BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1873
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 21, 2006
Consultant: Scott Hinkle
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 1873 (Torrico) - As Amended: March 13, 2006
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Changes the "Safe-Surrender" Law under which a parent
or other person with lawful custody of a child 72 hours old or
younger to allow a child up to thirty days old to be safely
surrendered along with other substantive changes. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Expands the Safe-Surrender Law to allow a parent or individual
who has lawful custody of a child up to thirty days old to be
voluntarily surrender custody of the child to a safe-surrender
site.
2)Expands the definition of "safe-surrender site" to include a
local fire agency upon the approval of the appropriate
governing body.
3)Defines "parent" to mean a birth parent of a minor child or is
30 days old or younger.
4)Clarifies that a safe-surrender site, or the personnel of a
safe-surrender site, shall not have liability of any kind for
a surrendered child prior to taking actual physical custody of
the child.
5)Provides that no parent or other individual having lawful
custody of a child thirty days or younger may be prosecuted
for abandoning a child or failing to provide a child with
necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance or other
remedial care if he or she voluntarily surrenders physical
custody of the child at a safe-surrender site.
6)Appropriates $5 million to conduct a statewide awareness
campaign and establish and operate an "800" number to provide
education and assist to the public regard safe-surrender
sites.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes it a crime for a parent of, or other person entrusted
with, a child younger than 14 years of age to abandon the
child (Penal Code Section 271) and to fail to provide for the
child or to present the child to an orphanage or similar
institution as an orphan. (Penal Code Section 271a.)
2)Makes it a crime for a parent willfully to fail, without
lawful excuse, to provide a child with necessary food,
clothing, shelter, medical assistance or other remedial care.
(Penal Code Section 270.)
3)Describes the procedure for the surrender of a child 72 hours
or younger to a safe-surrender site without incurring any
criminal liability under the state's child abandonment laws.
(Health and Safety Code Section 1255.7.)
4)Defines a "safe-surrender site" as either:
a) A location designated by the board of supervisors of a
county to be responsible accepting physical custody of
minor who is 72 hours old or younger [Health and Safety
Code 1255.7(a)(1)(A)]; or,
b) A location within a public or private hospital
designated by the hospital as responsible for accepting a
minor child who is 72 hours old or younger. [Health and
Safety Code 155.7(a)(1)(B).]
5)Defines a "parent" as a birth parent of a minor child who is
72 hours old or younger. [Health and Safety Code
155.7(a)(2).]
6)Protects from prosecution under the State's child abandonment
laws a parent or other person having lawful custody of a child
72 hours old or younger who voluntarily surrenders physical
custody of the child to personnel on duty at a safe-surrender
site. (Penal Code Section 271.5.)
7)Provides that a child is within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court if:
a) The child has been left without any provision for
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support;
b) The child has been safely surrendered and the child was
not been reclaimed within the 14-day period specified;
c) The child's parent has been incarcerated or
institutionalized and cannot arrange for the care of the
child; or,
d) A relative or other adult custodian with whom the child
resides or has been left is unwilling or unable to provide
care or support for the child, the whereabouts of the
parent are unknown, and reasonable efforts to locate the
parent have been unsuccessful. [Welfare and Institutions
Code Section 300(g).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "According to a
Department of Social Services (DSS) 2003 report, the first
year that the California Safely Surrender Baby (SSB) Law took
effect (2001), 11 were abandoned of which 55% were of Latino
descent. The 2005 DSS report noted that from the period of
October 21, 2002 through September 30, 2004, out of 105
abandoned babies, there was only one incident where the parent
attempted to reclaim the child. To date, there have been a
total of 122 safely surrendered babies, 130 abandoned alive
babies and 24 abandoned dead babies. This bill would help
increase the number of safely surrendered babies.
"A lifeless baby was found in my district in January 2006. The
baby was between 7 and 14 days old. The baby was found less
than one block away from a fire station, a designated
safe-surrender site. There is a lack of public awareness of
the SSB Law. More has to be done address this issue by
providing for brochures, public service announcements and
other media outlets in multiple languages. Parents should be
notified of all possibilities including the option to safely
surrender their baby before they resort to abandonment.
"The current California law has saved over 100 babies since
2001. There are currently 15 other states that have 72-hour
provisions, 12 states have 30-day provisions, and two states
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have one-year provisions. In North Dakota and Missouri, a
child can be relinquished for up to one year after its birth
without threat of prosecution for child abandonment provided
that the child is left with a health care provider. The
anonymity, confidentiality and freedom from prosecution may
encourage parents to leave their child at a safe-surrender
site. Extending the date from the current 72-hour provision
may save the lives of more babies in California."
2)Previous Legislation : SB 1368 (Brulte), Chapter 824, Statutes
of 2000, enacted the provisions governing the surrender of a
newborn by a parent or other responsible person to a
safe-surrender site where the abandoned newborn may receive
medical and other care until the county takes over custody of
the newborn. SB 1368 was introduced to provide mothers of
unwanted newborns a safe alternative to abandonment of
children in trash bins, alleys, or other places where the
babies would be unprotected and could die. In order to reduce
the number of abandoned babies and give those babies the
chance to survive, SB 1368 provided a safe place (such as an
emergency room of a hospital) where a person may surrender the
baby, may retrieve the baby within a specified period, and
immunity from criminal penalties under the child abandonment
laws to the parent and/or person who delivered the baby to the
safe-surrender site. SB 1368 contained a sunset date of
January 1, 2006.
