[Approved by Governor October 2, 2013. Filed with Secretary of State October 2, 2013.]
AB 652, Ammiano. Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act: homeless children.
Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, requires a mandated reporter, as defined, to report whenever he or she, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect.
This bill would provide that the fact that a child is homeless or is classified as an unaccompanied minor is not, in and of itself, a sufficient basis for reporting child abuse or neglect.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 11165.15 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
For the purposes of this article, the fact that a child is homeless or is classified as an unaccompanied minor, as defined in Section 11434a of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.), is not, in and of itself, a sufficient basis for reporting child abuse or neglect. Nothing in this section shall limit a mandated reporter, as defined in Section 11165.7, from making a report pursuant to Section 11166 whenever the mandated reporter has knowledge of or observes an unaccompanied minor whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects to be the victim of abuse or neglect.
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