BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1778
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|Author: |Quirk |
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|Version: |May 31, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 22, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lenin DelCastillo |
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Subject: Postsecondary education: sexual assault and sexual
violence training
SUMMARY
This bill requires the governing board of each community college
district (CCD), the Trustees of the California State University
(CSU), the Regents of the University of California (UC), and the
governing board of independent postsecondary institutions to
conduct annual training of their employees on their obligations
in responding to and reporting incidents of sexual assault,
domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking involving
students.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Requires the governing board of each community college
district, the Trustees of the CSU, the Board of Directors
of the Hastings College of the Law, and the Regents of the
UC to each adopt, and implement at each campus or other
facilities, a written procedure or protocols to ensure, to
the fullest extent possible, that students, faculty and
staff who are victims of sexual assault committed on
grounds maintained by the institution or affiliated student
organizations, receive treatment and information. The
written procedures or protocols must contain specified
information, including the college policy regarding sexual
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assault on campus and personnel on campus who should be
notified, and procedures for notification, with the consent
of the victim.
2) Provides that each victim of sexual assault should
receive information about the existence of at least the
following options: criminal prosecutions, civil
prosecutions, the disciplinary process through the college,
the availability of mediation, alternative housing
assignments, and academic assistance alternatives.
(Education Code § 67385)
3) Requires the governing board of each CCD, the Trustees
of the CSU, the Regents of the UC, and the governing boards
of independent postsecondary institutions, as specified, to
adopt a policy concerning campus sexual violence, domestic
violence, dating violence, and stalking that includes
specified components and standards in order to receive
state funds for student financial assistance. (Education
Code § 67386)
4) Requires the governing board of each community college
district and the Trustees of the California State
University (CSU), and requests the Regents of the
University of California (UC), in collaboration with
campus- and community-based victim advocacy organizations,
to provide as part of campus orientations, educational and
preventive information about sexual violence.
5) Requires each campus of the California Community
Colleges (CCCs) and the CSU, and requests each campus of
the UC, to post sexual violence prevention and education
information on its campus Web site. The information must
include specific components including how to file a
complaint, and the availability and contact information for
resources for victims.
6) Requires each campus of the CCCs and the CSU, and
requests each campus of the UC, to develop policies to
encourage students to report any campus crimes involving
sexual violence. (EC § 67385.7)
ANALYSIS
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This bill requires, commencing January 1, 2018, in order to
receive state funds for student financial assistance, the
governing boards of the community colleges, the CSU Trustees,
the UC Regents, and the governing boards of independent
postsecondary institutions to conduct annual training of their
employees on the employee's obligations in responding to and
reporting incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating
violence, and stalking involving students, and provides that
this training shall satisfy the annual training requirement for
the employee.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "when
students experience sexual violence they are likely to
report the incident to a trusted coach or resident advisor
at their campus, unaware that this person may not be
adequately trained to appropriately report and support the
victim. The unfortunate truth is that although certain
staff is trained to respond to and report student incidents
of sexual violence to the appropriate officials, not all
college campuses suitably train every staff member who will
interact with a student to do this. The lack of
all-inclusive, annual training may lead to mismanagement of
these incident reports, or worse, may inadvertently
discourage students from reporting these incidents."
2) California State Auditor report. The State Auditor
released a report in June 2014, Sexual Harassment and
Sexual Violence: California Universities Must Better
Protect Students by Doing More to Prevent, Respond to, and
Resolve Incidents, related to the handling of sexual
harassment and sexual violence incidents at the state's
public postsecondary institutions. As part of this audit,
the State Auditor reviewed UC Berkeley and UCLA's sexual
assault policies and procedures and concluded that
California's educational institutions were not properly
educating students and training faculty and staff
sufficiently on response and reporting of incidents on
campus as mandated by Title IX and the Clery Act. The
State Auditor made a series of recommendations to include
the expansion of staff training, the improvement of access
and content for student education, the
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enhancement of communication with students, and the
evaluation of summary data collected in order to better
identify trends and inform strategies to address incidents
on campus.
