BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 652 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 7, 2013 Counsel: Shaun Naidu ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Tom Ammiano, Chair AB 652 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 21, 2013 SUMMARY : States that for the purposes of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), the fact that a child is homeless or is classified as an unaccompanied minor, as defined, is not, in and of itself, a sufficient basis for reporting child abuse or neglect. EXISTING LAW : 1)Defines "child" under CANRA to mean person under the age of 18 years. (Penal Code Section 11165.) 2)Defines "neglect" under CANRA to mean the negligent treatment or the maltreatment of a child by a person responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances indicating harm or threatened harm to the child's health or welfare. The term includes both acts and omissions on the part of the responsible person. (Penal Code Section 11165.2.) 3)Defines "severe neglect" under CANRA to mean the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to protect the child from severe malnutrition or medically diagnosed nonorganic failure to thrive. "Severe neglect" also includes situations of neglect where any person having the care or custody of a child willfully causes or permits the person or health of the child to be placed in a situation such that his or her person or health is endangered, as specified, including the intentional failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. [Penal Code Section 11165.2(a).] 4)Defines "general neglect" under CANRA to mean the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision where no physical injury to the child has occurred. [Penal Code Section 11165.2(b).] AB 652 Page 2 5)Defines "child abuse or neglect" under CANRA to include physical injury or death inflicted by other than accidental means upon a child by another person, sexual abuse as defined, neglect as defined, the willful harming or injuring of a child or the endangering of the person or health of a child as defined, and unlawful corporal punishment or injury as defined. "Child abuse or neglect" does not include a mutual affray between minors or an injury caused by reasonable and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer. (Penal Code Section 11165.6.) 6)Defines "mandated reporter" under Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) as any of the following: a teacher; an instructional aide; a teacher's aide or teacher's assistant employed by any public or private school; a classified employee of any public school; an administrative officer or supervisor of child welfare and attendance, or a certificated pupil personnel employee of any public or private school; an administrator of a public or private day camp; an administrator or employee of a public or private youth center, youth recreation program, or youth organization; an administrator or employee of a public or private organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision of children; any employee of a county office of education or the State Department of Education, whose duties bring the employee into contact with children on a regular basis; a licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed community care or child day care facility; a Head Start program teacher; a licensing worker or licensing evaluator employed by a licensing agency as defined; a public assistance worker; an employee of a child care institution, including, but not limited to, foster parents, group home personnel, and personnel of residential care facilities; a social worker, probation officer, or parole officer; an employee of a school district police or security department; any person who is an administrator or presenter of, or a counselor in, a child abuse prevention program in any public or private school; a district attorney investigator, inspector, or local child support agency caseworker unless the investigator, inspector, or caseworker is working with an attorney appointed to represent a minor; a peace officer, as defined, who is not otherwise described in this section; a firefighter, except for volunteer firefighters; a physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, AB 652 Page 3 psychologist, dentist, resident, intern, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse, dental hygienist, optometrist, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or any other person who is currently licensed as a health care professional as specified; any emergency medical technician I or II, paramedic, or other person certified to provide emergency medical services; a registered psychological assistant; a marriage and family therapist trainee, as defined; a registered unlicensed marriage and family therapist intern; a state or county public health employee who treats a minor for venereal disease or any other condition; a coroner; a medical examiner, or any other person who performs autopsies; a commercial film and photographic print processor, as defined; a child visitation monitor, as defined; an animal control officer or humane society officer, as defined; a clergy member, as defined; any custodian of records of a clergy member, as specified; any employee of any police department, county sheriff's department, county probation department, or county welfare department; an employee or volunteer of a Court Appointed Special Advocate program, as defined; any custodial officer, as defined; any person providing services to a minor child, as specified; an alcohol and drug counselor, as defined; a clinical counselor trainee, as defined; and a registered clinical counselor intern. (Penal Code Section 11165.7(a).) 7)States that any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months confinement in a county jail, by a fine of $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine. States that if a mandated reporter intentionally conceals his or 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 specified agency discovers the offense. (Penal Code Section 11166(c).) