BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1668
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 13, 2006
Counsel: Heather Hopkins
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 1668 (Bowen) - As Amended: May 1, 2006
SUMMARY : Clarifies provisions regarding confidentiality of
child death review team records and requires a report regarding
child death review team findings be made at least once per year.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that no record made available by a child death review
team may include names or other personal information regarding
any child who was the subject of a review or regarding that
child's siblings and non-offending family members.
2)Provides that records exempt from disclosure to third parties
pursuant to state or federal law shall remain exempt from
disclosure when in the possession of a child death review
team.
3)Provides that no less than once each year, each child death
review team shall make available to the public findings,
conclusions and recommendations of the team, including
aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of
child deaths.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes child death review teams (Penal Code Section
11174.32), domestic violence death review teams (Penal Code
Section 11163.3), and elder death review teams (Penal Code
Section 11174.5).
2)States that interagency child death teams have been used
successfully to ensure that incidents of child abuse or
neglect are recognized and other siblings and non-offending
family members receive the appropriate services in cases where
a child has expired. [Penal Code Section 11174.32(a).]
3)Provides that, regarding child death review teams, each county
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may establish an interagency child death team to assist local
agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths
and facilitating communication among persons who perform
autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in
child abuse or neglect cases. [Penal Code Section
11174.32(a).]
4)States that each county may develop a protocol that may be
used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on
children to assist coroners and other persons who perform
autopsies in the identification of child abuse or neglect; in
the determination of whether child abuse or neglect
contributed to death or whether child abuse or neglect had
occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death; and
in the proper written reporting procedures for child abuse or
neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of
death. [Penal Code Section 11174.32(b).]
5)States that in developing an interagency child death team and
an autopsy protocol, each county, working in consultation with
local members of the California State Coroner's Association
and county child abuse prevention coordinating councils, may
solicit suggestions and final comments from persons including,
but not limited to, the following:
a) Experts in the field of forensic pathology;
b) Pediatricians with expertise in child abuse;
c) Coroners and medical examiners;
d) Criminologists;
e) District attorneys;
f) Child protective services staff;
g) Law enforcement personnel;
h) Representatives of local agencies which are involved
with child abuse or neglect reporting;
i) County health department staff who deals with children's
health issues; and,
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j) Local professional associations of persons described
above. [Penal Code Section 11174.32(c).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This bill will
help improve the usefulness and productivity of child death
review teams. Each review team's success requires
participation of all groups with critical information to the
process which ultimately pieces together the circumstances
surrounding a particular fatality. This bill clarifies that
for the purpose of review teams, records which are considered
confidential under state and federal law remain confidential
when given to a review team. This will offer needed peace of
mind for many review team participants, particularly those in
the private sector such as hospitals. This bill also ensures
that each child death review team makes its findings and
recommendations public each year. This change can help review
teams educate the public in preventing future child
fatalities."
2)Scope of the Problem : According to background provided by the
author's office, "The confidentiality provisions provided for
elder death review teams and domestic violence death review
teams are not currently included for county child death review
teams. Without it, individuals and groups with critical
information to the process - particularly those from the
private sector (i.e., hospitals) - are reluctant to attend and
speak openly because of the potentially serious liability
concerns. As a result, a program designed to encourage
free-flowing, open and honest dialogue has unfortunately
eroded into child death review teams having to strong-arm
(even subpoena) individuals to participate.
"Secondly, the primary purpose of child death review teams is to
prevent future child deaths. The statewide child death review
council is responsible for collecting data and information
from the counties and turning it into reports to the public
and Legislature. Some child death review teams create
elaborate, comprehensive reports, while other child death
review teams do not report anything at all. Because of the
wide discrepancy of reporting, the statewide council cannot
get a full picture of what is occurring statewide. While all
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child death review teams are coming to important conclusions
about local child fatalities, not all of the review teams are
communicating the information to the public, which contradicts
the basic premise for having them. How can child death review
teams reduce future preventable child deaths if no one knows
that child death review teams do?"
3)Documents Exempt from Disclosure : In stating that records
exempt from disclosure to third parties pursuant to state or
federal law remain exempt from disclosure when in the
possession of a child death review team, this bill clarifies
existing law. This clarification may be beneficial in
reassuring parties that would like to submit documents to a
child death review team but might feel inhibited if they are
under the impression that doing so could be construed to waive
any applicable exemption from public disclosure.
4)Requirement of Public Findings : This bill requires that child
death review teams "make available to the public findings,
conclusions and recommendations of the team, including
aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of
child deaths." Part of the statutory scheme that created
child death review teams included creation of the Child Death
Review Council "to coordinate and integrate state and local
efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect, and to create
a body of information to prevent child deaths." [Penal Code
Section 11174.34(a)(1).] The Child Death Review Council is
required to "[a]nalyze and interpret state and local data on
child death in an annual report to be submitted to local child
death review teams with copies to the Governor and the
Legislature, no later than July 1 each year. Copies of the
report shall also be distributed to California public
officials who deal with child abuse issues and to those
agencies responsible for child death investigation in each
county. The report shall contain, but not be limited to,
information provided by state agencies and the county child
death review teams for the preceding year." [Penal Code
Section 11174.34(d)(1).] Therefore, a report analyzing the
data collected by each local child death review team is
currently a public document. Requiring each local child death
review team to also make public its own data appears to be
consistent with the overall objectives of the teams, i.e.,
creating a body of information on the causes of child deaths
to help prevent such tragedies. Increased transparency may
also enhance the public's trust in local child death review
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teams and thereby encourage greater participation in their
efforts.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Hospital Association
California Newspaper Publishers Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Coroners' Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento, Inc.
Community Schools Solutions of California
Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
Prevent Child Abuse California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Heather Hopkins / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744