BILL NUMBER: AB 845	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cooley

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to  amend   add and repeal 
Section  24522 of   24523 of  the Health
and Safety Code, relating to infant safety.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 845, as amended, Cooley. Shaken baby syndrome.
   Existing law requires that information and instructional materials
regarding shaken baby syndrome be provided free of charge by each
health facility to parents or guardians of each newborn, upon
discharge from the health facility  and by the State Department
of Social Services to child care providers upon licensure  .
   This bill would  make technical, nonsubstantive changes to
these provisions   require the department, in
consultation   with the State Department of Public 
 Health, the Department of Justice, the Office of Emergency
Services, and First Five California, to develop a process for the
selection of counties and to select eligible counties in the state to
voluntarily participate in the program, which is designed to provide
new parents and other adult caregivers of newborns and young infants
with information and education relating to the prevention of shaken
baby syndrome  . 
   The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2020, to
evaluate and submit to the Legislature a report on the effectiveness
of the program in reducing the number of injuries and infant deaths
in the state resulting from shaken baby syndrome, including a review
of benchmarks, feedback about the program, and improvement
opportunities, as applicable. The bill would provide that the
activities required by its provisions shall be funded with available
moneys from the Children's Trust Fund. The bill would also authorize
the department to accept and expend other private funds received by
the department from donations for the purposes of the program. 

   The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2020,
and repeal them by January 1, 2021. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 24523 is added to the 
 Health and Safety Code   , to read:  
   24523.  (a) The department, in consultation with the State
Department of Public Health, the Department of Justice, the Office of
Emergency Services, First Five California, and other interested
stakeholders shall, by July 1, 2015, develop and implement the Shaken
Baby Syndrome Education Program. The program is intended to use
delivery approaches and public education materials for the
presentation of information on shaken baby syndrome, based on current
scientific evidence and best practices. The program shall be in
effect for no more than five years.
   (b) The department, in consultation with the State Department of
Public Health, the Department of Justice, the Office of Emergency
Services, and First Five California, shall develop a process for the
selection of eligible counties in the state to voluntarily
participate in the program and select the counties that will
participate. A county shall participate at its option.
   (c) In designing the Shaken Baby Syndrome Education Program, using
its own experts and drawing on the expertise of stakeholders, the
department shall select the most appropriate evidence-based
approaches to provide new parents and caregivers of newborns and
young infants with information and education relating to shaken baby
syndrome, including, but not limited to, the following:
   (1) Selecting and developing instructional materials designed to
teach parents and other caregivers of infants about shaken baby
syndrome and its prevention.
   (2) Providing information and materials to parents and caregivers
of infants, based on the current best practices for the delivery of
educational and prevention-related information.
   (3) Developing an implementation plan that addresses the phasing
in, including the launch, expansion, and bringing to scale of the
core components of the evidence-based program across the state and
that incorporates additional components as appropriate to raise
awareness of shaken baby syndrome.
   (d) The department shall, by January 1, 2020, prepare and submit
to the Legislature a report evaluating the effectiveness of the
program in reducing the number of injuries and infant deaths in the
state from shaken baby syndrome, including a review of the
benchmarks, feedback about the program, and improvement
opportunities, as applicable.
   (e) The activities required by this section shall be funded with
available moneys from the Children's Trust Fund, established pursuant
to Section 18969 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, but shall not
be funded from General Fund moneys. The State Department of Social
Services may also accept and expend other private funds from
donations that are received by the department for the purposes of
this section.
   (f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and, as
of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2021, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
 
  SECTION 1.    Section 24522 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
   24522.  (a) Information and instructional materials as described
in Section 24521 shall be provided free of charge by each health
facility to parents or guardians of each newborn, upon discharge from
the health facility. In the event of a home birth attended by a
licensed midwife, the midwife shall provide the information and
instructional materials to the parents or guardians of the newborn.
   (b) The State Department of Social Services shall provide the
information and instructional materials free of charge to child care
providers upon licensure and at the time of a site visit.
   (c) The information and instructional materials provided pursuant
to this section shall focus upon the serious nature of the risk to
infants and young children presented by shaken baby syndrome.
   (d) The requirement that informational and instructional materials
be provided pursuant to this section applies only if those materials
have been supplied to those persons or entities that are required to
provide the materials. The persons or entities required to provide
these materials shall not be subject to any legal cause of action
whatsoever based on the requirements of this section.
   (e) For persons or agencies providing these materials pursuant to
this section, this section does not require the provision of
duplicative or redundant informational and instructional materials.