BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1051
Page A
Date of Hearing: June 26, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
SB 1051 (Liu and Emmerson) - As Amended: June 18, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Reports of death, injury, and abuse: developmental
centers and state hospitals: mandated reporters
SUMMARY : Establishes qualifications for the chief of the
Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Office of Protective
Services (OPS) and describes reporting requirements for state
developmental centers (DCs) and state mental hospitals.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the chief of OPS within DDS-with responsibility
and authority to manage all protective service components
within DDS's law enforcement and fire protection divisions,
including those at each DC-shall be known as the Director of
Protective Services and shall:
a) Be an experienced law enforcement officer with a Peace
Officers Standards and Training Management Certificate or
higher; and,
b) Have extensive management experience directing uniformed
peace officer and investigation operations.
2)Provides that the Director of Protective Services shall be
appointed by, and shall serve at the pleasure of, the
Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency
(CHHS).
3)Requires DDS to report to the state's protection and advocacy
agency any of the following incidents involving a resident of
a DC no later than close of the first business day following
the discovery of the reportable incident:
a) Any unexpected or suspicious death;
b) Any sexual assault allegation implicating the
involvement of a DC or DDS employee; and,
SB 1051
Page B
c) Any report made to the local law enforcement agency that
involves physical abuse, as defined, in which a staff
member is implicated.
4)Requires the state Department of State Hospitals to report to
the state's protection and advocacy agency any of the
following incidents involving a resident of a state mental
hospital no later than close of the first business day
following the discovery of the reportable incident:
a) Any unexpected or suspicious death;
b) Any sexual assault allegation implicating the
involvement of a state mental hospital employee or employee
of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and,
c) Any report made to the local law enforcement agency
involving physical abuse, as defined, in which a staff
member is implicated.
5)Requires that mandated reports of reportable incidents at a DC
or state mental hospital be made no later than the close of
the first business day following the discovery of the
reportable incident.
6)Requires, pursuant to the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult
Civil Protection Act, DDS mandated reporters to immediately
report suspected abuse to OPS or to the local law enforcement
agency.
7)Contains an urgency clause requiring it to take effect
immediately.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes jurisdiction of DDS over state DCs, which provide
residential care to individuals with developmental
disabilities.
2)Establishes OPS as a police force within DDS to enforce DC
rules, preserve peace and protect the property of the state's
developmental centers.
3)Requires a DC to immediately report all resident deaths and
serious injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate local
SB 1051
Page C
law enforcement agency.
4)Establishes jurisdiction of the state Department of Mental
Health (DMH) over the state's mental hospitals.
5)Establishes a police force within DMH to enforce hospital
rules, preserve peace and protect the property of the state's
mental hospitals.
6)Designates a nonprofit organization, pursuant to federal law,
for the protection and advocacy of the rights of persons with
disabilities.
7)Requires that deaths or serious injuries occurring in DCs or
state hospitals that result from the use of restraints be
reported to the state-designated protection and advocacy
organization.
8)Requires specified people, known as mandated reporters, to
report cases of elder or dependent adult abuse, as defined,
and makes the failure to report a misdemeanor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill
According to the authors, this bill is the result of information
presented during a Senate Human Services Committee hearing on
March 13, 2012 regarding the practices of OPS, which serves as
the law enforcement agency for the state DCs. The authors note
that the quality of investigations by these officers has been
the subject of inquiry and controversy for more than a decade.
A number of government agencies and advocacy organizations have
evaluated this issue and concluded that officers were poorly
trained and inexperienced. In February, a series of highly
critical news articles published by California Watch questioned
the ability of OPS to conduct complex criminal investigations.
The Senate Human Services Committee hearing in March also
explored these issues. Referring to this hearing, the authors
say that:
As we learned, the OPS officers are trained at law
SB 1051
Page D
enforcement academies, but many of them lack the
experience to conduct major criminal investigations.
