BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          AB 602 (Yamada) - Residents of state hospitals and developmental  
          centers: peace officer training and mandated reporters.
          
          Amended: August 12, 2013        Policy Vote: PS 6-0, HS 6-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: August 12, 2013                           
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill Summary: AB 602 would require the Commission on Peace  
          Officer Standards and Training (POST) to, by July 1, 2015,  
          establish and maintain an updated training course relating to  
          law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and  
          developmentally disabled residents of state mental hospitals and  
          developmental centers, as specified. In addition, this bill:
           Provides that the course shall be required for law enforcement  
            personnel serving in law enforcement agencies with  
            jurisdiction over state mental hospitals and state  
            developmental centers as part of the agency's officer training  
            program.
           Requires mandated reporters to report specified forms of  
            serious abuse or neglect in state mental hospitals or  
            developmental centers to both local law enforcement and state  
            investigators within two hours.
           For reports of serious abuse or neglect, requires local law  
            enforcement agencies to coordinate efforts with the designated  
            investigators of the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) or  
            the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to provide the  
            most immediate and appropriate response warranted to  
            investigate the mandated report. The designated investigators  
            of the DSH or the DDS and local law enforcement agencies may  
            collaborate to develop protocols to implement this section.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              One-time costs of $125,000 and ongoing minor costs of less  
              than $25,000 (Special Fund*) for POST to develop and  
              maintain the training course. The provisions of the bill  
              authorize video-based instruction, which POST has indicated  
              it intends to utilize.
              Ongoing state-reimbursable costs potentially in the  








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              hundreds of thousands of dollars (General Fund) for mandated  
              training of local law enforcement officers serving in  
              agencies with geographic jurisdiction over state mental  
              hospitals and developmental centers.
              One-time costs in the range of $62,000 to $125,000 (General  
              Fund) for 700 DSH officers to complete the training course.  
              This estimate assumes a two- to four-hour video-based  
              training course developed by POST. Estimated costs of  
              $45,000 to $90,000 (General Fund) for 500 DDS officers to  
              complete the same training course.
              One-time minor costs (General Fund) for the DSH and DDS to  
              develop instructions to implement the revised reporting  
              requirements.
              Ongoing potentially significant state-reimbursable costs  
              potentially in excess of $150,000 (General Fund) statewide,  
              for local law enforcement to coordinate efforts with  
              designated investigators of DSH and DDS.
              Ongoing costs to the Judicial Branch, potentially in the  
              range of $25,000 to $50,000 (General Fund**) for additional  
              misdemeanor and felony court filings.  
              Non-reimbursable local enforcement costs offset to a degree  
              by fine revenue to the extent the provisions of this bill  
              result in additional violations of the misdemeanor offense  
              of failure to report
              Potential ongoing increased local and state incarceration  
              costs in excess of $100,000 statewide to the extent the  
              provisions of this bill result in a significant increase in  
              reports to law enforcement and subsequent prosecutions. 
          *Peace Officers Training Fund
          **Trial Court Trust Fund

          Background: Under existing law, the DDS is responsible for  
          operating state-owned developmental centers (DCs) which house  
          and care for individuals with significant developmental  
          disabilities. DCs are staffed with nurses, psychiatric  
          technicians, and other health care professionals who support the  
          ongoing health and safety of the residents who live there.  
          Current law provides that a DC shall immediately report all  
          deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate  
          local law enforcement agency, which may, at its discretion,  
          conduct an independent investigation (regardless of whether the  
          Office of Protective Services (OPS) has investigated the  
          incident). These reporting requirements are in addition to the  
          reporting requirements of mandated reporters.








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          On July 9, 2013, the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) released its  
          report on resident safety at the DDS DCs, highlighting that DDS  
          health care staff do not always provide timely notification of  
          incidents to its OPS, and that OPS did not routinely follow its  
          investigation procedures of alleged resident abuse. OPS law  
          enforcement officers are on-site at each DC, and in addition to  
          general patrol and traffic enforcement duties, respond to  
          alleged abuse of residents.

          The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) operates five state  
          hospitals (Metropolitan, Patton, Napa, Atascadero, and Coalinga)  
          and three psychiatric programs statewide, providing in-patient  
          mental health treatment services to over 6,500 patients  
          annually. A federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons  
          Act (CRIPA) investigation and correction plan has been underway  
          at the state hospitals since 2006 due to reports of patient  
          abuse and neglect. 

          Existing law under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil  
          Protection Act establishes procedures for the reporting,  
          investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult  
          abuse. The act requires mandated reporters to report known or  
          suspected instances of elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect  
          that has occurred in a state DC or state mental health hospital  
          to either the designated investigators of the DSH or DDS  or  to  
          the local law enforcement agency. Failure to report physical  
          abuse or neglect or financial abuse of an elder or dependent  
          adult under the act, with specified exceptions, is a  
          misdemeanor.