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "It is hard to imagine a youth desiring to be taken into police custody or returned by police to a home the youth has fled. Many of the unaccompanied minors on the street are foster youth that have AB 652 Page 4 fled the child welfare system and feel the system has failed them. Allowing mandated reporters to not report solely based on homelessness allows the youth to access services and the service providers that specialize in homeless youth services to effectively do their jobs. Most importantly, the barrier keeping many youth from seeking services is removed and we are able to reduce the number of homeless youth on the streets engaging in risky behavior." 2)Background : Youth most often contribute family conflict and breakdown-commonly abuse or neglect, alcohol or drug addiction of a family member, pregnancy, and rejection over sexual orientation-as the major reason for their homelessness or episodes of running away. (Adrienne L. Fernandes, Congressional Research Service, Runaway and Homeless Youth: Demographics, Programs, and Emerging Issues, (January 2007) p. 6.) Additionally, a sizeable portion of homeless youth reported being physically or sexually abused at home in the prior year or feared abuse upon returning home. (Id. at pp. 6-7.) According to the author, "Studies have shown that only 1 in 12 unaccompanied youth seek services, like shelter, health care, food, education, employment, etc., largely due to the fear of being referred to law enforcement or child welfare." 3)State Estimates of Homeless Youth : As reported by the California Homeless Youth Project, the size of the homeless youth population in the state is not known as that data is not reliably collected. The California Homeless Youth Project states: The total number of young people who are staying in shelters, sleeping on their friends' couches and floors, staying in abandoned buildings, camping in parks or woods, and living on the streets in California is not known. In addition, there is not a reliable estimate based on state-level data. While limited data on homeless youth is reported to one department, the state has not collected information on this population through periodic surveys and does not have a comprehensive reporting system. The John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes and the California Coalition for Youth extrapolated AB 652 Page 5 the following state estimate from national data: 200,000 homeless youth ages 12 to17, along with numerous 18 to 24 year-olds, are likely to be homeless over the course of a year. In the absence of an established and reliable statewide estimate of homeless youth, this number has been widely adopted. (Lisa K. Foster, MSW, MPA, California Homeless Youth Project, Estimating California's Homeless Youth Population (Oct. 2010) p. 4 (footnotes omitted).) Overrepresented in the homeless population are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. According to the California Homeless Youth Project, estimates range from 7% of homeless youth receiving services to 39% of street youth are LGBT. (California Homeless Youth Project, Youth Homelessness in California: A Quick Overview, p. 2.) Moreover, LGBT youth leave home more frequently and are subject to greater victimization than heterosexual homeless youth while on the street. (Ibid.) 4)Arguments in Support : a) According to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) , "Educators and youth service providers know that young people often do not seek services for fear of being reported to child welfare. Over the past six months, NAEHCY surveyed school district homeless liaisons and homeless youth service providers in San Diego and Sacramento about barriers to youth receiving services. The number one barrier to homeless youth under 18 seeking services was: 'Youth are afraid to seek services due to fears of being reported to police or CPS (foster care).' A draft report from Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice shares similar results for a survey of service providers in that state: Nearly 85% of the providers agreed that fear of being reported to the state prevents youth from coming forward to access needed services." (Internal citations omitted.) b) The California Teachers Association (CTA) states, "Child abuse is a crime, while homelessness is simply a condition we would like to change. CTA believes that the mere fact of homelessness does not equate to abuse or neglect. Children living in multi-family dwellings who are deemed homeless certainly should not be considered neglected. AB 652 Page 6 Additionally, homeless but conscientious parents who otherwise would reach out for assistance are intimidated in doing so when a teacher is mandated to report them for neglect because of their residential status." 5)Related Legislation : a) AB 309 (Mitchell) clarifies requirements pertaining to CalFresh applications submitted by unaccompanied homeless children and youth. AB 309 is pending referral by the Senate Rules Committee. b) AB 951 (Medina) requires the local educational agency to train its school administrators and certified and classified staff at least once a year regarding the educational rights of homeless children and youth. AB 951 is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. c) SB 177 (Liu) requires the Department of Social Services to convene a workgroup to develop policies and practices to support homeless children and youths and to ensure that child abuse and neglect reporting requirements do not create barriers to the school enrollment and attendance. SB 177 is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. 6)Prior Legislation : SB 123 (Liu), of the 2011-12 Legislative Session, would have required the California Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to develop a statewide plan for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. SB 123 was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Coalition for Youth California Teachers Association National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter Opposition AB 652 Page 7 None Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744