BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 1432 (Gatto) - School Employees: Training on Child Abuse Reporting Amended: August 4, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0; Pub Safety 5-2 Urgency: No Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: August 4, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 1432 requires local education agencies (LEAs) to annually train employees on their duties regarding the mandated reporting of child abuse and neglect, as specified. Fiscal Impact: California Department of Education (CDE): Potentially significant one-time costs, likely in the tens of thousands of dollars, to coordinate with the Department of Social Services (DSS) to update the DSS training module, disseminate information to schools, and provide guidance on the new requirements. Minor ongoing workload to provide annual guidance. DSS: Minor and absorbable workload to coordinate with the CDE to update the online training module. Mandate: Substantial reimbursable mandate for all schools to annually train employees on their duties as mandated reporters. Background: Under the existing Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), all school district teachers and employees are considered to be "mandated reporters," including instructional aides, teacher assistants, classified employees, and employees of a school district police or security department. Mandated reporters are required to report to any law enforcement department knowledge or observations they may have of a child they know or reasonably suspect to have been the subject of child abuse or neglect. The individual report must be made by telephone immediately or as soon as practicable with a written or electronic follow up within 36 hours. CANRA also specifies that employers are strongly encouraged to AB 1432 (Gatto) Page 1 provide their employees who are mandated reporters with training in the duties imposed, including training in child abuse and neglect identification and training in child abuse and neglect reporting. School districts that do not train their employees in the duties of mandated reporters are required to report to the CDE the reasons why this training is not provided. Additionally, current law requires any mandated reporter, with the exception of child visitation monitors, prior to commencing his or her employment, to sign a statement affirming that he or she has knowledge of the mandated reporting procedures and will comply with those provisions. Further, current law provides that 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 confidentiality rights. (Penal Code § 11164 et seq.) Existing law also requires the State Office of Child Abuse Prevention to develop and disseminate information to all school districts and district school personnel 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) Existing law also requires the State Office of Child Abuse Prevention to develop and disseminate information to all school districts and district school personnel 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) Proposed Law: This bill requires LEAs to annually train employees on their duties regarding the mandated reporting of child abuse and neglect. This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to do all of the following: AB 1432 (Gatto) Page 2 1) Develop and disseminate information to all school districts, county offices of education (COEs), state special schools and diagnostic centers, and charter schools, regarding the detection and reporting of child abuse. 2) Provide statewide guidance on the responsibilities of mandated reporters in accordance with the CANRA, as specified. 3) 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 to be provided by the DSS. This bill requires all school districts, COEs, state special schools and diagnostic centers, and charter schools to do the following: 1) Provide annual training, as specified, to their employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated reporters, as defined. 2) Develop a process for all persons required to receive training to provide proof of completing the training within the first six weeks of each school year or within the first six weeks of that person's employment. 3) Requires a school district, COE, state special school and diagnostic center, and charter school that does not use the online training module provided by DSS to report the training being used in its place to the CDE. Staff Comments: In order to implement this bill, the DSS will need to (in consultation with the CDE) update its online training module to align with educator needs, to provide it to schools. The DSS has a contract with the Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children's Hospital, to house and operate the online mandated reporter training module, and AB 1432 (Gatto) Page 3 indicates that the Chadwick Center would absorb the workload to do the update. The CDE will then develop statewide guidance on implementation, as well as information about detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect, and disseminate the information. These activities will take significant CDE staff time. Ongoing workload to provide updates to statewide guidance, training module, and information on child abuse and neglect would likely be minor. The most significant costs of this bill will be its requirements on LEAs to annually train their employees through the DSS-provided training module or other local training option. The annual training requirement will likely be deemed by the Commission on State Mandates to be reimbursable, and that would apply to all LEAs, even if they already provide annual mandated reporter training. There are more than 300,000 certificated school employees, and more than 500,000 classified employees. If each one completed a 30-minute training on mandate reporting, annual reimbursable costs for staff time would likely exceed $50 million (General Fund). LEAs would also incur reimbursable costs to develop and implement a process for providing proof of completion.