BILL NUMBER: SB 346 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senator Battin
FEBRUARY 16, 2005
An act to amend Section 530.5 of the Penal Code, relating
to crime 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to dependent children .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 346, as amended, Battin. Crimes: Child
identity theft.
Existing law provides that a child who has been abused, neglected,
or abandoned is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which
may adjudge that child a dependent child of the court. Existing law
requires social workers and other county employees to prepare reports
and take specified action regarding a dependent child of the
juvenile court.
Existing law provides that every person who willfully obtains
personal identifying information about another person, as defined,
and uses that information for any unlawful purpose is guilty of a
crime punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one
year, or a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both, or by imprisonment in
the state prison, or a fine not to exceed $10,000, or both.
This bill would specifically provide that this section
applies to a parent who violates these provisions with respect to the
personal identifying information of his or her child
provide that a child whose parent or legal guardian has
used the personal identifying information of the child in violation
of the criminal provision described above may be adjudged a dependent
child of the juvenile court. By expanding the class of persons who
come within the definition of a dependent child of the juvenile
court, the bill would impose new duties on social workers and other
local employees, thereby imposing a state-mandated local progra
m.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 530.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
SECTION 1. Section 300 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code , as added by Section 3.5 of Chapter 824
of the Statutes of 2000, is amended to read:
300. Any child who comes within any of the following descriptions
is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge
that person to be a dependent child of the court:
(a) The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that
the child will suffer, serious physical harm inflicted
nonaccidentally upon the child by the child's parent or guardian. For
the purposes of this subdivision, a court may find there is a
substantial risk of serious future injury based on the manner in
which a less serious injury was inflicted, a history of repeated
inflictions of injuries on the child or the child's siblings, or a
combination of these and other actions by the parent or guardian
which indicate the child is at risk of serious physical harm. For
purposes of this subdivision, "serious physical harm" does not
include reasonable and age-appropriate spanking to the buttocks where
there is no evidence of serious physical injury.
(b) The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that
the child will suffer, serious physical harm or illness, as a result
of the failure or inability of his or her parent or guardian to
adequately supervise or protect the child, or the willful or
negligent failure of the child's parent or guardian to adequately
supervise or protect the child from the conduct of the custodian with
whom the child has been left, or by the willful or negligent failure
of the parent or guardian to provide the child with adequate food,
clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or by the inability of the
parent or guardian to provide regular care for the child due to the
parent's or guardian's mental illness, developmental disability, or
substance abuse. No child shall be found to be a person described by
this subdivision solely due to the lack of an emergency shelter for
the family. Whenever it is alleged that a child comes within the
jurisdiction of the court on the basis of the parent's or guardian's
willful failure to provide adequate medical treatment or specific
decision to provide spiritual treatment through prayer, the court
shall give deference to the parent's or guardian's medical treatment,
nontreatment, or spiritual treatment through prayer alone in
accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or
religious denomination, by an accredited practitioner thereof, and
shall not assume jurisdiction unless necessary to protect the child
from suffering serious physical harm or illness. In making its
determination, the court shall consider (1) the nature of the
treatment proposed by the parent or guardian, (2) the risks to the
child posed by the course of treatment or nontreatment proposed by
the parent or guardian, (3) the risk, if any, of the course of
treatment being proposed by the petitioning agency, and (4) the
likely success of the courses of treatment or nontreatment proposed
by the parent or guardian and agency. The child shall continue to be
a dependent child pursuant to this subdivision only so long as is
necessary to protect the child from risk of suffering serious
physical harm or illness.
(c) The child is suffering serious emotional damage, or is at
substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage, evidenced by
severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive
behavior toward self or others, as a result of the conduct of the
parent or guardian or who has no parent or guardian capable of
providing appropriate care. No child shall be found to be a person
described by this subdivision if the willful failure of the parent or
guardian to provide adequate mental health treatment is based on a
sincerely held religious belief and if a less intrusive judicial
intervention is available.
(d) The child has been sexually abused, or there is a substantial
risk that the child will be sexually abused, as defined in Section
11165.1 of the Penal Code, by his or her parent or guardian or a
member of his or her household, or the parent or guardian has failed
to adequately protect the child from sexual abuse when the parent or
guardian knew or reasonably should have known that the child was in
danger of sexual abuse.
