BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1178
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|Author: |Vidak |
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|Version: |February 18, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: March 30, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: Superintendent of Public Instruction: child abuse and
neglect: poster
SUMMARY
This bill, an urgency measure, requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) to develop a poster that notifies
children of the appropriate resources available for reporting
child abuse or neglect.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act
and requires all school district teachers and employees are
considered to be "mandated reporters," including
instructional aides, teacher assistants, classified
employees, and employees of a school district police or
security department. Mandated reporters are required to
report to any law enforcement department knowledge or
observations they may have of a child they know or
reasonably suspect to have been the subject of child abuse
or neglect. (Penal Code § 11165.7)
2) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE),
in consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention,
to:
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a) Develop and disseminate information to all
school districts, county offices of education, state
special schools and diagnostic centers, charter
schools and their school personnel regarding the
detection and reporting of child abuse.
b) Provide statewide guidance on the
responsibilities of mandated reporters who are school
personnel.
c) Develop the appropriate means of instructing
school personnel in the detection of child abuse and
neglect, as specified.
d) Establish best practices for school personnel
to prevent abuse, as specified.
3) Further requires CDE to adopt guidelines to be
disseminated to parents or guardians of pupils that
describe the procedures that a parent or guardian can
follow in filing a complaint of child abuse with the school
or a child protective services agency against a school
employee or other person that commits an act of child abuse
against a student at a schoolsite. (EC § 33308.1)
ANALYSIS
1) This bill, an urgency measure, requires the Superintendent
of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop a poster that
notifies children of the appropriate resources available
for reporting child abuse or neglect. Specifically this
bill:
a) Requires the SPI to:
i) Include the appropriate
telephone number to report child abuse or
neglect.
ii) Post on the department's Internet Web
site specified versions of the poster for public
download.
b) Authorizes the SPI to partner with
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government agencies and nonprofit entities for purpose
of design and content.
c) Requires that the poster:
i) Be no smaller than 8.5 inches by 11
inches.
ii) Be produced in Spanish, English and
three other languages to be determined by the
SPI.
iii) Direct children to call "911" in case
of an emergency.
2) Encourages school districts, charter schools and private
schools to post the appropriate version or versions in an
area of the school where students frequent.
3) Makes the bill an urgency measure in order to meet the
deadline requirement established by the bill.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, while mandated
reporting laws train school staff to identify the signs of
suspected child abuse, children who do not exhibit these
signs may not receive the help they need. The author
asserts that after posters were placed in Texas schools,
the number of calls reporting suspected cases of abuse
significantly increased than in prior years. This bill
seeks to provide children with greater access to child
abuse reporting information by encouraging schools to
display a poster, developed by the SPI, in areas where
children congregate.
2) Information directed to students. It appears that very
little information related to child abuse awareness is
directed to children in schools. Health education content
standards, developed by the California Department of
Education, include strategies to promote child abuse
awareness directly to students. However, information
included in the standard does not ensure actual
instruction. Other tools and resources related to
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identifying the signs of child abuse or reporting cases of
suspected child abuse are geared toward adults who are
mandated reporters such as teachers and other school
employees.
3) Is this the appropriate remedy? Notwithstanding the
seriousness of this issue, is legislation necessary for the
development of a poster? Could the author simply request
that the Superintendent of Public Instruction undertake the
activities outlined in the bill?
SUPPORT
Children's Advocacy Centers of California
OPPOSITION
None received.
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