          In response to several incidents at DSH and DDS facilities,  
          proposals have been made to remove law enforcement officers  
          entirely from DDS and DSH facilities and instead rely on local  
          law enforcement agencies to conduct investigations. This bill  
          specifies reporting requirements for mandated reporters in DCs  
          and state hospitals intended to mirror those enacted under AB 40  
          (Yamada) Chapter 659/2012 that directed the actions of mandated  
          reporters in long-term care facilities to require that reporting  
          be done in specified cases "immediately, and no later than  
          within two hours." 

          Proposed Law: This bill would require the POST to, by July 1,  
          2015, establish and maintain an updated training course relating  








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          to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and  
          developmentally disabled residents of state mental hospitals and  
          developmental centers, as specified. In addition, this bill:
           Provides that the course shall be required for law enforcement  
            personnel serving in law enforcement agencies with  
            jurisdiction over state mental hospitals and state  
            developmental centers as part of the agency's officer training  
            program.
           Requires mandated reporters to report specified forms of  
            serious abuse or neglect in state mental hospitals or  
            developmental centers to  both  local law enforcement and state  
            investigators within two hours.
           For reports of serious abuse or neglect, requires local law  
            enforcement agency to coordinate efforts with the designated  
            investigators of the DSH or the DDS to provide the most  
            immediate and appropriate response warranted to investigate  
            the mandated report. The designated investigators of the DSH  
            or the DDS and local law enforcement agencies may collaborate  
            to develop protocols to implement this clause.

          Prior Legislation: SB 1051 (Liu) Chapter 660/2012 required  
          mandated reporters in the DDS to immediately report suspected  
          abuse to the Office of Protective Services or to the local law  
          enforcement agency. 

          SB 1522 (Leno) Chapter 666/2012 required a state developmental  
          center to report to local law enforcement all deaths, sexual  
          assaults with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great  
          bodily injury, and other specified incidents. 

          AB 40 (Yamada) Chapter 659/2012 required mandated reporters of  
          elder or dependent adult abuse to report suspected or known  
          instances of physical abuse occurring in long-term care  
          facilities to both the long-term care ombudsman and local law  
          enforcement. 

          Staff Comments: The Commission on POST has indicated one-time  
          costs of $125,000 to develop the training course, and minor  
          ongoing costs to maintain the training course. The provisions of  
          the bill authorize video-based instruction, which POST has  
          indicated it intends to utilize.

          By requiring the training course for law enforcement personnel  
          serving in law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over state  








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          mental hospitals and state DCs as part of the agency's officer  
          training program, this bill could result in unknown but  
          potentially significant state-reimbursable costs in the hundreds  
          of thousands of dollars (General Fund) for mandated training of  
          the specified local law enforcement officers. Specific examples  
          of local costs for law enforcement training requirements that  
          the Commission on State Mandates has historically determined to  
          be state-reimbursable include sexual harassment ($2.5 million),  
          racial profiling ($9.2 million), and elder abuse ($1.6 million).  
          Assuming approximately 2,000 law enforcement officers would be  
          impacted by the training requirements of this bill, costs are  
          estimated to be in the range of $180,000 to $350,000 (General  
          Fund).

          The DSH has estimated one-time costs in the range of $62,000 to  
          $125,000 (General Fund) for 700 DSH officers to complete the  
          training course. This estimate assumes overtime pay for officers  
          to complete a two- to four-hour video-based training course  
          developed by POST. The estimated cost for 500 DDS law  
          enforcement officers to complete the same video-based training  
          course is $40,000 to $90,000 (General Fund).

          Both the DSH and DDS have indicates one-time minor costs  
          (General Fund) to develop instructions to implement the revised  
          reporting requirements for mandated reporters.
          By mandating that local law enforcement, upon initial receipt  
          within two hours of an incident, coordinate efforts with the  
          designated investigators of the DSH or DDS to provide the most  
          immediate and appropriate response warranted, the provisions of  
          this bill could result in unknown, but potentially significant  
          state-reimbursable costs. Staff notes that existing statute  
          related to local law enforcement coordination with local  
          ombudsmen in response to incidents in long-term care facilities  
          is authorized but not mandated.

          To the extent the provisions of this bill result in additional  
          violations of the misdemeanor offense of failure of a mandated  
          reporter to report, this bill could result in additional  
          non-reimbursable local enforcement costs offset to a degree by  
          fine revenue. In addition, ongoing costs to the Judicial Branch  
          in the range of $25,000 to $50,000 for additional court filings  
          could be incurred. 

          Because the provisions of this bill will likely increase the  








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          number of reports to local law enforcement, there will be  
          increased non-reimbursable costs for enforcement and  
          investigation. To the extent the provisions of this bill result  
          in additional criminal prosecutions could result in increased  
          state and local incarceration costs of an unknown amount, but  
          potentially in excess of $100,000 annually.