BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1022|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) |Version: |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1022
Author: Steinberg (D)
Amended: 8/22/08
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/10/07
AYES: Romero, Cedillo, Ridley-Thomas
NOES: Cogdill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Margett
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-6, 5/31/07
AYES: Torlakson, Cedillo, Corbett, Florez, Kuehl, Oropeza,
Ridley-Thomas, Simitian, Steinberg, Yee
NOES: Cox, Aanestad, Ashburn, Dutton, Runner, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin
SENATE FLOOR : 22-11, 6/6/07
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, Florez, Kehoe, Kuehl,
Lowenthal, Machado, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Ridley-Thomas, Romero, Scott,
Steinberg, Torlakson, Vincent, Wiggins, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Maldonado, Runner, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn, Battin, Cedillo, Correa,
Ducheny, Margett, Simitian
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 41-31, 8/25/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child abuse: central index: minors
SOURCE : Childrens Law Center of Los Angeles
CONTINUED
SB 1022
Page
2
County Welfare Directors Association
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to remove information relating to a person whos name
is listed in the Child Abuse Central Index as a suspect in
a child abuse or neglect investigation due to an incident
that occurred when the person was under 18 years of age if
the incident did not result in a delinquency adjudication
or criminal conviction, and he/she makes a notarized
written request to DOJ to have his/her name removed as a
suspect with respect to that incident, as specified. This
bill, in addition, requires DOJ to notify the current
caregiver, the parents or legal guardian, the attorney, and
the guardian ad litem of a minor if the minor is the
suspected abuser.
Assembly Amendments (1) required information in cases in
which the child abuser was a minor to delete that
information after five years if no subsequent reports are
received on that individual during that five-year period of
time with specified exceptions, and (2) added
double-jointing language.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the Child Abuse and
Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which generally is intended
to protect children from abuse and neglect. [Section 11164
of the Penal Code (PEN)]
Existing law requires DOJ to "maintain an index of all
reports of child abuse and severe neglect" submitted
pursuant to the mandatory reporting laws. The index shall
be continually updated by DOJ and shall not contain any
reports that are determined to be unfounded. [PEN Section
11170(a)(1)]
Existing law provides that DOJ "shall act only as a
repository of reports of suspected child abuse and severe
neglect to be maintained in the Child Abuse Central Index?
The submitting agencies are responsible for the accuracy,
completeness, and retention of the reports described in
this section. The department shall be responsible for
ensuring that the Child Abuse Central Index accurately
reflects the report it receives from the submitting
SB 1022
Page
3
agency." [PEN Section 11170(a)(2)]
Existing law applies the following definitions for purposes
of CANRA and the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI):
1. "Unfounded report" means a report that is determined by
the investigator who conducted the investigation to be
false, to be inherently improbable, to involve an
accidental injury, or not to constitute child abuse or
neglect, as defined in PEN Section 11165.6.
2. "Substantiated report" means a report that is determined
by the investigator who conducted the investigation to
constitute child abuse or neglect, as defined in PEN
Section 11165.6, based upon evidence that makes it more
likely than not that child abuse or neglect, as defined,
occurred.
3. "Inconclusive report" means a report that is determined
by the investigator who conducted the investigation not
to be unfounded, but the findings are inconclusive and
there is insufficient evidence to determine whether
child abuse or neglect, as defined in PEN Section
11165.6, has occurred. [PEN Section 11165.12]
Existing law requires specified law enforcement agencies to
forward to DOJ a report in writing of every case it
investigates of known or suspected child abuse or severe
neglect which is determined not to be unfounded, as
specified. An agency shall not forward a report to DOJ
unless it has conducted an active investigation and
determined that the report is not unfounded. If a report
has previously been filed which subsequently proves to be
unfounded, DOJ shall be notified in writing of that fact
and shall not retain the report. [PEN Section 11169(a)]
Existing law requires that information from an inconclusive
or unsubstantiated report be deleted from CACI after 10
years if no subsequent report concerning the same suspected
child abuser is received within that time period. [PEN
11170(a)(3)]
Existing law provides that "(i)f a person is listed in the
Child Abuse Central Index only as a victim of child abuse
SB 1022
Page
4
or neglect, and that person is 18 years of age or older,
that person may have his or her name removed from the index
by making a written request to the Department of Justice.
The request shall be notarized and include the person's
name, address, social security number, and date of birth."
[PEN Section 11170(f)]
This bill provides, in addition, that if "a person is
listed in the Child Abuse Central Index as a suspect in a
child abuse or neglect investigation due to an incident
that occurred when the person was under the age of 18 years
, and the incident did not result in a delinquency
adjudication or criminal conviction, that person may make a
written request to DOJ to have his/her name removed from
the index as a suspect with respect to that incident. The
request shall be notarized and include the person's name,
address, social security number, and date of birth. Upon
receipt of the request, DOJ shall inquire of the submitting
agency whether the incident resulted in a delinquency
adjudication or criminal conviction. Unless the submitting
agency responds to DOJ in the affirmative within 30 days,
DOJ shall remove the person's name from the index as the
person suspected in that incident.
