BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1001|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1001
Author: Maienschein (R)
Amended: 8/2/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 5-0, 5/10/16
AYES: McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 1/27/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Child abuse: reporting: foster family agencies
SOURCE: Childrens Advocacy Institute
DIGEST: This bill requires that if the California Department of
Social Services (CDSS), as a condition of licensure, requires
officials of a foster family agency (FFA) to attend an
orientation, then the orientation shall include specified
information about the state's mandated reporter statutes. This
bill requires CDSS to take action if a supervisor is found to
inhibit reporting duties, as specified, requires the department
to develop a notice about complaint reporting and require the
notice be posted in all foster family agencies, as specified.
This bill additionally expands the definition of a mandated
reporter to include a board member of a public or private
organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision
of children, including a foster family agency.
AB 1001
Page 2
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/2/16 add a requirement to create
and post publicly a notice about interfering with mandated
reporting; and delete required reports to the Legislature.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the California Community Care Facilities Act to
provide for the licensure and regulation of community care
facilities. (HSC 1500, et seq.)
2) Defines a foster family agency to mean any public agency or
private organization engaged in the recruiting, certifying,
and training of, and providing professional support to,
foster parents, or in finding homes or other places for
placement of children for temporary or permanent care who
require that level of care. Requires private foster family
agencies to be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis.
(HSC 1502 (a)(4))
3) Permits CDSS to deny an application for, or suspend or
revoke, any license, or any special permit, certificate of
approval, or administrator certificate, for the violation of
rules or regulations governing Community Care Facilities, as
specified. (HSC 1550)
4) Permits CDSS to prohibit any person from being a member of
the board of directors, an executive director, or an officer
of a licensee, who has violated rules or regulations, engaged
in conduct that is inimical to health, morals, welfare or
safety of the clients or others, been denied an exemption to
work in the facility, or other violations. (HSC 1558)
AB 1001
Page 3
5) Establishes within the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting
Act, the requirement for 44 specified categories of persons
who work with children to report suspected abuse or neglect,
as well as other individuals whose professions or volunteer
work may include routine interactions with children. (PC
11165.7)
6) Requires mandated reporters to make a report of suspected
abuse or neglect to a specified law enforcement agency or
county child welfare department, prohibits agencies that are
required to receive reports from refusing to accept a report
and requires the receiving agency to maintain a record of all
reports received. (PC 11165.9)
7) Requires that a mandated reporter who in his or her
professional capacity knows or reasonably suspects a child
has been the victim of child abuse or neglect that the
mandated reporter must make an initial report by telephone to
the agency immediately or as soon as is practicably possible,
and shall prepare and send a written follow-up report within
36 hours of receiving the information about the incident, as
specified. (PC 11166)
8) Establishes that failure of a mandated reporter to report an
incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or
neglect is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six
months confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both. (PC 11166 (c))
9) Specifies that mandated reporting duties are individual, and
prohibits any supervisor or administrator from impeding or
inhibiting the reporting duties; and specifies that no person
making a report shall be subject to any sanction for making
the report, but permits internal procedures to facilitate
reporting and apprise supervisors of reports to be
established. (PC 11166 (i))
AB 1001
Page 4
10)Establishes sanctions for any supervisor who impedes or
inhibits reporting duties, as specified, of not more than six
months in a county jail, by a fine of up to $1,000, or by
both. Establishes sanctions for any mandated reporter who
willfully fails to report abuse or neglect, or any person who
impedes or inhibits a report of abuse or neglect, where that
abuse or neglect results in death or great bodily injury, of
not more than one year in a county jail, by a fine of up to
$5,000, or by both. (PC 11166.01)
11)Prohibits an employer from making, adopting or enforcing any
rule, regulation or policy preventing an employee from
disclosing information to a government or law enforcement
agency, as specified, or from retaliating against an employee
who discloses such information, as specified. (LAB 1102.5)
This bill:
1) Requires CDSS to develop a notice no later than July 1,
2017, that contains the telephone number for making
complaints against a community care or child care facility,
provides information about the prohibition against impeding
mandated reporting and provides information about the option
to make a confidential complaint.
2) Requires the notice be posted conspicuously in a prominent
area in all foster family agencies.
3) Adds a new section to the health and safety code to require
that any orientation required by CDSS for a chief executive
officer or other authorized member of the board of directors
and the administrator of a foster family agency must include
a description of policies, procedures, or practices that
violate the mandated reporting sections of state law, as
specified.
AB 1001
Page 5
4) Adds an additional requirement that it include a written
plan establishing policies, procedures and practices, if a
written plan of operation is required as part of an
application for licensure of an FFA, to ensure that the FFA
does not violate the state's mandated reporter laws, as
specified.
5) Requires CDSS to take reasonable action upon finding a
violation of the mandated reporter statute, including, but
not limited to, prohibiting a person from being a member of
the board of directors, an executive director, or an officer
of a licensee of a licensed facility or certified family
home, or denying an application for, or suspending or
revoking, a license, special permit, certificate of approval,
or administrator certificate, or other penalties, as
specified.
