BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1873
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Noreen Evans, Chair
AB 1873 (Torrico) - As Amended: April 18, 2006
SUBJECT : Safe surrender of infants.
SUMMARY : Expands the time frame and locations for the
safe-surrender of a baby by his or her parent. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Extends from 72 hours to 30 days old the age of a minor child
who can be left at a designated safe-surrender site.
2)Adds a local fire agency, upon the approval of the appropriate
local governing body of the agency, as a safe-surrender site
for minor children under the age of 30 days old.
3)Requires consultation between cities, fire departments and
county child welfare agencies when designating safe surrender
sites.
4)Defines "parent" for purposes of the safe-surrender law as the
birth parent of a minor child who is 30 days old or younger.
5)Appropriates $5,000,000 for a public awareness campaign to
make parents aware of the voluntary relinquishment law.
6)Makes a technical change to the telephone assistance number.
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 and to fail to provide for the child or to present the
child to an orphanage or similar institution as an orphan.
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.
3)Describes the procedure for the surrender of a child 72 hours
or younger to a safe-surrender site without incurring any
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criminal liability under the state's child abandonment laws.
4)Defines a "safe-surrender site" as either a designated
location responsible for accepting physical custody of a minor
who is 72 hours old or younger or 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.
5)Defines a "parent" for purposes of the safe surrender law as a
birth parent of a minor child who is 72 hours old or younger.
6)Protects 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 from prosecution under child abandonment
laws.
FISCAL EFFECT : At least $5,000,000 to create and execute a
public awareness campaign.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "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 Safe Surrender Baby law (SSB). More
has to be done to 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."
Background on the Safe Surrender Baby law
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 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. SB 1368 designated safe places (such as an emergency room
of a hospital) where a person can surrender a baby, may retrieve
the baby within a specified period, and has immunity from
criminal penalties under the child abandonment laws.
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Since the implementation of SB 1368, three additional statutes
have been enacted to enhance the effectiveness of the SSB law.
These include AB 2817 (Maddox), Chapter 1099, Statutes 2002,
which requires school districts to include information about the
SSB law in sex education classes and SB 139 (Brulte), Chapter
150, Statutes 2003, which provides that a child may 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.
Currently a parent or person having lawful custody of a baby who
wishes to safely surrender that baby may take the child, within
three days of birth to a hospital or other safe surrender site
and indicate that the baby is being surrendered under the SSB
law. No questions will be asked of the adult surrendering the
baby. A coded, confidential ankle bracelet is placed on the
infant and the adult is given a matching bracelet. The adult
may voluntarily fill out a medical questionnaire for the baby.
Then the hospital taking physical custody of the baby must
conduct a medical examination and provide any needed medical
care. The hospital or other safe-haven is required to notify
the county child welfare services agency no later than 48 hours
after it obtains custody.
At that point the juvenile court dependency process begins, but
the SSB law allows for a 14-day cooling-off period. During this
time the person who surrendered the infant may seek to reclaim
the baby. If the baby is not reclaimed, the dependency process
continues, the baby becomes a dependent of the court and enters
the foster care system with adoption as the goal.
If an attempt to reclaim the baby is made, at a minimum the
county would verify the person's identity, conduct an assessment
of the person's circumstances and ability to parent, request
that the juvenile court dismiss the petition for dependency and
order the release of the child unless there is reasonable cause
to assume that action would put the child at risk of abuse or
neglect. To date there is only one instance of a parent
attempting to reclaim their child.
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Experience with SSB
According to a Department of Social Services (DSS) 2005 SSB law
report, accurate reporting of the number of abandoned babies
found alive and deceased continues to pose a challenge due to
the cross reporting of law enforcement agencies and child
welfare services. The first SSB law report in 2003 confirmed
that there were 12 safely surrendered babies in California. The
2005 report tallies another 52 newborns receiving safe-haven
protection bringing the total of babies safely surrendered under
current law to 64. Since the inception of the SSB law, an
additional 19 babies were abandoned but found alive and 23
babies were found abandoned and deceased.
In California, the safe-surrender law was written primarily to
target pregnant women in a severe crisis who are in imminent
risk of harming their newborn baby. The DSS SSB law report
indicates that the age of the legal guardian or parent
surrendering their baby ranged in age from 15 to 42 years of
age. The law was designed to balance the rights of parents with
the need to keep newborn babies safe.
