BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 602
Author: Yamada (D), et al.
Amended: 8/12/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/18/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/25/13
AYES: Yee, Berryhill, Emmerson, Evans, Liu, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Mentally and developmentally disabled persons:
reporting abuse
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) to, by July 1, 2015, develop a
course on investigations of abuse of residents of state mental
hospitals and developmental centers and requires mandated
reporters to report specified forms of serious abuse of persons
in state mental hospitals and developmental centers to both
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local law enforcement and state investigators immediately, but
no later than two hours, a specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Defines a "mandated reporter" as any person who has assumed
the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult, including
administrators, supervisors, or licensed staff of a public or
private facility that provides care to elder or dependent
adults, elder or dependent adult care custodian, health
practitioner, clergy member, employee of county adult
protective services, or a local law enforcement agency.
2. Requires any specified mandated reporter who, within the
scope of his/her employment, observes or has knowledge of
physical abuse, financial abuse or neglect, or is told by an
elder or dependent adult that he/she has experienced abuse,
or reasonably suspects abuse, to immediately report the known
or suspected abuse, as specified.
3. Provides that if the abuse has occurred in long-term care
facility, except a state mental hospital or developmental
center, the report shall be made to the local ombudsperson or
the local law enforcement agency.
4. Provides that failure to make a mandated elder abuse report
is a misdemeanor, with a maximum jail term of six months, a
fine of up to $1,000, or both. Where the abuse resulted in
death or great bodily injury, the penalty is a maximum jail
term of one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
5. States that any person who has assumed full or intermittent
responsibility for the care or custody of an elder or
dependent adult, including administrators, supervisors, and
any licensed staff of a facility that provides care or
services for elder or dependent adults, or any elder or
dependent adult care custodian, health practitioner, clergy
member, or employee of a county adult protective services
agency or a local law enforcement agency, is a mandated
reporter.
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6. States that a failure to report, or impeding or inhibiting a
report of, physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation,
financial abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult is
a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in the county
jail, a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. Where the
abuse results in death or great bodily injury, the
misdemeanor penalty is a maximum jail term is one year, a
fine of not more than $5,000, or both. If a mandated
reporter intentionally conceals his/her failure to report an
incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe
neglect, the failure to report is a continuing offense until
a law enforcement agency as specified discovers the offense.
7. Requires all peace officers to complete an introductory
course of training prescribed by POST, demonstrated by
passage of an appropriate examination developed by POST.
8. Requires every police officer or deputy sheriff who is
assigned field or investigative duties to complete an elder
and dependent adult abuse training course certified by POST.
9. Requires POST to establish and update a continuing education
classroom training course related to law enforcement
interaction with mentally disabled persons.
10.Requires POST to create and make available on DVD, a course
on how to recognize and interact with persons with autistic
spectrum disorders. POST may distribute the material
electronically.
This bill:
1. Requires POST, by July 1, 2015, to establish and keep updated
a continuing education training course relating to law
enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and
developmentally disabled persons living within a state mental
hospital or state developmental center.
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2. Requires that the training course be developed by POST in
consultation with appropriate community, local, and state
organizations and agencies that have expertise in the area of
mental illness and developmental disabilities, and with
appropriate consumer and family advocate groups. In
developing the course, POST shall also examine existing
courses certified POST that relate to mentally disabled and
developmentally disabled persons.
3. Requires POST to make the course available to all law
enforcement agencies in California, and establishes that the
course be a required part of an officer training program for
personnel serving in law enforcement agencies with
jurisdiction over state mental hospitals and state
developmental centers.
4. Provides that the POST course may consist of video-based or
classroom instruction.
5. Requires that the course shall include, at a minimum,
specified core instruction.
6. Adds to existing requirements to report suspected or alleged
abuse, the requirement to report suspected or alleged neglect
in a state mental hospital or developmental center.
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7. Specifies that a report be made "immediately but not later
than within two hours of the mandated reporter observing,
obtaining knowledge of or suspecting abuse" to designated
investigators of the Department of State Hosptials (DSH) or
the Department of Development Services (DDS) and also to the
local law enforcement agency if specified incidents is
alleged.
8. Requires that all other reports of suspected or alleged abuse
or neglect that occurred in a state mental hospital or a
state developmental center shall be made to designated
investigators of DSH or DDS, or to the local law enforcement
agency, as specified.
9. Requires that when a local law enforcement agency receives an
initial report of suspected or alleged abuse or neglect in a
state mental hospital or a state developmental center, as
specified, the local law enforcement agency shall coordinate
efforts with the designated investigators at DSH and provide
the most immediate and appropriate response warranted to
investigate the mandated report.
10.Permits the designated investigators of DSH and local law
enforcement agencies to collaborate to develop protocols to
implement the coordinated investigative efforts.
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11.Requires mandated reporters within the DSH or DDS to
immediately "but no later than within two hours of the
mandated reporter observing, obtaining knowledge of or
suspecting abuse" report that abuse to the Office of
Protective Services or the local law enforcement agency.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 40 (Yamada, Statutes of 2012, Chapter 659) requires mandated
reporters of elder or dependent adult abuse to report suspected
or known instances of physical abuse, occurring in a long-term
care facility, to both the Long-Term Care Ombudsman and local
law enforcement.
SB 1051 (Liu, Statutes of 2012, Chapter 660) requires the DSH
and developmental centers within the DDS to report suspected
abuse to the designated protection and advocacy agency.
SB 1522 (Leno, Statutes of 2012, Chapter 666), requires a state
developmental center to report to local law enforcement all
deaths, sexual assaults, assaults with a deadly weapon or force
likely to produce great bodily injury, and other specified
incidents.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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 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.
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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
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/29/13)
Alameda County Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory
Council
Area 4 Developmental Disabilities Board
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
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California Public Defenders Association
California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
Contra Costa Health Services
East Bay Developmental Disabilities Legislative Coalition
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Mental Health America of California
National Association of Social Workers
The Arc
United Cerebral Palsy
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/29/13)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Horrifying reports and documentation of systemic abuse and
exploitation of vulnerable developmental center and state
hospital residents have become sickening and routine.
Deficiencies at the Sonoma Developmental Center have led to
a loss of substantial federal funding, while the state
hospital system struggles to offer safety and security for
residents. Currently, in each system, reports of abuse are
directed internally and investigated by co-workers of those
accused. In order to assure impartial investigations and
oversight of the internal workings of developmental center
and state hospital systems, AB 602 mandates rapid reports
of physical abuse be made directly to external law
enforcement.
AB 602 also provides for updated and modernized training
curriculum for law enforcement officials working in close
proximity to state hospitals or developmental centers.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance states in
opposition that, "?because it results in General Fund costs for
DSH and may create a state reimbursable mandate. In addition,
this bill will result in additional POST costs that are not
included in the current budget. This bill expands upon
requirements for DSH and DDS included in Chapter 660, Statutes
of 2012 (SB 1051). SB 1051 required DSH and DDS to report
specified incidents related to abuse to advocacy agencies within
specified time periods."
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/29/13
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, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Linder, Rendon, Vacancy
JG:d:n 9/1/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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