BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1322 (Mitchell) - Commercial sex acts: minors
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: April 26, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 4 - 3 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 9, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1322 would prohibit a minor from being arrested for
a prostitution offense, as specified, and would provide that a
commercially exploited child pursuant to the bill's provisions
may be adjudged a dependent child of the court, as specified,
and may be taken into temporary custody if the conditions
allowing temporary custody without warrant are met.
Fiscal
Impact:
Decriminalization of prostitution by a minor : Potential local
agency cost savings (Local Funds) to juvenile detention
facilities, and to county probation departments for services
and administration costs for these minors who otherwise may
have been arrested and potentially adjudicated as juvenile
delinquents or wards of the court. DOJ statistics indicate 368
arrests in 2013, 267 arrests in 2014, and 235 arrests in 2015
of minors for the prostitution offenses specified in this
measure. DOJ statistics indicate less than 10 percent of
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 1 of
?
arrests are ultimately adjudicated in court each year.
Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) program :
Potential future cost pressure (General Fund*) to provide
services and grants within the dependency system of care under
the CSEC Program, which is administered by the DSS, to the
extent services and case management activities are provided by
participating counties to a greater number of minors, and/or
to the extent additional counties opt into the program in the
future. One-time costs, not including services, for an initial
screening and assessment for CSEC eligibility of 200 minors is
estimated to cost about $125,000 (General Fund*). The Fiscal
Year (FY) 2016-17 Governor's Budget reflects 38 counties
electing to participate in the program, and $14 million
General Fund provided for support of this program.
Additionally, a budget issue to increase CSEC funding by an
additional $19.7 million for participating counties has been
held open in budget subcommittee hearings.
*Proposition 30 (2012) : Exempts the State from mandate
reimbursement for realigned responsibilities for "public
safety services" including the provision of child welfare
services to prevent child exploitation, however, legislation
enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect
of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
public safety services apply to local agencies only to the
extent the State provides annual funding for the cost
increase.
Criminal justice system : Potentially significant future cost
savings (General Fund/Local Funds) to numerous state and local
agencies, including but not limited to the courts, state
prisons, local correctional facilities, and human services
agencies to the extent prohibiting these exploited minors from
arrest and providing them with necessary supportive services
results in reductions in future involvement in the criminal
justice system.
Background: Existing law provides that a person who solicits or who agrees
to engage in or who engages in any act of prostitution is guilty
of a misdemeanor. No agreement to engage in an act of
prostitution constitutes a violation unless some act, in
addition to the agreement, is done within this state in
furtherance of the commission of an act of prostitution by the
person agreeing to engage in that act. As used is this
subdivision, "prostitution" includes any lewd act between
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 2 of
?
persons for money or other consideration. (Penal Code (PC) §
647(b).)
Existing law provides that it is unlawful for any person to
loiter in any public place with the intent to commit
prostitution. This intent is evidenced by acting in a manner and
under circumstances which openly demonstrate the purpose of
inducing, enticing, or soliciting prostitution, or procuring
another to commit prostitution. (PC § 653.22(a).)
Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Program (CSEC) Program
Existing law establishes the federal and state CSEC Program,
administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS), to
provide prevention, intervention, services, and training for
CSEC activities. Counties that elect to participate in state
CSEC activities receive funding for specialized services for the
CSEC population. (WIC §§ 16524.7-16524.10.)
A county electing to receive funding from the CSEC Program is
required to submit a plan to DSS describing how the county
intends to utilize the funds to be allocated. The county plan is
required to include documentation indicating the county's
collaboration with county partner agencies and children-focused
entities, which must include the formation of a
multidisciplinary team to serve children.
Each county electing to receive funds from the CSEC Program is
additionally required to develop an interagency protocol to be
utilized in serving sexually exploited children, to be developed
by a team led by a representative of the county human services
department and must include representatives from county
probation, county mental health, county public health
department, the juvenile court. The team may also include, but
shall not be limited to, representatives from local education
agencies, local law enforcement, survivors of sexual
exploitation and trafficking, and other providers as necessary.
The initial 35 counties that opted in were separated into two
tiers: 13 Tier I counties received $25,000 to develop
interagency protocols and 22 Tier II counties received enhanced
funding based on their prevalence of CSEC youth, completion of a
CSEC protocol, and the county's readiness to serve. Shortly
after the state program was enacted, federal CSEC legislation
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 3 of
?
was enacted with statewide requirements.
