BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1352
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Date of Hearing: June 12, 2012
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1352 (Corbett) - As Amended: April 25, 2012
SUMMARY : Authorizes each county to establish a child advocacy
center to coordinate the investigation and prosecution of child
abuse. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines a "child advocacy center" as a child-focused,
facility-based program in which representatives from many
disciplines, including law enforcement, child protection,
prosecution, medical and mental health, and victim and child
advocacy, work together to conduct interviews and make team
decisions about the investigation, treatment, management, and
prosecution of child abuse cases.
2)Requires each child advocacy center to consist of a
representative from the district attorney's office, the
sheriff's department, the police department, and child
protective services.
3)States that a child advocacy center may also include
representatives from medical and mental health, victim
advocacy, and any other agency relevant to the identification,
investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child abuse.
4)Authorizes each county to develop an interagency protocol
agreement for the collaborative investigation of child abuse
and neglect signed by the district attorney's office, the
sheriff's department or police department, or both those
departments, and child protective services. Any other agency
relevant to the identification, investigation, prosecution,
and treatment of child abuse, including, but not limited to,
medical and mental health, and victim advocacy, may also sign
the protocol.
5)Requires any member of the child advocacy center to sign the
protocol.
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6)States that if a county enters into an interagency protocol
agreement, the agreement shall define the county's
multidisciplinary team, the victims who the multidisciplinary
team serves, and the policies and practices directing how the
multidisciplinary team will work together to accomplish the
following:
a) Respond effectively to reports of child abuse and
neglect;
b) Collect high-quality information to ensure children are
protected and offenders held accountable;
c) Keep the needs of victims and their families at the
forefront of the investigation; and,
d) Connect victims and families to necessary medical,
therapeutic, and legal support.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States the legislative intent that the law enforcement
agencies and the county welfare or probation department in
each county shall develop and implement cooperative
arrangements in order to coordinate existing duties in
connection with the investigation of suspected child abuse or
neglect cases. �Penal Code Section 11166.3(a).]
2)Requires the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
over a mandated child abuse or neglect case, as specified,
shall report to the county welfare or probation department
that it is investigating the case within 36 hours after
starting its investigation. �Penal Code Section 11166.3(a).]
3)Requires the county welfare department or probation
department, in cases where a minor is a victim of child
molestation, as specified, and a dependency petition has been
filed with regard to the minor, to evaluate what action or
actions would be in the best interest of the child victim.
�Penal Code Section 11166.3(a).]
4)Provides notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
county welfare department or probation department shall submit
in writing its findings and the reasons therefor to the
district attorney on or before the completion of the
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investigation. The written findings and the reasons therefor
shall be delivered or made accessible to the defendant or his
or her counsel. �Penal Code Section 11166.3(a).]
5)Mandates a local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
over a reported child abuse or neglect case to report to the
district office of the State Department of Social Services any
case reported under this section if the case involves a
specified facility and the licensing of the facility has not
been delegated to a county agency. The law enforcement agency
shall send a copy of its investigation report and any other
pertinent materials to the licensing agency upon the request
of the licensing agency. �Penal Code Section 11166.3(b).]
6)Mandates the Department of Justice, in cooperation with the
State Department of Social Services, to prescribe by
regulation guidelines for the investigation of child abuse or
neglect, as defined, in facilities licensed to care for
children. �Penal Code Section 11174.1(a).]
7)Authorizes each county to establish an interagency child death
review team to assist local agencies in identifying and
reviewing suspicious child death and facilitating
communication among persons who perform autopsies and the
various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or
neglect cases. �Penal Code Section 11174.32(a).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Senate Bill
1352 defines 'Child Advocacy Center' in California law and
identifies the best practice model and standards according to
the National Children's Alliance. It is important that we
clearly define a Child Advocacy Center and a multidisciplinary
team in order to be eligible for both federal and local
funding in the future.
"Senate Bill 1352 aims to reduce trauma to child abuse victims
by coordinating the child's interview to include professionals
from multiple agencies including, law enforcement, child
protective services, mental health and the prosecution. The
20 existing Child Advocacy Centers in California have shown
that by providing all the services for victims under one roof,
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victims are protected and investigations are handled in the
most successful manner.
"It is critical for victims of child abuse and neglect to be
provided with the best possible services and treatment during
a very difficult time in their lives."
2)Background : According to the background information provided
by the author, "Over half of the counties in California do not
have a Child Advocacy Center, which leaves many victims
without the appropriate follow-up and therapeutic services.
"In addition, lack of coordination between all agencies involved
in child abuse cases can compromise the investigation and
force the victim to describe the details of the abuse
repeatedly.
"In California's 58 counties, there are 19 accredited centers,
eight associate centers and more than two dozen counties that
have already developed multi-disciplinary teams.
"In 1985, the first Child Advocacy Center opened in Alabama. In
2008, child protective services investigated more than 400,000
cases of child abuse in the United States. Currently, the
Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires child welfare
and law enforcement agencies to work together and cross
reference incident reports of child abuse victims and child
neglect victims.