In a 2006 report issued by the Guttmacher Institute, 46 states
have legalized relinquishing an infant up to a specified age.
In 28 of those 46 states, the infant must be 7 days old or
younger to qualify for relinquishment under the safe-surrender
law.
Issues raised by the relinquishment period
Currently in California, children aged 72-hours or older who are
voluntarily relinquished by a parent are surrendered though a
more comprehensive process. In this situation the initial
crises surrounding the child's birth has passed and a parent has
been caring for the child for some length of time. In this case
parents can choose a voluntary relinquishment process enabling
them to place their child up for adoption. Voluntary
relinquishment offers safeguards to both of the parents, the
child and the prospective adoptive parents. Through this
process, an adoptions worker interviews the relinquishing parent
(most often the mother) and informs her of her rights;
determines paternity and advises the father of his rights; and
ensures that the parents are making an informed and independent
decision. The relinquishment process also offers an important
opportunity for adoptive parents to learn about a child's
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medical history, prenatal care and any health or developmental
issues. The relinquishing parents can give input regarding the
adoptive home and may arrange for post-adoption contact.
The County Welfare Director's Association states that,
"(r)esearch indicates that some troubled women are in such
denial about their pregnancy that the newborn is 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 to one year of age."
The heartbreaking news like that of a discarded, deceased seven
to 14 day old baby cited by the author might not be changed even
if the window of opportunity for parents to relinquish their
child under the SSB law is extended from 72 hours to 30 days.
There are no data to illuminate the decision of a parent to
relinquish their infant while in their first few weeks of life.
However, prolonging the opportunity for a parent to leave a baby
under the SSB law allows parents to disregard an important step
in the relinquishment process. Although 64 babies have been
released under the law, only three medical questionnaires are
known to have been completed. Eight additional parents provided
sparse medical information to staff.
Under AB 1873, a one-month old baby surrendered under the SSB
law can be reclaimed anytime in the following two weeks.
Potentially the baby would be six weeks old before it began the
formal foster care and adoption process. Currently, the parent
of a six week old baby is afforded the opportunity to make an
informed, educated decision regarding the relinquishment of
their child. The social worker would be able to counsel the
parent about their life-changing decision and an absent parent
would be notified of the relinquishment. The process would also
enable the parent to provide needed medical information without
fear of disclosing their identity. The current relinquishment
process would be a less impulsive alternative for overwrought
and overwhelmed parents.
Questions and Issues
Current law is clear that a parent who safely surrenders a child
72 hours old or younger can do so without fear of prosecution
under child abandonment laws. However, the law is vague on the
ability to prosecute a parent or guardian who safely surrenders
a baby suffering from abuse. For instance, several
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drug-addicted babies have been anonymously surrendered but the
birth mothers have not been identified or prosecuted.
AB 1873 would allow a parent to care for a child for 30 days and
presumably, if the parent anonymously surrendered a baby
suffering from physical or sexual abuse, the parent would be
immune from prosecution. It is possible that a frustrated
parent who shook an infant resulting in shaken baby syndrome,
could avoid prosecution by surrendering the abused child and not
risk being identified by hospital staff or a more formal
adoption process.
Given that concern, the Committee may wish to consider extending
the provisions of current law from 72 hours to seven days. This
shorter timeframe would provide a balance between the risk of
abuse to an infant, the rights of both parents and a baby's
ability to bond with its caregivers.
Further, the recent amendments encouraging consultation between
designated safe-surrender sites and the city or county in which
they are located does not sufficiently address the concern that
it is the counties that are liable for the safety of children
who are surrendered and the Board of Supervisors must be
consulted in determining suitable sites for safe surrender.
The Committee may wish to require consultation with the city or
county when designating safe-surrender sites.
Finally, the voluntary relinquishment law as specified in Family
Code Section 8700 should be cross-referenced in the bill to
ensure that the law is consistent at safe-surrender sites.
SECOND COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE . This bill was previously heard
in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on March 21, 2006, and
was approved on a 4-1 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorney's Association (CDAA)
California Medical Association (CMA)
California Hospital Association
California State PTA
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (if amended)
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National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
Opposition
Bay Area Birthmothers Association
County Welfare Directors Association of CA (CWDA)
California State Association of Counties (CSAC) (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Caitlin O'Halloran/ HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089