BILL ANALYSIS
AB 81
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 81 (Torrico)
As Amended September 4, 2007
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |64-14|(June 6, 2007) |SENATE: |36-3 |(September 6, |
| | | | | |2007) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |71-6 |(September 10, | | | |
| | |2007) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Expands the "Safe-Surrender Law" to allow a parent or
other person with lawful custody of a child 7 days old or
younger to be surrendered to safe-surrender sites as specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Reduce the age from 21 days old to 7 days old whereby a parent
or other person may surrender a child to a safe-surrender site
without facing prosecution.
2)Require the State Department of Social Services to report to
the Legislature by January 1, 2011, regarding the effect of
this Act, including, but not limited to:
a) The number of children 1 year of age or younger who are
found abandoned, dead or alive, in the state for each year
in which reporting is required under this act;
b) The number of infants surrendered pursuant to this act
with their approximate age;
c) The number of medical history questionnaires completed
in those cases;
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d) The number of instances in which a parent or other
person having lawful custody seeks to reclaim custody of a
surrendered child, both during and after the initial period
following surrender and the outcome;
e) Whether a person seeking to reclaim custody is the
individual who surrendered the child; and,
f) The number of parents or legal guardians eventually
located and contacted by social workers.
3)To the extent that resources are appropriated, the State
Department of Social Services shall or do both of the
following:
a) Conduct a statewide awareness campaign publicizing
the existence of the program and any changes of the law
establishing the program that take effect on or after
January 1, 2008.
b) Establish and operate a toll-free telephone number
for the purpose of providing education and assistance to
the public regarding safe-surrender sites.
4) Mandate that distributed outreach materials publicizing the
existence of the safe surrender sites include information
regarding alternatives to relinquishing parental rights.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes it a crime for a parent of, or other person entrusted
with, a child younger than 14 years of age to abandon the
child and to fail to provide for the child or to present the
child to an orphanage or similar institution as an orphan.
2)Provides a procedure for the surrender of a child 72 hours or
younger to a safe-surrender site without incurring any
criminal liability under the state's child abandonment laws.
3)Defines a "safe-surrender site" as either:
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a) A location designated by the board of supervisors of a
county to be responsible for accepting physical custody of
minor who is 72 hours old or younger; or,
b) A location within a public or private hospital
designated by the hospital as responsible for accepting a
minor child who is 72 hours old or younger.
4)Defines a "parent" as a birth parent of a minor child who is
72 hours old or younger.
5)Protects from prosecution under California's child abandonment
laws a parent or other person having lawful custody of a child
72 hours old or younger who voluntarily surrenders physical
custody of the child to personnel on duty at a safe-surrender
site.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Extended the safe surrender of a child by a parent or other
person with lawful custody from 72 hours old or younger to 30
days old or younger.
2)Expanded the definition of "safe-surrender site" to include
local fire agencies upon the approval of the appropriate local
governing body of the agency.
3)Required that before designating a location as a
safe-surrender site, the designatory entity shall consult with
the governing body of a city, and with representatives of any
local fire agency, and any child welfare agency that may
provide services to a child who is surrendered at the site if
that location is selected.
4)Defined "parent" to as a birth parent of a minor child who is
30 days old or younger.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, most surrendered babies will wind up for some amount
of time in the foster care system, which averages $500 per month
per child. Foster care rates associated with this bill are
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unknown, but given that surrender rates tend to decrease as a
baby's age increases, it is unlikely foster care costs will
exceed $50,000 annually.
Based on this requirement DSS estimates one-time costs of $1.4
million to hire a contractor to develop a curriculum for local
safe-surrender site personnel and $93,000 for one DSS staff
person to oversee the training and contract management. Given
the large number of safe-surrender sites statewide, and the
potential for expansion as provided by this bill, costs for
local site personnel to undergo training and subsequently
provide information to surrendering parents and adults is
unknown, but likely very significant. For purposes of and
estimate, staff assumes each of the state's 58 counties would
designate 10 safe-surrender sites, and this bill would require
each of these sites to have 10 staff undergo training in options
to surrender. Assuming the training were to last four hours and
overtime costs to backfill staff undergoing training were
averaged at $50 per hour, one-time training costs associated
with this measure would exceed $1 million. Ongoing reimbursable
costs for staff to provide information in connection with safe
surrenders of infants would likely be minor.
This bill would further require DSS to conduct a statewide
awareness campaign to publicize the safe-surrender program and
establish a toll-free number to provide education and assistance
regarding safe-surrender sites, to the extent funding is
available. DSS indicates existing information pamphlets on the
program are currently being redesigned and will be sent out to
local agencies, which it believes will meet the publication
requirements of this bill. Placing requirements to establish a
toll-free number in statute would drive estimated cost pressures
of $18,000 to $35,000, depending on the number of calls
received.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "To date, 187 babies have
been safely surrendered in California. Unfortunately, public
awareness of the law has been insufficient as almost the same
number of babies (146) have been found abandoned illegally.
There are currently 22 other states that have 30-day provisions,
and two states have one-year provisions. In North Dakota and
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Missouri, a child can be relinquished for up to one year after
his or her birth without threat of prosecution for child
abandonment provided that the child is left with a health care
provider.
"According to a 2002 Centers for Disease Control Study conducted
on infant death data from 1989-1998, the second highest peak in
risk for infant homicide occurs during the eighth week of life
and may be due to a caregiver's reaction to an infant's
persistent crying. Infant crying duration peaks at six to eight
weeks of age.
"The anonymity, confidentiality and freedom from prosecution may
encourage a parent to leave his or her child at a safely
surrender site. Factors such as post-partum depression, other
mental health issues, language barriers and lack of public
awareness may prevent a woman from being able to make a decision
so quickly after having a baby.
"Extending the date from the current 72-hour provision to 30
days may save the lives of more babies in California."
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"California's Safe Surrender Law already provides an emergency
alternative for a woman in crisis who may otherwise abandon,
abuse, or kill her baby. California's law was carefully crafted
to balance the creation of a safe surrender option while
preserving the rights of children. The current 72-hour period
contained in law allows for a no-questions-asked safe surrender
of a newborn, and is supported by research and statistics which
indicate that most neonaticide occurs within the first day.
Experts have raised concerns that instead of improving child
safety, increasing the time that a baby may be surrendered from
72 hours will put newborns in greater risk by keeping them in an
unsafe environment without proper care and supervision."
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Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0003717