BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                       CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 2379
          Author:   Weber (D)
          Amended:  4/22/14 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE  :  4-0, 6/10/14
          AYES:  Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Berryhill

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/15/14 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Abuse of elders and dependent adults:   
          multidisciplinary team

           SOURCE  :     County of San Diego


           DIGEST :    This bill adds child welfare services (CWS) 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.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Establishes the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil  
             Protection Act (Act) to, among other intents, direct special  
             attention to the needs and problems of elderly persons,  
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             recognizing that these persons are more subject to risks of  
             abuse, neglect, and abandonment. 

          2. Defines "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. 

          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. 

          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.

          5. Permits a member of the team to disclose and exchange any  
             information or writing which he/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.  Requires  
             that all discussions relative to the disclosure or exchange  
             of any such information or writing during team meetings are  
             confidential.


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          This bill adds CWS personnel to the six existing identified  
          members of the multidisciplinary personnel team members.

           Comments
           
          According to the author's office, this bill makes a modest  
          change to existing statute that increases 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.  Existing law does not identify CWS personnel 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's office 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 (APS)  
          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's office, 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 dependent adults.

           Act  .  The 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.  
           

           APS  .  In California, each county oversees its own 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  

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          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. 

           CWS  .  Each county also oversees its own 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, CWS 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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   Local:  
           No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/12/14)

          County of San Diego (source)
          AFSCME
          California Association of Public Authorities
          California Police Chiefs Association
          California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association 
          California State Association of Counties
          California Welfare Directors Association
          National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
          Office of the District Attorney of San Diego County
          Urban Counties Caucus

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/15/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,  
            Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,  
            Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,  
            Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,  
            Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.  
            Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,  
            Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins

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          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Mansoor, Vacancy


          JL:d  6/12/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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