BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 832
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
832 (Cristina Garcia) - As Amended April 16, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill provides that "sexual assault" for purposes of
reporting incidents of abuse under the Child Abuse Neglect and
Reporting Act (CANRA) does not include voluntary acts of sodomy,
oral copulation, or sexual penetration, unless it involves a
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person who is 21 years of age or older engaging in these acts
with a minor who is under 16 years of age.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "AB 832 creates a clear,
uniform, and non-discriminatory standard for mandated
reporters to follow when reporting instances of consensual
sexual expressions amongst minors. Clear and consistent
reporting requirements would ensure that reporters are more
confident and knowledgeable about what needs to be reported
and result in increased safety for our youth.
"AB 832 would treat all consensual sexual activity the same
way that sexual intercourse is treated for the purposes of
child abuse reporting. All activity that is exploitive or
coercive in nature would remain a mandated report."
2)Background. Current law, CANRA, requires a mandated reporter
to report to law enforcement whenever, in his or her
professional capacity, the reporter has knowledge of or
observes a child who the reporter reasonably suspects has been
a victim of child abuse or neglect. Under CANRA, child abuse
or neglect includes physical injury or death, neglect as
defined, willful injury of a child, endangering a child as
defined, unlawful corporal punishment, and sexual abuse.
Sexual abuse is defined, pursuant to CANRA, to include rape,
statutory rape involving a person who is 21 years of age or
older with a minor who is under 16 years of age, incest,
sodomy with a person who is under 18 years of age, and lewd or
lascivious acts upon a child who is 14 or 15 years of age by a
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person who is at least 10 years older than the child.
A 1986 California Appeal Court ruled in Planned Parenthood
Affiliates v. Van de Kamp that the legislative intent of CANRA
was "to allow the trained professional to determine an abusive
from a nonabusive situation. Instead of a blanket reporting
requirement of all activity of those under a certain age, the
professional can make a judgment whether a minor is having
voluntary relations or is being sexually abused."
3)Argument in Support: According to Equality California,
"Mandated reporting law currently requires mandated reporters
to make a child abuse report anytime they reasonably believe
that a youth has been the victim of sexual assault or coerced
into sexual activity in any way. AB 832 will not change that.
AB 832 simply proposes to amend the definition of sexual abuse
so that all sexual activity among young people is treated the
same under California's definition of child abuse and
reporting law.
"We support AB 832 because it will increase access to critical
preventive health and mental health care services for young
people; will allow reporters and child welfare to focus on
youth who truly are abused or at risk of abuse; and will
eliminate a law that has a discriminatory impact and is rooted
in discriminatory and outdated beliefs."
4)Argument in Opposition: The California District Attorneys
Association states, "Consensual sexual conduct between a 16
year old and a 20 year old is still a misdemeanor. We believe
that removing that category from the mandated reporter statute
is bad policy. The purpose of the Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act is to protect children from abuse and neglect
and to 'do whatever is necessary to prevent psychological harm
to the child victim.' Removing this category from the Act
goes against its very purpose."
5)Related Legislation:
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a) AB 1001 (Maienschein), pending in Assembly Public
Safety, would make it a misdemeanor to impede or interfere
with the making of a report of suspected child abuse or
neglect by a mandated reporter.
b) AB 1207 (Lopez), pending in this committee, would
require the Department of Social Services to develop and
disseminate information to specified employees of child day
care centers and home licensees that care for children
regarding the duties of mandated reporters under CANRA.
c) SB 332 (Block), pending in Senate Public Safety, would
authorize a mandated reporter to make a report to a school
district police department.
d) SB 478 (Huff), pending in Senate Public Safety, would
authorize, until January 1, 2021, certain county welfare
agencies to develop a pilot program for Internet-based
reporting of child abuse and neglect, as specified.
6)Prior Legislation: AB 1505 (Garcia), of the 2013-2014
Legislative Session, a substantially similar bill, was never
heard in this Committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 832
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