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  






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               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.








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                    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  







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               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  







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               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  







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               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  







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               (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.