BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 652 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 652 (Ammiano) As Amended August 28, 2013 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |51-23|(May 20, 2013) |SENATE: |24-12|(September 3, | | | | | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: PUB. S. 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. The Senate amendments provide that this bill does not limit a mandated reporter from a making a report whenever he or she knows of or observes an unaccompanied minor who the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects to be the victim of abuse or neglect. EXISTING LAW : 1)Defines "child" under CANRA to mean person under the age of 18 years. 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. 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, AB 652 Page 2 clothing, shelter, or medical care. 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. 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. 6)Defines "mandated reporter" under 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 AB 652 Page 3 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, 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. 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 six 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. AS PASSED BY THE ASSMELBY , this bill was substantially similar to the version passed by the Senate. AB 652 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : 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 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." 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. 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. 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." Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0002037