Testimony at the hearing highlighted concerns about
interference from administrators, the qualifications
of the chief of OPS, and about the delay in reporting
potential crimes to either OPS or law enforcement. The
administration has announced plans to address issues
within OPS, but in the meantime, we want to provide
stronger oversight of their activities by ensuring
there is reporting to outside agencies.
While the administration has recently announced a series of
measures to address these questions, the authors state that
additional oversight and reporting elements are needed to ensure
proper protocols are followed in all cases.
Developmental Centers
DCs are part of a system of care overseen by the DDS. With a
proposed budget of $4.7 billion for 2012-2013, DDS is
responsible for coordinating care and providing services for
about 1,700 individuals living in DCs, as well as for
approximately 250,000 people with developmental disabilities who
receive services and supports to live in their communities. A
developmental disability is defined as a disability that
originates before an individual attains age 18 years, continues,
or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a
substantial disability for the individual. Developmental
disabilities include mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism,
epilepsy, and conditions found to be closely related to mental
retardation or to require treatment similar to that required for
individuals with mental retardation. Welfare & Institutions
Code Section 4512(a).
According to DDS, care in the DCs in recent years has become
more focused on serving individuals with severe behaviors,
autism, co-occurring mental health disorders and those with
hearing and vision deficits. In 2011, the population living in
DCs included individuals with the following characteristics<1>:
87% were diagnosed with medical conditions requiring
treatment;
69% had severe to profound mental retardation;
60% had a dual diagnosis of both developmental
--------------------------
<1> Residents may be reflected in more than one category
SB 1051
Page E
disability and mental health condition (an increase of over
10% since 2008);
54% required support to walk/move about their
environment;
46% had severe behavior conditions;
45% of the total population had visual deficits.
Office of Protective Services (OPS)
The creation of a protective force within the DCs is found in
early statutes, which gave peace officer authority to the
hospital administrator and allowed the appointment of part-time
officers from the ranks of hospital employees. Current statute
confers peace officer status upon police officers in the DCs and
authorizes them to enforce hospital rules, preserve peace and
protect state property. OPS officers investigate thefts,
trespassing and suspicious person claims, respond to missing
client calls, enforce restraining orders, patrol the
developmental centers' grounds and investigate suspicious
deaths, sexual assaults and other major crimes.
The Background Paper for the Senate Human Services March 13th
hearing notes that:
Currently, �OPS] employs 94 sworn officers, including
20 investigators. Over the past several decades, the
duties and responsibilities of OPS has evolved into
something that resembles the general law enforcement
duties performed by municipal, county and university
campus law enforcement officers. Yet, those familiar
with OPS and the �DCs] are quick to point out that the
environment and investigative skills needed to work
with clients who are victims and witnesses is
significantly different than what a municipal law
enforcement officer would encounter.
This need for specialized experience in working with
clients in �DCs] has preserved the Office of
Protective Services' role, despite prior concerns
about investigatory outcomes. The force has some
similarities to the internal police force that works
for the state hospitals within the Department of
Mental Health, although there are key differences.
Perhaps the most significant difference is that OPS
officers receive training at the same Peace Officers
SB 1051
Page F
Standards and Training �POST] academies that municipal
police and sheriff's departments use. Officers in the
state mental hospitals do not receive POST training,
but are trained through other methods.
The need for an effective investigative body is
especially critical for individuals in �DCs]. People
with Developmental Disabilities are at
disproportionately high risk to become victims of
abuse and neglect. A number of studies have
documented high rates of violence and abuse, and some
experts estimate that people with disabilities are at
a minimum four times more likely to be victimized than
people without disabilities. Individuals with an
intellectual disability are at the highest risk of
victimization. Some studies have shown that the rates
of victimization are higher for people living in
institutions than for those who live in the community.
(Citations omitted. Available at:
http://shum.senate.ca.gov/sites/shum.senate.ca.gov/files/3-13-12B
ackground%20paper.pdf .)
