BILL NUMBER: AB 717	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ammiano

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Section 11169 of the Penal Code, relating to the
Child Abuse Central Index.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 717, as introduced, Ammiano. Child Abuse Central Index.
   Existing law, subject to exceptions, requires specified local
agencies to forward to the Department of Justice a report in writing
of every case it investigates of known or suspected child abuse or
severe neglect which is determined not to be unfounded, for purposes
of inclusion by the department in the Child Abuse Central Index.
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 11169 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   11169.  (a) An agency specified in Section 11165.9 shall forward
to the Department of Justice a report in writing of every case it
investigates of known or suspected child abuse or severe neglect
 which   that  is determined not to be
unfounded, other than cases coming within subdivision (b) of Section
11165.2. An agency shall not forward a report to the Department of
Justice unless it has conducted an active investigation and
determined that the report is not unfounded, as defined in Section
11165.12. If a report has previously been filed which subsequently
proves to be unfounded, the Department of Justice shall be notified
in writing of that fact and shall not retain the report. The reports
required by this section shall be in a form approved by the
Department of Justice and may be sent by fax or electronic
transmission. An agency specified in Section 11165.9 receiving a
written report from another agency specified in Section 11165.9 shall
not send that report to the Department of Justice.
   (b) At the time an agency specified in Section 11165.9 forwards a
report in writing to the Department of Justice pursuant to
subdivision (a), the agency shall also notify in writing the known or
suspected child abuser that he or she has been reported to the Child
Abuse Central Index. The notice required by this section shall be in
a form approved by the Department of Justice. The requirements of
this subdivision shall apply with respect to reports forwarded to the
department on or after the date on which this subdivision becomes
operative.
   (c) Agencies shall retain child abuse or neglect investigative
reports that result in a report filed with the Department of Justice
pursuant to subdivision (a) for the same period of time that the
information is required to be maintained on the Child Abuse Central
Index pursuant to this section and subdivision (a) of Section 11170.
Nothing in this section precludes an agency from retaining the
reports for a longer period of time if required by law.
   (d) The immunity provisions of Section 11172 shall not apply to
the submission of a report by an agency pursuant to this section.
However, nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or
diminish any other immunity provisions of state or federal law.