BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1522
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 3, 2012
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1522 (Leno) - As Amended: June 18, 2012
SUMMARY : Provides a list of specified injuries and incidents
that a developmental center must report to the local law
enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the city or county
in which the developmental center is located. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires a developmental center to immediately report the
following incidents to the local law enforcement agency:
a) A death;
b) A sexual assault, as defined;
c) An assault with a deadly weapon by a nonresident of the
developmental center;
d) An assault with force likely to produce great bodily
injury;
e) An injury to the genitals when the cause of the injury
is undetermined; and
f) A broken bone, when the cause of the break is
undetermined.
2)States if the incident is reported to the law enforcement
agency by telephone, a written report of the incident shall
also be submitted to the agency, within two working days.
3)Clarifies that the reporting requirements of this bill are in
addition to, and do not substitute for, the reporting
requirements of mandated reporters, and any other reporting
and investigative duties of the developmental center and the
department as required by law.
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4)Provides that nothing in the bill's provisions shall be
interpreted to prevent the developmental center from reporting
any other criminal act constituting a danger to the health or
safety of the residents of the developmental center to the
local law enforcement agency.
5)Contains an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Vests in the State Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
jurisdiction over state hospitals referred to as developmental
centers for the provision of residential care to persons with
developmental disabilities. (Welfare and Institutions Code
Section 4440.)
2)Provides that a developmental center shall immediately report
all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to
the appropriate local law enforcement agency, which may, at
its discretion, conduct an independent investigation. The
reporting requirements of this subdivision are in addition to,
and do not substitute for, the reporting requirements of
mandated reporters. �Welfare and Institutions Code Section
4427.5(a).]
3)Mandates DDS to do the following:
a) Annually provide written information to every
developmental center employee regarding all of the
following:
i) The statutory and departmental requirements for
mandatory reporting of suspected or known abuse;
ii) The rights and protections afforded to individuals'
reporting of suspected or known abuse;
iii) The penalties for failure to report suspected or
known abuse; and
iv) The telephone numbers for reporting suspected or
known abuse or neglect to designated investigators of the
department and to local law enforcement agencies.
b) On or before August 1, 2001, in consultation with
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employee organizations, advocates, consumers, and family
members, develop a poster that encourages staff, residents,
and visitors to report suspected or known abuse and
provides information on how to make these reports.
�Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4427.5(b).]
4)States that any person who has assumed full or intermittent
responsibility for the care or custody of an elder or
dependent adult, whether or not he or she receives
compensation, including administrators, supervisors, and any
licensed staff of a public or private facility that provides
care or services for elder or dependent adults, or any elder
or dependent adult care custodian, health practitioner, clergy
member, or employee of a county adult protective services
agency or a local law enforcement agency, is a mandated
reporter. �Welfare and Institutions Code Section 15630(a).]
5)States that any mandated reporter who, in his or her
professional capacity, or within the scope of his or her
employment, has observed or has knowledge of an incident that
reasonably appears to be physical abuse, as defined,
abandonment, abduction, isolation, financial abuse, or
neglect, or is told by an elder or dependent adult that he or
she has experienced behavior, including an act or omission,
constituting physical abuse, as defined, abandonment,
abduction, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect, or
reasonably suspects that abuse, shall report the known or
suspected instance of abuse by telephone or through a
confidential Internet reporting tool, as authorized,
immediately or as soon as practicably possible. �Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 15630(b)(1).]
6)Provides any mandated reporter who has knowledge, or
reasonably suspects, that types of elder or dependent adult
abuse for which reports are not mandated have been inflicted
upon an elder or dependent adult, or that his or her emotional
well-being is endangered in any other way, may report the
known or suspected instance of abuse to the specified agency.
�Welfare and Institutions Code Section 15630(c)(1).]
7)Provides a mandated reporter in a long-term care facility
other than a state mental health hospital or state
developmental center, who has knowledge, or reasonably
suspects abuse that is not mandated to be reported, may report
the known or suspected abuse to the long-term care
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ombudsperson program. Except in an emergency, the local
ombudsperson shall report the case of known or suspected abuse
to the Department of Health Services. �Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 15630(c)(2).]
8)Provides if the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a state
mental health hospital or a state developmental center, the
report may be made to the designated investigator of the State
Department of Mental Health or the State Department of
Developmental Services or to a local law enforcement agency or
to the local ombudsperson. Except in an emergency, the local
ombudsperson and the local law enforcement agency shall report
any case of known or suspected criminal activity to the Bureau
of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, as soon as is practicable.
�Welfare and Institutions Code Section 15630(c)(3).]
9)If the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a place other
than those specified, the report may be made to the county
adult protective services agency. �Welfare and Institutions
Code Section 15630(c)(3).]
10)Provides if the conduct involves criminal activity other than
physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, financial
abuse, or neglect, it may be immediately reported to the
appropriate law enforcement agency. �Welfare and Institutions
Code Section 15630(d).]
