BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1702
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1702 (Mark Stone and Maienschein)
As Amended March 16, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |8-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Cristina | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Maienschein, Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |6-0 |Bonilla, Grove, | |
| | |Lopez, Maienschein, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Expands the court's ability to deny reunification
services to the parent or guardian of a dependent child to
include instances in which the court finds, by clear and
convincing evidence, that the parent has participated in or
consented to the child's sexual exploitation, as specified.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes that the purpose of the dependency system is the
maximum safety and protection of children who are currently
being abused, neglected, or exploited. Provides that the
focus is on the preservation of the family, as well as the
safety, protection, and physical and emotional well-being of
the child. (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 300.2)
2)States the intent of the Legislature to preserve and
strengthen a child's family ties whenever possible and to
reunify a foster youth with his or her biological family
whenever possible, or to provide a permanent placement
alternative, such as adoption or guardianship. (WIC Section
16000)
3)Requires the court, if at the initial hearing the juvenile
court orders a child be removed from his or her parent or
guardian due to abuse or neglect, to order that child welfare
reunification services be provided to the family as soon as
possible in order to reunify the child with his or her family,
if appropriate. (WIC Section 319(e))
4)Requires the court, at a dispositional hearing, to order a
social worker to provide child welfare services to a child who
has been removed from his or her parents' or guardians'
custody and to the parents or guardians in order to support
the goal of reunification, for a specified time period, except
under certain circumstances. Provides that children and
families in the child welfare system should typically receive
a full six months of reunification services if the child is
under three years of age, and twelve months if the child is
over three years of age, but that may be extended up to 18 or
24 months, as provided. (WIC Section 361.5(a))
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5)Provides that reunification services need not be provided if
the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that
specified conditions exist, including:
a) The parent or guardian is suffering from a mental
disability that renders the parent incapable of using the
reunification services;
b) The parent or guardian has caused the death of another
child through abuse or neglect;
c) The child or a sibling has been adjudicated a dependent
as the result of severe physical or sexual abuse;
d) The parent or guardian has been convicted of a violent
felony; and
e) The parent or guardian has a history of drug or alcohol
abuse and has failed to comply with treatment programs as
provided. (WIC 361.5(b))
6)Prevents the court from ordering reunification services for a
parent or guardian in specified situations, unless the court
finds that reunification is in the child's best interest.
(WIC Section 361.5(c))
7)Allows any party to petition the court to terminate
reunification services early, and allows the court to
terminate those services after finding, by clear and
convincing evidence, that:
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a) Circumstances now exist that, had they previously
existed, would have led the court to bypass or not order
reunification services; or,
b) The action or inaction of the parent or guardian creates
a substantial likelihood that reunification will not occur,
including but not limited to the parent's or guardian's
failure to visit the child, or the failure to participate
regularly and make substantive progress in a court-ordered
treatment plan. (WIC Section 388(c))
8)Defines "sexual exploitation" and "commercial sexual
exploitation" of a child. (PEN 11165.1 (c) and (d))
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Child Welfare Services: The purpose of California's Child
Welfare Services (CWS) system is to protect children from abuse
and neglect and provide for their health and safety. When
children are identified as being at risk of abuse, neglect or
abandonment, county juvenile courts hold legal dependency
jurisdiction; these children are served by the CWS system
through the appointment of a social worker. Through this
juvenile dependency system, there are multiple opportunities for
the custody of the child, or his or her placement outside of the
home, to be evaluated, reviewed and determined by the judicial
system, in consultation with the child's social worker, to help
provide the best possible services to the child. The CWS system
seeks to help children who have been removed from their homes
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reunify with their parents or guardians, whenever appropriate.
However, the court may determine that an alternate permanent
placement is more fitting; the court must give preference to
potential placements in this order: relatives, nonrelative
extended family members, or family foster homes. Placement in
group homes or other intensive treatment placement settings are
considered only in more challenging situations where a child may
need stabilization services in order to transition to a less
restrictive placement, such as with a relative or foster
caregiver. There are currently close to 63,000 children and
youth in California's CWS system.
Family reunification services: Because the intent of the
dependency system is to, whenever possible, reunify children
with their families, parents are often provided reunification
services in order to safely reunify with their children in
foster care. Reunification services often include efforts to
address the circumstances under which a child was removed from
their parent's custody, including drug and alcohol treatment,
anger management counseling, or parenting classes. Currently
reunification services may be denied to parents or guardians in
order to protect the child from further harm, including a parent
who: is a registered sex offender, has willfully abducted the
child or a sibling, or has been convicted of a violent felony,
among others.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC): Commercial
sexual exploitation of children is defined as the sexual
exploitation of children entirely, or at least primarily, for
financial or other economic reasons. Under this definition, the
economic exchanges may be either monetary or non-monetary (i.e.,
for food, shelter, drugs). Sex trafficking of minors is defined
as the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act"
where the person is a United States citizen or lawful permanent
resident under the age of 18 years.
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According to DSS, approximately 800,000 victims annually are
trafficked across international borders worldwide, and between
14,500-17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the United
States. Nearly 95% of CSEC victims in the U.S. are female, and
it is estimated that between 50-80% of child victims of
commercial sexual exploitation have been involved with the child
welfare system, according to the National Center for Youth Law.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, it is estimated that one in six endangered runaways
were likely sex trafficking victims in 2014. Many experts
believe, however, that these statistics are underestimated;
challenges arise when identifying victims, collecting and
cross-referencing data, and deciding on common definitions in
order to collect accurate statistics. Many youth also do not
identify as victims or may be reluctant to admit to
victimization due to fears of retaliation from traffickers,
deportation, or incarceration by law enforcement.
Need for this bill: According to the author's office, "The sex
trafficking of children is a serious problem in California;
three metropolitan areas (San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San
Diego) have been rated as 'high intensity child prostitution'
areas by the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation].
Particularly at risk are children living in unstable family
environments. It is estimated that as many as 59% of children
being prostituted are or were formerly in the foster care system
according to the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
Although the numbers of specific cases are low, there have been
instances in which parents have been responsible for the
trafficking of their child. It is in these specific instances
that extra protections for commercially sexually exploited
children (CSEC) are needed. [This bill] will add commercial
sexual exploitation of a child to the list of circumstances
under which family reunification may be eschewed for the
protection of the child. Such a change in law will offer local
flexibility to juvenile courts in the decision of whether
reunification services should be provided to a parent. It will
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also provide additional legal protections to foster youth who
have been the victim of exploitation. Further, this bill will
include new protections in state law that ensure all foster
youth who have been sexually exploited are not at risk of
further exploitation by their parent or guardian."
Analysis Prepared by:
Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0002797