Proposed funding levels have remained at $14 million General
Fund since the Program's inception.
Proposed Law:
This bill would prohibit a minor from being charged with the
following offenses: soliciting or engaging in any act of
prostitution (PC § 647(b)), or loitering in any public place
with the intent to commit prostitution (PC § 653.22(a)).
Additionally, this bill:
Specifies that the aforementioned offenses do not apply
to a child under 18 years of age who is alleged to have
engaged in conduct that would, if committed by an adult,
violate existing law pursuant to PC § 647(b) or PC §
653.22(a).
Provides that a commercially exploited child under this
paragraph may be adjudged a dependent child of the court
pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) § 300(b)(2)
and may be taken into temporary custody pursuant to WIC §
305(a), if the conditions allowing temporary custody
without warrant are met.
Related
Legislation: SB 1064 (Hancock) 2016 would eliminate the sunset
date on the discretionary Sexually Exploited Minors Pilot
Project in Alameda County, and expand the program statewide to
operate indefinitely. SB 1064 would expand the definition of
"commercially sexually exploited minor" served by the program to
include, among others, minors who have been adjudged dependents
of the juvenile court. SB 1064 is pending on the Suspense File
of this Committee.
AB 1675 (Stone) 2016 would require a probation officer, in a
case in which a minor is alleged to have committed the crime of
solicitation, prostitution, or loitering with the intent to
commit prostitution, to provide informal supervision for the
minor, instead of requesting that the prosecutor file a petition
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 4 of
?
declaring the minor to be a ward of the juvenile court. AB 1675
is pending hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1730 (Atkins) 2016 would authorize a chief probation officer
of a county to create a program to provide services to youth
within the county relating to the commercial sexual exploitation
of youth. Funding for the program is contingent upon an
appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to be administered by
the Board of State and Community Corrections. AB 1730 is pending
on the Suspense File of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1731 (Atkins) 2016 would create the Statewide Interagency
Human Trafficking Task Force to gather statewide data on human
trafficking, to recommend interagency protocols and best
practices for training and outreach to law enforcement, victim
service providers, and other state and private sector employees
likely to encounter sex trafficking, and to evaluate and
implement approaches to increase public awareness about human
trafficking. AB 1731 is pending on the Suspense File of the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1760 (Santiago) 2016 directs a peace officer who determines
that a minor is a victim of human trafficking to report such
abuse, consult with a child welfare worker about a safe
placement for the minor, and transport the minor to such
placement, unless the minor is otherwise arrested. AB 1760 is
pending hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Prior Legislation: SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Chapter
425/2015 provides for numerous amendments to state law intended
to seek compliance with the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking
and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183), as specified.
SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 29/2014
established the CSEC program, and authorized annual state
funding for county agencies electing to participate in the
program to provide services to child victims of commercial
sexual exploitation.
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 5 of
?
Staff Comments: This bill provides that "a commercially
exploited child under this paragraph may be adjudged a dependent
child of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code
(WIC) § 300(b)(2) and may be taken into temporary custody
pursuant to WIC § 305(a), if the conditions allowing temporary
custody without warrant are met."
Staff notes it is unclear whether every child potentially
impacted by this measure would necessarily be adjudged a
dependent child of the court under the specified provision of
WIC § 300(b)(2), which states:
The Legislature finds and declares that a child who
is sexually trafficked, as described in Section 236.1
of the Penal Code, or who receives food or shelter in
exchange for, or who is paid to perform, sexual acts
described in Section 236.1 or 11165.1 of the Penal
Code, and whose parent or guardian failed to, or was
unable to, protect the child, is within the
description of this subdivision, and that this
finding is declaratory of existing law. These
children shall be known as commercially sexually
exploited children.
To ensure a child who is otherwise subject to potential harm due
to the abuse or neglect of a parent or guardian under the
general dependency statutes, even if not specifically meeting
the criteria under WIC § 300(b)(2), may still be adjudged a
dependent child of the court and taken into temporary custody
for his or her protection, the author may wish to consider an
amendment to specify that any child impacted by the provisions
of this bill may be adjudged a dependent child of the court
pursuant to any of the provisions of WIC § 300, which would
include WIC § 300(b)(2).
-- END --
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Page 6 of
?