BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session BILL NO: SB 1165 AUTHOR: Mitchell AMENDED: April 3, 2014 FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 24, 2014 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber SUBJECT : Sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. SUMMARY This bill authorizes schools to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education, as specified, and requires the next revision of the health framework to include a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. BACKGROUND Current law: 1) Requires school districts to ensure that all students in grades 7-12 receive HIV/AIDS prevention education, as specified, from instructors trained in the appropriate courses. Each student must receive this instruction at least once in junior high or middle school and at least once in high school. (Education Code § 51934) 2) Authorizes school districts to provide comprehensive sexual health education, as specified, consisting of age-appropriate instruction, in any grade, using instructors trained in the appropriate courses. (EC § 51933) 3) Provides that parents have the right to excuse their child from all or part of comprehensive sexual health education, HIV/AIDS prevention education, and assessment related to that education. Current law requires school districts to notify the parent of each student about instruction in sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention and research on student health behaviors and risks planned SB 1165 Page 2 for the coming year. (EC § 51938) The health framework was last adopted in 2003, and was in the process of being revised when the statutory (and budgetary) suspension of that process took effect in July 2009. Adoption of the revised health framework was projected for March 2011. The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials have been suspended since July 28, 2009. The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year (other than as specifically authorized for common core English language arts and mathematics, the revised science standards and framework, and the revised history-social science framework). (Education Code § 60200.7, § 60200.8, and § 60200.9) ANALYSIS This bill authorizes schools to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education, as specified, and requires the next revision of the health framework to include a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. Specifically, this bill: 1) Authorizes a school district to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education, and if this instruction is provided, requires the school district to ensure that: a) The education is from instructors trained in the appropriate courses. b) Each student receives this instruction at least once in junior high or middle school, and at least once in high school. 2) Requires the instruction and materials to include: a) Information on different forms of sexual abuse and assault; discussion of prevention strategies; how to report sexual abuse or suspected sexual abuse; and local resources for victims. SB 1165 Page 3 b) Discussion of healthy boundaries for relationships; how to recognize potentially harmful and abusive relationships; and refusal skills to overcome peer pressure and to avoid high-risk activities. c) Information on sex trafficking and risk factors; the recruiting tactics of sex traffickers and peer recruiters, including recruitment through the Internet; how to report sex trafficking or suspected sex trafficking; and local resources for victims. d) Discussion of legal aspects of sexual abuse and sex trafficking under state and federal laws. e) Discussion of how culture and mass media influence and desensitize our perceptions of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, including but not limited to stereotypes and myths about the victims and abusers, victim blaming, and the role of language. This instruction must emphasize compassion for people who have suffered from sexual abuse or sex trafficking, and support positive reentry experiences for survivors returning to school. 3) Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop model curricula on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education and make it available to school districts by posting it on the CDE's website. This bill authorizes CDE to include a guide for parents on its website. 4) Requires sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education, whether taught by school district personnel or outside consultants, to satisfy many of the existing conditions relative to sexual health education, such as to be age appropriate, medically accurate and objective, and encourage communication between students and their parents. 5) Adds sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention SB 1165 Page 4 education to existing parental opt-out and notification provisions (current provisions relate to comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education). 6) Requires the Instructional Quality Commission, during the next revision of the health framework, to consider, develop, and recommend for adoption by the State Board of Education, a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education that includes but is not limited to all of the following described in #2 above. 7) Encourages school districts to collaborate with outside consultants with expertise in sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education in order to create a school safety plan to address the threat of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. 8) Encourages school districts to collaborate with law enforcement on a referral protocol for high-risk students and minor. 9) Authorizes in-service training to be conducted periodically to enable school personnel to learn new developments in the understanding of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, and to receive instruction on current prevention efforts and methods. This bill encourages school districts to include training on early identification and mandated reporting of sexual abuse and sex trafficking of students and minors. 10) Defines "sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education" as instruction on the prevalence and nature of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, strategies to reduce their risk, and how to safely report an incident. 11) Adds to the definition of "instructors trained in the appropriate courses" the knowledge of essential concepts on preventing sexual abuse and sex trafficking. 12) Adds providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect himself or herself from sexual abuse and sex trafficking to the stated purposes of the California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS SB 1165 Page 5 Prevention Education Act. 13) Add sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education to: a) Legislative intent that students communicate with their parents, a process for parents to review materials and evaluation tools, and excuse from participation in that instruction. b) Instruction for which school districts may contract with outside consultants. STAFF COMMENTS 1) Authorized instruction . This bill authorizes but does not require a school district to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. This is consistent with existing provisions relative to comprehensive sexual health education. School districts that choose to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education must ensure that the instruction includes specified information and is age appropriate, medically accurate and objective, and encourages communication between students and their parents. The Education Code is permissive, and as such, schools may currently provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. This bill requires schools that elect to offer this instruction to ensure that instruction uniformly meets specific criteria. Could this bill create situations where an existing program would no longer be allowed to be offered if it does not meet the criteria specified in this bill? For example, existing instructional programs about sexual abuse prevention may not include information about sex trafficking, as would be prescribed by this bill. 2) Health standards and framework . The health standards and framework currently include some references to sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation but do not reference sex trafficking. Neither the standards nor the framework include the level SB 1165 Page 6 of detail about sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention that could be incorporated into the curriculum pursuant to this bill. This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission, during the next revision of the health framework, to consider, develop, and recommend for adoption by the State Board of Education (SBE), a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education. The creation of a distinct category within a framework is consistent with current law relative to the development of a distinct category on mental health instruction within the health framework. The SBE adopted the health education framework in 2003, and adopted the health content standards in March of 2008. The health framework was scheduled for review in 2011 but the entire process to revise the frameworks and adopt instructional materials has been suspended until the 2015-16 school year. There does not appear to be a specific plan for the resumption of the process of reviewing and updating the health framework. Assuming the prior schedule is resumed as it was upon suspension, the health framework would likely be revisited in 2018 at the earliest. 3) Parental opt-out . This bill requires schools that choose to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education to notify parents prior to this instruction, and allows parents to request that their child not receive this instruction, which is consistent with current law relative to comprehensive sexual health education. 4) Related legislation . AB 1432 (Gatto), among other things, requires annual mandated reporter training of all school districts, county office of education (COE) and charter school personnel within the first six weeks of each school year or within six weeks of employment AB 1432 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on April 29. 5) Prior legislation . SB 13 (Correa, 2011) and SB 1300 SB 1165 Page 7 (Correa, 2010) would have required schools that elect to provide teen dating violence prevention education to ensure that the instruction meets certain criteria, and requires the State Board of Education to incorporate teen dating violence and sexual violence curriculum into the health curriculum framework. This instruction would have included components about, inappropriate sexual behavior, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and sexual assault. Both bills included parental notification and opt-out provisions. Concerns were raised about blending violence prevention education with sexual health education, and the ability of parents to opt-out of violence prevention education. SB 13 failed passage in this Committee, and SB 1300 failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee. AB 1373 (Fong, 2011) would have authorized school districts or the county office of education to provide education programs to promote healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence to pupils in grades 7-12. AB 1373 did not reference sexual abuse or violence and therefore did not include parental notification and opt-out provisions. SB 1373 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SUPPORT California Communities United Institute City of Carson National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter Saint Thomas More Catholic Church Soroptimists Together Against Trafficking Youth ALIVE An individual OPPOSITION None on file.