BILL NUMBER: AB 2853 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salinas
FEBRUARY 24, 2006
An act to add Section 3150.5 to amend
Sections 1815 and 1816 of the Family Code, relating to family
law.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2853, as amended, Salinas Family law proceedings
: San Benito County pilot project.
counselors.
Existing permits a superior court to establish the family
conciliation court and to appoint supervising and associate
counselors of conciliation, as specified. Existing law permits a
superior court to appoint a child custody evaluator or mediator in a
contesting proceeding regarding child custody or visitation rights.
Existing law requires those counselors, evaluators, and mediators to
participate in programs of continuing instruction in domestic
violence, as specified, that are established under the authority of
the Administrative Office of the Courts.
This bill would revise and recast those provisions related to
programs of continuing instruction for counselors, evaluators,
investigators and mediators, as specified. This bill would requires
those counselors, evaluators, investigators and mediators to have 16
hours of additional advanced training in domestic violence issues and
4 hours of updated training annually, as approved by the
Administrative Office of the Courts.
Existing law provides for appointment of investigators and child
custody evaluators in contested family law proceedings in which child
custody or visitation is in dispute.
This bill would create in San Benito County, until January 1,
2010, a pilot project in which a family law court would, in the court'
s discretion, appoint a multidisciplinary team of professionals who
shall support the attorney to represent the best interests of a child
in family law matters when the custody of the child is in dispute
and one party to the action has accused the other party of domestic
violence or of child abuse against the child who is the subject of
the custody dispute, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1815 of the Family
Code is amended to read:
1815. (a) A person employed as a supervising counselor of
conciliation or as an associate counselor of conciliation shall have
all of the following minimum qualifications:
(1) A master's degree in psychology, social work, marriage, family
and child counseling, or other behavioral science substantially
related to marriage and family interpersonal relationships.
(2) At least two years of experience in counseling or
psychotherapy, or both, preferably in a setting related to the areas
of responsibility of the family conciliation court and with the
ethnic population to be served.
(3) Knowledge of the court system of California and the procedures
used in family law cases.
(4) Knowledge of other resources in the community to
which that clients can be referred to
for assistance.
(5) Knowledge of adult psychopathology and the psychology of
families.
(6) Knowledge of child development, child abuse, clinical issues
relating to children, the effects of divorce on children, the effects
of domestic violence on children, and child custody research
sufficient to enable a counselor to assess the mental health needs of
children.
(7) Training in domestic violence issues as described in Section
1816.
(b) The family conciliation court may substitute additional
experience for a portion of the education, or additional education
for a portion of the experience, required under subdivision (a).
(c) This section does not apply to any supervising counselor of
conciliation who was in office on March 27, 1980.
SEC. 2. Section 1816 of the Family Code
is amended to read:
1816. (a) Supervising and For purposes of
this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Eligible provider" means the Administrative Office of the
Courts or an educational institution, professional association,
professional continuing education group, a group connected to the
courts or a public or private group that has been authorized by the
Administrative Office of the Courts to provide domestic violence
training.
(2) "Evaluator" means a supervising or
associate counselors and mediators
counselor described in Section 1815, a mediator described in
Section 3164 and , a
court-connected and or private child
custody evaluators evaluator described
in Section 3110.5 shall , or a
court-appointed investigator or evaluator as described in Section
3110 or Section 730 of the Evidence Code.
(b) An evaluator shall
participate in programs a program of
continuing instruction in domestic violence, including child abuse,
as may be arranged and provided to them that
evaluator . This training may utilize domestic violence
training programs conducted by nonprofit community organizations with
an expertise in domestic violence issues.
(b)
(c) Areas of basic instruction
shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The effects of domestic violence on children.
(2) The nature and extent of domestic violence.
(3) The social and family dynamics of domestic violence.
(4) Techniques for identifying and assisting families affected by
domestic violence.
(5) Interviewing, documentation of, and appropriate
recommendations for families affected by domestic violence.
(6) The legal rights of, and remedies available to, victims.
(7) Availability of community and legal domestic violence
resources.
(c)
(d) An evaluator shall also complete 16 hours of advanced training
within a 12-month period. Four hours of that advanced training shall
include community resource networking intended to acquaint the
evaluator with domestic violence resources in the geographical
communities where the family being evaluated may reside. Twelve hours
of instruction, as approved by the Administrative Office of the
Courts, shall include all of the following:
(1) The appropriate structuring of the child custody evaluation
process, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Maximizing safety for clients, evaluators, and court
personnel.
(B) Maintaining objectivity.
(C) Providing and gathering balanced information from the parties
and controlling for bias.
(D) Providing separate sessions at separate times as described in
Section 3113.
(E) Considering the impact of the evaluation report and
recommendations with particular attention to the dynamics of domestic
violence.
(2) The relevant sections of local, state, and federal laws,
rules, or regulations.
(3) The range, availability, and applicability of domestic
violence resources available to victims, including, but not limited
to, all of the following:
(A) Shelters for battered women.
(B) Counseling, including drug and alcohol counseling.
(C) Legal assistance.
(D) Job training.
