BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 332 (Block) - Child abuse reporting
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|Version: April 14, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: April 27, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 332 would expand the list of agencies authorized to
receive mandated reports of child abuse or neglect to include
school district police departments.
Fiscal
Impact:
Local school districts : Potentially significant one-time and
ongoing costs to local school districts for Interagency Child
Abuse and Neglect (ICAN)-related activities including the
establishment of policies/procedures, training,
accepting/referring initial reports, cross-reporting to local
agencies, reporting to licensing agencies, and retaining
records. To the extent the increase in school district police
department workload qualifies as a reimbursable state mandate,
districts could submit claims for reimbursement of those costs
(General Fund).
CDE : one-time minor and absorbable workload to the Department
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of Education for staff time required to update training
materials and documents.
ICAN mandate status : the 2015-16 Governor's Budget proposes to
suspend the ICAN mandate, rendering its provisions optional
for local agencies in FY 2015-16, thereby allowing the
deferral of payment of $90.4 million in prior-year claims.
Local reporting agencies : to the extent the ICAN mandate is
ultimately not suspended, local law enforcement, county
probation, and county welfare departments could incur reduced
costs to the extent a percentage of mandated reports that
otherwise would have been reported to these agencies are
prospectively reported to school district police departments.
Background: Existing law establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting
Act, which is intended to protect children from abuse and
neglect. Under existing law, a mandated reporter, as defined, is
required to make a report to a specified agency whenever the
person, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope
of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child
whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been
the victim of child abuse or neglect. (Penal Code (PC) §
11166(a).)
Existing law requires that reports of suspected child abuse or
neglect be made to any police department or sheriff's
department, not including a school district police or security
department, county probation department, if designated by the
county to receive mandated reports, or the county welfare
department. (PC § 11165.9.)
These agencies are required to accept a report of suspected
child abuse or neglect whether offered by a mandated reporter or
another person, or referred by another agency, even if the
agency to whom the report is being made lacks subject matter or
geographical jurisdiction to investigate the reported case,
unless the agency can immediately electronically transfer the
call to an agency with proper jurisdiction.
Proposed Law:
This bill would expand the list of agencies authorized to
receive mandated reports of child abuse or neglect to include
school district police departments. Additionally, consistent
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with the exception provided to local law enforcement agencies,
this bill would exempt a school district police department from
the requirement to forward substantiated reports of abuse or
neglect to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Related
Legislation: SB 478 (Huff) 2015 would authorize a county
welfare agency to develop a five-year pilot program for
internet-based reporting of child abuse and neglect, to be used
by specified mandated reporters in lieu of or in addition to the
initial telephone report requirement under existing law. This
bill is scheduled to be heard today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: AB 717 (Ammiano) Chapter 468/2011 repealed
the mandate for law enforcement agencies to forward reports of
abuse or neglect to the DOJ, and reduced the DOJ reporting
requirements of county probation departments and child welfare
departments to only substantiated reports of suspected child
abuse.
Staff
Comments: By authorizing school district police departments to
receive mandated reports of suspected child abuse or neglect,
this bill will result in potentially significant one-time and
ongoing costs to local school districts. To the extent the
increase in school district police department workload is
determined by the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) as a
reimbursable state mandate, districts could submit claims for
reimbursement of those costs.
The statewide cost estimate adopted by the CSM for the
Interagency Child Abuse and Neglect Investigation Reports
(00-TC-22) reflects total costs of $90.4 million through FY
2012-13, and prospective costs of $2.6 million annually for
ICAN-related activities including distributing forms, accepting
and referring initial child abuse reports, cross-reporting
between local agencies and to the district attorney's office,
reporting to licensing agencies, completing investigations and
forwarding substantiated reports to the DOJ (for county
probation and county welfare departments only), and records
retention. Staff notes the 2015-16 Governor's Budget proposes to
suspend the ICAN mandate, rendering its provisions optional for
local agencies in FY 2015-16, and allowing the state to defer
payment of $90.4 million in prior-year claims. The Governor's
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Budget proposes a $4 million grant program to fund ICAN
activities carried out by county welfare and probation
departments in counties that choose to participate.
In addition to the ongoing ICAN-related activities noted above,
school districts would also incur potentially significant
one-time costs for the establishment of policies and procedures,
as well as staff training on the ICAN reporting process. To the
extent additional resources are required to handle the increased
workload associated with ICAN-related activities could also
result in significant, potentially state-reimbursable costs. The
CDE has indicated there are currently 22 school districts that
have school district police departments. The CDE has also
indicated any staff time required to update training materials
and documents would be minor and absorbable.
To the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately not suspended,
local law enforcement, county probation, and county welfare
departments could potentially incur a reduced amount of
state-reimbursable costs for ICAN-related activities assuming a
percentage of reports that otherwise would have been reported to
local agencies currently authorized to receive the reports are
instead reported to school district police departments. The
magnitude of this impact is unknown but could be significant.
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