BILL ANALYSIS
SB 962
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 962 (Liu) - As Amended: June 17, 2010
PROPOSED CONSENT
SENATE VOTE : 30-0
SUBJECT: PRISONERS: PARTICIPATION IN DEPENDENCY PROCEEDINGS
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD VIDEOCONFERENCING OR TELECONFERENCING, IF
ORDERED BY A COURT AND AVAILABLE, BE PROVIDED FOR PRISONERS TO
PARTICIPATE IN CERTAIN DEPENDENCY COURT PROCEEDINGS FOR THEIR
CHILDREN?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This bill, sponsored by Friends Outside and Los Angeles
Dependency Lawyers, allows for the use of video or
teleconference technology for prisoners to participate in
judicial proceedings involving their parental rights or a
dependency petition for their child under Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 300. This bill also allows the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (CDCR)
to accept donated materials and services for a three-year pilot
program to facilitate the participation of incarcerated parents
in dependency court hearings regarding their children.
This bill was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee
on a vote of 7-0 on June 15, 2009. It is supported by, among
others, the California Public Defenders Association, the County
Welfare Directors Association, the Judicial Council and the
Family Law Section of the State Bar. There is no known
opposition.
SUMMARY : Allows for the use of video or teleconference
technology in order for prisoners to participate in judicial
proceedings involving their parental rights or a dependency
petition for their child. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that a prisoner who is a parent of a child involved
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in a dependency hearing and who has either waived his or her
right to physical presence at the hearing, or who has not been
ordered before the court may, at the court's discretion, in
order to facilitate the parent's participation in the
proceeding, be given the opportunity to participate in the
hearing by videoconference, if that technology is available,
and if that participation otherwise complies with the law. If
videoconferencing technology is not available, provides that
teleconferencing may be utilized to facilitate parental
participation.
2)States that, because of the significance of dependency court
hearings for parental rights and children's long-term care,
physical attendance by the parent at the hearings is preferred
to participation by videoconference or teleconference.
3)Provides that the use of videoconference or teleconference to
replace in-person family visits with prisoners is not
authorized.
4)Provides that a prisoner subject to this section shall not
lose internal job placement opportunities, be removed from a
court-ordered course, or be denied any earned privileges as a
result of his or her participation in the dependency
proceedings, whether in person or by videoconference or
teleconference, unless the prisoner is absent from the
institution for this purpose for more than 10 days.
5)Provides that nothing in this bill shall be construed to limit
a prisoner's right to physically attend a specified dependency
hearing.
6)Authorizes CDCR, until January 1, 2014, to accept donated
materials and services for a three-year pilot project to
facilitate the participation of incarcerated parents in
dependency court hearings regarding their children. Requires
that the donors make a report to the Legislature, within two
years of the start of the pilot, about the program and provide
any collected data.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the juvenile court to declare a child a dependent
of the court if there is evidence that the child has suffered
or is at risk of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect
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or exploitation. (Welfare & Institutions Code Sections 300
and 300.2.)
2)Provides that, where a judicial proceeding concerns the
termination of the parental rights of any prisoner, or the
dependency proceeding involving a prisoner's child, the
superior court of the county in which the proceeding is
pending, or a judge thereof, shall order notice of any court
proceeding regarding the proceeding transmitted to the
prisoner, as specified. (Penal Code Section 2625. Unless
otherwise stated, all further statutory references are to that
code.)
3)Requires the temporary removal of a prisoner from an
institution for the prisoner's production before the court
where a prisoner has advised the court of his or her desire to
be present, as specified. (Id.)
4)Provides that no proceeding (terminating parental rights or
dependency adjudication) may be held without the physical
presence of the prisoner or the prisoner's attorney, unless
the court has before it a knowing waiver of the right of
physical presence signed by the prisoner or an affidavit
signed by the warden, superintendent, or other person in
charge of the institution, or his or her designated
representative stating that the prisoner has, by express
statement or action, indicated an intent not to appear at the
proceeding. (Id.)
COMMENTS : Over the past eight years the California Research
Bureau (CRB) has issued a series of reports focusing on
California law as it relates to the lives of incarcerated
prisoners and their children. (See Charlene Wear Simmons,
Children of Incarcerated Parents, CRB Note Vol. 7, No. 2, March
2000; Clare M. Nolan, Children of Arrested Parents: Strategies
to Improve Their Safety and Well-Being, CRB 03-011, July 2003;
M. Anne Powell, California State Prisoners With Children:
Findings from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal
Correctional Facilities, CRB 03-014, November 2003.) The
reports have highlighted the state's lack of clear policies and
laws on how criminal justice authorities, as well as the child
welfare system, should respond to circumstances and issues
raised by incarcerated parents and their children. As explained
in the reports, there are profound social, mental, and health
implications for children whose parents are incarcerated. These
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problems have become even more pressing as the state's prison
population, particularly the female population, continues to
increase dramatically.
