BILL NUMBER: SB 110 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 25, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
(Coauthor: Senator Hollingsworth)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Cook)
JANUARY 28, 2009
An act to amend Sections 11163.6, 11174.35,
11174.5, 11174.7, 13519.64, 13823.16, 13836, 13836.1, and 14213 of,
to amend the heading of Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 11174.4)
of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4 of, to add Sections 368.5 and
13519.65 to, and to add a heading as Chapter 13 (commencing with
Section 368) to Title 9 of Part 1 of, the Penal Code, and to amend
Sections 4427, 4427.5, 15610.19, and 15763 of, to add
Section 4689.25 to, and to add Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section
15590) to Part 3 of Division 9 of, the and 15763 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to people with
disabilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 110, as amended, Liu. People with disabilities: victims of
crime.
Existing law regulates the investigation and prosecution of crimes
against a dependent adult, which is defined to include a person who
is between 18 and 64 years of age, inclusive, and who has a physical
or mental limitation which restricts his or her ability, or
substantially restricts his or her ability, to carry out normal
activities or to protect his or her rights, including, but not
limited to, a person who has a physical or developmental disability
or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished, or
significantly diminished, because of age. Under existing law, the
term also includes any person between 18 and 64 years of age,
inclusive, who is admitted as an inpatient to certain 24-hour health
facilities.
This bill would require the Department of Justice to send a
bulletin to law enforcement agencies and district attorneys
describing the laws relating to the protection of persons with
disabilities, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the creation of Domestic Violence Death
Review Teams, ChildDeath Review Teams, and Elder Death Review Teams,
as specified.
This bill would state that information related to deaths of
children with disabilities and people with disabilities killed as a
result of domestic violence is included in procedures relating to
Child Death Review Teams and Domestic Violence Death Review Teams, as
specified. This bill would also include within the authority of an
Elder Death Review Team the review of deaths involving dependent
adults, as specified.
Existing law authorizes any county to establish an interagency
elder death team to assist local agencies in identifying and
reviewing suspicious elder deaths and facilitating communications
among persons who perform autopsies and persons involved in the
investigation or reporting of elder abuse or neglect. Existing law
establishes procedures for the sharing or disclosure of information
by elder death review teams.
This bill would rename these teams "elder and dependent adult
death review teams" and would expand the authority of these teams to
cover dependent adult death abuse, and neglect, as specified.
Existing law provides for the training of peace officers.
This bill would require authorize and
strongly encourage every local law enforcement
agency that participates in the Peace Officer Standards and Training
program to provide training to its peace officers using a specified
telecourse relating to crime victims with disabilities if that
telecourse is updated, as specified. By imposing new duties
on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would create a
state-mandated local program.
Existing law regulates the procedures and practices of long-term
care ombudsman programs, adult protective services agencies, as well
as certain state agencies, relative to the protection, investigation,
and reporting of suspected crimes involving persons with
disabilities, as specified.
This bill would require the State Department of Developmental
Services to either immediately report a case of suspected abuse or
neglect of a person held in custody as developmentally disabled to
local law enforcement, or ascertain the facts and then report
confirmed cases of abuse to the local law enforcement agency, as
specified.
Existing law requires criminal record background checks for
vendors providing services to family home agencies, as specified.
This bill would allow nonlicensed service providers who have a
vendor relationship with a regional center to obtain criminal record
background checks on current and prospective employees and
volunteers, as specified, and, subject to exception, would require
the providers to discharge or not hire those persons if the
background check indicates that they are convicted of specified
offenses or required to register as sex offenders.
Existing law provides that the California Emergency Management
Agency is the lead agency responsible for coordinating state agencies
involved in protecting elders and dependent adults, as specified.
This bill would require the California Emergency Management Agency
to convene a working group on crimes against elders, dependent
adults, and people with disabilities, as specified.
Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2010, the Domestic
Violence Advisory Council, and specifies its membership.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that persons
with disabilities be included as members of the council, and would
extend the operation of the council to January 1, 2015.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Existing law provides for the creation of an advisory committee
responsible for developing a course of training for district
attorneys in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault
cases, child sexual exploitation cases, and child sexual abuse cases.
Existing law requires that the courses shall include training in the
unique emotional trauma experienced by victims of these crimes.
Existing law requires that the committee shall exist of 11 members of
which 6 shall be public members appointed by the Commission on the
Status of Women, as specified.
This bill would additionally require the courses to include
training in the special problems of investigating and prosecuting
these crimes when committed against individuals with disabilities.
The bill would require that one of the appointees of the Commission
on the Status of Women be an expert on crimes against persons with
disabilities, appointed as specified.
