BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2379
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 8, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 2379 (Weber) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Abuse of dependent adults: multidisciplinary teams.
SUMMARY : Expands access to a dependent minor's case file to
include adult protective services personnel. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Adds to the list of individuals who may access a current or
former foster youth's case file, members of a
multidisciplinary team that is responsible for the treatment
or supervision of an adult who was a dependent of the court.
2)Amends the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection
Act to include child welfare services personnel on an adult
protective services (APS) multidisciplinary team.
3)Adds adult protective services personnel to the
multidisciplinary team established under the state's Office of
Child Abuse Prevention.
EXISTING LAW
1)Provides that access to a dependent minor's case file may be
provided to specified individuals, including but not limited
to the juvenile court judge, court personnel, any attorneys
involved with the youth's case, the youth in foster care, the
youth's parents or guardians, educational personnel,
Department of Social Services (DSS) personnel, county welfare
agency (CWA) personnel, members of the youth's
multidisciplinary team, and any other person as designated by
the juvenile court, as specified. (WIC 827)
2)Permits the court, upon receipt of a petition, to release
publicly the case file of a deceased dependent minor, except
for a ward who was under the delinquency jurisdiction of the
court, after all interested parties have been notified and
provided opportunity to object to the release of the case
file, as follows:
a) Provides that the court may only release the portion of
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the case file relating to the contents of the petition and
provides that the juvenile case file may not be released if
it is protected by another state law or federal law or
regulation if disclosure would be detrimental to the
safety, protection, or physical or emotional well-being of
a child who is directly or indirectly connected to the
juvenile case that is the subject of the petition. (WIC
827(a)(2) and (a)(3))
3)Prohibits the redisclosure of a juvenile case file, as
specified, and information relating to the content of the
juvenile case file, by any entity that has been granted
access, as specified, and specifies the individuals who may
either receive access to or copies of the case file. (WIC
827(a)(4) and (a)(5))
4)Establishes the State Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP),
within DSS, to plan, improve, develop, and carry out programs
and activities relating to the prevention, identification and
treatment of child abuse and neglect. (WIC 18951)
5)Authorizes OCAP to develop plans to fulfill the requirements
of any federal act providing for the establishment and
maintenance of pilot projects for the prevention,
identification, and treatment of child abuse to facilitate the
receipt and allocation of federal funds for planning,
research, demonstration and special project grants. (WIC
18955)
6)Defines "multidisciplinary personnel" as any team of three or
more persons who are trained in the prevention,
identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or
neglect cases, as specified, which may include, as specified,
trained counseling personnel, law enforcement, medical
personnel, social workers, public or private school personnel,
and a California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKs) case worker. (WIC 18951(d))
7)Provides a secondary definition of a "child abuse
multidisciplinary personnel team," similar to a
"multidisciplinary personnel" team under WIC 18951(d), but
decreases its size to two or more persons and excludes a
CalWORKs case manager. (WIC 18961.7(b)(1))
8)For counties that establish a "multidisciplinary personnel"
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team, requires the team to provide recommendations to the
county board of supervisors on the processes and priorities of
projects and services funded through OCAP. (WIC 18691)
9)Permits a computerized database to be established for the
sharing of information for both a "multidisciplinary
personnel" team and a "child abuse multidisciplinary personnel
team" and provides specific requirements on who may enter in,
access, and disclose information in the database. (WIC
18961.5)
10)Provides that, notwithstanding Section 827 of the WIC, which
governs access to a dependent minor's case file, during a
30-day period, or longer if documented good cause exists,
members of a "child abuse multidisciplinary personnel team"
may discuss and disclose information with each other relative
to the report of a child abuse or neglect, but prohibits
testimony concerning that discussion from being admissible in
any criminal, civil, or juvenile court proceeding. (WIC
18961.7(c)(1))
11)Establishes the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil
Protection Act (EADACPA), which declares that infirm elderly
persons and dependent adults are a disadvantaged class, and
provides that adult protective services (APS), long-term care
ombudsman programs, and law enforcement agencies receive
referrals and complaints from mandated reporters and the
public regarding allegations of elder or dependent abuse or
neglect and shall take necessary actions, as specified. (WIC
15600)
12)For purposes of identifying, developing and providing
services to abused or neglected elder or dependent adults,
defines a "multidisciplinary personnel team" as a team of two
or more persons who are trained in the prevention,
identification, management, or treatment of abuse of elderly
or dependent adults and who are qualified to provide a broad
range of services related to abuse of elderly or dependent
adults; also provides that a multidisciplinary team may
include, as specified, counseling personnel, law enforcement
agencies, medical personnel, social workers, public guardians,
and long-term care ombudsman personnel. (WIC 15610.55)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
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COMMENTS :
Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (EADACPA) :
Established in 1982, the state adopted the EADACPA in
recognition that elderly (60 years and older) and dependent
adults (ages 18-60 who are disabled) who, because of their age
and disabilities are at greater risk of abuse, neglect, and
abandonment. Under this Act, state and local governments are
provided authority and a uniform process for the identification,
reporting and investigation of abuse against an elder or
dependent adult. It provides adult protective services
agencies, state and local long-term care (LTC) ombudsman
programs, and law enforcement agencies authority to receive
referrals or complaints; take actions necessary to protect the
elder or dependent adult; and correct the situation and ensure
the individual's safety.
