BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 406|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 406
Author: Torres (D) and Bloom (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/14/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/11/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Child abuse reporting
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Districts Attorneys Office
DIGEST : This bill deletes the January 1, 2014, sunset date on
provisions of law authorizing counties to establish child abuse
multidisciplinary personnel teams to allow provider agencies to
share confidential information in order to investigate reports
of suspected child abuse and neglect, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Authorizes members of a multidisciplinary personnel team
engaged in the prevention, identification, and treatment of
child abuse to disclose and exchange information and writings
to and with one another relating to any incidents of child
abuse that may also be part of a juvenile court record or
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otherwise designated as confidential under state law if the
member of the team having that information reasonably
believes it is generally relevant to the prevention,
identification or treatment of child abuse.
2. Provides that counties may establish child abuse
multidisciplinary personnel teams within that county to allow
provider agencies to share confidential information in order
for provider agencies to investigate reports of suspected
child abuse and neglect, as specified, or for the purpose of
child welfare agencies making a detention determination.
3. Defines "multidisciplinary personnel" in this context as any
team of three or more persons who are trained in the
prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and
neglect cases and who are qualified to provide a broad range
of services related to child abuse. The team may include but
not be limited to:
A. Psychiatrists, psychologists or other trained
counseling personnel.
B. Police officers or other law enforcement agents.
C. Medical personnel with sufficient training to provide
health services.
D. Social workers with training or experience in child
abuse prevention.
E. Any public or private school teacher, administrative
officer, supervisor of child welfare and attendance, or
certificated pupil personnel employee.
4. Defines "provider agency" as any governmental or other agency
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that has as one of its purposes the prevention,
identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or
neglect. The provider agencies serving children and their
families that may share information shall include, but not be
limited to the following entities or agencies:
A. Social services.
B. Children's services.
C. Health services.
D. Mental health services.
E Probation.
F. Law enforcement.
G. Schools.
5. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law,
during a 30- day period, or longer if good cause exists
following a report of suspected child abuse or neglect,
members of a child abuse multidisciplinary team engaged in
the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse
may disclose to, and exchange with one another information
and writing that relate to any incident of child abuse that
may also be designated as confidential if the member of that
team having that information or writing reasonably believes
it is generally relevant to the prevention, identification,
and treatment of child abuse. Any discussion relative to the
disclosure or exchange of the information or writings during
a team meeting is confidential, and notwithstanding any other
provision of law, testimony concerning that discussion is not
admissible in any criminal, civil, or juvenile court
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proceeding.
6. States that all information and records communicated or
provided to the team members by all providers agencies, as
well as information and records created in the course of a
child abuse or neglect investigation, shall be deemed private
and confidential and shall be protected from discovery and
disclosure by all applicable statutory and common law
protections. Existing civil and criminal penalties shall
apply to the inappropriate disclosure of information held by
team members.
7. Sunsets these provisions on January 1, 2014.
This bill deletes the January 1, 2014, sunset date on provisions
of law authorizing counties to establish child abuse
multidisciplinary personnel teams to allow provider agencies to
share confidential information in order to investigate reports
of suspected child abuse and neglect, as specified.
Comments
According to the author's office, in 2010 Governor
Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2229 (Brownley, Chapter 464,
Statutes of 2010) into law. AB 2229 authorized counties to
create two-person child abuse multidisciplinary personnel teams
(MDTs), rather than three-person MDTs, engaged in the
investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect, and permitted
the disclosure of the information gathered by a child abuse MDT
to be disclosed among team members electronically and
telephonically upon the proper verification of the recipient's
status as a team member.
Child Abuse MDTs are intended to identify, treat, and prevent
child abuse, and are comprised of qualified persons who may
include psychiatrists, psychologists, medical personnel, law
enforcement personnel, social workers and teachers. The benefit
and purpose of forming a child abuse MDT is that information
that would otherwise be confidential may be shared within the
confines of the team.
By conforming the law regarding child abuse MDTs with the law
regarding elder abuse MDTs, which only required two members, AB
2229 enhanced the treatment and prevention of child abuse by
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streamlining the ability of qualified personnel to aid victims
by promptly having relevant information, and saved time and
resources by eliminating the need for a redundant third person
consulted merely to satisfy the statute.
AB 2229 contained a sunset clause of January 1, 2014.
This bill allows county child abuse multidisciplinary teams that
are engaged in the investigation of suspected child abuse and
neglect to continue to utilize two-person multidisciplinary
teams which not only have enhanced the ability of these teams to
aid victims of child abuse and neglect but have saved counties
both time and resources. This bill accomplishes these important
goals by repealing the sunset clause currently contained in
Welfare and Institutions Code Section 18961.7.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/15/13)
Los Angeles County Districts Attorney's Office (source)
California Catholic Conference
California District Attorneys Association
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
Child Abuse Prevention Center
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Crime Victims United of California
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/11/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez,
Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
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Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harkey, Jones-Sawyer, Lowenthal, Patterson,
Vacancy
JG:d 5/15/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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