Existing law requires the Attorney General to establish and
maintain the Violent Crime Information Center to assist in the
identification and the apprehension of persons responsible for
specific violent crimes and the disappearance and exploitation of
persons, particularly children and dependent adults. Within these
provisions, the term "evidence that the person is at risk" includes,
for purposes of missing persons, among other things, evidence or
indications that a person is mentally impaired.
This bill would instead include, within the term "evidence that
the person is at risk," evidence that the person missing has a mental
or physical disability.
Existing law provides that each county shall establish an
emergency response adult protective services program that shall
provide in-person response, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, to
reports of abuse of an elder or dependent adult, as specified.
This bill would make technical changes to those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Crime
Victims with Disabilities Act of 2009 2010
.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) A large body of research indicates that people with mental and
physical disabilities in California and throughout the United States
are victimized by violent crime and major property crime at much
higher rates than the general population.
(b) At least 13,500 American adults with disabilities are victims
of criminal violence every day--562 every hour. At least 410 children
with disabilities are victimized every day--17 every hour.
(c) People with disabilities who are abused experience both more
prolonged and more severe abuse on the average than other crime
victims. Evidence suggests that the harmful effects may be more
serious and chronic for victims with disabilities.
(d) California and national research has found particularly
disturbing indications, including:
(1) Californians with developmental disabilities are victimized 4
to 10 times more frequently than the general population, and they are
at a higher risk of revictimization.
(2) The rate of victimization of Californians with severe and
persistent mental illness is 1,970 percent that of the general
population. The rate of victimization for those diagnosed with both
mental illness and substance abuse is 6,300 percent of that of the
general population.
(3) Of Californians with developmental disabilities, about 8 in 10
women and 4 in 10 men have been sexually abused. About 4 in 10 women
and 2 in 10 men have been sexually abused at least 10 times.
(4) More than 8,000 California children with disabilities were
reported by Child Protective Services to be victims of maltreatment
in 2005--about one per hour.
(5) Mentally ill prison and jail inmates face a significantly
higher risk of being the victims of violence, particularly sexual
abuse, than other inmates.
(6) People often become homeless because of disabilities, and
those who were able when they were housed typically become disabled
due to their homelessness. Homeless Californians are much more likely
than the housed population to become crime victims -- more than 6
out of 10 are victimized every year, 2 out of 10 at least five times
in one year. Their disabilities increase the likelihood of
victimization still further. The lifetime risk of victimization for
seriously mentally ill, episodically homeless women is 97 percent.
(7) People with disabilities, both those who live at home and
those who live in institutions, are often victims of domestic and
family violence and other crimes by caregivers.
(8) Elders and children with disabilities are particularly at risk
of becoming victims of abuse, neglect, and other major crimes.
(e) Research indicates that criminals select people with
disabilities as their victims because of two major categories of
motivations, as follows:
(1) Hostility toward those who arouse guilt, fear of those whose
visible traits are perceived as disturbing to others, a perception
that people with disabilities are inferior and therefore "deserving
victims," and resentment of those who require and increasingly demand
alternative physical and social accommodations.
(2) Belief that people with disabilities are especially
vulnerable, a belief that is often well founded.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify and enforce
existing laws and make California the national leader in humane
treatment of people with disabilities.
(g) People with disabilities are especially vulnerable to crime
and become victims at rates many times higher than the general
population. A large majority of these crimes are never reported to
law enforcement. In addition, the law previously did not make it
clear that abuse is a crime. As a result, many law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, and other citizens are unaware of this
invisible epidemic.
(h) Crimes against victims with disabilities occur in the
jurisdiction of every law enforcement agency and every district
attorney's office. Every law enforcement officer encounters persons
with disabilities who may be particularly vulnerable to crime and who
have a disproportionately high likelihood of becoming victims.
(i) Persons with disabilities in specific population groups,
including all of the following, often become victims of serious
crime, frequently including domestic violence and sexual assault:
(1) Children.
(2) Elders.
(3) Homeless persons.
(4) Inmates of prisons, jails, and other incarceration facilities.
(5) Residents of public and private treatment and care facilities
of all kinds.
(j) Many crimes against victims with disabilities are motivated in
whole or in part by preexisting negative attitudes toward the
victims' disabilities, including hostility to persons who arouse
guilt, fear of or revulsion to persons whose visible traits are
disturbing to others, a perception that persons with disabilities are
inferior or deserving of victimization, belief that persons with
particular disabilities are weak and therefore easy targets, and
resentment of those who need and increasingly demand alternative
physical and social accommodations. Law enforcement agencies must
investigate these crimes as hate crimes and report them to the
Department of Justice as Section 13023 of the Penal Code requires.
(k) Preventing, recognizing, and responding to crimes against
victims with disabilities often require special training, which all
officers should receive. Investigating and successfully prosecuting
these crimes often require more advanced training, which some
officers in every agency should receive.
