BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2380
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2380 (Alejo)
As Amended April 18, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |7-0 |Bonilla, Grove, | |
| | |Calderon, Lopez, | |
| | |Maienschein, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the court to provide a defendant who is
charged with a felony and who is the sole custodial parent of
one or more minor children with: a Judicial Council form on
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guardianship, information regarding Power of Attorney for a
minor child, and information regarding TrustLine background
examinations, as specified.
EXISTING LAW directs the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
establish and continuously update a TrustLine registry
containing information on license-exempt child care providers
who have submitted TrustLine background-check information and
who have undergone the specified background check. (Health and
Safety Code (HSC) Section 1596.60 et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Care options for children of incarcerated parents: Research
indicates that parental incarceration can be more traumatic for
children than a parent's death or divorce, and it can have
damaging impacts on a child's education, health, and social
relationships. For children who don't have another parent at
home, being placed with a relative is often the most stable
option, allowing a child to maintain relationships and, ideally,
to live at or near his or her home and attend his or her regular
school.
For a parent who is sentenced to prison and who is the sole
guardian, options exist for formalizing the relationship between
a chosen caregiver and a parent's child(ren). These can include
more informal arrangements, such as completing a Caregiver's
Authorization Affidavit, which is a two-page form that an
authorized relative can sign which allows a qualified relative
to enroll a child in school and agree to school-related medical
care for the child. This option does not give a caregiver legal
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custody over a child. Another option is to grant Power of
Attorney to a caregiver, which authorizes an individual to act
as a caregiver for a child, and to make decisions regarding the
child on behalf of parent. More formal options could also be
sought, including legal guardianship, whereby the court may
appoint an individual to have custody of a child indefinitely.
Legal guardianship does not terminate a parent's rights, but
suspends them. These, and other, options each come with various
benefits and drawbacks, depending on the circumstances, and
parents need to consider their family's particular needs and
situation when deciding which, if any, option to pursue.
TrustLine: TrustLine, created by the California Legislature in
the 1980s, is a registry of license-exempt child care providers
who have cleared a criminal background check run by DSS that
includes a check of the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)
administered by the Attorney General and the California
Department of Justice's California Criminal History System, and
can involve a check of criminal history records at the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Child care providers listed on
TrustLine do not have either of the following: disqualifying
criminal convictions or substantiated reports of child abuse
found on CACI. Applicants for the registry must complete a
form, submit fingerprints, and pay a one-time fee to DSS. Fees
can vary, and start at approximately $135. Parents are able to
check if an individual is listed on the registry by calling a
toll-free number.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "I authored this
legislation in response to the recent tragic killing of two
young children and the brutal torture of their sister from East
Salinas who had been placed in the custody of their aunt after
their only living parent was sent to prison. Ensuring the
health and safety of our children is one of the most essential
roles of government. Our system failed these children. This
bill requires the court, at the arraignment of a parent who is
charged with a felony and who is the sole guardian of his or her
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child, to provide that parent with information on options
regarding the provision of care for his or her child, in the
parent's absence, including: ways in which to formalize the
relationship with the person with whom he/she is entrusting the
care of his/her child (such as appointing power of attorney),
and the availability of services to research a potential
caretaker's background."
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0002847