11)States that a failure to report, or impeding or inhibiting a
report of, physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation,
financial abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult is
a misdemeanor, punishable by not more than six months in the
county jail, by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both
that fine and imprisonment. Any mandated reporter who
willfully fails to report, or impedes or inhibits a report of,
physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, financial
abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult, in violation
of this section, where that abuse results in death or great
bodily injury, shall be punished by not more than one year in
a county jail, by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both
that fine and imprisonment. If a mandated reporter
intentionally conceals his or her failure to report an
incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe
neglect, the failure to report is a continuing offense until a
law enforcement agency as specified discovers the offense.
�Welfare and Institutions Code Section 15630(h).]
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12)Defines "dependent adult" as any person between the ages of
18 and 64 years who resides in California and who has physical
or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to
carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights,
including, but not limited to, persons who have physical or
developmental disabilities, or whose physical or mental
abilities have diminished because of age; and includes any
person between the ages of 18 and 64 years who is admitted as
an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility, as defined.
�Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 15610.23 and
15630(i).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "California
Watch/The Center for Investigative Reporting recently issued a
report that was very critical of the investigation of crimes
that have occurred in the state's Developmental Centers.
(http://californiawatch.org/broken-shield.) Specifically, the
investigation showed that crimes were not properly
investigated by the centers' in-house investigative unit, the
Office of Protective Services (OPS), and its law enforcement
staff were not adequately trained or supervised.
"The California Watch investigation profiled a number of crimes,
including the following:
a) The 2005 death of a consumer at the Sonoma Developmental
Center where OPS assigned the case to a detective more than
24 hours after a caregiver discovered the consumer lying on
the floor and bleeding from his mouth. By then, any
evidence at the scene of the consumer's death was gone;
b) The 2007 death of a patient at Fairview Developmental
Center in which a consumer was found lying on the floor of
his room with a caregiver standing over him. OPS officers
failed to collect blood samples, fingerprints and other
physical specimens from his room. The lead detective, a
former nurse, had minimal police training and no experience
investigating suspicious deaths. Homicide detectives from
the Seattle and Chicago police departments reviewed the
investigation and identified half a dozen mistakes by
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officers and detectives at Fairview, including the failure
to secure the scene, failure to promptly interview
witnesses, and failure to obtain medical evidence that the
consumer's fatal injury (a broken neck) was inconsistent
with the caregiver's explanation of the incident; and
c) The 2010 sexual assault of a female consumer at the
Sonoma Developmental Center. OPS investigated the case but
made no arrests.
"In other states, local or state police are generally
responsible for investigating crimes at state institutions.
The status quo situation at development centers in California
in which crimes go uninvestigated and not prosecuted is an
unacceptable violation of the rights of developmentally
disabled consumers to equal protection of the law.
"SB 1522 requires a developmental center to immediately report
serious crimes, including a death, a sexual assault, or an
assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great
bodily injury, to the local law enforcement agency, regardless
of whether the Office of Protective Services has investigated
the facts and circumstances relating to the incident. SB 1522
also requires the developmental center to submit a written
report of the incident within two working days of any
telephone report to that local law enforcement agency."
2)Background : According to the background materials provided by
the author, "Current law (Welfare & Institutions Code Section
4427.5) requires a developmental center to immediately report
"all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to
the appropriate local law enforcement agency, which may, at
its discretion, conduct an independent investigation (emphasis
added)." The Department of Developmental Services has an
internal policy - which has not been adopted as a formal
regulation as required by California law - about which type of
"serious injuries of unknown origin" must be reported to local
law enforcement.
"According to testimony at the recent informational hearing by
the Senate Human Services Committee, this internal DSS policy
calls for virtually all injuries of unknown origin, even
relatively minor ones requiring only five sutures for
treatment, to local law enforcement. Testimony at the hearing
indicated that the number of reports transmitted to local law
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enforcement agencies may dilute the effectiveness of this
reporting requirement, and local law enforcement agencies may
be more likely to respond to and investigate incidents if they
received fewer reports about more serious incidents."
3)Investigating Incidents that Occur in Developmental Centers :
When a patient at one of the state's developmental centers is
seriously injured or dies, the following occurs: "Employees
must notify the facility's police force, OPS, whenever a
patient dies is or seriously injured. OPS officers are
required to respond immediately and secure the scene for
evidence. OPS must then notify the coroner's office and a
local law enforcement agency of all deaths or serious
injuries. The developmental center must also report patient
deaths to the state Department of Public Health, which
regulates facilities. Doctors, nurses and caretakers are
mandatory reporters.
"Local police or sheriff's departments can open criminal
investigations at their discretion. OPS conducts criminal
investigations and internal administrative reviews of
suspicious deaths. Coroner and medical examiner officers can
perform autopsies to find the cause of death. The Department
of Public Heath investigates to determine if facility errors
contributed to the death. If regulators find the
developmental center at fault, they can issue fines and AA
citations which can put the facility's license in jeopardy.