SEC. 3. The heading of Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 368) is
added to Title 9 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, immediately preceding
Section 368, to read:
CHAPTER 13. CRIMES AGAINST ELDERS, DEPENDENT ADULTS, AND
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
SEC. 4. Section 368.5 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
368.5. By February 1, 2010, the Department of Justice shall
electronically send a bulletin to the executive of each state and
local law enforcement agency and to each district attorney. The
content of the bulletin shall include, but not be limited to, each of
the following sections, entitled and described as follows:
(a) "New Law: Importance and Urgency." This section shall include
a statement of the importance and urgency that the law now places on
arresting and convicting criminals who commit crimes against victims
with disabilities and on assisting their victims, as demonstrated by
enactment of the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 2009.
(b) "An Invisible Epidemic." This section shall quote the findings
of subdivisions (g) to (k), inclusive, of Section 2 of the Crime
Victims with Disabilities Act of 2009.
(c) "Requirements and Recommendations." This section shall include
the following requirements for law enforcement agencies and district
attorneys:
(1) The requirement that state law enforcement agencies provide
training to their peace officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims
with Disabilities" pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13519.65.
(2) The requirement that every city police officer or deputy
sheriff at a supervisory level and below who is assigned field or
investigative duties shall complete an elder and dependent adult
abuse training course certified by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training within 18 months of assignment to field
duties, pursuant to Section 13515.
(3) The requirement that law enforcement agencies cross-report
abuse and neglect of elders and dependent adults to adult protective
services agencies, local long-term care ombudsman programs, and state
agencies, pursuant to Section 15650 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(4) The requirement that local law enforcement agencies provide
the telecourse "Law Enforcement Response to Homelessness Update" to
their officers, and the strong encouragement that local law
enforcement agencies provide this training in conjunction with
homeless and formerly homeless persons, local agencies, and
organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless people,
including homeless persons with disabilities, and invite those local
organizations to attend the training sessions and discuss the problem
of crime against homeless victims and law enforcement response to
homelessness with the agency's officers, pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 13519.64.
(d) The training section of the bulletin also shall list relevant
training materials produced or certified by the Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training, including materials produced pursuant
to Sections 13515, 13515.25, 13519.2, 13519.4. 13519.6, and
13519.64, and by the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
SEC. 5. Section 11163.6 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
11163.6. In order to ensure consistent and uniform results, data
may be collected and summarized by the domestic violence death review
teams to show the statistical occurrence of domestic violence deaths
in the team's county that occur under the following circumstances:
(a) The deceased was a victim of a homicide committed by a current
or former spouse, fiance, or dating partner.
(b) The deceased was the victim of a suicide, was the current or
former spouse, fiance, or dating partner of the perpetrator and was
also the victim of previous acts of domestic violence.
(c) The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a former
or current spouse, fiance, or dating partner and the perpetrator was
also the victim of a suicide.
(d) The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a former
or current spouse, fiance, or dating partner and the perpetrator was
also the victim of a homicide related to the domestic homicide
incident.
(e) The deceased was a child of either the homicide victim or the
perpetrator, or both.
(f) The deceased was a current or former spouse, fiance, or dating
partner of the current or former spouse, fiance, or dating partner
of the perpetrator.
(g) The deceased was a law enforcement officer, emergency medical
personnel, or other agency responding to a domestic violence
incident.
(h) The deceased was a family member, other than identified above,
of the perpetrator.
(i) The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a family
member, other than identified above.
(j) The deceased had a disability and the homicide was related to
domestic violence.
(k) The deceased was a person not included in the above categories
and the homicide was related to domestic violence.
SEC. 6. Section 11174.35 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
11174.35. The State Department of Social Services shall work with
state and local child death review teams and child protective
services agencies in order to identify child death cases that were,
or should have been, reported to or by county child protective
services agencies. Findings made pursuant to this section shall be
used to determine the extent of child abuse or neglect fatalities
occurring in families known to child protective services agencies and
to define child welfare training needs for reporting,
cross-reporting, data integration, and involvement by child
protective services agencies in multiagency review in child deaths.
The State Department of Social Services, the State Department of
Public Health, and the Department of Justice, working with the
relevant subject matter experts from among those listed in Section
15591 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall develop a plan to
track and maintain data on child deaths from abuse or neglect,
including crimes against children with disabilities. Subject to the
availability of funding, the plan to track and maintain data shall be
updated by January 1, 2011.
SEC. 7. SEC. 6. The heading of
Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 11174.4) of Chapter 2 of Title 1
of Part 4 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
Article 2.7. Elder and Dependent Adult Death Review Teams
SEC. 8. SEC. 7. Section 11174.5 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
11174.5. (a) Each county may establish an interagency elder and
dependent adult death team to assist local agencies in identifying
and reviewing suspicious elder and dependent adult deaths and
facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and
the various persons and agencies involved in elder and dependent
adult abuse or neglect cases.