Adult Protective Services : Each county has an APS agency to
help elder adults and dependent adults, when they are unable to
meet their own needs, or are victims of abuse, neglect or
exploitation. These agencies are responsible for investigating
reports of abuse against the elderly and dependent adults under
the care of a relative or caregiver. This includes conducting
needs assessments and providing a system for the reporting of
abuse and the provision of preventative services, including
food, transportation, emergency shelter and in-home protective
care. It also allows for the use of multidisciplinary teams as
a means of assessing system performance and developing
interagency treatment strategies to ensure maximum coordination
with existing community resources, access services for the
elderly and dependent adults, and avoiding duplication of
efforts and services.
Child Welfare Services : The purpose of California's Child
Welfare Services (CWS) system is to provide for the protection
and the health and safety of children. Within this purpose, the
desired outcome is to reunite children with their biological
parents, when appropriate, to help preserve and strengthen
families. In the case of children who are at risk of abuse,
neglect or abandonment, county juvenile courts hold legal
jurisdiction and children are served by the CWS system through
the appointment of a social worker. Associated with the
placement, the assigned social worker shall develop a case plan
for the child, which outlines the placement for the child, sets
forth services necessary for the child, and outlines the
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provision of reunification services, if necessary and
appropriate.
In many cases, to provide coordinated services and to better
identify necessary services for the child while in foster care,
a county welfare agency, as provided for under law, may initiate
the establishment of a multidisciplinary team. Depending on its
purpose and the type of authority cited, a multidisciplinary
team can consist of, at minimum, two people with expertise in
providing counseling, educational, medical, mental health, or
other related services for a child in foster care. However,
current law provides multiple definitions of a multidisciplinary
team, which, as provided for in Section 827 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, permits members of the team to access the
child's case file. The case file is the formal record used to
identify, describe and record the circumstances of the child's
placement into foster care, the types of services he or she
should receive or is entitled, and the goals and outcomes
necessary to achieve reunification with his or her family or to
reach permanency through guardianship or adoption. The case
file is also protected by specific confidentiality and access
requirements under law, in recognition of the sensitive and
delicate information contained within them. Only specified
individuals may gain access to the case file and in limited
circumstances, unless specified in law. This is in
acknowledgement that the child is a minor and is afforded
certain privacy and confidentiality protections so as to avoid
the re-victimization of an already victimized youth.
Need for this bill : Stating the need for the bill, the author
writes:
"In an effort to increase collaboration and to identify
potential caregivers of older or dependent adults that may
have been known to abuse or neglect children in their care
in the past, this bill seeks to make a simple change to the
W&IC to bring added tools of protection to the vulnerable
residents in our region. Current state law that governs
multidisciplinary teams does not explicitly allow for
participation and information sharing between Child Welfare
Services (CWS) and Adult Protective Services (APS). The
code as written delineates exactly who can be on the
multidisciplinary team, and does not currently allow for
CWS to sit on an APS team and vice-versa.
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"There are two recent cases in San Diego of young dependent
adults who are suspected of being abused. Both cases are
those of victims with intellectual disabilities who are
reportedly being abused by a parent. APS workers in these
two cases are precluded by law from asking for case
information from CWS workers. In addition to these cases
there has been a well-documented case in the media in 2010
of a dependent adult victim who was neglected by his
caregivers- his mother and brother- and subsequently died.
"The ability to know if parents who have abused and
neglected their children and now being assigned as their
child's caregiver when they are dependent adults is crucial
to help prevent future abuse of these victims."
Staff comments : As written, this measure allows an APS worker
to participate in a foster youth's CWS multidisciplinary team
and vice versa. The intent is to ensure that APS and CWS can
share information so as to allow for greater communication and
coordination of services to avoid allowing a dependent child to
continue living with an abusive parent or caregiver who can
continue to abuse them as a vulnerable adult.
Although well intended, it is unclear whether it is necessary
for an APS worker to serve on a foster youth's multidisciplinary
team. APS workers are trained and have experience identifying
and addressing the abuse of elderly and disabled adults.
However, allowing an APS worker to participate on a CWS
multidisciplinary team may grant unnecessary access to a minor's
sensitive and otherwise protected information, such as
information included in the foster youth's case file.
Additionally, it is unclear whether the information included in
the case file is relevant to the APS worker while the child is
under the care of the local CWS agency.
It is also unclear whether a child in foster care would benefit
from an APS worker's involvement in his or her multidisciplinary
team on the expectation that the child could have interaction
with APS later in life. For example, it does not seem effective
to have an APS worker on a CWS multidisciplinary team for a five
year old child who may exit the foster care system shortly
thereafter. Conversely, permitting involvement of a CWS worker
on an APS multidisciplinary team could improve access to
information necessary to the identification of appropriate and
responsive services for a dependent adult who may have had past
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interaction with the state's foster care system. In so doing it
will allow the CWS worker to help inform members of the team
whether the dependent adult was in foster care; whether the
adult suffered chronic abuse at the hands of his or her
parent(s) or caregiver as a minor in foster care; and if
additional information related to the adult's time in foster
care should be pursued to justify the adult's receipt of
additional services or placement into temporary emergency
protective custody because of a history of chronic abuse that
dates back to the adult's time in foster care.
RECOMMENDED AMENDMENTS:
To address the concerns noted above, the bill should be amended
to permit a CWS worker to sit on an APS multidisciplinary team,
but not vice versa.
Specifically, staff recommends deleting Sections one and three
of the bill relating to the placement of an APS worker on a CWS
multidisciplinary team.
DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill has been double-referred. Should
this bill pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the
Assembly Judiciary Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS (CAPA)
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
County Welfare Directors Association of CA (CWDA)
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089