(E) Parenting classes.
(F) Resources for a victim who is an immigrant.
(4) The range, availability, and applicability of domestic
violence intervention available to perpetrators, including, but not
limited to, all of the following:
(A) Certified treatment programs described in Section 1203.097 of
the Penal Code.
(B) Drug and alcohol counseling.
(C) Legal assistance.
(D) Job training.
(E) Parenting classes.
(5) The unique issues in a family and psychological assessment in
a domestic violence case, including all of the following:
(A) The effects of exposure to domestic violence and psychological
trauma on children, the relationship between child physical abuse,
child sexual abuse, and domestic violence, the differential family
dynamics related to parent-child attachments in families with
domestic violence, intergenerational transmission of familial
violence, and manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorders in
children.
(B) The nature and extent of domestic violence, and the
relationship of gender, class, race, culture, and sexual orientation
to domestic violence.
(C) Current legal, psychosocial, public policy, and mental health
research related to the dynamics of family violence, the impact of
victimization, the psychology of perpetration, and the dynamics of
power and control in battering relationships.
(D) The assessment of family history based on the type, severity,
and frequency of violence.
(E) The impact on parenting abilities of being a victim or
perpetrator of domestic violence.
(F) The uses and limitations of psychological testing and
psychiatric diagnosis in assessing parenting abilities in domestic
violence cases.
(G) The influence of alcohol and drug use and abuse on the
incidence of domestic violence.
(H) Understanding the dynamics of high conflict relationships and
relationships between an abuser and victim.
(I) The importance of and procedures for obtaining collateral
information from a probation department, children's protective
services, police incident report, a pleading regarding a restraining
order, medical records, a school, and other relevant sources.
(J) Accepted methods for structuring safe and enforceable child
custody and parenting plans that assure the health, safety, welfare,
and best interest of the child, and safeguards for the parties.
(K) The importance of discouraging participants in child custody
matters from blaming victims of domestic violence for the violence
and from minimizing allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, or
abuse against a family member.
(e) After an evaluator has completed the advanced training
described in subdivision (d), that evaluator shall complete four
hours of updated training annually that shall include, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Changes in local court practices, case law, and state and
federal legislation related to domestic violence.
(2) An update of current social science research and theory,
including the impact of exposure to domestic violence on children.
(f) Training described in this section shall be acquired from an
eligible provider and that eligible provider shall comply with all of
the following:
(1) Ensure that a training instructor or consultant delivering the
education and training programs either meets the training
requirements of this section or is an expert in the subject matter.
(2) Monitor and evaluate the quality of courses, curricula,
training, instructors, and consultants.
(3) Emphasize the importance of focusing child custody evaluations
on the health, safety, welfare, and best interest of the child.
(4) Develop a procedure to verify that an evaluator completes the
education and training program.
(5) Distribute a certificate of completion to each evaluator who
has completed the training. That certificate shall document the
number of hours of training offered, the number of hours the
evaluator completed, the dates of the training, and the name of the
training provider.
(g) (1) If there is a local court rule regarding the procedure to
notify the court that an evaluator has completed training as
described in this section, the evaluator shall comply with that local
court rule.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subdivision, an
evaluator shall attach copies of his or her certificates of
completion of the training described in subdivision (d) and the most
recent updated training described in subdivision (e).
(h) An evaluator may satisfy the requirement for 12 hours of
instruction described in subdivision (d) by training from an eligible
provider that was obtained on or after January 1, 1996. The advanced
training of that evaluator shall not be complete until that
evaluator completes the four hours of community resource networking
described in subdivision (d).
(i) The Judicial Council shall develop
standards for the training programs. The Judicial Council shall
solicit the assistance of community organizations concerned with
domestic violence and child abuse and shall seek to develop training
programs that will maximize coordination between conciliation courts
and local agencies concerned with domestic violence.
SECTION 1. Section 3150.5 is added to the
Family Code, to read:
3150.5. (a) There is hereby created in San Benito County a pilot
project in which a family law court shall appoint a multidisciplinary
team of professionals who shall support the attorney appointed to
represent the best interests of a child in family law matters when
the custody of the child is in dispute and either of the following
applies:
(1) One party to the action has accused the other party of
domestic violence.
(2) One party has alleged that the other party has committed child
abuse against the child who is the subject of the custody dispute.
(b) The multidisciplinary team shall be appointed by, and only at
the discretion of, the court. The team shall include a paralegal, a
psychologist, an investigator, a social worker, a counselor or
therapist, and a medical professional each of whom shall have
experience in assessing and presenting evidence on child abuse and
domestic violence.
(c) The multidisciplinary team shall investigate and present
evidence supporting the investigation into the issue of the child's
best interest as it relates to the allegations of child abuse and
domestic violence.
(d) The pilot project shall include a research component that
shall result in the creation of a protocol and a policy that may be
implemented in other counties throughout the state.
(e) All funding for the pilot project shall be obtained from
private, nonprofit organizations. There shall be no cost to the
county for the implementation of this pilot project. This section
shall become operative only after independent sources of funding are
identified or become available.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2010,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2010, deletes or extends that date.