BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2853
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Dave Jones, Chair
AB 2853 (Salinas) - As Introduced: February 24, 2006
PROPOSED CONSENT (As Proposed To Be Amended)
SUBJECT : FAMILY COURT COUNSELORS, mediators AND CUSTODY
EVALUATORS: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TRAINING
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD STATE LAW MANDATE THAT FAMILY COURT
COUNSELORS, MEDIATORS AND CUSTODY EVALUATORS BE REQUIRED TO
OBTAIN THE SAME RIGOROUS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TRAINING AS CURRENTLY
REQUIRED OF THEM BY COURT RULE?
SYNOPSIS
This non-controversial bill, sponsored by California NOW, seeks
to codify Rules of Court regarding domestic violence training
for family court services staff. Under current Rules of Court,
family court services staff, which includes mediators,
evaluators, investigators and counselors, are required to
receive, one-time, basic and advanced domestic violence training
and then annual updated training, as specified. This bill would
codify those same requirements in statute. The author believes
this bill is necessary to ensure custody mediators and others
are adequately trained on all issues related to domestic
violence in order to better protect and serve families impacted
by domestic violence. There is no known opposition.
SUMMARY : Expands domestic violence training for conciliation
counselors, mediators, and child custody evaluators.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "evaluators" as supervising and associate conciliation
counselors, child custody and visitation mediators, and child
custody evaluators and investigators.
2)Requires that evaluators, in addition to other requirements,
complete 16 hours of advanced domestic violence training.
Four hours of the training must include information on
domestic violence resources in local communities. Twelve
hours of the training, as approved by the Administrative
Office of the Courts must include, among other things:
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a) The appropriate structuring of the child custody
evaluation process, maintaining objectivity, controlling
for bias, and providing for separate sessions at separate
times.
b) The relevant sections of local, state, and federal law
or rules.
c) The range, availability, and applicability of domestic
violence resources available to victims and intervention
services available to perpetrators.
d) The unique issues in family and psychological assessment
in domestic violence cases, including, but not limited to,
the effects of exposure to domestic violence and
psychological trauma on children; the relationship of
gender, class, race, culture, and sexual orientation to
domestic violence; current research related to the dynamics
of family violence; the impact on parenting abilities of
being a victim or perpetrator of domestic violence; the
influence of alcohol and drug use and abuse on the
incidence of domestic violence; and 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.
3)Requires that evaluators complete four hours of update
training each year, including, but not limited to, training on
changes or modifications in local court practices, case law,
and state and federal legislation related to domestic
violence, and updates of current social science research and
theory, particularly in regard to the impact on children of
exposure to domestic violence.
4)Requires that training set forth in #s 2 and 3, above, be
acquired from an eligible provider, as defined.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes Family Conciliation Court to provide a means of
reconciliation of spouses and the amicable settlement of
family law controversies. Requires the appointment of a
supervising counselor of conciliation to assist the family
conciliation court in carrying out its functions. Sets forth
the minimum qualifications for supervising and associate
conciliation counselors. (Family Code Section 1800 et seq .)
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2)Requires supervising and associate conciliation counselors,
mediators and child custody evaluators to participate in
domestic violence training, including the effects of domestic
violence on children, techniques for identifying and assisting
families affected by domestic violence, interview techniques,
and the rights and availability of resources for victims of
domestic violence. (Family Code Section 1816.)
3)Requires the Judicial Council, through promulgation of
statewide rules, to establish education, experience and
training requirements for child custody evaluators and to
establish training specifically on child sexual abuse.
(Family Code Section 3110.5.)
4)Requires Family Court Services Staff, defined to include all
mediators, evaluators, investigators and counselors, to
complete domestic violence training under #2, above, and
advanced domestic violence training (16 hours) and annual
update trainings (4 hours annually). Requires the advanced
domestic violence training to include, among other things, the
appropriate structuring of the child custody evaluation
process; the relevant law; the availability of domestic
violence resources available to victims and perpetrators; the
unique issues in family and psychological assessment in
domestic violence cases; the relationship of gender, class,
race, culture, and sexual orientation to domestic violence;
current research related to the dynamics of family violence;
and 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. (Rule of Court, Rules 5.215,
5.230.)
5)Requires that only eligible providers, who have been approved
by the Administrative Office of the Courts, may provide the
training required in #4, above. (Rule of Court, Rule
5.230(e).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by California NOW, seeks to
codify Rules of Court regarding domestic violence training for
family court services staff. Under current Rules of Court,
family court services staff, which includes mediators,
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evaluators, investigators and counselors, are required to
receive, one-time, basic and advanced domestic violence training
and then annual updated training, as specified. This bill would
codify those same requirements in statute.
The author believes this bill is necessary to ensure custody
mediators and others "are adequately trained in all issues
related to domestic violence, including the impact of
victimization and control in relationships where domestic
violence has occurred." In support of the bill, the author
cites to several studies which hold that victims of domestic
violence who are forthright with their allegations are less
likely to secure protections for themselves and their children
than others.
Domestic violence is a very serious problem in California and
across the nation. The Attorney General's Task Force on
Domestic Violence reported just last year that:
In recent years, criminal justice and public health
professionals, together with policymakers and
community leaders, have increasingly recognized that
domestic violence is a serious criminal justice and
public health problem. . . . The health consequences
of physical and psychological domestic violence can be
significant and long lasting, for both victims and
their children. . . . A study by the California
Department of Health Services of women's health issues
found that nearly six percent of women, or about
620,000 women per year experienced violence or
physical abuse by their intimate partners. Women
living in households where children are present
experienced domestic violence at much higher rates
than women living in households without children:
domestic violence occurred in more than 436,000
households per year in which children were present,
potentially exposing approximately 916,000 children to
violence in the homes every year.
(Report to the California Attorney General from the Task Force
on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence, Keeping
the Promise: Victim Safety and Batterer Accountability (June
2005) (footnotes omitted).)
Children who are exposed to domestic violence, which can occur
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after separation, especially when families are engaged in
resolution of custody, visitation and property division issues,
suffer significant negative effects:
Today, domestic violence is recognized as a serious
societal problem in the United States. Yet, children
in families in which such violence occurs have
remained largely invisible as victims. Concern about
children's exposure to domestic violence is
increasing, however, in light of a growing body of
knowledge regarding the prevalence and effects of
childhood exposure to domestic violence. Research
suggests that between 3.3 million and 10 million
children in the United States are exposed to domestic
violence each year. And more than a decade of
empirical studies indicates that this exposure can
have significant negative effects on children's
behavioral, emotional, social, and cognitive
development.
(Lucy Salcido Carter, Lois A. Weithorn, and Richard E. Behrman,
Domestic Violence and Children: Analysis and Recommendations in
9 The Future of Children vol. 3 (1999) (footnotes omitted).)
This bill seeks to ensure that family court mediators,
evaluators, investigators and counselors are fully trained in
domestic violence issues in order to better assist and protect
families and children. By codifying existing rules developed by
the Judicial Council, this bill will not increase training
requirements that counselors, mediators, investigators and
evaluators are already required to obtain.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California National Organization for Women (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
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Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)
319-2334