Amended in Assembly April 1, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 958

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Sections 3025.5 and 3111 of the Family Code, relating to child custody.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 958, as amended, Jones. Child custody: evaluations and reports.

Existing law permits a court to appoint a child custody evaluator, who, except as specified, must be licensed as a physician, as a psychologist, as a marriage and family therapist, or as a clinical social worker, to conduct a child custody evaluation and file a written confidential report on his or her evaluation in any contested child custody or visitation rights proceeding. Existing law places limitations on the disclosure of the evaluator’s written confidential report, specifying in what circumstances the written confidential report may be disclosed.

This bill would expand the circumstances in which the written confidential report may be disclosed by requiring a court to disclose the report to the licensing board governing the child custody evaluator upon receiving a written request from the board, and by allowing a person who is permitted to possess the written confidential report to provide a copy of the report to the child custody evaluator’s licensing board in, order to assist the board in investigating allegations that the child custody evaluator engaged in unprofessional conduct. This bill would also specify in what circumstances the board may utilize the report, the procedures the board must follow when utilizing the report, and to whom the board may disclose the report.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 3025.5 of the Family Code is amended
to read:

3025.5.  

(a) In any proceeding involving child custody or
visitation rights, if a report containing psychological evaluations
of a child or recommendations regarding custody of, or visitation
with, a child is submitted to the court, including, but not limited
to, a report created pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 3110) of this part, a recommendation made to the court
pursuant to Section 3183, and a written statement of issues and
contentions pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3151, that
information shall be contained in a document that shall be placed
in the confidential portion of the court file of the proceeding, and
may not be disclosed, except to the following persons:

(1) A party to the proceeding and his or her attorney.

(2) A federal or state law enforcement officer, judicial officer,
court employee, or family court facilitator of the superior court of
the county in which the action was filed, or an employee or agent
of that facilitator, acting within the scope of his or her duties.

(3) Counsel appointed for the child pursuant to Section 3150.

(4) Any other person upon order of the court for good cause.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), upon receiving a written
request from an authorized representative of the licensing board
governing a child custody evaluator who prepared a report pursuant
to Section 3111, the court shall disclose a copy of the report in
order to assist the board in investigating allegations that the child
custody evaluator engaged in unprofessional conduct related to
the creation of the report. The confidential information contained
in the report shall remain confidential except for purposes of
investigating the alleged unprofessional conduct of the child
custody evaluator, or a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding
in relation thereto. The confidential information may be used by
the licensing board in a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding. The confidential information shall be available only
to the judge or hearing officer and to the parties to the begin delete case. end delete begin insert case,
including, but not limited to, the licensing board and its witnesses. end insert
Names that are confidential shall be listed in attachments separate
from the general pleadings. The confidential information shall be
sealed after the conclusion of the criminal, civil, or administrative
hearing, and may not subsequently be released. If the confidential
information does not result in a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding, it shall be sealed after the licensing board decides that
no further action will be taken in the matter of suspected licensing
violations. begin delete Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision,
confidential information in the possession of the licensing board
may not contain the name of the minor. end delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 3111 of the Family Code is amended to read:

3111.  

(a) In any contested proceeding involving child custody
or visitation rights, the court may appoint a child custody evaluator
to conduct a child custody evaluation in cases where the court
determines it is in the best interests of the child. The child custody
evaluation shall be conducted in accordance with the standards
adopted by the Judicial Council pursuant to Section 3117, and all
other standards adopted by the Judicial Council regarding child
custody evaluations. If directed by the court, the court-appointed
child custody evaluator shall file a written confidential report on
his or her evaluation. At least 10 days before any hearing regarding
custody of the child, the report shall be filed with the clerk of the
court in which the custody hearing will be conducted and served
on the parties or their attorneys, and any other counsel appointed
for the child pursuant to Section 3150. The report may be
considered by the court.

(b) The report shall not be made available other than as provided
in subdivision (a) or (g), or as described in Section 204 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code or Section 1514.5 of the Probate
Code. Any information obtained from access to a juvenile court
case file, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 827 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, is confidential and shall only be disseminated
as provided by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 827 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(c) The report may be received in evidence on stipulation of all
interested parties and is competent evidence as to all matters
contained in the report.

(d) If the court determines that an unwarranted disclosure of a
written confidential report has been made, the court may impose
a monetary sanction against the disclosing party. The sanction
shall be in an amount sufficient to deter repetition of the conduct,
and may include reasonable attorney’s fees, costs incurred, or both,
unless the court finds that the disclosing party acted with substantial
justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of
the sanction unjust. The court shall not impose a sanction pursuant
to this subdivision that imposes an unreasonable financial burden
on the party against whom the sanction is imposed. This
subdivision shall become operative on January 1, 2010.

(e) The Judicial Council shall, by January 1, 2010, do the
following:

(1) Adopt a form to be served with every child custody
evaluation report that informs the report recipient of the
confidentiality of the report and the potential consequences for the
unwarranted disclosure of the report.

(2) Adopt a rule of court to require that, when a court-ordered
child custody evaluation report is served on the parties, the form
specified in paragraph (1) shall be included with the report.

(f) For purposes of this section, a disclosure is unwarranted if
it is done either recklessly or maliciously, and is not in the best
interests of the child.

(g) (1) A party permitted to possess the report may provide a
copy of the report to an authorized representative of the licensing
board governing the child custody evaluator who prepared the
report in order to assist the board in investigating allegations that
the child custody evaluator engaged in unprofessional conduct
related to the creation of the report. The confidential information
contained in the report shall remain confidential except for
purposes of investigating the alleged unprofessional conduct of
the child custody evaluator, or a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding in relation thereto. The confidential information may
be used by the licensing board in a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding. The confidential information shall be available only
to the judge or hearing officer and to the parties to the begin delete case. end delete begin insert case,
including, but not limited to, the licensing board and its witnesses. end insert
Names that are confidential shall be listed in attachments separate
from the general pleadings. The confidential information shall be
sealed after the conclusion of the criminal, civil, or administrative
hearing, and may not subsequently be released. If the confidential
information does not result in a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding, it shall be sealed after the licensing board decides that
no further action will be taken in the matter of suspected licensing
violations. begin delete Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision,
confidential information in the possession of the licensing board
may not contain the name of the minor. end delete

(2) For purposes of this section, a disclosure of the confidential
written report pursuant to this subdivision shall not be considered
unwarranted.