BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session SB 478 (Huff) - Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act: mandated reporters: pilot program ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: February 26, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 6 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: April 27, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 478 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 would require the Department of Social Services (DSS) to consult with specified agencies to determine which counties may be involved in the pilot program. Fiscal Impact: Increase in mandated reports : potential increase in local SB 478 (Huff) Page 1 of ? agency costs to the extent the utilization of an internet-based reporting tool in addition to a telephone report results in a greater number of reports accepted, referred, and cross-reported. The statewide cost estimate adopted by the Commission on State Mandates for the Interagency Child Abuse and Neglect Investigation Reports (00-TC-22) reflects a prospective cost of $2.6 million annually for ICAN-related activities. 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. To the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately not suspended, however, any increase in local costs could be reimbursable by the state (General Fund). Interagency reporting workload impact : potential increases/decreases in local agency costs, potentially state-reimbursable (General Fund), across all local agencies involved in the ICAN reporting process. While the use of an internet-based reporting tool in a pilot county could potentially reduce the level of child welfare agency workload necessary to accept and refer suspected child abuse reports via telephone, to the extent fewer reports are initiated by telephone could conversely generate additional workload for follow-up information required, and/or restrict the ability of the receiving agency from immediately electronically transferring a call to another agency, thereby increasing the number of reports that must be accepted, referred/retained, and recorded by a receiving agency. Internet-based reporting tool : unknown, potentially significant one-time and ongoing non-reimbursable county welfare agency costs to develop, test, and operate an internet-reporting tool. The Governor's Budget proposes a $4 million General Fund grant program to fund ICAN activities carried out by county welfare and probation departments in counties that choose to participate. As a result, these local costs could potentially be funded with General Fund to the extent the ICAN mandate is suspended and the grant program is funded in the final Budget. To the extent other local agencies (city/county police, sheriff's departments, county probation departments) within a pilot area/region that are required to accept mandated reports incur increased costs (as the bill authorizes mandated reporters to utilize the reporting tool in the pilot area, but does not specifically restrict reporting to child welfare agencies), these costs could potentially be SB 478 (Huff) Page 2 of ? found to be reimbursable by the state (General Fund) if the ICAN mandate is not suspended. DSS consultation : minor one-time costs (General Fund) for the DSS to consult with specified agencies to determine county involvement in the pilot program. Background: Existing law establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which requires a mandated reporter, as defined, to make a report to a specified agency whenever the mandated reporter, 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 enumerates 44 categories of mandated reporters of child abuse or neglect. (PC § 11165.7.) Existing law requires the mandated reporter to make an initial report by telephone to the agency immediately or as soon as is practicably possible, and to prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a written follow-up report within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident. (PC § 11166(a).) Existing law specifies that reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be made to a police department or sheriff's department, not including a school district police or security department, a county probation department, if designated by the county to receive mandated reports, or a county welfare department. 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. (PC §11165.9.) When an agency takes a report about a case of suspected child abuse or neglect in which that agency lacks jurisdiction, the agency is required to immediately refer the case by telephone, fax, or electronic transmission to an agency with proper jurisdiction. Agencies that are required to receive reports of suspected child abuse or neglect may not refuse to accept a report of suspected child abuse or neglect from a mandated SB 478 (Huff) Page 3 of ? reporter or another person unless otherwise authorized, and are required to maintain a record of all reports received. (PC §11165.9.) Proposed Law: This bill would authorize a county welfare agency to develop a five-year pilot program for internet-based reporting of child abuse and neglect, as follows: Requires the DSS to consult with the County Welfare Directors Association and any interested county welfare agencies to determine which counties may be involved in the pilot program. Specifies the pilot program may operate in a specific region to receive reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, subject to all of the following conditions: o The suspected child abuse or neglect does not indicate that the child is subject to an immediate risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation or that the child is in imminent danger of severe harm or death. o The agency provides an internet form that includes qualifying questions in order to obtain necessary information required to assess the need for child welfare services and a response. o The mandated reporter is required to complete all required fields, including identity and contact information of the mandated reporter, in order to submit the report. o The mandated reporter is required to cooperate with any requests by the agency for additional information, if