This bill seeks to address one aspect of the problems that exist
for incarcerated parents and their children, particularly those
who end up the subject of dependency proceedings. Specifically,
in order to facilitate participation by incarcerated parents in
judicial proceedings involving dependency petitions for their
children or their parental rights, this bill allows for
participation via video or teleconferencing in specified
circumstances.
This bill was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee
on a vote of 7-0.
In support of the bill, the author states:
A substantial majority of Californians in the criminal
justice system are parents. The California Research
Bureau estimates that 67% of male inmates are fathers
and 79% of female inmates are mothers (2000). Over
the last 15 years, an increasing number of adults have
been incarcerated under the state's more strict
criminal sentencing policies. As a consequence, the
number of children whose parents are in prison has
grown.
These children often enter and remain in the child
welfare system because logistical issues prevent
incarcerated parents from maintaining their parental
rights, irrespective of their parenting practices.
Incarcerated parents often waive physical appearance
at a hearing, not because they are unwilling to be
present and participate, but because attending may
result in the loss of good time credits or
rehabilitation program eligibility. Often these are
the very credits or program participation required by
the family reunification case plan (Family and
Juvenile Law Advisory Committee). If a parent elects
to attend a dependency hearing in person, hearing and
travel time can take up to 10 days, greatly damaging
the parent's ability to fulfill the family
reunification requirements. . . .
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In the wake of fiscal distress, counties in other
states have already begun utilizing video-conferencing
for inmates as a cost-saving measure. SB 962 seeks to
prevent unnecessary termination of parental rights by
allowing for a cost-savings solution.
This Bill Allows Use of Videoconferencing for Incarcerated
Parents to Participate in Dependency Proceedings : Pursuant to
Welfare and Institutions Code Section 300(g), children of
incarcerated parents may fall within the juvenile court's
jurisdiction if a parent cannot arrange for the child's care.
The courts have interpreted "incarcerated" in Section 300 as
meaning "jailed," which would include a parent who has been
arrested and charged, but not yet convicted. (See Edgar O. v.
Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 13.)
A significant number of the children of incarcerated parents
become dependents of the juvenile court, and are placed in
foster care because parents do not have friends or relatives who
can care for their children.
Once a child is involved in dependency proceedings in the
juvenile court, there is a strict process and timeframe
prescribed by federal and state law, with the ultimate goal to
establish a permanent home for the child. The state must
petition to terminate parental rights of any child over age six
who has been in foster care 15 of the last 18 months (or 12
months for younger children), unless a relative is caring for
the child or termination would not be in the best interests of
the child. (Welfare & Institutions Code Sections 361.5, 366.2.)
Section 2625 expressly gives incarcerated parents the right to
be present at a court hearing involving the termination of
parental rights. However, as noted by the author, there are a
number of barriers that may prevent an incarcerated parent from
choosing to physically attend a hearing.
This bill allows for the use of video or teleconference
technology for prisoners to participate in judicial proceedings
involving their parental rights or a dependency petition for
their child under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 300.
Specifically, this bill would, at the court's discretion, allow
for participation via video or teleconferencing, subject to
availability of that technology, and if the participation
otherwise complies with the law. A prisoner would have to waive
his or her right to physical presence at the hearing. However,
the bill states that because of the significance of dependency
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court proceedings for parental rights and children's long-term
care, physical attendance by the parent at the hearings is
preferred to participation by video or teleconference.
The purpose of this bill is to remove barriers for incarcerated
parents to participation in dependency hearings in order to
promote family reunification and to decrease the number of
children in the child welfare system. Thus, this bill
specifically states that it does not authorize the use of video
or teleconference as a substitute to replace in-person family
visits with the prisoner. This bill also emphasizes that
physical attendance at hearings is preferred to participation by
video or teleconferencing. Thus, this bill rightly does not
erode the right of incarcerated parents to participate in
dependency hearings in person or create a precedent where
videoconferencing is the standard form of participation.
Further, this bill provides that prisoners will not lose
internal job placement opportunities, be removed from a
court-ordered course, or be denied any earned privileges as a
result of his or her participation in these proceedings, whether
in person or by videoconference or teleconference, unless the
prisoner is absent from the institution for this purpose for
more than 10 days.
Finally, this bill authorizes CDCR to conduct a three-year pilot
project to facilitate the participation of incarcerated parents
in dependency court hearings regarding their children, with
donated materials and services, as specified. In order to
ensure that the Legislature can determine the success of the
program, the bill requires that the donor organizations make a
report to the Legislature about the program and provide the
collected data, within two years of the start of the pilot.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers (co-sponsor)
Friends Outside (co-sponsor)
California Public Defenders Association
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
County Welfare Directors Association
Family Law Section of the State Bar
Judicial Council
SB 962
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SEIU Local 1000
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334