(b) Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a
guideline by persons performing autopsies on elders and dependent
adults to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in
the identification of elder and dependent adult abuse or neglect, in
the determination of whether elder or dependent adult abuse or
neglect contributed to death or whether elder or dependent adult
abuse or neglect had occurred prior to, but was not the actual cause
of, death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for elder
and dependent adult abuse or neglect, including the designation of
the cause and mode of death.
SEC. 9. SEC. 8. Section
11174.7 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
11174.7. (a) An oral or written communication or a document
shared within or produced by an elder and dependent adult death
review team related to an elder or dependent adult death review is
confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable by another
third party.
(b) An oral or written communication or a document provided by a
third party to an elder and dependent adult death review team, or
between a third party and an elder and dependent adult death review
team, is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable
by a third party.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), recommendations of
an elder and dependent adult death review team upon the completion of
a review may be disclosed at the discretion of a majority of the
members of the elder and dependent adult death review team.
SEC. 10. SEC. 9. Section 13519.64 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
13519.64. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that research,
including "Special Report to the Legislature on Senate Resolution 18:
Crimes Committed Against Homeless Persons" by the Department of
Justice (2002); "Crimes Against Homeless Persons" and "Crimes Against
Persons with Disabilities" in "Protecting Californians from Hate
Crimes: A Progress Report" by the Senate Office of Research (2004);
"Voices from the Street: A Survey of Homeless Youth by Their Peers"
by the California Research Bureau (2008); and "Hate, Violence, and
Death On Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence
Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2007" by the National
Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on
Homelessness and Poverty (2008), has demonstrated that California has
serious unaddressed problems of crime against homeless persons,
including homeless persons with disabilities and homeless youth.
(b) (1) By July 1, 2005, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training (POST), using available funding, shall develop a
two-hour telecourse to be made available to law enforcement agencies
that participate in and comply with the POST program in California on
crimes against homeless persons and on how to deal effectively and
humanely with homeless persons, including homeless persons with
disabilities. The telecourse shall include information on
multimission criminal extremism, as defined in Section 13519.6. In
developing the telecourse, the commission shall consult
subject-matter experts including, but not limited to, homeless and
formerly homeless persons in California, service providers and
advocates for homeless persons in California, experts on the
disabilities that homeless persons commonly suffer, the California
Council of Churches, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the
Senate Office of Research, and the Criminal Justice Statistics Center
of the Department of Justice.
(2) Every local law enforcement agency that
participates in and complies with the POST program, to the extent
that this requirement does not create a state-mandated local program
cost, shall provide the telecourse, "Law Enforcement Response to
Homelessness Update," to its peace officers.
SEC. 11. SEC. 10. Section 13519.65
is added to the Penal Code, to read:
13519.65. (a) (1)
Every Every state law enforcement agency that
participates in and complies with the POST program shall provide
training to its peace officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims
with Disabilities," produced by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training and the Department of Justice. This
requirement shall take effect if the commission, the department, or
both the commission and the department update the telecourse to
reflect changes in law, standards, and information since they
produced the telecourse in 2002.
(2) The requirement of paragraph (1) replaces the requirement of
the portion of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 13519.64
that was repealed by the act of the 2009-10 Regular Session of the
Legislature that enacted this section, and does not create a new
cost.
(b) Every local law enforcement agency that
participates in and complies with the POST program may provide
training to its officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims with
Disabilities," and the Legislature strongly encourages each local law
enforcement agency to do so if the commission, the department, or
both the commission and the department update the telecourse.
SEC. 12. Section 13823.16 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
13823.16. (a) The Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence
Program established pursuant to Section 13823.15 shall be
collaboratively administered by the California Emergency Management
Agency and an advisory council. The membership of the Domestic
Violence Advisory Council shall consist of experts in the provision
of either direct or intervention services to battered women and their
children, within the scope and intention of the Domestic Violence
Assistance Program.
(b) The membership of the council shall consist of domestic
violence victims' advocates, battered women service providers, at
least one representative of service providers serving the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community in connection with domestic
violence, and representatives of women's organizations, law
enforcement, and other groups involved with domestic violence. At
least one-half of the council membership shall consist of domestic
violence victims' advocates or battered women service providers from
organizations such as the California Partnership to End Domestic
Violence. It is the intent of the Legislature that the council
membership reflect the ethnic, racial, cultural, and geographic
diversity of the state, including people with disabilities. The
council shall be composed of no more than 13 voting members and two
nonvoting ex officio members who shall be appointed, as follows:
(1) Seven voting members shall be appointed by the Governor.
(2) Three voting members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(3) Three voting members shall be appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules.
