BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1434
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Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1434 (Feuer) - As Amended: March 14, 2012
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill adds employees of a public or private institution of
higher learning who have knowledge of child abuse or neglect
occurring on the institution's premises or at an official
activity of the institution, to the list of mandated reporters
for purposes of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Child Abuse
and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which requires about 40
specified classes of mandated reporter to report suspected
incidents of child abuse to a specified child protection agency.
(Failure to report is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six
months in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.)
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potentially minor annual GF costs, likely less than $150,000,
for increased state prison commitments to the extent
increasing the number of mandated reporters results in
additional state prison commitments.
2)Potentially minor annual GF costs, likely less than $150,000,
to the extent the state is required to fund additional social
workers to respond to increased workload.
3)Absorbable annual costs to DOJ to process additional CANRA
reports.
4)Unknown minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement costs for
additional reporting and investigation.
5)Unknown, minor nonreimbursable local costs for prosecution and
punishment of mandated reporters who fail to report, offset to
AB 1434
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some extent by increased fine revenue.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, "This bill responds to the
shocking and tragic allegations at Penn State, where campus
employees and administrators failed to report multiple claims
of abuse. Each year, thousands of minor children spend time
on California college campuses, for activities ranging from
soccer tournaments to academic programs to school tours. AB
1434 addresses a gap in mandated reporter law that does not
require college employees who are not otherwise mandated
reporters to report child abuse to law enforcement."
2)Current law specifies a long list of a mandated reporters,
including teachers, specified school employees, day camp
administrators, social workers, firefighters, physicians,
coroners, clergy, and alcohol and drug counselors, who if they
have knowledge of a child in his or her professional capacity
or within the scope of his or her employment, being abused or
neglected, must report the incident to law enforcement or
child protection authorities as soon as possible, with a
written report within 36 hours. The authorities who receive
the reports are in turn required to provide substantiated
reports to the DOJ, which serves as a repository of the
information in the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI).
3)Current law already makes failure to report observance of a
forcible sexual offense involving a person under 14 a
misdemeanor . In the case of the Penn State scandal, it appears
this type of situation could have been charged under Penal
Code 152.3 in California, as many courts and juries would not
likely find that a sexual act between an adult male and a
10-year-old boy was non-forcible or consensual.
4)Prevalence of coach-related abuse incidents. There does not
appear to be a body of research relating to sexual abuse by
coaches. In general, research indicates that most sexual abuse
- estimates run up to 90% - is committed by a person a child
knows and trusts, generally by family members, but friends and
others with ready and repeated access to children, including
coaches and religious and youth leaders, are also cited in
research. Most studies indicate that as many as 90% of
offenders are male, and that up to 50% are minors themselves.
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5)Related Pending Legislation .
a) AB 1435 (Dickenson) makes athletic coaches, athletic
administrators, and athletic directors employed by a public
or private youth center, youth recreation program, or youth
organization mandated reporters and requires training. AB
1435 is before this committee today.
b) AB 1438 (Bradford) makes it a misdemeanor to fail to
report to a peace officer an instance of known or suspected
child sexual abuse. AB 1438 is before this committee today.
c) AB 1564 (Lara) makes volunteers of public and private
organizations mandated reporters, and revokes tax exempt
status if an employee or volunteer fails to report known or
suspected child abuse. AB 1564 is pending in Assembly
Public Safety.
d) AB 1713 (Campos) expands the list of mandated reporters
to include commercial-film and photographic-print or image
processors. AB 1713 is before this committee today.
e) AB 1817 (Atkins) expands the list of mandated reporters
to include commercial computer technicians. AB 1817 is
pending in Assembly Public Safety.
f) SB 1264 (Vargas) expands the list of mandated reporters
to include athletic coaches at public or private
postsecondary institutions, and increases the penalties for
failure to report an incident. SB 1264 is pending referral
in the Senate.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081