3) Campus policies consistent with this bill. California's
postsecondary education institutions have taken steps to
address the concerns raised in the audit reports and to
respond to statutory changes and regulatory guidance by
improving processes and outcomes on their campuses. Both
the University of California (UC) and California State
University (CSU) have updated their sexual harassment and
assault policies, initiated mandatory prevention and
response trainings for all students and employees, and
established confidential victim advocate offices on every
campus. The CSU and UC have appointed system wide officers
charged with ensuring Title IX compliance.
The UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment
issued on January 1, 2016, requires, among other
provisions, for each campus to conduct "mandatory annual
training and education, about prohibited conduct and how
conduct can be reported, to all students, faculty, and
other academic appointees, and staff in accordance with
applicable state and federal law, and University policies."
Previously, the UC updated its policies relative to sexual
harassment and violence effective February 25, 2014. These
policies included a process for reporting incidents,
identification of on- and off-campus resources for victims,
and providing prompt and effective response to reports of
incidents.
CSU Executive Order 1096, revised June 23, 2015, requires,
among other provisions, mandatory annual training for all
employees that includes the rights and responsibilities of
each employee relating to the CSU policy and the employee's
duty to report. Prior to that, the CSU updated its
policies to reflect the changes to the federal Campus
Sexual Violence Elimination Act and related guidance from
the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.
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4) Federal law. Federal statutes addressing sexual assault on
or around institutions of higher education include Title IX
and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy
and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).
The Clery Act requires public and private postsecondary
educational institutions that receive federal financial aid
to disclose information about crimes on and around campuses
as well as establish certain rights for victims of sexual
assault. Those rights include notification to victims of
the right to file criminal charges, available counseling
services, the results of disciplinary proceedings, and the
option for victims to change their academic schedule or
living arrangements.
The federal Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act amended
the Clery Act to, among other things, require postsecondary
institutions to offer prevention and awareness programs to
new students and employees regarding rape, domestic and
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Programs
must include a definition of those offenses and consent
with reference to sexual offenses. Institutions are also
required to compile statistics of incidents of sexual
assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
This Act also requires the Annual Security Report to
contain additional information such as prevention programs,
procedures once incidents are reported, and possible
sanctions following an institutional disciplinary
procedure.
5) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee on the previous version of the bill, there would
be no additional costs to the California State University
(CSU) and University of California (UC), as their existing
training practices appear to be consistent with the
requirements in this bill. Additionally, this bill
conditions receipt of state funds for student financial aid
on community college districts providing the required
training. If a community college district submits a claim
for reimbursement, the Commission on State Mandates could
determine activities related the training requirement to be
a reimbursable based on practical compulsion - that there
is no reasonable alternative but to comply with bill's
requirement or that failure to comply with this activity
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will result in certain and severe penalties. Though
several districts already provide the required training,
the bill's mandate means that the state could be liable to
reimburse all districts for training costs at each of their
campuses. Assuming costs averaging $2,000 per campus,
ongoing statewide costs for the 113 campuses would be
$226,000 (General Fund-Prop 98). The California Student
Aid Commission may require additional auditing resources to
verify compliance with the training requirement as a
condition on colleges' participation in the Cal Grant and
other financial aid programs.
6) Related legislation.
AB 1654 (Santiago, 2016) expands existing audit
requirements regarding the reporting of crime statistics by
California postsecondary education institutions by
requiring the State Auditor to include an evaluation of
institutions' compliance with state law governing crime
reporting and the development and implementation of student
safety policies and procedures. AB 1654 passed this
committee on June 15, 2016 and is now pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
SB 967 (De Leon, Chapter 748, Statutes of 2014) requires
the governing board of each community college district, the
Trustees of the CSU, the Regents of the UC, and the
governing boards of independent postsecondary institutions,
as specified, to adopt a policy concerning campus sexual
violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking
that includes specified components and standards in order
to receive state funds for student financial assistance.
AB 1433 (Gatto, Chapter 798, Statutes of 2014) requires
governing boards of each public and private postsecondary
educational institution to adopt and implement policies and
procedures governing the reporting of specified crimes to
law enforcement agencies.
SUPPORT
California State Student Association
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OPPOSITION
None received.
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