BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 247
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 22, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                AB 247 (Emmerson) - As Introduced:  February 10, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill makes a minor clarification to current law that  
          requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make available  
          information contained in the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) to  
          the reporting "medical" practitioner, to specify this  
          information be made available to "health care" practitioners,  
          and only if that person is treating a person reported as a  
          possible victim of child abuse.  
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible, if any, state or local costs as this bill is  
          consistent with current code and practice.

           COMMENTS 

           Rationale  . According to the author, "Current Penal Code Section  
          11170 (b) lumps both a health care reporter and a non-health  
          care reporter into one sentence that entitles the reporter to  
          information from the DOJ Index 'if he or she is treating or  
          investigating a case of known or suspected child abuse.'  This  
          sentence implies that health care practitioners who treat, might  
          also be authorized to investigate child abuse.  The California  
          Association of Marriage and Family Therapists believes that this  
          sentence should be split into two sentences to make clear that  
          health care practitioners treat, but do not investigate cases of  
          know or suspected child abuse."



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 








                                                                  AB 247
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