BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1432
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 26, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1432 (Gatto) - As Amended: February 11, 2014
[Note: This bill is double referred to the Public Safety
Committee and will be heard by that committee as it relates to
issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Mandated child abuse reporting: school employees:
training.
SUMMARY : Requires annual mandated reporter training of all
school district, county office of education (COE) and charter
school personnel within the first six weeks of each school year
or within six weeks of employment; and, requires the California
Department of Education (CDE) in consultation with the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to develop and disseminate
information to all school districts, COEs and charter schools on
child abuse; develop guidelines on mandated reporter
responsibilities and reporting requirements; and, develop a
means of instructing school personnel. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the requirement for the State Office of Child Abuse
Prevention to develop and disseminate information to all
school districts and district school personnel in California
regarding the detection of child abuse; deletes the
authorization for the information to be disseminated by the
use of literature, as deemed suitable by the CDE; and, deletes
the requirement for the CDE to develop staff development
seminars and any other appropriate means of instructing school
personnel in the detection of child abuse and neglect and the
proper action that school personnel should take in suspected
cases of child abuse and neglect.
2)Requires the CDE, in consultation with the Office of Child
Abuse Prevention in the DSS, to do all of the following:
a) Develop and disseminate information to all school
districts, COEs, and charter schools, and their school
personnel in California, regarding the detection and
reporting of child abuse.
b) Provide statewide guidelines on the reporting
requirements for child abuse and the responsibilities of
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mandated reporters in accordance with the Child Abuse and
Neglect Reporting Act.
c) Develop appropriate means of instructing school
personnel in the detection of child abuse and neglect and
the proper action that school personnel should take in
suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, including, but
not limited to, an online training module.
3)Requires all school personnel of school districts, COEs, and
charter schools to annually receive training on the mandated
reporting requirements; requires mandated reporter training to
be provided to school personnel hired during the course of the
school year; and, requires the training to include information
on child abuse and neglect identification and child abuse and
neglect reporting and that failure 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, or by a fine of one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
4)Requires all school personnel of school districts, COEs, and
charter schools to submit proof of completing the mandated
reporter training required to the applicable governing board
or body of the school district, COE, or charter school within
the first six weeks of each school year or within six weeks of
employment.
5)Requires school districts, COEs, and charter schools that do
not train their employees in the duties of mandated reporters
under the child abuse reporting laws to report to the CDE the
reasons why this training is not provided.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA)
which specifies the following types of people are mandated
reporters, among others:
a) A teacher.
b) An instructional aide.
c) A teacher's aide or teacher's assistant employed by a
public or private school.
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d) A classified employee of a public school.
e) An administrative officer or supervisor of child welfare
and attendance, or a certificated pupil personnel employee
of a public or private school.
f) An employee of a county office of education or the CDE
whose duties bring the employee into contact with children
on a regular basis.
g) An employee of a school district police or security
department.
h) A person who is an administrator or presenter of, or a
counselor in, a child abuse prevention program in a public
or private school. (Penal Code 11164, et seq.)
2)Requires the State Office of Child Abuse Prevention to develop
and disseminate information to all school districts and
district school personnel in California regarding the
detection of child abuse. The information may be disseminated
by the use of literature, as deemed suitable by the CDE. Staff
development seminars and any other appropriate means of
instructing school personnel in the detection of child abuse
and neglect and the proper action that school personnel should
take in suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, shall be
developed by the CDE. (Education Code 44691)
3)Requires school districts and COEs to create comprehensive
school safety plans for their schools; and, requires the
school safety plan to include child abuse reporting procedures
consistent with Article 2.5 of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4
of the Penal Code. (Education Code 32282)
4)Requires an employer having 50 or more employees to provide at
least two hours of classroom or other effective interactive
training regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory
employees in California, and to all new supervisory employees
within six months of their assumption of a supervisory
position; and, specifies each employer shall provide sexual
harassment training and education to each supervisory employee
in California once every two years. (Government Code 12950.1)
5)Specifies that employers are strongly encouraged to provide
their employees who are mandated reporters with training in
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the duties imposed. This training shall include training in
child abuse and neglect identification and training in child
abuse and neglect reporting; and, specifies that school
districts that do not train their employees in the duties of