needed, to investigate the report. o The system can only be used by the following SB 478 (Huff) Page 4 of ? mandated reporters: § A peace officer, as specified. § A probation officer. § A school teacher, counselor, or administrator. § A physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed nurse, marriage and family therapist, or clinical social worker, as specified. § A coroner. Specifies in an area where the pilot program is active, the specified mandated reporter may use the internet-based reporting tool in lieu of or in addition to the required initial telephone report required under existing law. Specifies the pilot shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021, unless a later enacted statute, as specified, deletes or extends that date. Related Legislation: SB 332 (Block) 2015 would authorize school district police departments to receive mandated reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. This bill is scheduled to be heard today by this Committee. Prior Legislation: AB 776 (Chu) Chapter 713/2005 authorized the filing of a one-time alternate faxed or electronic mandated reporting form on suspected child abuse in lieu of the initial telephone report, as specified. The DSS was required to submit a report to the Legislature at the end of the three-year operative period or January 1, 2009, to provide data about the use of the alternative method of reporting. The use of the new reporting form was contingent upon the completion of necessary modifications to the CWS/CMS system. Ultimately, DSS determined it was not possible to complete the CWS/CMS modifications within the timeframes provided, and a statewide survey was taken of the counties to obtain input on the issue. In its report, Suspected Child Abuse One-Time Reporting Form (January 2009), the DSS reported the following major consensus of survey results among 25 counties that completed the survey, as follows: SB 478 (Huff) Page 5 of ? 1. That the current system of receiving a phone call for an initial report of child abuse is preferred over an initial report via fax or email. This is due to the difficulties in contacting the mandated reporter and the possible problems in not being able to determine details about a situation over the phone. 2. That mandated reporters need more and better training, particularly about providing information in reporting suspected child abuse. 3. That the counties are comfortable with the current system using the SS 8572 with an initial phone call. 4. That there is concern about putting children at risk with a reporting system that allows for an initial fax or email of suspected child abuse without a phone call. 5. That depending on the size of the county and the population being served, there are times when a mandated reporter may have difficulty in contacting a particular county agency. Staff Comments: By authorizing county welfare agencies to revise the process for mandated reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect, this bill could potentially result in fiscal impacts to not only the participating child welfare agency, but to other local agencies involved in the child abuse reporting process under the ICAN mandate. 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, thereby allowing the deferral of payment of $90.4 million in prior-year claims. To the extent the ICAN SB 478 (Huff) Page 6 of ? mandate is ultimately not suspended, however, any increase in local costs could be reimbursable by the state (General Fund) under the existing ICAN mandate decision. As the provisions of this measure allow specified mandated reporters to utilize the internet-based reporting tool in lieu of or in addition to the required initial telephone report, it is unclear if a greater number of suspected child abuse reports would potentially be accepted, referred, and recorded, resulting in additional state-reimbursable costs (for example, if a mandated reporter submitted an electronic report to a child welfare agency as well as telephoned the local law enforcement agency). While the use of an internet-based reporting tool in a pilot county could potentially reduce the level of child welfare agency workload necessary to accept and refer suspected child abuse reports via telephone, to the extent fewer reports are initiated by telephone could conversely generate additional workload for a receiving agency for follow-up information required, and/or restrict the ability of a receiving agency from immediately electronically transferring a call to another agency with jurisdiction, thereby increasing the number of reports that must be accepted, referred/retained, and recorded by a receiving agency. A county welfare agency opting into the pilot would potentially incur significant one-time and ongoing non-reimbursable costs (Local/Federal) to develop and operate the internet-reporting tool, as well as provide staff training on the process. However, as the Governor's Budget proposes a $4 million General Fund grant program to fund ICAN activities carried out by county welfare and probation departments in counties that choose to participate, these local agency costs could potentially be funded with General Fund to the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately suspended and the grant program is funded in the final Budget. This bill authorizes specified mandated reporters to use the internet-based reporting tool "in an area where the pilot program is active". As the bill does not specifically restrict the use of the tool to submit initial reports to a county SB 478 (Huff) Page 7 of ? welfare agency, it is unclear if other receiving agencies in the area where the pilot program is active could be required to accept reports through the internet-reporting tool. To the extent other local agencies required to accept mandated reports (city and county police and sheriff's departments, county probation departments) incur increased costs for revising processes and training associated with the tool, these costs could potentially be found to be reimbursable by the state (General Fund). The magnitude of costs would be dependent on the number of county agencies participating in the pilot, which is unknown and not limited in number. -- END --