(e) The child is under the age of five and has suffered severe
physical abuse by a parent, or by any person known by the parent, if
the parent knew or reasonably should have known that the person was
physically abusing the child. For the purposes of this subdivision,
"severe physical abuse" means any of the following: any single act of
abuse which causes physical trauma of sufficient severity that, if
left untreated, would cause permanent physical disfigurement,
permanent physical disability, or death; any single act of sexual
abuse which causes significant bleeding, deep bruising, or
significant external or internal swelling; or more than one act of
physical abuse, each of which causes bleeding, deep bruising,
significant external or internal swelling, bone fracture, or
unconsciousness; or the willful, prolonged failure to provide
adequate food. A child may not be removed from the physical custody
of his or her parent or guardian on the basis of a finding of severe
physical abuse unless the social worker has made an allegation of
severe physical abuse pursuant to Section 332.
(f) The child's parent or guardian caused the death of another
child through abuse or neglect.
(g) The child has been left without any provision for support; the
child's parent has been incarcerated or institutionalized and cannot
arrange for the care of the child; or 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.
(h) The child has been freed for adoption by one or both parents
for 12 months by either relinquishment or termination of parental
rights or an adoption petition has not been granted.
(i) The child has been subjected to an act or acts of cruelty by
the parent or guardian or a member of his or her household, or the
parent or guardian has failed to adequately protect the child from an
act or acts of cruelty when the parent or guardian knew or
reasonably should have known that the child was in danger of being
subjected to an act or acts of cruelty.
(j) The child's parent or legal guardian has used the
personal identifying information of the child in violation of Section
530.5 of the Penal Code.
(k) The child's sibling has been abused or
neglected, as defined in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (i), and
there is a substantial risk that the child will be abused or
neglected, as defined in those subdivisions. The court shall
consider the circumstances surrounding the abuse or neglect of the
sibling, the age and gender of each child, the nature of the abuse or
neglect of the sibling, the mental condition of the parent or
guardian, and any other factors the court considers probative in
determining whether there is a substantial risk to the child.
It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this section
disrupt the family unnecessarily or intrude inappropriately into
family life, prohibit the use of reasonable methods of parental
discipline, or prescribe a particular method of parenting. Further,
nothing in this section is intended to limit the offering of
voluntary services to those families in need of assistance but who do
not come within the descriptions of this section. To the extent that
savings accrue to the state from child welfare services funding
obtained as a result of the enactment of the act that enacted this
section, those savings shall be used to promote services which
support family maintenance and family reunification plans, such as
client transportation, out-of-home respite care, parenting training,
and the provision of temporary or emergency in-home caretakers and
persons teaching and demonstrating homemaking skills. The Legislature
further declares that a physical disability, such as blindness or
deafness, is no bar to the raising of happy and well-adjusted
children and that a court's determination pursuant to this section
shall center upon whether a parent's disability prevents him or her
from exercising care and control.
As used in this section, "guardian" means the legal guardian of
the child.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2
of the Government Code.
530.5. (a) Every person who willfully obtains personal
identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b), of another
person, and uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including
to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, or medical
information in the name of the other person without the consent of
that person, is guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction
therefor, shall be punished either by imprisonment in a county jail
not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000), or both that imprisonment and fine, or by imprisonment in
the state prison, a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars
($10,000), or both that imprisonment and fine.
(b) "Personal identifying information," as used in this section,
means the name, address, telephone number, health insurance
identification number, taxpayer identification number, school
identification number, state or federal driver's license number, or
identification number, social security number, place of employment,
employee identification number, mother's maiden name, demand deposit
account number, savings account number, checking account number, PIN
(personal identification number) or password, alien registration
number, government passport number, date of birth, unique biometric
data including fingerprint, facial scan identifiers, voice print,
retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation, unique
electronic data including identification number, address, or routing
code, telecommunication identifying information or access device,
information contained in a birth or death certificate, or credit card
number of an individual person.
(c) In any case in which a person willfully obtains personal
identifying information of another person, uses that information to
commit a crime in addition to a violation of subdivision (a), and is
convicted of that crime, the court records shall reflect that the
person whose identity was falsely used to commit the crime did not
commit the crime.
(d) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires,
transfers, or retains possession of the personal identifying
information, as defined in subdivision (b), of another person is
guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction therefor, shall be
punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or
a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that
imprisonment and fine.
(e) Subdivision (a) shall apply to all persons including a parent
who willfully obtains personal identifying information, as defined in
subdivision (b), of his or her child, and uses that information for
any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain,
credit, goods, services, or medical information in the name of the
child without their consent.