(4) Two nonvoting ex officio members shall be Members of the
Legislature, one appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and one
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. Any Member of the
Legislature appointed to the council shall meet with the council and
participate in its activities to the extent that participation is not
incompatible with his or her position as a Member of the
Legislature.
(c) The California Emergency Management Agency shall collaborate
closely with the council in developing funding priorities, framing
the request for proposals, and soliciting proposals.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 11. Section 13823.16 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
13823.16. (a) The Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence
Program established pursuant to Section 13823.15 shall be
collaboratively administered by the California Emergency Management
Agency (Cal EMA) and an advisory council. The membership of the (Cal
EMA) Domestic Violence Advisory Council shall consist of experts in
the provision of either direct or intervention services to victims of
domestic violence and their children, within the scope and intention
of the Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence Assistance Program.
(b) The membership of the council shall consist of domestic
violence victims' advocates, battered women service providers, at
least one representative of service providers serving the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community in connection with domestic
violence, and representatives of women's organizations, law
enforcement, and other groups involved with domestic violence. At
least one-half of the council membership shall consist of domestic
violence victims' advocates or battered women service providers from
organizations such as the California Partnership to End Domestic
Violence. It is the intent of the Legislature that the council
membership reflect the ethnic, racial, cultural, and geographic
diversity of the state , including people with disabilities
. The council shall be composed of no more than 13 voting
members and two nonvoting ex officio members who shall be appointed,
as follows:
(1) Seven voting members shall be appointed by the Governor.
(2) Three voting members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(3) Three voting members shall be appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules.
(4) Two nonvoting ex officio members shall be Members of the
Legislature, one appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and one
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. Any Member of the
Legislature appointed to the council shall meet with the council and
participate in its activities to the extent that participation is not
incompatible with his or her position as a Member of the
Legislature.
(c) The Cal EMA shall collaborate closely with the council in
developing funding priorities, framing the request for proposals, and
soliciting proposals.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 13. SEC. 12. Section 13836 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
13836. (a) The agency or agencies designated by the Director of
Finance pursuant to Section 13820 shall establish an advisory
committee which shall develop a course of training for district
attorneys in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault
cases, child sexual exploitation cases, and child sexual abuse cases
and shall approve grants awarded pursuant to Section 13837. The
courses shall include training in the unique emotional trauma
experienced by victims of these crimes and the special problems of
investigating and prosecuting these crimes when committed against
individuals with disabilities.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in the enactment of this
chapter to encourage the establishment of sex crime prosecution
units, which shall include, but not be limited to, child sexual
exploitation and child sexual abuse cases, in district attorneys'
offices throughout the state.
SEC. 14. SEC. 13. Section 13836.1 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
13836.1. (a) The committee shall consist of 11 members. Five
shall be appointed by the executive director of the agency or
agencies designated by the Director of Finance pursuant to Section
13820, and shall include three district attorneys or assistant or
deputy district attorneys, one representative of a city police
department or a sheriff or a representative of a sheriff's
department, and one public defender or assistant or deputy public
defender of a county. Six shall be public members appointed by the
Commission on the Status of Women, and shall include one
representative of a rape crisis center, one expert on crimes against
persons with disabilities, and one medical professional experienced
in dealing with sexual assault trauma victims. The committee members
shall represent the points of view of diverse ethnic and language
groups.
(b) The requirement that the Commission on the Status of Women
appoint an expert on crimes against victims with disabilities shall
take effect upon the occurrence of the first vacancy for a member
appointed by the commission, other than the member who represents a
rape crisis center or the member who is a medical professional, on or
after January 1, 2010 2011 .
(c) Members of the committee shall receive no compensation for
their services but shall be reimbursed for their expenses actually
and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of their duties.
Staff support for the committee shall be provided by the agency or
agencies designated by the Director of Finance pursuant to Section
13820.
SEC. 15. SEC. 14. Section 14213 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
14213. (a) As used in this title, "missing person" includes, but
is not limited to, a child who has been taken, detained, concealed,
enticed away, or retained by a parent in violation of Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 277) of Title 9 of Part 1. It also includes
any child who is missing voluntarily or involuntarily, or under
circumstances not conforming to his or her ordinary habits or
behavior and who may be in need of assistance.
(b) As used in this title, "evidence that the person is at risk"
includes, but is not limited to, evidence or indications of any of
the following:
(1) The person missing is the victim of a crime or foul play.
(2) The person missing is in need of medical attention.
(3) The person missing has no pattern of running away or
disappearing.
(4) The person missing may be the victim
of parental abduction.
(5) The person missing has a mental or physical disability.
(c) As used in this title, "child" is any person under the age of
18.
(d) As used in this title, "center" means the Violent Crime
Information Center.
(e) As used in this title, "dependent adult" is any person
described in subdivision (h) of Section 368.
