BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Joseph L. Dunn, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
AB 2853 A
Assembly Member Salinas B
As Amended May 3, 2006
Hearing Date: June 20, 2006 2
Family Code 8
BCP:cjt 5
3
SUBJECT
Family Law Counselors
DESCRIPTION
This bill would codify a current Rule of Court that
requires initial and continuing domestic violence education
for court counselors, evaluators, investigators and
mediators involved in child custody matters.
BACKGROUND
Domestic violence represents a serious criminal and public
health problem in California and across the nation.
According to the 2005 Report from the Attorney General's
Task Force on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic
Violence, "[y]oung women (aged 16 to 34) are at highest
risk for domestic violence." These same women were most
likely to have young children present in the home.
Moreover,
[w]omen living in households where children were
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
home every year.
In recognition of the emotional and physical toll that
(more)
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domestic violence places upon young children, Rule of Court
5.230 requires extensive domestic violence training for
"all court-appointed persons who evaluate or investigate
child custody matters." AB 2853 would codify these
requirements, thus ensuring that those court personnel and
investigators receive adequate domestic violence training.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1. Existing law allows the superior court in each county
to create a family conciliation court. Existing law
permits the superior court to appoint a supervising and
associate counselors of conciliation. [Fam. Code Sec.
1814.]
Existing law requires any supervising or associate
counselor of conciliation to possess certain minimum
qualifications, including a masters degree, two years of
experience and knowledge of various related fields. [Fam.
Code Sec. 1815.]
This bill would add training in domestic violence issues
to that list of requirements.
2. Existing law requires supervising and associate
counselors, mediators, court-connected or private child
custody evaluators to participate in continuing education
programs for domestic violence. [Fam. Code. Sec. 1816.]
This bill would add court-appointed investigators and
evaluators to those continuing education requirements.
3. Existing Rules of Court require the above individuals,
including court-
appointed investigators and evaluators, to complete at
least 16 hours of
advance training within a 12 month period. That
training must include:
12 hours of instruction approved by the
Administrative Office of the Courts must include the
structure of the child custody evaluation process,
relevant law, domestic violence resources, domestic
violence prevention and unique issues in assessment of
domestic violence cases.
4 hours of community resource networking.
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[Rules of Court 5.230.]
Existing Rules of Court require those same persons to
complete four hours of update training each year, which
must include instruction on any updates, changes or
modifications in local court practices, case law,
legislation, and social science theory related to
domestic violence. [Rules of Court 5.230.]
This bill would codify those Rules of Court. This bill
would require those individuals to comply with a local
court rule concerning notification of completion of
educational requirements, when applicable. This bill
would require, absent a contrary local court rule, for
those persons to attach copies of their certificates of
completion of advanced and most recent update training.
This bill would allow an individual to satisfy the
12-hour instruction requirement with training from an
eligible provider obtained on or after January 1, 1996.
That individual would still be required to complete four
hours of community resource networking prior to the
completion of their advance training.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author, "[t]his bill seeks 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."
2. Effect of codifying a current Rule of Court
The California Constitution authorizes the Judicial
Council to "adopt rules for court administration,
practice and procedure, and perform other functions
prescribed by statute." [Cal. Const., art. VI, 6.]
The Judicial Council may not adopt rules that are
inconsistent with any statute. Proposed rules proceed
through an advisory committee review, rules and project
review, and comments. For rules that are recommended by
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the advisory committee, the Judicial Council may adopt,
modify or reject the proposed rule. This process
attempts to ensure the thorough public vetting of a
potential rule, and allows flexibility to accommodate any
changes in law or policy.
As stated above, AB 2853 would codify Judicial Council's
Rule of Court relating to domestic violence training for
court personnel involved in child custody matters. This
codification would, as the author states, ensure that
individuals involved in child custody matters receive
training on domestic violence.
While this codification would not constitute a
substantive change, it removes the flexibility inherent
in the creation of Rules of Court. In fact, Rule 5.230
was recently amended by the Judicial Council to
"eliminate the requirement that the 12-hour advanced
training be limited to 'in-person classroom instruction'"
in addition to other modifications. Those amendments
demonstrate the need to amend Rules of Court to comply
with the needs of the judicial system. While subsequent
legislation could alter the training requirements of this
section, the required legislative process may take more
time than the Judicial Council procedures.
Alternatively, the legislative process provides a fully
public forum for any change, as opposed to limiting
public contact to the comment period.
3. Training that would be required is consistent with the
current Rule of Court requirements
AB 2853 would require supervising or associate counselors
of conciliation, child custody mediators, court-connected
or private child custody evaluators, and court-appointed
investigators or evaluators to receive 16 hours of
advanced training, and 4 hours of updated training yearly
on domestic violence.
a. Initial and continuing domestic violence education
requirements
Initial advanced training would consist of 12 hours of
instruction, approved by the Administrative Office of
the Courts (AOC), that would include the:
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appropriate structuring of the child custody
evaluation process;
relevant sections of local, state, and federal
laws, rules or regulations;
the range, availability, and applicability of
domestic violence resources available to victims and
intervention available to perpetrators; and
unique issues in a family and psychological
assessment in domestic violence cases
The remaining four hours of advanced instruction would
"include community resource networking intended to
acquaint the evaluator with domestic violence
resources in the geographical communities where the
family being evacuated may reside." All 16 hours of
advance training must be completed within a 12-month
period.
After completion of the advanced training, each of
those individuals would have to complete four hours of
updated training yearly that must include changes in
local court practices, case law, and domestic violence
legislation and updates in current social science
research and theory. These continuing courses ensure
that these individuals, akin to practicing attorneys,
remain updated as to any relevant changes occurring
from year to year.
b. Incorporation of the existing partial exemption for
those who previously completed the initial training
AB 2853 would also incorporate the current partial
exemption from the initial advanced training
requirement for individuals who received training on
or after January 1, 1996. Those individuals would
still have to complete the four hours of community
resource training, along with the updated training
requirements.
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c. AOC approval of domestic violence training providers
Consistent with the current Rule of Court, providers
of the above mentioned training would have to be
authorized by the AOC to provide domestic violence
training. This oversight would ensure the quality of
the domestic violence education received.
4. No opposition from any of the affected groups
No opposition has been received to the codification of
these training requirements. According to Judicial
Council, since the state already pays for the training of
court employees, there would be no additional state cost.
Support: None Known
Opposition: None Known
HISTORY
Source: California NOW
Related Pending Legislation: SB 1062 (Bowen), would expand
the Safe at Home project to victims
of sexual assault. (This bill is
currently in the Assembly Judiciary
Committee.)
AB 2169 (Montanez), would remove
the sunset date
for the Safe at Home project as it
relates to victims
of domestic violence and stalking.
(This bill is set
to be heard today in this
committee.)
Prior Legislation: None Known
Prior Vote: Asm. Judiciary Committee (Ayes 9, Noes 0)
Asm. Appropriations Committee (Ayes 18, Noes
0)
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Asm. Floor (Ayes 79, Noes 0)
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