BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1264
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1264 (Vargas) - As Amended: April 25, 2012
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill adds athletic coaches at public or private colleges to
the list of mandated reporters for purposes of the Department of
Justice's (DOJ) Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA),
which requires 40 specified classes of mandated reporter to
report suspected incidents of child abuse to a specified child
protection agency. (Failure to report is a misdemeanor,
punishable by up to six months in the county jail and/or a fine
of up to $1,000.)
FISCAL EFFECT
1) Cost pressure to UC, CSU and the California Community
Colleges, potentially in the range of several hundred
thousands of dollars total, for mandated reporter training and
administrative costs (providing employees a statement that
they are now mandated reporters and what the requirements
entails). It is important to note, however, that while statute
encourages training, it does not require it, and there are
existing mandated reporter training materials that would
likely make the costs of such training absorbable.
2)Potentially minor annual GF costs, likely less than $150,000,
for increased state prison commitments to the extent
increasing the number of mandated reporters results in
additional state prison commitments.
3)Potentially minor annual GF costs, likely less than $150,000,
to the extent the state is required to fund additional social
workers to respond to increased workload.
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4)Absorbable annual costs to DOJ to process additional CANRA
reports.
5)Unknown minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement costs for
additional reporting and investigation.
6)Unknown, minor nonreimbursable local costs for prosecution and
punishment of mandated reporters who fail to report, offset to
some extent by increased fine revenue.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, "This bill responds to the
shocking and tragic allegations at Penn State, where campus
employees and administrators failed to report multiple claims
of abuse. According to the author, thousands of minor
children spend time on California college campuses, for
activities ranging from soccer tournaments to academic
programs to school tours. The author contends this bill
addresses a gap in mandated reporter law that does not require
college employees who are not otherwise mandated reporters to
report child abuse to law enforcement.
2)Current law specifies a long list of a mandated reporters,
including teachers, specified school employees, day camp
administrators, social workers, firefighters, physicians,
coroners, clergy, and alcohol and drug counselors, who if they
have knowledge of a child in his or her professional capacity
or within the scope of his or her employment, being abused or
neglected, must report the incident to law enforcement or
child protection authorities as soon as possible, with a
written report within 36 hours. The authorities who receive
the reports are in turn required to provide substantiated
reports to the DOJ, which serves as a repository of the
information in the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI).
3)Current law already makes failure to report observance of a
forcible sexual offense involving a person under 14 a
misdemeanor . In the case of the Penn State scandal, it appears
this type of situation could have been charged under Penal
Code 152.3 in California, as many courts and juries would not
likely find that a sexual act between an adult male and a
10-year-old boy was non-forcible or consensual.
4)Prevalence of coach-related abuse incidents. There does not
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appear to be a body of research relating to sexual abuse by
coaches. In general, research indicates that most sexual abuse
- estimates run up to 90% - is committed by a person a child
knows and trusts, generally by family members, but friends and
others with ready and repeated access to children, including
coaches and religious and youth leaders, are also cited in
research. Most studies indicate that as many as 90% of
offenders are male, and that up to 50% are minors themselves.
5)Related Pending Legislation .
AB 1434 (Feuer), pending in Senate Appropriations, makes an
employee or administrator of a public or private
postsecondary institution whose duties bring the person
into contact with children on a regular basis, to the list
of mandated child abuse and neglect reporters.
a) AB 1435 (Dickenson), pending in Senate Appropriations,
makes athletic coaches, athletic administrators, and
athletic directors employed by public or private schools
mandated reporters and requires training.
b) AB 1713 (Campos), pending in Senate Appropriations,
expands the list of mandated reporters to include
commercial-film and photographic-print or image processors.
c) AB 1817 (Atkins), pending on Senate Appropriations,
expands the list of mandated reporters to include
commercial computer technicians.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081