BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair S
2011-2012 Regular Session B
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SB 1051 (Liu) 1
As Amended April 17, 2012
Hearing date: May 8, 2012
Penal; Welfare and Institutions Codes (URGENCY)
MK:mc
REPORTS OF DEATH, INJURY AND ABUSE:
DEVELOPMENTAL CENTERS AND STATE HOSPITALS:
MANDATED REPORTERS
HISTORY
Source: Disability Rights California
Prior Legislation: SB 110 (Liu) - Chapter 617, Stats. 2010
AB 2100 (Wolk) - Chapter 481, Stats. 2008
AB 1188 (Wolk) - Chapter 16, Stats. 2005
AB 430 (Cardenas) - Chapter 171, Stats. 2001
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INCLUDE INFORMATION REGARDING A
VICTIM'S DISABILITY STATUS IN CRIME REPORTS?
SHOULD THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE HOSPITALS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
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HEALTH SERVICES REPORT SPECIFIED INCIDENTS INVOLVING RESIDENTS
TO THE APPROPRIATE AGENCY?
(CONTINUED)
SHOULD THE LAW PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A DIRECTOR OF
PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO
OVERSEE THE DEPARTMENT'S LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FIRE PROTECTION
DIVISIONS?
SHOULD MANDATED REPORTERS OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL
SERVICES IMMEDIATELY REPORT SUSPECTED ABUSE IN A STATE MENTAL
HOSPITAL OR STATE DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER TO THE OFFICE OF PROTECTIVE
SERVICES OR TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of Justice
to include data regarding a crime victim's self-report of
disability status in criminal justice statistics; to establish
criteria for employment for the director of the Office of
Protective Services within the Department of Developmental
Services and directs that position be appointed by and serve at
the pleasure of the Secretary of the Health and Human Services
Agency; to require that mandated reporters working in
developmental centers report suspected abuse to the Office of
Protective Services immediately; and to require state hospitals
and developmental centers to report specified incidents to the
designated Protection and Advocacy agency.
Existing law requires that the California Department of Justice
(DOJ) prepare and distribute to specified law enforcement
agencies cards, forms or electronic means used in reporting data
to the department, and to recommend the form and content of
records which must be kept to ensure correct reporting of data
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to the DOJ. (Penal Code § 13010.)
This bill provides that at the revision of the next uniform
crime report, the criminal justice statistics shall include data
regarding a crime victim's self-report of disability status.
Existing law requires mandated reporters to report the physical
and financial abuse of elderly and dependent persons in a
long-term care facility to local ombudsperson or local law
enforcement agency. (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) §
15630(b)(A).)
Existing law provides a mandated reporter in a long-term care
facility other than a state mental health hospital or state
developmental center who has knowledge, or reasonably suspects
abuse that is not mandated to be reported, may report the known
or suspected abuse to the long-term care ombudsperson program.
Except in an emergency, the local ombudsperson shall report the
case of known or suspected abuse to the Department of Health
Services. (WIC § 15630(c)(1)- (2).)
Existing law requires the local ombudsperson and local law
enforcement agency, except in an emergency, to report any case
of known or suspected abuse to:
The Department of Health Services for a case occurring
in a long-term health care facility;
The Department of Social Services for a case occurring
in a residential care facility for the elderly or in an
adult day care facility;
The Department of Health Services and the California
Department of Aging for a case occurring in an adult day
health care center; or,
The Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse. (WIC §
15630(b)(1)(A)(i) to (iv).)
Existing law provides that if the suspected or alleged abuse
occurred in a state mental hospital or state developmental
center, the report shall be made to designated investigators of
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the State Department of Mental Health or the State Department of
Developmental services, or to the local law enforcement agency.
(WIC §15630(b)(1)(B).)
This bill provides that mandated reporters of the State
Department of Developmental Services shall immediately report
suspected abuse to the Office of Protective Services or to the
local law enforcement agency.
Existing law requires a developmental center to immediately
report all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown
origin to the appropriate local law enforcement agency. This
reporting requirement does not substitute for the reporting
requirement of a mandated reporter. (WIC § 4427.5.)
This bill provides that the Department of Developmental Services
shall report to the specified agency any of the following
incidents involving a resident of a developmental center:
Any unexpected or suspicious death.
Any sexual assault allegation implicating the
involvement of a developmental center or department
employee.
Any report made to the local law enforcement agency.
This bill provides that the above report shall be made no later
than the close of the first business day following the discovery
of the reportable incident.
This bill provides that the State Department of Hospitals shall
report to the specified agency the following incidents involving
a resident of a state mental hospital:
Any unexpected or suspicious death.
Any sexual assault allegation implicating the
involvement of a state mental hospital employee or an
employee of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.
Any report made to the local law enforcement agency.
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This bill provides that the above report shall be made no later
than the close of the first business day following the discovery
of the reportable incident.
This bill creates the Director of Protective Services to be
appointed by the Secretary of California Health and Human
Services.
This bill provides that the Director of Protective Services
shall have the responsibility and authority to manage all
protective service components within the department's law
enforcement and fire protection divisions, including those at
each state developmental center.
