BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1432 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014 Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Tom Ammiano, Chair AB 1432 (Gatto) - As Amended: February 11, 2014 As Proposed to be Amended in Committee SUMMARY : Requires annual training in the identification of, and reporting of, known or suspected child abuse and neglect by all school district, county office of education (COE), state special schools, and diagnostic centers operated by the California Department of Education (CDE), and charter school personnel within the first six weeks of each school year, or within six weeks of employment. 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 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, and deletes the definition of "school personnel". 2)Requires CDE, in consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention in the Department of Social Services, to do all of the following: a) Develop and disseminate information to all school districts, COEs, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by CDE, and charter schools, and their school personnel in California, regarding the detection and reporting of child abuse; b) Provide statewide guidelines on the identification and reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect, and the responsibilities of mandated reporters in accordance with AB 1432 Page 2 the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA); and, 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 school districts, COEs, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by CDE, and charter schools to annually provide training, as appropriate, to their employees and persons working on their behalf, who are mandated reporters, 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)States that all persons required to receive training, as specified, shall submit proof of completing the mandated reporter training required to the applicable governing board or body of the school district, COE, state special school and diagnostic center, or charter school within the first six weeks of each school year or within six weeks of employment. 5)Requires school districts, COEs, state special schools, and diagnostic centers operated by the CDE, and charter schools to annually train their employees and persons working on their behalf in the duties of mandated reporters under the CANRA. The training shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, training in child abuse and neglect identification and child abuse and neglect reporting. EXISTING LAW : 1)Defines "mandated reporter" under CANRA as any of the following: a teacher; an instructional aide; a teacher's aide or teacher's assistant employed by any public or private school; a classified employee of any public school; an AB 1432 Page 3 administrative officer or supervisor of child welfare and attendance, or a certificated pupil personnel employee of any public or private school; an administrator of a public or private day camp; an administrator or employee of a public or private youth center, youth recreation program, or youth organization; an administrator or employee of a public or private organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision of children; any employee of a county office of education or the State Department of Education, whose duties bring the employee into contact with children on a regular basis; a licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed community care or child day care facility; a Head Start program teacher; a licensing worker or licensing evaluator employed by a licensing agency as defined; a public assistance worker; an employee of a child care institution, including, but not limited to, foster parents, group home personnel, and personnel of residential care facilities; a social worker, probation officer, or parole officer; an employee of a school district police or security department; any person who is an administrator or presenter of, or a counselor in, a child abuse prevention program in any public or private school; a district attorney investigator, inspector, or local child support agency caseworker unless the investigator, inspector, or caseworker is working with an attorney appointed to represent a minor; a peace officer, as defined, who is not otherwise described in this section; a firefighter, except for volunteer firefighters; a physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist, resident, intern, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse, dental hygienist, optometrist, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or any other person who is currently licensed as a health care professional as specified; any emergency medical technician I or II, paramedic, or other person certified to provide emergency medical services; a registered psychological assistant; a marriage and family therapist trainee, as defined; a registered unlicensed marriage and family therapist intern; a state or county public health employee who treats a minor for venereal disease or any other condition; a coroner; a medical examiner, or any other person who performs autopsies; a commercial film and photographic print processor, as defined; a child visitation monitor, as defined; an animal control officer or humane society officer, as defined; a clergy member, as defined; any custodian of records of a clergy member, as specified; any employee of any police AB 1432 Page 4 department, county sheriff's department, county probation department, or county welfare department; an employee or volunteer of a Court Appointed Special Advocate program, as defined; any custodial officer, as defined; any person providing services to a minor child, as specified; an alcohol and drug counselor, as defined; a clinical counselor trainee, as defined; and a registered clinical counselor intern. (Pen. Code, § 11165.7 subd. (a).) 2)Provides that when two or more persons, who are required to report, jointly have knowledge of a known or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect, and when there is agreement among them, the telephone report may be made by a member of the team selected by mutual agreement and a single report may be made and signed by the selected member of the reporting team. Any member who has knowledge that the member designated to report has failed to do so shall thereafter make the report. (Pen. Code, § 11166, subd. (h).) 3)Provides that volunteers of public or private organizations, except a volunteer of a Court Appointed Special Advocate program, whose duties require direct contact with and supervision of children are not mandated reporters but are encouraged to obtain training in the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect and are further encouraged to report known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect to a specified agency. (Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (b).) 4)Strongly encourages employers to provide their employees who are mandated reporters with training in the duties imposed by CANRA. This training shall include training in child abuse and neglect identification and training in child abuse and neglect reporting. Whether or not employers provide their employees with training in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting, the employers shall provide their employees who are mandated reporters with a statement that informs the employee that he or she is a mandated reporter and informs the employee of his or her reporting obligations and of his or her confidentiality rights. (Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (c).) 