BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2380
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2380 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: March 24, 2010
SUMMARY : Clarifies that a "reasonable suspicion" that a child
has been a victim of child abuse or neglect does not require
certainty that a child has been abused, and may be based on
credible information from other individuals for the purpose of
making a report under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting ACT
(CANRA).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that any mandated reporter who has knowledge of, or
observes, a child in his or her professional capacity or
within the scope of his or her employment whom he or she
knows, or reasonably suspects, has been the victim of child
abuse shall report that incident immediately to a specified
child protection agency by telephone, and requires a written
report be sent within 36 hours. [Penal Code Section
11166(a).]
2)Requires that reports of suspected child abuse or neglect
shall be made by a mandated reporter to any police or
sheriff's department, a county probation department if
designated by the county to receive mandated reports, or the
county welfare department. (Penal Code Section 11165.9.)
3)Defines a "mandated reporter" as specific child-care
custodians, health practitioners, law enforcement officers,
and other medical and professional persons. (Penal Code
Section 11165.7.)
4)Provides that the reporting duties under CANRA are individual,
no supervisor or administrator may impede or inhibit the
reporting duties, and no person making a report shall be
subject to any sanctions for making the report. [Penal Code
Section 11166(g)(1).]
AB 2380
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5)Provides that any mandated reporter who fails to report an
instance of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or
neglect as required is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
up to six months in the county jail; by a fine of $1,000; or
by both imprisonment and fine. [Penal Code Section 11166(b).]
6)Requires specified reporting agencies to forward to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) a report of every case of
suspected child abuse or neglect which is determined not to be
unfounded; and if a previously filed report proves to be
unfounded, the DOJ shall be notified in writing and shall not
retain that report. [Penal Code Section 11169(a).]
7)Requires at the time a reporting agency forwards a report of
suspected child abuse or neglect to the DOJ, the agency notify
the known or suspected child abuser that he or she has been
reported to the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI). [Penal Code
Section 11165(b).]
8)Requires the DOJ to maintain an index of all reports of child
abuse and neglect submitted by the specified reporting
agencies. The index shall be continually updated and shall
not contain any reports determined to be unfounded. [Penal
Code Section 11170(a)(1).]
9)States that the DOJ shall act only as a repository of the
suspected child abuse or neglect reports maintained in CACI,
and that the reporting agencies are responsible for the
accuracy, completeness, and retention of reports. [Penal Code
Section 11170(a)(2).]
10)Requires that information from an inconclusive or
unsubstantiated suspected child abuse or neglect report shall
be deleted from CACI after 10 years if no subsequent report
concerning the suspected child abuser is received within the
10-year period. [Penal Code Section 11170(a)(3).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The Los Angeles City
Attorney's office has discovered through their work with the
Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect that many
mandated reporters are unclear on constitutes 'reasonable
suspicion'. Many have reported that they feel they have to wait
AB 2380
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until they have concrete evidence before they can notify the
authorities.
"This lack of clarity has resulted in many mandated reporters
failing to properly report their reasonable suspicions of child
abuse or neglect. This is particularly evident among medical
professionals, where reports are delayed by hours or even days
while a specific medical diagnosis is determined, resulting in
destruction of crime scene evidence and greater difficult for
law enforcement in locating perpetrators.
"This bill clarifies that 'reasonable suspicion' does not
require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred and
that it may be based on any information considered credible by
the reporter, including statements by others."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles City Attorney
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744