(f) As used in this title, "dental or medical records or X-rays,"
include all those records or X-rays which are in the possession of a
dentist, physician and surgeon, or medical facility.
SEC. 16. SEC. 15. Section 4427 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:
4427. (a) When the department has reason to believe that any
person held in custody as developmentally disabled is wrongfully
deprived of his or her liberty, is cruelly or negligently treated,
that inadequate provision is made for the skillful medical care,
proper supervision, and safekeeping of that person, or is otherwise
the victim of a crime, the department shall do either of the
following:
(1) Report the case immediately to the local police department or
sheriff's office that has jurisdiction.
(2) Ascertain the facts. It may issue compulsory process for the
attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, and may
exercise the powers conferred upon a referee in a superior court. It
may make such orders for the care and treatment of that person as it
deems proper. If the department ascertains that the person is the
victim of a crime, the department shall report the case immediately
to the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction.
(b) Whenever the department undertakes an investigation into the
general management and administration of any establishment or place
of detention for the developmentally disabled, it may give notice of
such investigation to the Attorney General, who shall appear
personally or by deputy, to examine witnesses in attendance and to
assist the department in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it
in this code.
(c) The department may at any time cause the patients of any
county or city almshouse to be visited and examined, in order to
ascertain if developmentally disabled persons are kept therein.
SEC. 17. SEC. 16. Section 4427.5 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:
4427.5. (a) (1) A developmental center shall immediately report
all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to the
appropriate local law enforcement agency, which may, at its
discretion, conduct an independent investigation.
(2) The reporting requirements of this subdivision are in addition
to, and do not substitute for, the reporting requirements of
mandated reporters.
(b) The department shall do both of the following:
(1) Annually provide written information to every developmental
center employee regarding all of the following:
(A) The statutory and departmental requirements for mandatory
reporting of suspected or known abuse.
(B) The rights and protections afforded to individuals' reporting
of suspected or known abuse.
(C) The penalties for failure to report suspected or known abuse.
(D) The telephone numbers for reporting suspected or known abuse
or neglect to designated investigators of the department and to local
law enforcement agencies.
(2) On or before August 1, 2001, in consultation with employee
organizations, advocates, consumers, and family members, develop a
poster that encourages staff, residents, and visitors to report
suspected or known abuse and provides information on how to make
these reports.
SEC. 18. Section 4689.25 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
4689.25. (a) A nonlicensed service provider shall submit to the
Department of Justice evidence of a vendor relationship with a
regional center, showing the effective and ending date, if any. Once
approved by the Department of Justice, a nonlicensed service provider
may electronically submit fingerprint images and related information
required by the Department of Justice of all current or prospective
employees or volunteers for the purposes of obtaining information as
to the existence and content of a record of state convictions and of
those state arrests, for which the Department of Justice establishes
that the person is free on bail or on his or her recognizance pending
trial or appeal.
(1) The Department of Justice shall electronically provide a
response to the nonlicensed service provider pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (n) of Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(2) A nonlicensed service provider may request from the Department
of Justice subsequent arrest notification service, as provided in
Section 11105.2 of the Penal Code, for persons described in
subdivision (a).
(3) The Department of Justice shall charge a fee sufficient to
cover the cost of processing the request described in this section.
(b) (1) A nonlicensed service provider that makes submissions to
the Department of Justice for all of its current and prospective
employees and volunteers pursuant to subdivision (a) shall so inform
the regional center.
(2) A nonlicensed service provider that makes a submission to the
Department of Justice pursuant to subdivision (a) concerning a
prospective employee or volunteer shall not hire or accept the
services of that person until the nonlicensed service provider
receives an initial response from the Department of Justice.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), if a nonlicensed service
provider receives an initial response or subsequent notification from
the Department of Justice that a current or prospective employee or
volunteer has been convicted of a serious felony, as defined in
Section 1192.7 of the Penal Code, or a violent felony, as defined in
Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, or is required to register as a sex
offender pursuant to Section 290 of the Penal Code, the nonlicensed
service provider shall discharge or not hire or accept services from
that person.
(4) A person may be employed or retained despite being convicted
of one of the offenses listed in paragraph (3) or being required to
register pursuant to Section 290 if the nonlicensed service provider
determines from the evidence presented that the person has been
rehabilitated for at least five years following any probation or
incarceration, or has received a certificate of rehabilitation and
pardon pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 4852.01) of
Title 6 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, or if the accusation or
information against the person has been dismissed and he or she has
been released from all disabilities and penalties resulting from the
offense pursuant to Section 1203.4 of the Penal Code.
(5) A nonlicensed service provider may use any information in the
initial response and any subsequent notifications from the Department
of Justice in decisions regarding employment, relocation, and
termination of an employee or volunteer, except as prohibited by law.
