BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1058
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1058 (Baker)
As Amended April 20, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bloom, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Encourages school districts, county offices of education
(COEs) and charter schools to participate in child abuse
prevention training and are encouraged to provide all employees
receive training in child abuse prevention at least every three
years. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in
consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention in the
State Department of Social Services, to establish guidelines and
best practices for child abuse prevention, and post on the
department's Internet Web site links to existing training
resources.
2)Encourages school districts, county offices of education, state
special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the CDE, and
charter schools to participate in child abuse prevention
training and are encouraged to provide all school employees
receive training in child abuse prevention at least once every
three years.
EXISTING LAW requires school districts, county offices of
education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated
by the CDE, and charter schools to do both of the following:
1)Provide annual training, using the online training module
provided by the State Department of Social Services, to their
employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated
reporters on the mandated reporting requirements. Mandated
reporter training shall be provided to school personnel hired
during the course of the school year. This training shall
include information that failure to report an incident of known
or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect, as required is a
misdemeanor punishable by up to six months confinement in a
county jail, or by a fine of $1,000, or by both that
imprisonment and fine.
2)Develop a process for all persons required to receive training
to provide proof of completing the training within the first six
weeks of each school year or within the first six weeks of that
person's employment. The process developed may include, but not
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necessarily be limited to, the use of a sign-in sheet or the
submission of a certificate of completion to the applicable
governing board or body of the school district, county office of
education, state special school and diagnostic center, or
charter school.
3)School districts, COEs, state special schools and diagnostic
centers operated by the CDE, and charter schools that do not use
the online training module provided by the California Department
of Social Services shall report to the CDE the training being
used in its place. (Education Code Section 44691)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the CDE estimates administrative costs of approximately
$58,000 General Fund to review existing training resources and
post on the department's web site. CDE estimated the costs to
implement the originating legislation, AB 1432 (Gatto), Chapter
797, Statutes of 2014, as minor/absorbable, but subsequently
incurred increased workload due to the technical assistance needs
of local education agencies (LEAs). Due to the need for
continuing technical assistance for LEAS and the anticipated
workload increase per the requirements of this bill, CDE
anticipates the need for these additional resources.
COMMENTS: This bill encourages schools to provide child abuse
prevention training to all employees at least once every three
years and requires the CDE to post guidelines and best practices
for child abuse prevention on their Web site.
According to the author, AB 1432 made an important step towards
reducing child abuse by requiring school districts to ensure
teachers and other school employees complete annual training on
the identification and reporting requirements when child abuse is
suspected. This bill builds upon the pivotal groundwork of AB
1432 by including in state law the requirement that specified
training of teachers or other school employees also includes abuse
prevention training, i.e., how to avoid situations that could
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become compromising or improper.
Does this training exist? While it is unclear how wide spread the
availability of child abuse prevention materials may be, there are
some online training programs currently available. These training
materials focus on training teachers on what types of behavior may
cross the line in terms of appropriateness and provide examples of
behavior that could protect the teacher from false child abuse
claims. Examples include not sending personal emails and texts to
students, not giving students rides in cars, and not being alone
in a classroom with a student without the door open.
School Authorization: This bill encourages schools to provide
child abuse prevention training every three years. Because the
education code is permissive, schools can already incorporate this
type of training into existing mandated reporter training if they
wish to do so.
Previous Legislation: AB 1432 required local education agencies
to annually train employees on their duties regarding the mandated
reporting of child abuse and neglect, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by:
Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000244
AB 1058
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