6) Adds to the list of mandated reporters a board member of a
public or private agency, and specifies that the public or
private agency may include an FFA.
7) Prohibits an internal policy that permits notification to
supervisors of the filing of a mandated report from directing
an employee to allow his or her supervisor to file or process
a mandated report under any circumstances.
Background
This bill adds training for FFA administrators to include
information about the state's mandated reporting laws and the
criminal and administrative sanctions that exist for social
workers and administrators who fail to report.
Foster Care. California's county-based child welfare system is
designed to protect children at risk of child abuse and neglect
or exploitation by providing intensive services to families to
allow children to remain in their homes, or by arranging
AB 1001
Page 6
temporary or permanent placement of the child in the safest and
least restrictive environment possible. It is the legal "parent"
for children in the foster care system. Approximately 62,000
children were under the custody of the child welfare system as
of October 2015, according to the state's child welfare case
management system. About 45,000 children were in out-of-home
placements in 2016, according to data released by CDSS with the
Governor's budget. Of those, approximately 14,000 are placed
with FFAs.
Foster Family Agencies. The state licenses a variety of foster
home options for children who are determined to need out-of-home
care. Children with more intensive needs may be instead referred
to an FFA, which is a licensed, private, nonprofit organization
that recruits and trains foster parents. Foster parents in an
FFA are certified by the FFA rather than being licensed as
foster parents by the county. FFAs are responsible for providing
professional support to the foster parents and children,
including regular monitoring and oversight of the families they
certify to ensure they are meeting the needs of the children who
are placed with them. As of June 2015, there were 242 FFAs
statewide with 11,034 FFA-certified homes.
Child Abuse. Nationally, an estimated 1,520 children died from
abuse and neglect in 2013, according to data from the National
Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The U.S.
Administration on Children and Families translates this to a
rate of 2.04 children per 100,000 children in the general
population and an average of four children dying every day from
abuse or neglect. NCANDS defines "child fatality" as the death
of a child caused by an injury resulting from abuse or neglect
or where abuse or neglect was a contributing factor. [Child
maltreatment 2013. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Administration on
Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, 2015.]
In FFY 2013, an estimated 679,000 children were victims of abuse
and neglect, or a rate of 9.1 victims per 1,000 children in the
population, and or 1,860 victims per day. More than one-quarter
of the victims were younger than three years and one in five
were between three and five years old.
AB 1001
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Mandated Reporters. California's mandated reporter statutes
require that certain categories of professionals who observe,
have knowledge of, or reasonably suspect a child has been the
victim of child abuse or neglect to make an immediate report to
a law enforcement agency. The statute defines what constitutes
reasonable suspicion and lists 44 specific categories of
employees that are defined as mandated reporters, including
teachers, coaches, child care workers, social workers and
probation officers, firefighters, specific medical personnel,
commercial film and photographic image processors, and others.
Mandated reporters must be trained in identifying suspected
abuse or neglect and on reporting requirements.
The penalty for a mandated reporter who fails to report an
incident in a timely manner is up to six months in jail and a
fine of up to $1,000, or both. The punishment for a mandated
reporter who either willfully fails to report or who impedes or
inhibits a report of abuse or neglect - where the abuse or
neglect results in the death or great bodily injury of a child -
is up to one year in a county jail, or a fine of not more than
$5,000, or both.
While state statute specifies that the reporting duties are
individual and that no supervisor or administrator may impede or
inhibit the reporting duties and no person making a report shall
be subject to any sanction for making the report, it permits
internal procedures to be established to facilitate reporting
and apprise supervisors and administrators of reports that will
be filed. (PC 11166(i)). The bill's sponsor, Children's Advocacy
Institute, argues that this permission has resulted in the
privately run FFAs establishing policies that require social
workers to forward reports to administrators for submission.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified6/29/16)
AB 1001
Page 8
Children's Advocacy Institute (source)
Board of Behavioral Sciences
California District Attorneys Association
Crime Victims United California
LIUNA Locals 777 & 792
The California State PTA
The Child Abuse Prevention Center
The County Welfare Directors Association of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/29/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The bill's sponsor, the Children's
Advocacy Institute (CAI), writes that while individual mandated
reporters face stiff penalties for failing to report, there have
been reports of social workers who have been directed to forward
mandated reports to the supervisor for official filing or for
approval, which is not forthcoming. CAI states that this bill
provides statutory clarification that impeding or interfering
with a mandated report is prohibited, and requires
administrators of FFAs who are already receiving training to be
informed about this prohibition. "It is no exaggeration to
observe that mandated reporting is a life or death matter for
California's children," the sponsor writes.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 1/27/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
AB 1001
Page 9
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mathis
Prepared by: Mareva Brown / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/3/16 18:45:37
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