History of investigative concerns
California Attorney General
In 2002 the California Attorney General's office, acting upon a
request of the Senate Select Committee on Developmental
Disabilities and Mental Health, released a report prepared by
two expert consultants who evaluated investigative practices
within the DCs. The 82-page paper, Policing in the Department
of Developmental Services, A Review of the Organization and
Operations 2000-2001, found a number of concerns, including (at
p. 3) that:
the majority of (law enforcement) personnel lack the
training, experience and proper equipment to completely
preserve and collect crime scene evidence. While there is a
critical need to train personnel, there should also be
prearranged agreements with outside agencies to take over
the evidence processing upon request.
The report recommended that DDS establish Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) with local law enforcement agencies that
provide authority for those agencies to independently review
SB 1051
Page G
investigations completed by OPS, and to create a process for
local agencies to assist or take over investigations that are in
progress.
AB 430 (Cardenas), Chapter 171, Statutes of 2001, requires DDS
to report specified deaths to local law enforcement agency. DDS
testified that it has established MOUs; however, it is unclear
what investigations have been taken over or aided by local law
enforcement agencies.
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act
In 2004, the federal Department of Justice opened an
investigation under the Civil Rights for Institutionalized
Persons Act (CRIPA) into practices at Lanterman Developmental
Center. Under CRIPA, federal investigators inspect state- and
locally run facilities to determine whether there is a pattern
or practice of violations of residents' federal rights. In
2006, the U.S. Attorney General outlined findings in a 57-page
letter to then-Governor Schwarzenegger. It labeled as
"troubling" the high number of injuries of unknown origin
recorded by staff. In a 13-month period, almost half of all
incidents recorded were listed as having unknown origin, or more
than 760 cases. The federal investigators also found that "an
inadequate incident reporting and investigative system" often
hampers resolution of cases of assault by one client upon
another.
Disability Rights California
In a 2003 report Abuse and Neglect of Adults with Developmental
Disabilities: A Public Health Priority for the State of
California, the state-designated protection and advocacy agency
urged California to begin collecting data on crime victims,
noting that:
Data from California's criminal justice and developmental
disabilities systems do not provide a clear picture of the
incidence of abuse, neglect, and victimization of people
with developmental disabilities.
The report noted that, without accurate data, the state cannot
monitor the extent of victimization of individuals with
developmental disabilities, or to direct resources and evaluate
interventions. It recommended adding a field to all criminal
justice data forms identifying whether a crime victim has a
developmental disability, among other indicators.
SB 1051
Page H
Existing law requires a DC to report all resident deaths and
serious injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate law
enforcement agency. This bill would in addition require DDS and
the Department of State Hospitals (the proposed successor agency
to DMH responsible for oversight of the state mental hospitals)
to report to the state's designated protection and advocacy
agency specified incidents involving a resident of a DC or state
mental hospital. This bill also requires that mandated
reporters of DDS shall immediately report suspected abuse to the
Office of Protective Services or to local law enforcement. This
will clarify any confusion as to whom they are required to
report.
This bill, the authors say, is a bi-partisan bill resulting from
the Senate Human Services Committee hearing. It seeks to
strengthen oversight and tracking of crimes in several key ways,
including by requiring state DCs and state mental hospitals to
report suspicious deaths, sexual assaults involving staff
members and other crimes to the state-designated protection and
advocacy agency. It requires employees in DCs to immediately
report suspected crimes to OPS, and elevates the oversight of
the Director of Protective Services by making it an appointment
of the Secretary of CHHS.
Requested amendment : The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in
California supports this bill but asks that the bill be amended
to require that the Director of Protective Services be appointed
by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The
authors believe this is unnecessary, and likely would create
delays in the appointment process.
Related legislation
SB 1522 (Leno, 2012) - would specify a list of suspected crimes
that DC employees are required to report immediately to local
law enforcement.
SECOND COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE . This bill was previously heard
in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on June 26, 2012, and
was approved on a ____ vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 1051
Page I
Association of Regional Center Agencies
Developmental Disabilities Area Board 10
Disability Rights California
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089