If a person is listed in the index as a suspect with
respect to more than one reported incident, the process set
forth above shall be followed with respect to each incident
for which the person wishes to have his/her name removed
from the index.
Existing law requires specified law enforcement agencies
who forward a report in writing to DOJ to also notify in
writing the known or suspected child abuser that he/she has
been reported to the CACI. [PEN Section 11169(b)]
This bill provides that, if the known or suspected child
abuser is a minor, the agency shall notify the minor's
current caregiver, the minor's parents or legal guardian,
the minor's attorney, and the minor's guardian ad litem, if
any.
Existing law also requires DOJ to delete information from
an inconclusive or unsubstantiated child abuse report after
10 years if no subsequent report concerning the same
SB 1022
Page
5
suspected child abuser is received within that time period.
This bill requires, in cases in which the suspected child
abuser was a minor at the time of the report, the
information to be deleted after five years if no subsequent
report concerning the same suspected child abuser is
received within that time period. The bill further
specifies that if a subsequent report is received within
the 10-year period for adult child abuse suspects or
five-year period for child abuse suspects who were
themselves minors at the time of the report, information
from any prior report, as well as any subsequently filed
report, shall be maintained for 10 years from the time of
the most recent report.
Existing law also mandates that specified persons forward
reports of suspected child abuse to DOJ and requires DOJ to
notify the suspected abuser that he or she has been
reported to the CACI.
This bill additionally requires DOJ, if the known or
suspected child abuser is a minor, to notify the minor's
current caregiver, parents or legal guardian, attorney, and
guardian ad litem.
This bill incorporates additional changes in Section 11170
of the Penal Code proposed by AB 2618 (Solorio) and AB 2651
(Aghazarian) that will become operative if one or both of
those bills are chaptered and become effective on or before
January 1, 2009, and this bill is chaptered last.
Similar legislation . This bill is double-jointed with AB
2618 (Solorio) and AB 2651 (Aghazarian).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2007-08 2008-09
2009-10 Fund
SB 1022
Page
6
CACI review $38 $75 $75
General
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/08)
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles (co-source)
County Welfare Director's Association (co-source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Public Defenders Association
Conference of Delegates of California Bar Association
Prevent Child Abuse California
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/25/08)
California District Attorneys Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author has provided the
following statement concerning the need for this bill:
"Minors are sometimes listed on the statewide Child Abuse
Central Index ('CACI') as perpetrators of 'sexual abuse,'
due to a report of sexual behavior between the child and
another child. Abused and neglected children in foster
care are especially likely to end up being listed as
perpetrators on the CACI. Often the listing of the child
occurs without any effective notice to the child, the
parents or caregivers, or the child's attorney if the
child has one. Children are listed on the CACI even in
cases where no criminal or delinquency charges are filed,
solely on the basis of an investigation concluding that
the allegation of 'sexual abuse' is either substantiated
or inconclusive. In light of the tremendous implications
a CACI listing can have for the child's future, greater
protections are needed."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California District
Attorneys Association states:
"The Department of Justice maintains the Child Abuse
Central Index, which contains reports of suspected child
abuse pursuant to Penal Code Section 11170. Under
SB 1022
Page
7
existing law, if a report is unfounded, it will not be
included in the index. Further, if a report is deemed
inconclusive or unsubstantiated, it is deleted from the
index after ten years if there are no subsequent reports
concerning the same suspect. Information from the index
is made known to law enforcement, probation and county
welfare departments when there is an ongoing child abuse
investigation. The information is also available to
county licensing agencies concerning those who are
seeking employment for a position that gives them
supervisory or disciplinary power over children.
"There are many reasons why a juvenile is the suspected
perpetrator's abuse of a child may not result in a true
finding or conviction. It might be the case that the
victim wasn't cooperative or was too young to cooperate.
Perhaps there was a criminal trial that resulted in a
hung jury. It would still be important to maintain these
suspects in the index if, for example, the suspect later
seeks employment in a daycare center or residential
facility. Additionally, if the individual were to be
accused of a similar crime, the information would be
valuable as potential propensity evidence in the current
case. If an investigation revealed the report was
inconclusive or unsubstantiated, the suspect's name will
automatically be deleted after ten years pursuant to
existing law. If a report was unfounded, it would not be
in the index in the first place."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Coto, De La Torre, DeSaulnier, Dymally,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Furutani, Hancock, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Krekorian, Leno,
Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Mendoza, Mullin, Nava, Nunez,
Parra, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Solorio,
Swanson, Torrico, Wolk, Bass
NOES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Benoit, Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Horton, Houston, Huff,
Jeffries, Keene, La Malfa, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia,
Sharon Runner, Silva, Smyth, Spitzer, Strickland,
Villines, Walters
SB 1022
Page
8
NO VOTE RECORDED: Davis, De Leon, Laird, Ma, Maze,
Saldana, Soto, Tran
RJG:mw 8/26/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
**** END ****