However, the state has not revoked the license of its own
centers even after they receive multiple AA citations.
Disability Rights California, a nonprofit group, has authority
under federal and state law to investigate abuse of the
disabled and publish its findings. It has access to
developmental patient records and police files the public does
not.
"City police and sheriff's departments can refer the results of
their investigations to district attorneys' offices, which
decide whether to file criminal charges. Detectives with OPS
must show their reports to lawyers for the state DDS, which
operates the centers, before sending cases out to
prosecutors." �Alvarado and Springfield, Who is Accountable
for Suspected Abuse at Developmental Centers? California Watch
(Feb. 23, 2012).]
4)Arguments in Support :
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a) According to Developmental Disabilities Area Board 10 ,
"SB 1522 revises the requirements for when the State
Developmental Center Office of Protective Services must
report an incident to the local law enforcement agency.
Currently, all death and serious injuries of unknown cause
must be reported. SB 1522 would revise this to be more
specific categories: death, sexual assault, assault with a
deadly weapon or force likely to cause great bodily injury,
or injury to the genitals when the cause of injury is
undetermined. It appears the intent of the bill is to
limit the number of incidents that are reported in the
hopes that local law enforcement will take a more active
role with those incidents that are reported. Because we
believe this bill is likely to result in more
investigations by local law enforcement agencies rather
than less, we support SB 1522."
b) According to The Arc California and United Cerebral
Palsy California Coalition , "Crime against residents of
developmental centers has been and continues to be a
scandalous problem. Your bill will help substantially, and
we support it with or without amendments. However, we also
hope for amendments to this bill and/or SB 1051(Liu) to
assure that the Office of Protective Services responds
promptly to crime reports, that qualified investigators are
responsible for followup, and that mandated reporters who
fail to report are arrested, prosecuted and punished,
appropriately for this serious crime."
5)Related Legislation :
a) SB 1051 (Liu) requires mandated reporters within
developmental centers to immediately report suspected abuse
to OPS or to the local law enforcement agency, and
establishes criteria for the appointment of a Director of
OPS. SB 1051 is pending hearing by the Assembly Committee
on Appropriations.
b) AB 40 (Yamada) requires a mandated reporter to report to
the local ombudsman, the corresponding licensing agency,
and the local law enforcement agency within 24 hours of the
reporter observing, obtaining knowledge of, or suspecting
the physical abuse of an elder or dependent adult. AB 40
is pending hearing by the Senate Committee on
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Appropriations.
c) SB 718 (Vargas), Chapter 92, Statutes of 2011, allows
mandated reporters of elder and dependent adult abuse to
make reports through the Internet, as specified.
6)Previous Legislation :
a) SB 110 (Liu), Chapter 617, Statutes of 2010, requires
law enforcement to retain exclusive responsibility for
criminal investigations against elders, dependent adults
and persons with disabilities when Adult Protective
Services and local ombudsman are conducting concurrent
investigations.
b) AB 2100 (Wolk), Chapter 481, Statutes of 2008, requires
the local ombudsperson and the local law enforcement agency
to immediately report cases of known or suspected physical
abuse, which includes sexual abuse, and financial abuse to
the local district attorney's office in the county where
the abuse occurred.
c) AB 1765 (Blakeslee), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
would have required a mandated reporter in a long term care
facility report suspected abuse to both the adult
protective services agency and the local law enforcement
agency.. AB 1765 was never heard by this Committee.
d) AB 1188 (Wolk), Chapter 16, Statutes of 2005, makes the
impeding or inhibiting by a supervisor or administrator of
the report of child, elder, or dependent abuse punishable
by imprisonment in the county jail for up to 6 months, or
by a fine of up to $1,000, or by both that fine and
imprisonment. AB 1188 provides that any mandated reporter
who willfully and unlawfully fails to report abuse or
neglect, or any person who impedes or inhibits a report of
abuse or neglect, where that abuse or neglect results in
death or great bodily injury, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, a fine
of up to $5,000, or both that fine and imprisonment.
e) AB 430 (Cardenas), Chapter 171, Statutes of 2002,
requires, among other provisions, a developmental center to
immediately report all resident deaths and serious injuries
of unknown origin to the appropriate law enforcement agency
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that may, at its discretion, conduct an independent
investigation. AB 430 also requires the State Department
of Developmental Services to annually provide written
information to every developmental center employee
regarding suspected or known abuse, and, on or before
August 1, 2001, to develop a poster that encourages staff,
residents, and visitors to report suspected or known abuse
and provides information on how to make these reports.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Disability Rights of California (Sponsor)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Association of State Hospital Parent Councils for the
Retarded
Developmental Disabilities Area Board 10
Developmental Disabilities Area Board 3
Disability Rights California
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
One private individual
The Arc California
United Cerebral Palsy - California Coalition
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744