Since its implementation, three additional statutes have been
enacted to enhance the effectiveness of the SSB law:
a) AB 2817 (Maddox), Chapter 1099, Statutes 2002, which
requires school districts to include information about the
law in sex education classes.
b) SB 139 (Brulte), Chapter 150, Statutes 2003, provides
that a child may now be surrendered at any hospital or
other designated safe-surrender site. Previously, a
designated employee at a hospital emergency room or other
location was the only person permitted to accept a baby.
In addition, SB 139 provides for confidentiality of
personal identifying information of the person surrendering
the baby and requires all safe-surrender sites to post a
sign incorporating the statewide SSB logo.
c) SB 116 (Dutton), Chapter 625, Statutes of 2005, deleted
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the sunset date of January 1, 2006 from the SSB Law.
3)County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) : According to
CWDA, "The current safety surrender by law is primarily
targeted toward pregnant women of all ages who are in a severe
crisis placing their newborn babies at imminent risk of harm.
The law seeks to balance the rights of both mothers and
fathers with the need to keep babies safe. Research indicates
that some troubled women are in such denial about their
pregnancies that newborns are at great risk of being killed or
abandoned shortly after birth. However, we know of no
research suggesting that the same risk factors continue to
exist for babies up one year of age.
"We do not disagree that it may be worth revisiting California's
current 72-hour, safe-surrender limit. For example, extending
the provisions of current law by up to one week could continue
to provide a place between the immediate risk to an infant,
the right of both parents and a baby's ability to bond with
its caregivers.
"For children who are beyond the limit, the voluntary
relinquishment process will continue to enable parents to free
their children for adoption. Voluntary relinquishment offers
safeguards to both of the parents, the child and the
prospective adoptive parents, which would be bypassed under
this bill. Through this process, an adoption worker
interviews the relinquishing parent (most often the mother)
and informs her of her rights, determines paternity and
advises the father of this rights, and ensure that the parents
are making an inform and independent decision. The
relinquishment process also offers an important opportunity
for adoptive parents to learn about a child's medical history,
prenatal care and any health or development issues. The
relinquishing parents can give input regarding the adoptive
home and may arrange for post-adoption contact."
4)Family Law Section of the State Bar of California : According
to the Family Law Section, "Under current law, it is a crime
for a parent of a minor child to fail to provide necessary
clothing, food, shelter, or medical or remedial care for a
child. It is further a crime for a parent of a child under the
age of 14 years to desert his or her child with intent to
abandon. Under Health and Safety Code 1255.7, however, a
procedure is created whereby a child may be surrendered to
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certain locations prior to the child reaching 72 hours of age.
Penal Code 271.5 then provides for the surrendering party to
be exempt from criminal prosecution when the parameters set
forth in the Health and Safety Code are followed.
" This proposed legislation has three components: First, the
bill would expand the "safe surrender" locations set forth in
the Health and Safety Code, to include "any fire station".
Second, the legislation would extend the period of surrender
so as to exempt an individual from criminal prosecution when
the surrender occurs prior to the child reaching 30 days of
age. Finally, the legislation seeks funding for which to
establish a statewide awareness campaign, as well as to
establish an "800" number for assistance in completing the
safe surrender of a child.
"The section is in favor of the goal of this legislation, as it
seeks to protect children. The section last year supported SB
116, which made permanent the "safe surrender" law, which
previously would have expired in 2006. To the extent that
further expansion of the time frame would continue to protect
children, the section supports the expansion of the 72 hour
time limit now existing.
"However, the interest of protecting children must be balanced
against the responsibility of parents. Criminal prosecution
for "failure to provide" or for "abandonment" is intended to
act as a deterrent, forcing parents to act responsibly and
attend to the needs of their children. The section believes
that any expansion of the existing 72 hour limitation should
continue to serve the purpose of protecting children, as
opposed to simply giving parents a longer "grace period". No
law should allow a parent to "test drive" a child without any
concern for criminal prosecution if they decide that raising
the child is too great a burden.
"The section believes that the extension to 30 days contained in
the current version of AB 1873 strikes an appropriate balance
between protecting children and exempting parents from their
legal obligation to provide for their children. The section
believes the extension will promote the protection of
children, have minimal negative impact on the child, and will
not operate as an exemption on parental responsibility without
any concern for the impact on the child who is surrendered."
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5)Double Referral : This bill has been double referred to the
Human Services Committee pursuant to the Assembly Rules
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Catholic Conference
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Hospital Association
California Fire Chiefs Association
Family Law Section of the State Bar of California
Fire Districts Association of California
League of California Cities
Opposition
California State Association of Counties
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Analysis Prepared by : Scott Hinkle / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744