5)Encourages public and private organizations to provide their volunteers whose duties require direct contact with and supervision of children with training in the identification AB 1432 Page 5 and reporting of child abuse and neglect. (Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (f).) 6)Requires a mandated reporter to make a report to a specified agency whenever the mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. The mandated reporter shall make an initial report to the agency immediately or as soon as is practicably possible by telephone and the mandated reporter shall prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a written follow-up report thereof within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident. The mandated reporter may include with the report any nonprivileged documentary evidence the mandated reporter possesses relating to the incident. (Pen. Code, § 11166, subd. (a).) 7)Any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect as required by this section 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. If a mandated reporter intentionally conceals his or her failure to report an incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe neglect under this section, the failure to report is a continuing offense until a specified agency discovers the offense. (Pen. Code, § 11166, subd. (c).) 8)Defines "child" under CANRA to mean person under the age of 18 years. (Pen. Code, § 11165.) 9)Defines "child abuse or neglect" under CANRA to include physical injury or death inflicted by other than accidental means upon a child by another person, sexual abuse as defined, neglect as defined, the willful harming or injuring of a child or the endangering of the person or health of a child as defined, and unlawful corporal punishment or injury as defined. "Child abuse or neglect" does not include a mutual affray between minors. "Child abuse or neglect" does not include an injury caused by reasonable and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer. (Pen. Code, § AB 1432 Page 6 11165.6.) 10)Requires any person who reasonably believes that he or she has observed the commission of any of the following offenses where the victim is a child under the age of 14 years shall notify a peace officer: a) Murder; b) Rape; and, c) Any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person. (Pen. Code, § 152.3, subd. (a).) 11)States that the failure to notify as required pursuant to the provisions above is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,500, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (Pen. Code, § 152.3, subd. (c).) 12)Excludes from the reporting requirements above the following: a) A person who is related to either the victim or the offender, including a husband, wife, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, or other person related by consanguinity or affinity; b) A person who fails to report based on a reasonable mistake of fact; and, c) A person who fails to report based on a reasonable fear for his or her own safety or for the safety of his or her family. (Pen. Code, § 152.3, subd. (e).) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : AB 1432 Page 7 1)Author's Statement : 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's. 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. "In the Brentwood Union School District, eleven employees knew but failed to tell authorities about an incident in which a special education teacher, who had already been convicted of child abuse, kicked an autistic student. The incident resulted in a $950,000 settlement to the student's family. Although district documents in the Brentwood case illustrate that school officials conducted an internal investigation into the incident, parents ultimately reported the incident to police. "Despite CANRA'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." 2)Prior Legislation: a) AB 1435 (Dickinson, Chapter 520, Statutes of 2012, added athletic coaches, athletic administrators, and athletic directors employed by any public or private school that provides any combination of instruction for Kindergarten, or Grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to the list of individuals who are mandated reporters under CANRA. b) AB 1713 (Campos), Chapter 517, Statutes of 2012, made "image processors" mandated reporters under CANRA and expanded the list of media subject to CANRA provisions. c) AB 1817 (Atkins), Chapter 521, Statutes of 2012, made "commercial computer technicians" mandated reporters of suspected child abuse and neglect for the purpose CANRA. AB 1432 Page 8 d) SB 1264 (Vargas), Chapter 518, Statutes of 2012, added any athletic coach, including, but not limited to, an assistant coach or a graduate assistant involved in coaching, at public or private postsecondary institutions, to the list of individuals who are mandated reporters under CANRA. e) AB 2380 (Lowenthal), Chapter 123, Statutes of 2010, clarified that a "reasonable suspicion" that a child has been a victim of child abuse or neglect does not require certainty that a child has been abused, and may be based on credible information from other individuals. f) AB 673 (Hayashi), Chapter 393, Statutes of 2007, added death by other than accidental means to the definition of "child abuse and neglect," and clarified that a mandated reporter not acting in his or her private capacity or in the course and scope of his or her employment may report instances of known or suspected child abuse. g) AB 525 (Chu), Chapter 701, Statutes of 2006, expanded the definition of "child abuse and neglect" to include instances in which a child suffers or is at substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage. h) AB 1241 (Rod Pacheco), Chapter 916, Statutes of 2000, expanded the list of mandated reporters and training requirements under CANRA, and required that specified additional information be included in a report of suspected abuse or neglect. i) SB 646 (Watson), Chapter 1444, Statutes of 1987, established CANRA, which requires specified persons who have knowledge of or observe a child in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, whom the person knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse to report the known or suspected instance of child abuse to a child protective agency, as defined. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California State PTA California State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 1432 Page 9 California Teachers Association Child Abuse Prevention Center Keenan and Associates Los Angeles Unified School District CALICO California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO California Federation of Teachers California Police Chiefs Association Schools Association for Excess Risk JPA Statewide Association of Community Colleges Regional Liability Excess Fund California Catholic Conference of Bishops EdVoice CSAC Excess Insurance Authority National Association of Social Workers United Teachers Los Angeles Opposition None Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744