BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 2141 (Hall) - Truancy Mediation or Prosecution Outcomes Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0 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 2141 requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent for a truancy-related matter to provide the outcome of the case to the referring agency. Fiscal Impact: Mandates: Potentially significant reimbursable mandate, likely in the millions of dollars annually, on a local prosecuting agencies and local agencies that conduct truancy-related mediation to communicate the outcome of any referral to the referring entity, as well as to provide the outcomes of every truancy referral to the Attorney General (AG), in an anonymized format, upon request. Background: Existing law defines a truant as a student who is absent for 3 full days, or tardy or absent for more than a 30-minute period on 3 occasions, without a valid excuse in one school year. Truants must be reported to the attendance supervisor or superintendent of the school district. School districts are required to notify the student's parent upon the initial classification of truancy. (Education Code § 48260 et. seq.) Existing law defines a habitual truant as a student who has been reported as a truant 3 or more times per school year (absent or tardy without an excuse for at least 5 days). It also requires school districts to first make a conscientious effort to hold at least one conference with a parent and the student prior to classifying the student as a habitual truant. (EC § 48262) Existing law defines a chronic truant as a student who is absent without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in the year, provided that the appropriate school district officer or AB 2141 (Hall) Page 1 employee has complied with existing reporting and intervention requirements. (EC § 48263.6) Existing law authorizes, but does not require, a county and/or local Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) to be established. If established, SARB membership must include parents, school districts, county probation, county welfare, county superintendent of schools, law enforcement, community-based youth services, and personnel representing school guidance, child welfare and attendance, school or county health care, and mental health. (EC § 48321) School districts may refer the student to, and the student is required to attend, a SARB or a truancy mediation program. The student may be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court if the student does not successfully complete the truancy mediation program. (EC § 48264.5(c)) Existing law further requires the governing board of each school district to direct school district staff to transmit to the county superintendent of schools the number and type of referrals to SARBs and the requests for petitions to juvenile courts. (EC § 48273) Existing law requires the Annual Report on Dropouts in California to include, when data is available, truancy rates and chronic absentee rates. (EC § 48070.6) Existing law requires school districts to gather and transmit to the county superintendent of schools the number and types of referrals to SARBs and of requests for petitions to the juvenile court. (EC § 48273) Existing law also generally provides for the jurisdiction of the juvenile court over a person under the age of 18 who "persistently or habitually refuses to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian, or who is beyond the control of that person," or who violates curfew offenses, as specified. These types of offenses are known generally as "status" offenses - acts that are illegal only if committed by juveniles. (Welfare and Institutions Code § 601) Proposed Law: This bill requires a state or local agency AB 2141 (Hall) Page 2 conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent for a truancy-related matter to provide the outcome of the case to the referring agency. Specifically, this bill: 1) Requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent to provide the outcome of each referral to the school district, SARB, county superintendent of schools, probation department, or any other agency that referred a truancy-related mediation, criminal complaint, or petition. 2) Defines "outcome" to include, but not be limited to, the imposed conditions or terms placed on a pupil or a pupil's parent or legal guardian and the acts or actions taken by a state or local authority with respect to a truancy-related mediation, prosecution, criminal complaint, or petition. 3) Requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent to provide the outcome of each referral in anonymized format to the AG upon request. 4) Provides that state and local agencies are to use the most cost-effective method possible including by electronic mail or telephone. 5) States legislative intent to determine the best evidence-based practices to reduce truancy, and that this bill is not intended to encourage additional referrals, complaints, petitions, or prosecutions, or to encourage more serious sanctions for students. Staff Comments: This bill would require a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent for a truancy-related matter to provide the outcome of the case to the referring agency. The bill places new requirements on DAs, as well as county probation departments and SARBs, which can conduct truancy-related mediations. While it is likely that many local entities affected by these requirements already provide outcome information to the referring agency (often a school district), this bill statutorily requires a higher level of service from local government entities. The Commission on State Mandates is likely to deem any new AB 2141 (Hall) Page 3 workload imposed by this bill to be a reimbursable state mandate. If so, even local entities that already provide outcome information to the referring agency would also be eligible to be reimbursed by the state for reporting the outcome of every case. Local entities could also incur costs to modify procedures for tracking and reporting outcomes, and any staff time spent doing so would be reimbursable. This bill further requires that local prosecuting agencies and those conducting truancy-related mediations report the outcome of every case in an anonymized format to the AG upon request. The discretion and authority is left to the AG to make a request of any or all qualifying local entities. If requested, those local entities would be statutorily required (by this bill) to provide the information. This bill functionally mandates that local agencies keep the information, and store it in an anonymized format that can be transmitted upon request. The activities undertaken by locals to do so would likely be deemed to be a reimbursable state mandate by the Commission on State Mandates.