BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1434 (Feuer) - Child abuse reporting: specified postsecondary
employees.
Amended: June 25, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: July 2, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1434 would add an employee or administrator of
a public or private postsecondary institution whose duties bring
the person into contact with children on a regular basis, or who
supervises those whose duties bring the person into contact with
children on a regular basis, as to child abuse or neglect
occurring on that institution's premises or at an official
activity of, or program conducted by, the institution, to the
list of mandated child abuse and neglect reporters, as
specified.
Fiscal Impact:
First-year cost pressure to public postsecondary
institutions potentially in excess of $200,000 (General
Fund) to develop training modules, policies and forms.
Annual cost pressure to public postsecondary institutions
for ongoing training and administrative costs associated
with noticing, tracking, and compliance.
Potential costs, likely less than $150,000 (General Fund)
for increased state prison commitments to the extent
increasing the number of mandated reporters results in
additional felony convictions.
Ongoing costs to the Judicial Branch, likely in the range
of $25,000 to $50,000 (General Fund) for additional
misdemeanor and felony court filings.
Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ)
to process additional CANRA reports.
Non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs due to
additional reporting and investigation, as well as increased
enforcement for failure to report, offset to a degree by
fine revenue.
AB 1434 (Feuer)
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Background: Current law establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act, which generally is intended to protect children
from abuse and neglect. Existing law enumerates 40 categories of
persons who are mandated child abuse and neglect reporters and
provides that, except as specified, "a mandated reporter shall
make a report?whenever the mandated reporter, in his or her
professional capacity or within the scope of his or her
employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the
mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the
victim of child abuse or neglect."
This bill and several others this session (see Related
Legislation) have been introduced largely in response to the
incidents at Penn State in 2011.
Proposed Law: This bill would add to the existing list of
mandated reporters any employee or administrator of a public or
private postsecondary institution whose duties bring the
employee or administrator into contact with children on a
regular basis, or who supervises those whose duties bring the
employee or administrator into contact with children on a
regular basis, as to child abuse or neglect occurring on that
institution's premises or at an official activity of, or program
conducted by, the institution. This bill provides that nothing
in this section shall be construed as altering the lawyer-client
communication privilege as set forth in the Evidence Code, as
specified.
Related Legislation:
AB 1435 (Dickinson) 2012 makes an athletic coach, athletic
administrator, or athletic director employed by any public or
private school that provides kindergarten or any of grades 1 to
12, inclusive, a mandated reporter. This bill is scheduled to be
heard in this Committee today.
AB 1438 (Bradford) 2012 expands the existing crime for failing
to notify a peace officer of a specified violent crime against a
child under 14 to include non-forcible child molestation. This
bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
AB 1564 (Lara) 2012 makes volunteers of public or private
organizations including nonprofit organizations, whose duties
require direct contact with and supervision of children,
mandated reporters. This bill was not heard in the Assembly
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Committee on Public Safety.
AB 1713 (Campos) 2012 expands the existing definition of
commercial film and photographic print processors who are
mandated reporters to include several enumerated types of
computer-related data and imagery. This bill is scheduled to be
heard in this Committee today.
AB 1817 (Atkins) 2012 would make commercial computer
technicians, as specified, mandated reporters. This bill has
been referred to this Committee for analysis.
SB 1264 (Vargas) 2012 would add to the existing list of mandated
reporters any athletic coach, including, but not limited to, an
assistant coach or a graduate assistant involved in coaching, at
public or private postsecondary institutions. This bill has been
referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
Staff Comments: Under current law, there are 40 enumerated
categories of mandated reporters including teachers,
instructional aides and others, which already may include the
individuals covered by the provisions of this bill. Current
statute, however, does not clearly specify higher education
employees.
To the extent this bill expands the number of mandated reporters
could result in an increased number of incidents reported and
prosecuted, resulting in annual state incarceration costs of
$50,000 to $150,000 General Fund.
The Judicial Council may incur increased misdemeanor filings
related to a mandated reporter's failure to report an incident
of child abuse or neglect, as well as increased felony filings
for investigated reports of abuse that could lead to prosecution
and incarceration. The annual impact to the Judicial Branch
could range from approximately $25,000 to $50,000 for 50 new
misdemeanor or 25 felony filings per year.
Although not mandated, employers are strongly encouraged to
provide their employees who are mandated reporters with training
in the duties imposed. Based upon the development of a similar
training program instituted at the University of California (UC)
on sexual harassment, one-time cost pressure to develop training
course content and materials at public postsecondary
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institutions could be in the range of $200,000 (General Fund).
There would likely be annual ongoing cost pressure associated
with continued training for staff as well as administrative
costs for noticing, tracking, and compliance.
Local law enforcement could also incur non-reimbursable
enforcement costs due to increased reporting and investigations,
as well as enforcement costs associated with failure to report,
offset to a degree by fine revenue.