(c) (1) The Legislature strongly encourages each nonlicensed
service provider to take actions authorized in subdivision (a) in
order to protect consumers from abuse, neglect, and other crimes.
(2) A nonlicensed service provider that does not take the actions
authorized by subdivision (a) concerning each current or prospective
employee and volunteer shall provide a disclosure to each consumer
served and to the regional center that some or all current or
prospective employees and volunteers have not been subject to a
fingerprint-based Department of Justice criminal record search. A
nonlicensed service provider that has not submitted evidence to the
Department of Justice pursuant to subdivision (a) shall provide the
disclosure to all current consumers and the regional center by August
1, 2010, and shall provide the disclosure to each new consumer
before the consumer receives any services from the nonlicensed
service provider.
(3) Compliance with paragraph (2) shall not relieve a nonlicensed
service provider of any liability for the consequences of not taking
the actions authorized by this section.
(d) No nonlicensed service provider may charge a fee to any
applicant, consumer, employee, regional center, volunteer, or other
person for any costs incurred by actions that this section authorizes
or requires.
(e) Family homes and family home agencies, as defined in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 4689.1, consumers of
self-directed services, parent vendors who provide services to their
children, and consumer vendors who provide services to themselves are
exempt from the provisions of this section.
(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2010.
SEC. 19. Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section
15590) is added to Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 10.5. CRIMES AGAINST ELDERS, DEPENDENT ADULTS, AND
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
15590. (a) The Abuse Victims with Disabilities Think Tank of the
California Emergency Management Agency shall convene a first meeting
of a working group on crimes against elders, dependent adults, and
people with disabilities, and shall invite subject matter experts
including, but not limited to, those listed in Section 15591, to
attend. Nothing in this section requires the think tank to convene
any further meetings of the working group. The working group may
organize itself, including by creating committees, and schedule
future meetings.
(b) The working group may set goals for itself including the
following:
(1) Developing one or more models of memoranda of understanding
that appropriate agencies and organizations may adopt. The model or
models may include protocols covering subjects including, but not
limited to, responsibilities for first response to reports of crimes,
multidisciplinary teamwork including joint visiting and interviewing
where appropriate, provision of victim advocacy and victim and
witness translation services, and carrying out individual mandated
reporter requirements and agency cross-reporting requirements.
(2) Making recommendations to the Governor and Legislature for
reform of mandated reporter requirements and of investigation and
jurisdiction issues to provide equal protection to crime victims who
are elders, dependent adults, and people with disabilities.
(c) Nothing in this section requires any state agency to
participate in the working group if that participation would create a
cost or to pay for travel or other expenses of any person attending
working group meetings.
15591. "Subject matter experts" includes, but is not limited to,
the following, or their successor organizations, the Aging Services
of California; Arc of California; Associated Programs of the
University of Southern California; Association of Regional Center
Agencies; Autism Center for Excellence at California State
University, Sacramento; California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform;
California Assisted Living Association; California Association for
Adult Day Services; California Association of Health Facilities;
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault; California Consortium of
Child Abuse Councils; California County Welfare Directors;
California Emergency Management Agency; California Foundation for
Independent Living Centers; California Hospital Association;
California Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Association; California
Partnership to End Domestic Violence; Consortium for Elder Abuse
Prevention; Departments of Aging, Developmental Services, Justice,
Mental Health, Public Health, Social Services, and Corrections and
Rehabilitation; Disability Service Network; District Attorneys,
Police Chiefs, and Sheriffs Associations; Gray Panthers; Los Angeles
City Department on Disability; National Alliance for the Mentally
Ill; Older Women's League; Project REACH; Senate Office of Research;
Sociology Departments of the University of California at Berkeley,
Davis, and Irvine; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; State
Office of Child Abuse Prevention; Tarjan Center of the University of
California at Los Angeles; University Centers for Excellence in
Developmental Disabilities at the University of California at Davis
and Los Angeles and the University of Southern California; and the
protection and advocacy agency that the Governor designates pursuant
to Section 4900.
SEC. 20. Section 15610.19 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
15610.19. "Clergy member" means a priest, minister, rabbi,
religious practitioner, or similar functionary of a church, gurdwara,
mandir, mosque, synagogue, temple, or other recognized religious
denomination or organization. "Clergy member" does not include unpaid
volunteers whose principal occupation or vocation does not involve
active or ordained ministry in a religious denomination or
organization, and who periodically visit elders or dependent adults
on behalf of that recognized religious denomination or organization.
