Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 883

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooley

February 22, 2013

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 18974) to Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to child sexual abuse begin insert , and making an appropriation therefor end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 883, as amended, Cooley. Child sexual abuse: prevention and intervention programs.

Existing law authorizes the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to fund, through allocations provided to local counties, child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs.

This bill would begin delete state the intent of the Legislature to end delete begin insert establishes the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program to end insert create a pilot program in each begin insert end insert begin insert participating end insert county to begin insert provide child sexual abuse prevention and intervention services or end insert fully fund agencies and private or nonprofit programs that provide begin delete child sexual abuse prevention and intervention end delete begin insert those end insert services. begin insert The bill would annually appropriate from the General Fund $70,000 to each county that conducts a pilot program end insert begin insert , thereby making an appropriation. end insert The bill would provide that public and private agencies shall be eligible for this funding if specified evidence is provided and would encourage counties to give priority for funding to existing programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in child sexual abuse or prevention. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.

Vote:  begin delete majority end delete begin insert ²⁄₃ end insert . Appropriation:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Children are a precious resource in the state and country.

(b) Victims of child abuse and neglect are at higher risk for
alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, eating disorders, obesity,
suicide, and other chronic adult health problems.

(c) Child abuse and neglect costs the United States at least $97.5
billion per year.

(d) Preventative services and training can significantly reduce
the incidences of child abuse, stabilize families, and contribute to
a reduction in crime.

begin insert

(e) While child sexual abuse programs that address increased
reporting after-the-fact are critical to the child victims, it should
be the goal of all Californians to promote adult and community
responsibility to prevent child sexual abuse.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

Article 7 (commencing with Section 18974) is added
to Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

 

Article 7.  Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Intervention
Programs

 

18974.  

(a)  begin delete It is the intent of the Legislature to end delete begin insert The Child Sexual
Abuse Prevention Program is hereby established as a pilot
program in each participating county to provide child sexual abuse
prevention and intervention services or end insert fully fund agencies and
private or nonprofit programs that provide child sexual abuse
prevention and intervention services begin delete by creating a pilot program
in each county to provide those services end delete .

(b)  begin delete It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a minimum of
$70,000 end delete begin insert The sum of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) is hereby
appropriated annually from the General Fund end insert to each county begin delete for
the end delete begin insert that conducts a end insert pilot program begin insert end insert begin insert under the provisions of this
article to prevent and reduce child sexual abuse end insert .

(c) Each county is encouraged to efficiently use these funds by
giving priority to programs currently serving the needs of children
at risk of sexual abuse that have demonstrated effectiveness in
child sexual abuse prevention or intervention.

18974.1.  

Public and private agencies shall be eligible for
funding provided that evidence is submitted as part of the
application for funding to demonstrate broad-based community
support. The evidence shall further demonstrate that the proposed
services are not duplicated in the community, are based on needs
of children at risk, and are supported by a local public agency,
including, but not limited to, one of the following:

(a) The county welfare department.

(b) A public law enforcement agency.

(c) The county probation department.

(d) The county board of supervisors.

(e) The county public health department.

(f) The county mental health department.

(g)  begin delete The end delete begin insert Any end insert school district.

begin insert

begin insert 18974.2. end insert   

(a) Each pilot program may propose a multiyear
plan that identifies how to advance all of the following objectives:

(1) Fostering community coalitions and networks for preventing
and reducing child sexual abuse.

(2) Strengthening individual knowledge and skills in identifying
risks and prevention techniques of child sexual abuse.

(3) Promoting community education.

(4) Educating providers of children services.

(5) Changing children’s organizations practices to reduce the
possibility of child sexual abuse.

(b) Each pilot program may create guidelines to assess the
community’s overall understanding of child sexual abuse.

(c) Each pilot program may create and track data to objectively
measure changes in the community condition and attitudes towards
child sexual abuse by performing certain tasks, including, but not
limited, to the following:

(1) Reviewing local sexual violence data, police reports, and
reports of child sexual abuse to measure any change in reporting.

(2) Identifying risk factors and protective factors particular to
each community.

(3) Tracking increases in preventative and treatment services
within the community for child sexual abuse.

(d) Each pilot program may develop local prevention plans.

end insert