BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Senator Jim Beall, Chair BILL NO: AB 2379 A AUTHOR: Weber B VERSION: April 22, 2014 HEARING DATE: June 10, 2014 2 FISCAL: No 3 7 CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown 9 SUBJECT Abuse of elders and dependent adults: multidisciplinary teams SUMMARY This bill adds child welfare services personnel to the list of persons who may be included in multidisciplinary teams that are trained in the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of abuse of elderly or dependent adults. ABSTRACT Existing law : 1) Establishes the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act to, among other intents, direct special attention to the needs and problems of elderly persons, recognizing that these persons constitute a significant and identifiable segment of the population and that they are more subject to risks of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. (WIC 15610, et seq.) Continued--- STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2379 (Weber) Page 2 2) Defines within the context of this section a "Multidisciplinary personnel team" as any 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. (WIC 15610.55 (a)) 3) Defines those who may participate in a multidisciplinary personnel team to include, but need not be limited to, any of the following: a. Psychiatrists, psychologists, or other trained counseling personnel. b. Police officers or other law enforcement agents. c. Medical personnel with sufficient training to provide health services. d. Social workers with experience or training in prevention of abuse of elderly or dependent adults. e. Public guardians. f. The local long-term care ombudsman. (WIC 15610.55) 4) Permits persons who are trained and qualified to serve on multidisciplinary personnel teams to disclose to one another information and records which are relevant to the prevention, identification, or treatment of abuse of elderly or dependent persons (WIC 15754). 5) Establishes that the activities of a multidisciplinary personnel team engaged in the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, or of the abuse of elder or dependent persons are activities performed in the administration of public social services. (WIC 10850.1) 6) Permits a member of the team to disclose and exchange any information or writing that also is kept or maintained in connection with any program of public social services or otherwise designated as confidential under state law which he or she reasonably believes is relevant to the prevention, STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2379 (Weber) Page 3 identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, or of the abuse of elder or dependent persons to other members of the team. Requires that all discussions relative to the disclosure or exchange of any such information or writing during team meetings are confidential. (WIC 10850.1) This bill: 1) Adds child welfare services personnel to the six existing identified members of the multidisciplinary personnel team members. FISCAL IMPACT This bill has been identified as non-fiscal by the Office of Legislative Counsel. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION Purpose of the bill: According to the author, this bill makes a modest change to existing statute that will increase the ability of local abuse prevention teams to collaborate in order to identify potential risk in caregivers of older or dependent adults who may have been known to abuse or neglect children in their care in the past. Current law does not identify child welfare staff as members who may be included on an elder abuse multidisciplinary personnel team, which is tasked with prevention efforts and authorized to share information in individual case files. The author states that two recent cases in San Diego of young adults with intellectual disabilities who reportedly were being abused by a parent. Adult Protective Services workers in these two cases are precluded by law from asking for case information from child welfare workers. In 2010, a 28-year-old San Diego County man died after he was neglected by his mother and brother. According to the author, it is important to prevent further abuses for county adult protection workers to have the ability to know if parents who have abused and neglected their children are being assigned as caregivers when the children become STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2379 (Weber) Page 4 dependent adults. Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection act was passed in 1982 in recognition that vulnerable elderly adults may be subjected to abuse, neglect or abandonment and a significant number of them may have mental or verbal limitations and that the state has a duty to protect them. Among the elements of the act is the establishment of multidisciplinary personnel teams who are composed of two or more public social service professionals engaged in the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, or of the abuse of elder or dependent persons. Team members specifically identified in statute may include psychiatrists or psychologists, police officers, medical personnel, social workers with experience in elder and dependent abuse, public guardians and the long-term care ombudsman. The law grants members of the team permission to disclose and exchange any information or writing that also is kept or maintained in connection with any program of public social services or otherwise designated as confidential under state law which he or she reasonably believes is relevant to the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, or of the abuse of elder or dependent persons to other members of the team. Adult Protective Services In California, each county oversees its own Adult Protective Services (APS) agency to investigate abuse, neglect or exploitation of elder and dependent adults or assist them when they are unable to meet their own needs. In March, according to the Department of Social Services, there were roughly 15,000 reports of adult and dependent abuse statewide, and approximately 10,500 of them were against elders. APS may conduct needs assessments, create an abuse reporting system, and provide preventative services, including food, transportation, emergency shelter and in-home protective care. Each county also may use a multidisciplinary team to coordinate with community resources. STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2379 (Weber) Page 5 Child Welfare Each county also oversees its own Child Welfare Services (CWS) system, designed to respond to and investigate claims of child abuse or neglect. If an allegation is substantiated, and a child is placed into the custody of the juvenile court for protection, child welfare caseworkers oversee the child's care in a foster home or other out-of-home placement, as well as efforts of the family to reunify with the child. Case files typically have extensive information on a family's history. PRIOR VOTES Assembly Floor 78 - 0 Assembly Judiciary 10 - 0 Assembly Human Services 7 - 0 POSITIONS Support: County of San Diego (sponsor) California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association AFSCME National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter Office of the District Attorney of San Diego County Urban Counties Caucus Oppose: None received -- END -- STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2379 (Weber) Page 6