SEC. 21. SEC. 17. Section 15763 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:
15763. (a) Each county shall establish an emergency response
adult protective services program that shall provide in-person
response, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to reports of abuse
of an elder or a dependent adult, for the purpose of providing
immediate intake or intervention, or both, to new reports involving
immediate life threats and to crises in existing cases. The program
shall include policies and procedures to accomplish all of the
following:
(1) Provision of case management services that include
investigation of the protection issues, assessment of the person's
concerns, needs, strengths, problems, and limitations, stabilization
and linking with community services, and development of a service
plan to alleviate identified problems utilizing counseling,
monitoring, followup, and reassessment.
(2) Provisions for emergency shelter or in-home protection to
guarantee a safe place for the elder or dependent adult to stay until
the dangers at home can be resolved.
(3) Establishment of multidisciplinary teams to develop
interagency treatment strategies, to ensure maximum coordination with
existing community resources, to ensure maximum access on behalf of
elders and dependent adults, and to avoid duplication of efforts.
(b) (1) A county shall respond immediately to any report of
imminent danger to an elder or dependent adult in other than a
long-term care facility, as defined in Section 9701 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, or a residential facility, as defined in
Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code. For reports involving
persons in a long-term care facility or a residential care facility,
the county shall report to the local long-term care ombudsman
program. Adult protective services staff shall consult, coordinate,
and support efforts of the ombudsman program to protect vulnerable
residents. Except as specified in paragraph (2), the county shall
respond to all other reports of danger to an elder or dependent adult
in other than a long-term care facility or residential care facility
within 10 calendar days or as soon as practicably possible.
(2) An immediate or 10-day in-person response is not required when
the county, based upon an evaluation of risk, determines and
documents that the elder or dependent adult is not in imminent danger
and that an immediate or 10-day in-person response is not necessary
to protect the health or safety of the elder or dependent adult.
(3) The State Department of Social Services, in consultation with
the County Welfare Directors Association, shall develop requirements
for implementation of paragraph (2), including, but not limited to,
guidelines for determining appropriate application of this section
and any applicable documentation requirements.
(4) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department shall implement the requirements developed pursuant to
paragraph (3) by means of all-county letters or similar instructions
prior to adopting regulations for that purpose. Thereafter, the
department shall adopt regulations in accordance with the
requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(c) A county shall not be required to report or respond to a
report pursuant to subdivision (b) that involves danger to an elder
or dependent adult residing in any facility for the incarceration of
prisoners that is operated by or under contract to the Federal Bureau
of Prisons, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a
county sheriff's department, a county probation department, a city
police department, or any other law enforcement agency when the abuse
reportedly has occurred in that facility.
(d) A county shall provide case management services to elders and
dependent adults who are determined to be in need of adult protective
services for the purpose of bringing about changes in the lives of
victims and to provide a safety net to enable victims to protect
themselves in the future. Case management services shall include the
following, to the extent services are appropriate for the individual:
(1) Investigation of the protection issues, including, but not
limited to, social, medical, environmental, physical, emotional, and
developmental.
(2) Assessment of the person's concerns and needs on whom the
report has been made and the concerns and needs of other members of
the family and household.
(3) Analysis of problems and strengths.
(4) Establishment of a service plan for each person on whom the
report has been made to alleviate the identified problems.
(5) Client input and acceptance of proposed service plans.
(6) Counseling for clients and significant others to alleviate the
identified problems and to implement the service plan.
(7) Stabilizing and linking with community services.
(8) Monitoring and followup.
(9) Reassessments, as appropriate.
(e) To the extent resources are available, each county shall
provide emergency shelter in the form of a safe haven or in-home
protection for victims. Shelter and care appropriate to the needs of
the victim shall be provided for frail and disabled victims who are
in need of assistance with activities of daily living.
(f) Each county shall designate an adult protective services
agency to establish and maintain multidisciplinary teams including,
but not limited to, adult protective services, law enforcement,
probation departments, home health care agencies, hospitals, adult
protective services staff, the public guardian, private community
service agencies, public health agencies, and mental health agencies
for the purpose of providing interagency treatment strategies.
(g) Each county shall provide tangible support services, to the
extent resources are available, which may include, but not be limited
to, emergency food, clothing, repair or replacement of essential
appliances, plumbing and electrical repair, blankets, linens, and
other household goods, advocacy with utility companies, and emergency
response units.
SEC. 22. SEC. 18. It is the intent
of the Legislature that nothing in this act creates any new
substantial General Fund costs. To that end, notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, all of the following shall apply:
(a) Nothing in this act requires a state agency to revise any
form, document, or other material if that revision would create a
General Fund cost that is more than minor and absorbable.
(b) Nothing in this act requires a state or local agency to adopt
or revise a regulation.
(c) Nothing in this act creates a new training requirement for any
state agency if that training requirement would create a General
Fund cost that is more than minor and absorbable.
(d) Any provision of this act that requires a state agency to take
any action is contingent on the availability and appropriation of
adequate funds.
SEC. 23. SEC. 19. If the Commission
on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.