"Today, thousands of Child Advocacy Centers exist and more than
700 have accreditation and/or membership with the National
Children Alliance."
3)Existing Authority to Create Child Advocacy Centers :
Currently, counties can do what this bill proposes without the
express statutory authority proposed by this bill. According
to the information provided by the author, "�i]n California's
58 counties, there are 19 accredited centers, eight associate
centers and more than two dozen counties that have already
developed multi-disciplinary teams." These child advocacy
centers are accredited through the National Children's
Alliance which provides training, support, technical
assistance and leadership to local child advocacy centers.
The accreditation application requires each child advocacy
program to meet specified standards for the composition of
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members, medical evaluations, mental health and forensic
interviews. �National Children's Alliance Standards for
Accredited Members
(as
of June 6, 2012).]
4)Arguments in Support :
a) According to the Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing and
Coordination Center (CALICO) , "SB 1352 enhances existing
law protecting children by strongly encouraging each county
to develop a CAC �child advocacy center] to coordinate the
investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of
child abuse cases and develop and interagency protocol
defining the collaborative response to allegations. While
laws mandate that multiple agencies must respond to child
maltreatment, it is critical that those entrusted with
protecting children work together. CACs play a vital role
in ensuring that occurs and achieving justice and safety
for young victims."
b) According to the California State Sheriffs Association ,
"Currently, almost half of California's counties do not
have a Child Advocacy center, which leaves a lack of
coordination between agencies involved in child abuse
cases, and victims without the appropriate follow-up and
therapeutic services.
"The primary goal of SB 1352 is to reduce trauma to child
abuse victims by coordinating the child's interview to
include professionals from multiple agencies including, law
enforcement, child protective services, and the
prosecution. In addition, this measure requires each
multi-disciplinary team to develop an interagency protocol
in order to produce the most effective outcome."
5)Previous Legislation :
a) AB 2322 (Feuer), Chapter 551, Statutes of 2010,
broadened the scope of information that can be included in
county multidisciplinary personnel team databases and
authorizes case managers from the California Work
Opportunities and Responsibility to Kids program to
participate on child abuse multidisciplinary personnel
teams.
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b) AB 2229 (Brownley), Chapter 464, Statutes of 2010,
revised the definition of a "multidisciplinary personnel
team" to mean any team of two or more persons created to
investigate a report of suspected child abuse, as
specified, and required that the sharing of information
permitted in the period following a report of suspected
child abuse or neglect be governed by protocols developed
in each county describing how and what information may be
shared to ensure that confidential information is not
disclosed in violation of state or federal law.
c) SB 1279 (Pavley), Chapter 116, Statutes of 2010,
authorized the County of Los Angeles to establish a pilot
project to develop protocols for identifying and assessing
minors, upon arrest or detention by law enforcement, who
may be victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and to
develop a diversion program reflecting the best practices
to address the needs and requirements of those minors.
d) SB 153 (Migden), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
would have allowed county to enter into grants for
interview services with the Office of Emergency Services
for the recovery of costs associated with the provision of
child victim forensic evidentiary interviews conducted by
child advocacy centers. SB 153 was later amended to a
different subject and vetoed.
e) SB 1761 (Poochigian), of the 2005-06 Legislative
Session, would have redistributed the money in the State
Penalty Fund and establish grant programs for Child
Advocacy Centers and Victim Trauma Recovery Centers. SB
1761 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
f) AB 1657 (Evans), of the 2005-06 Legislative Session,
would have authorized counties to establish child advocacy
centers to coordinate the activities of the various
agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of
alleged child abuse and mitigation of family violence,
would have required each county that establishes a child
advocacy center to develop and interagency protocol
agreement, as specified. AB 1657 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
g) AB 2294 (Wolk), of the 2003-04 Legislative Session,
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would have allowed counties to establish Multidisciplinary
Interview Centers (MDICs) and submit claims to the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
for costs incurred by the MDICs associated with child
victim forensic interviews. AB 2294 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
h) AB 1497 (Negrete-McLeod), of the 2001-02 Legislative
Session, would have allowed counties to submit claims to
the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims
Board for costs incurred by multidisciplinary teams or
centers associated with child victim forensic interviews.
AB 1497 was vetoed.
i) AB 1724 (Gallegos), of the 1999-2000 Legislative
Session, would have established the Child Abuse
Multidisciplinary Intervention Account, funded by the
General Fund, to provide support for child abuse
multidisciplinary teams and multidisciplinary centers. AB
1724 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
j) SB 647 (Rainey), of the 1999-2000 Legislative Session,
would have established an account in the General Fund for
local child abuse multidisciplinary teams and centers. SB
647 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AFSCME
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County District Attorney's Office (Sponsor)
California District Attorneys Association
California Network of Child Advocacy Centers
California State Sheriffs' Association
California Teachers Association
Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing and Coordination Center
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (Co-Sponsor)
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
Opposition
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None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744