This bill provides that the Director of Protective Services
shall be an experience law enforcement officer with a Peace
Officers Standards and Training Management Certificate or higher
and with extensive management experience directing uniformed
peace officer and investigation operations.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
("ROCA")
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, since
early 2007 it has been the policy of the chair of the Senate
Committee on Public Safety and the Senate President pro Tem to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under
the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which stands for
"Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee
has held measures which create a new felony, expand the scope or
penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increase the
application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the
prison overcrowding crisis by expanding the availability or
length of prison terms (such as extending the statute of
limitations for felonies or constricting statutory parole
standards). In addition, proposed expansions to the
classification of felonies enacted last year by AB 109 (the 2011
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Public Safety Realignment) which may be punishable in jail and
not prison (Penal Code section 1170(h)) would be subject to ROCA
because an offender's criminal record could make the offender
ineligible for jail and therefore subject to state prison.
Under these principles, ROCA has been applied as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress towards reducing prison
overcrowding by passing legislation which could increase the
prison population. ROCA will continue until prison overcrowding
is resolved.
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving
California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject
to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate
circumstances. Design capacity is the number of inmates a
prison can house based on one inmate per cell, single-level
bunks in dormitories, and no beds in places not designed for
housing. Current design capacity in CDCR's 33 institutions is
79,650.
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On January 6, 2012, CDCR announced that California had cut
prison overcrowding by more than 11,000 inmates over the last
six months, a reduction largely accomplished by the passage of
Assembly Bill 109. Under the prisoner-reduction order, the
inmate population in California's 33 prisons must be no more
than the following:
167 percent of design capacity by December 27, 2011
(133,016 inmates);
155 percent by June 27, 2012;
147 percent by December 27, 2012; and
137.5 percent by June 27, 2013.
This bill does not aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis
described above under ROCA.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
This bill is jointly authored by the chair (Liu) and
vice-chair (Emmerson) of the Senate Human Services
committee in response to concerns raised during an
informational hearing March 13 regarding investigative
practices at state Developmental Centers.
SB 1051 will provide better oversight of crime
investigations for victims with developmental
disabilities. As we discovered during the hearing, the
Office of Protective Services is a trained police
force, but many officers lack the experience to conduct
major criminal investigations. There were concerns
raised at the hearing about the qualifications of the
chief of OPS, and about the delay in reporting
potential crimes to either OPS or law enforcement, and
about the lack of real information involving victims
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who have developmental disabilities. By adding a box
collecting a victim's self-reported disability status,
California can begin to understand the nature and scope
of crimes against this population.
2. Department of Justice Crime Statistics Report
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the keeper of crime
statistics in California. In order to assure accurate reporting
from various departments all over the state, DOJ creates the
forms on which the information shall be submitted including a
uniform crime report. This bill would require the next revision
of the uniform crime report to include data regarding a victim's
self-report of disability of a crime. The intent is to then
know the scope of crimes committed against people with
disabilities.
3. Chief of the Office of Protective Services (OPS)
According to background information from a March 13, 2012,
Senate Human Services Committee informational hearing:
Currently the Office of Protective Service (OPS)
employs 94 sworn officers, including 20 investigators.
Over the past several decades, the duties and
responsibilities of the Office of Protective Services
has evolved into something that resembles the general
law enforcement duties performed by municipal, county
and university campus law enforcement officers. Yet,
those familiar with OPS and the Developmental Centers
are quick to point out that the environment and
investigative skills needed to work with clients who
are victims and witnesses is significantly different
than what a municipal law enforcement officer would
encounter.
According to the author, the Human Services informational
hearing discussed perceived problems with the officers who work
for OPS and raised issues regarding the qualifications of the
director of the OPS. This bill would provide that the chief of
the Office of Protective Services shall be appointed by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services and shall be an
experienced law enforcement officer with a Peace Officers
Standards and Training Management Certificate or higher. The
chief shall also have extensive management experience directing
uniformed peace officer and investigation operations. The hope
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is that with an experienced peace officer in charge, past
problems with the investigations by the OPS would be corrected.
4. Reporting Requirements
a. Report to the protection and advocacy agency.
Existing law requires a developmental center to report all
resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to
the appropriate law enforcement agency. This bill would in
addition require the Department of Developmental Services
and the Department of State Hospitals to report to the
state-identified protection and advocacy agency any of the
following incidents involving a resident of a developmental
center or state mental hospital:
Any unexpected or suspicious death.
Any sexual assault allegation implicating the
involvement of a developmental center or department
employee.
Any report made to the local law enforcement
agency.
This reporting requirement will allow some oversight of
serious incidents occurring in these facilities.
b. Department of Social Services mandated reporters.
This bill also requires that mandated reporters of the
State Department of Developmental Services shall
immediately report suspected abuse to the Office of
Protective Services or to local law enforcement. This will
clarify any confusion as to whom they are required to
report.
5. Other Legislation
SB 1522 (Leno), which is also being heard today, would specify a
list of suspected crimes that developmental center employees are
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required to report immediately to local law enforcement.
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