BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          AB 2623 (Pan) - Peace officer standards and training.
          
          Amended: May 23, 2014           Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: August 4, 2014                            
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.


          Bill Summary: AB 2623 would:
               Expand the existing Commission on Peace Officer Standards  
              and Training (POST) certified training course on elder and  
              dependent adult abuse to include the legal rights and  
              remedies available to victims of elder and dependent adult  
              abuse, as specified. 
               Require POST to consult with local adult protective  
              services (APS) offices and the Office of the Statewide  
              Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman when creating new or updated  
              training materials.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              One-time costs to POST of about $50,000 (Special Fund*) to  
              expand the current elder and dependent adult abuse training  
              module to include the new subject matter.
              Likely minor, if any, increase in state-reimbursable costs  
              (General Fund) to the extent adding the additional topic to  
              the training course does not increase the time spent or cost  
              for training to law enforcement, as the provisions of this  
              bill do not require a new course, but just add a new topic  
              to cover within the existing course. 
              Minor, absorbable costs to POST, APS offices, and the LTC  
              Ombudsman to consult with one another when creating new or  
              updated training materials.

          *Peace Officers' Training Fund

          Background: Existing law requires that every city police officer  
          or deputy sheriff at a supervisory level and below, who are  
          assigned field or investigative duties, complete an elder and  
          dependent adult abuse training course certified by POST within  








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          18 months of assignment to field duties. Completion of the  
          course may be satisfied by telecourse, video training tape, or  
          other instruction. The training is required to include, at a  
          minimum, all of the following subjects:
                 Relevant laws.
                 Recognition of elder and dependent adult abuse.
                 Reporting requirements and procedures.
                 Neglect of elders and dependent adults.
                 Fraud of elders and dependent adults.
                 Physical abuse of elders and dependent adults.
                 Psychological abuse of elders and dependent adults.
                 The role of the local APS and public guardian offices.  
               (PC § 13515(a))

          Existing law requires POST to consult with the Bureau of  
          Medi-Cal Fraud and Abuse, as well as other subject matter  
          experts, on the production of new or updated training materials  
          related to elder and dependent adult abuse training. (PC §  
          13515(b).)
          
          Proposed Law: This bill would expand the existing POST-certified  
          training course on elder and dependent adult abuse to include  
          the legal rights and remedies available to victims of elder and  
          dependent adult abuse, including emergency protective orders and  
          the option to request a simultaneous move-out order, and  
          temporary restraining orders. 

          This bill also requires POST to consult with not only the Bureau  
          of Medi-Cal Fraud and Abuse, but also the local APS offices and  
          the Office of the Statewide LTC Ombudsman when creating new or  
          updated training materials.

          Staff Comments: POST would incur minor one-time costs of about  
          $50,000 (Special Fund) to modify the elder and dependent adult  
          abuse training module to include the new subject matter. It is  
          estimated these costs would be absorbable.

          The Commission on State Mandates has previously determined the  
          required training course on elder and dependent adult abuse that  
          is imposed on peace officers as a reimbursable mandate (CSM  
          98-TC-12). The Commission determined that local agencies are  
          mandated by the state through PC § 13515 to provide elder abuse  
          training to police officers and deputy sheriffs assigned to  
          field or investigative duties if the training occurs during the  








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          employee's regular working hours. As the provisions of this bill  
          do not require a new course, but just add a new topic to the  
          course, to the extent the training course itself does not  
          increase in duration and/or costs to law enforcement, no  
          increase to the level of state-reimbursable costs is estimated. 

          Existing law requires POST to consult with the Bureau of  
          Medi-Cal Fraud and Abuse, as well as other subject matter  
          experts, during the development of new or updated training on  
          elder and dependent adult abuse. As local APS offices and the  
          Office of the State LTC Ombudsman are arguably "subject matter  
          experts" in this area, this provision could be interpreted as a  
          clarification of existing law. Any costs to these agencies to  
          consult with POST are estimated to be minor and absorbable  
          within existing resources.