols, evidenced by memorandums of
understanding, that address the following:
   (a) Felony and misdemeanor arrests.
   (b) Immediate response of protective social workers to a narcotics
crime scene involving a child.
   (c) Outsourcing protective social workers to law enforcement.
   (d) Dependency investigations.
   (e) Forensic drug testing and interviewing.
   (f) Decontamination of a child found in a lab setting.
   (g) Medical examinations and developmental evaluations.
   (h) Creation of two hours of P.O.S.T. drug endangered children
awareness training.