BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 790
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Date of Hearing: April 10, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 790 (Gomez) - As Introduced: February 21, 2013
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill deletes a provision of law that allows, when two or
more mandated reporters have joint knowledge of suspected child
abuse or neglect, to agree upon one person to make the report.
If the designated member fails to make the report, another
person must make a report.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor costs to local law enforcement and/or child protection
entities to receive and process duplicative reports.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, "There is currently
confusion concerning the duty of mandated reporters to report
child abuse when more than one mandated reporter knows of the
abuse. Current law permits them to agree on which one of them
will make the report, which creates the potential of a report
in fact not being made."
According to the California Police Chiefs Association, "The
statutes are clear in their intent to protect children and put
the responsibility to report suspected child abuse or neglect
on those that have contact with children during the normal
course of their occupations. However, there is conflicting
language within the statute that provides an unnecessary
opportunity for suspected child abuse or neglect to go
unreported, and might even provide the opportunity for someone
in complicity with the suspected child abuse or neglect to
hide their involvement or the involvement of others?.
AB 790
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"While the wording of this section may result in multiple
reports of the same suspected child abuse or neglect, it
ensures that all parties with knowledge will report what they
know about the suspected child abuse or neglect. Furthermore,
multiple reports of the same suspected abuse or neglect do not
create problems for Child Protective Agency, and actually
provides an accurate list of all witnesses to be interviewed
by the investigating agency, and may provide information from
different perspectives that provide better clarity and add
value to the investigation."
2)It is not clear what problem this bill addresses. The author
and the California Police Chiefs Association reference
"confusion" and "conflicting language" in the reporting
statute, but the statute is clear: if two or more mandated
reporters have joint knowledge of a suspected incident of
child abuse or neglect, a single report may be made by one
person.
Absent examples of incidents that went unreported due to this
statute, the apparent rationale for the bill is to simply
error on the side of overreporting in an abundance of caution.
That may be an appropriate rationale, but it remains unclear
whether the existing statute is deficient.
If the concern is to compile a list of witnesses, it may be
more cost-effective to simply require all reporters to list
any other witnessing parties in the required written follow-up
report in PC 11166(a).
3)Current law regarding mandated reporters specifies a long list
of a mandated reporters, including teachers, specified school
employees, day camp administrators, social workers,
firefighters, physicians, coroners, clergy, and alcohol and
drug counselors, who if they have knowledge of a child in his
or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her
employment, being abused or neglected, must report the
incident to law enforcement or child protection authorities as
soon as possible, with a written report within 36 hours. The
authorities who receive the reports are in turn required to
provide this information, once substantiated, to the DOJ,
which serves as a repository of the information in the Child
Abuse Central Index (CACI).
AB 790
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4)Opposition . According to the Public Defenders Association,
"This legislation is clearly well intentioned, but we fear
serious unintended consequences may arise if this bill is
passed into law. AB 790 seems to presume, without any evidence
based research, that problems inherent to the existing
mandated reporter requirements may be ameliorated via
duplicative reporting. In instances where child abuse or
neglect has gone unreported by a mandated reporter, is there
evidence to suggest that had an alternate mandated reporter
also been obligated to file a report, such abuse or neglect
would have been prevented? We believe a better approach would
be to address the underlying problems regarding mandated
reporters who neglect to report-why they neglect this duty,
and how that may better be prevented; and, most importantly,
how better to protect children from abuse and neglect.
"Under this proposed legislation a doctor, nurse, and social
worker who all learn simultaneously in the doctor's office or
emergency room that a child has been abuse would now be
required to make independent reports to law enforcement lest
they be charged with a misdemeanor."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081