mandated reporters under the child abuse reporting laws shall
report to the CDE the reasons why this training is not
provided. (Penal Code 11165.7)
6)Requires any mandated reporter, with the exception of child
visitation monitors, prior to commencing his or her
employment, and as a prerequisite to that employment, shall
sign a statement on a form provided to him or her by his or
her employer to the effect that he or she has knowledge of the
mandated reporting procedures and will comply with those
provisions; and, specifies the statement shall inform the
employee that he or she is a mandated reporter and inform the
employee of his or her reporting obligations and of his or her
confidentiality rights. The employer shall provide a copy of
Sections 11165.7, 11166, and 11167 to the employee. (Penal
Code 11166.5)
7)Requires that when a person is issued a state license or
certificate to engage in a profession or occupation that is a
mandated reporter, the state agency issuing the license or
certificate shall send a statement substantially similar to
the one contained in #6 above to the person at the same time
as it transmits the document indicating licensure or
certification to the person; specifies the statement also
shall indicate that failure to comply with the requirements of
Section 11166 is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months
in a county jail, by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000),
or by both that imprisonment and fine; and, specifies as an
alternative, a state agency may cause the required statement
to be printed on all application forms for a license or
certificate printed on or after January 1, 1986. (Penal Code
11166.5)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill requires annual mandated reporter training
of all school district, COE and charter school personnel within
the first six weeks of each school year or within six weeks of
employment; and, requires employers that do not provide this
training to report to the CDE the reasons why it was not
provided. Requires CDE and DSS to develop and disseminate
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information to all school districts, COEs and charter schools on
child abuse; develop guidelines on mandated reporter
responsibilities and reporting requirements; and, develop a
means of instructing school personnel. The author may wish to
consider clarifying whether the "means of instructing school
personnel" that CDE is developing, is a model instructional plan
that districts can choose to use or whether it is required that
districts use this training model.
According to the author, "In recent years, there has been an
alarming increase in incidents of unreported child abuse where
one or more additional school employees were aware of the
incident- illustrating gaping holes in these mandated reporters'
knowledge of CANRA. In the Redwood City School District, a
teacher was arrested in the abuse of two five-year-old special
needs students. In the wake of this horrible incident, five
staff members were fired for failing to report the abuse despite
their knowledge of it."
Further the author states, "Despite the Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act's clear reporting requirements, school districts
are merely "encouraged" rather than required to provide
employees who qualify as mandated reporters with training on
either abuse identification or abuse reporting. The absence of
training is a failure of our system that leaves millions of
students at risk every single day."
According to Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training Project
(CAMRTP) in California, it is estimated that four children die
each day in this country as a result of child abuse and neglect.
The Federal Child abuse Reporting act was passed in 1974 to
address this issue. Over the years, numerous amendments have
expanded the definition of child abuse and the list of persons
who are required to report suspected child abuse. The CAMRTP is
funded by the DSS, Office of Child abuse Prevention (OCAP) and
the goal of this project is to have free training available for
mandated child abuse reporters so they may carry out their
responsibilities properly. Currently the CAMRTP provides free
online training modules that are specifically tailored for
educators.
Reports to CDE : While districts are required to report to CDE if
they are not providing training to employees regarding their
duties as mandated reporters, CDE has never to date received a
report from a school district regarding why they do not provide
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training for mandated reporters.
Related Legislation : AB 135 (Buchanan), which is pending in the
Senate, requires school districts, COEs and charter schools to
adopt a policy on child abuse reporting and mandated reporter
responsibilities. Requires those entities to, at a minimum,
review the policy with all school personnel within in the first
six weeks of each school year, as part of a regularly scheduled
staff meeting.
AB 2016 (Campos) which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, requires credential holders to complete a mandated
reporter training program every two years and submit
verification to the CTC during credential renewal.
AB 2560 (Bonilla), which is pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, requires, upon credential renewal, an applicant to
read and sign a statement that they understand their duties as a
mandated reporter.
AB 1338 (Buchanan), from 2013, which was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, would have required the governing
board of a school district and county office of education (COE)
and the governing body of a charter school, to adopt a policy on
the reporting of child abuse and the responsibilities of
mandated reporters in accordance with the Child Abuse and
Neglect and Reporting Act (CANRA).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Police Chiefs Association
California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing and Coordination Center
EdVoice
Keenan & Associates
National Association of Social Workers
Regional Liability Excess Fund
Schools Association for Excess Risk JPA
Statewide Association of Community Colleges
StudentsFirst
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087