BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Senator Carol Liu, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1778 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Quirk | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |May 31, 2016 Hearing | | |Date: June 22, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Lenin DelCastillo | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 2 of ? 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 AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 3 of ? 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 AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 4 of ? 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. AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 5 of ? 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 AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 6 of ? 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 AB 1778 (Quirk) Page 7 of ? OPPOSITION None received. -- END --