BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1707
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1707 (Ammiano)
As Amended August 24, 2012
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |54-18|(May 14, 2012) |SENATE: |27-3 |(August 29, |
| | | | | |2012) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Removes non-reoffending minors from the Child Abuse
Central Index (CACI) after 10 years, and amends the CACI notice
provisions.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete the provision requiring that notice of a CACI listing be
given to the attorney of a foster child.
2)Double join this bill with AB 1712 (Beall) to avoid chaptering
issues.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that any specified mandated reporter who has knowledge of
or observes a child, in his or her professional capacity or within
the scope of his or her employment whom the reporter knows, or
reasonably suspects, has been the victim of child abuse, shall
report it immediately to a specified child protection agency.
2)Requires specified local agencies to send the California
Department of Justice (DOJ) reports of every case of child abuse
or severe neglect that they investigate and determine to be
substantiated.
3)Directs the DOJ to maintain an index, referred to as the CACI, of
all substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect submitted as
specified.
4)Allows DOJ to disclose information contained in the CACI to
multiple identified parties for purposes of child abuse
investigation, licensing, and employment applications for
positions that have interaction with children.
AB 1707
Page 2
5)Requires reporting agencies to provide written notification to a
person reported to the CACI.
6)Provides that, except in those cases where a court has determined
that suspected child abuse or neglect has occurred or a case is
currently pending before the court, any person listed in the CACI
has the right to hearing which comports with due process before
the agency that requested the person's CACI inclusion.
7)Requires a reporting agency to notify the DOJ when a due process
hearing results in a finding that a CACI listing was based on an
unsubstantiated report.
8)Requires the DOJ to remove a person's name from the CACI when it
is notified that the due process hearing resulted in a finding
that the listing was based on an unsubstantiated report.
9)Provides that any person listed in CACI who has reached age 100 is
to be removed from CACI.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Provided that, on or after January 1, 2013, if a person is listed
in the CACI as a perpetrator of abuse due to an incident that
occurred when the person was under 18 years old, the listing shall
be deleted from the CACI 10 years after the incident, if no other
incidents have occurred.
2)Required reporting agencies to provide notice of the CACI report
to the attorney of a known or suspected abuser, if any, when the
subject is a minor or non-minor dependent of the juvenile court (a
foster child).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
1)Ongoing state-reimbursable costs, likely in the range of $25,000
to $100,000 (General Fund) statewide to local agencies for
additional reporting requirements.
2)Ongoing minor, absorbable costs (General Fund) to DOJ to purge
10-year-old CACI listings with no subsequent reports.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Children can be listed on CACI
as perpetrators of physical abuse if they injure another child in
AB 1707
Page 3
circumstances other than a mutual fight or an accident. Children
can also be listed on CACI as perpetrators of sexual abuse due to
any reported sexual behavior between the child and another child,
even if the behavior is consensual. Children in the foster-care
system are especially vulnerable to being listed on CACI because
they may act out due to past abuse and because their behavior is
subject to closer scrutiny by child welfare agency case workers than
that of children in the general population.
"AB 1707 provides an avenue for the removal of single-offense minors
from the CACI. Specifically if a person is listed in the CACI as a
perpetrator of abuse due to an incident that occurred when the
person was under 18 years old, the listing shall be removed from the
CACI 10 years after the incident, if no other incidents have
occurred. By removing non-reoffending minors, AB 1707 would protect
youth from suffering life-long restrictions on job opportunities and
licensing eligibility due to misbehavior that occurred when they
were under 18.
"AB 1707 will also improve the use and operation of CACI by
providing important clean up. Listing conduct of non-reoffending
minors can make CACI less effective because it loads CACI with
questionable data and wastes the time of subsequent investigators
that rely on in conducting investigations and background checks."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN:
0005646