Amended in Assembly March 20, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1828

Introduced by Assembly Member Donnelly

February 18, 2014

An act to begin delete amend Section 16010 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care. end delete begin insert add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16300) to Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to child welfare. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1828, as amended, Donnelly. begin delete Foster children: health and education records. end delete begin insert Child welfare: investigations: video and audio recording. end insert

begin insert

Existing law requires the state, through the Department of Social Services and county welfare departments, to establish and support a public system of statewide child welfare services to be available in each county of the state. All counties are required to establish and maintain specialized organizational entities within the county welfare department that have the sole responsibility for the operation of the child welfare services program. The Legislature has declared its intent, in providing for this statewide system of child welfare services, that all children are entitled to be safe and free from abuse and neglect.

end insert begin insert

This bill, to be known as Sammy’s Law, would require a county child protective services social worker, assigned to a role that involves assuming the custody of children or conducting interviews of children or their parents in order to investigate allegations of parental abuse or neglect, to use a video and audio recorder to make recordings of his or her interactions with the children and their parents in carrying out that role. In order for the recording requirement to apply, the child or parent is required to give his or her consent to being recorded. The bill would require the county child protective services employing the social worker to catalog and preserve the video and audio recordings, as provided.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require the prosecutor, in a criminal proceeding, to produce a copy of the above described recordings upon the request of the defendant, and if the recordings are not produced, the defendant would be entitled to an instruction stating that the missing information is presumed to be exculpatory. The bill also would require the county, in a dependency proceeding, to produce a copy of the above described recordings upon the request of the parent, and if the recordings are not produced, the county child protective services social worker would be prohibited from testifying about the missing information, and the judge would be prohibited from considering the missing information in making his or her rulings.

end insert begin insert

Because this bill would require local entities to provide a higher level of service through making and producing video and audio recordings, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

end insert begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

end insert begin delete

Existing law requires, when a child is placed in foster care, the case plan to include a summary of the health and education information or records, including mental health information, of the child. Existing law requires a child protective agency to, as soon as possible, but not later than 30 days after initial placement of a child into foster care, provide the caregiver with the child’s current health and education summary.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16300) is
added to Part 4 of Division 9 of the end insert begin insert Welfare and Institutions Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 4. end insert Investigation of Parental Abuse or Neglect

 

begin insert 16300. end insert   

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited as,
Sammy’s Law.

begin insert 16301. end insert   

(a) A county child protective services social worker,
assigned to a role that involves assuming the custody of children
or conducting interviews of children or their parents in order to
investigate allegations of parental abuse or neglect, shall use a
video and audio recorder to make a video and audio recording of
his or her interactions with the children and their parents in
carrying out that role.

(b) In order for the requirements of subdivision (a) to apply,
the child or parent is required to give his or her consent to the
video and audio recording.

(c) (1) The county child protective services employing the social
worker shall catalog and preserve the video and audio recordings.

(2) County child protective services shall have a written policy
that outlines, at a minimum, the proper use of the equipment, the
times when the video and audio recorder is to be activated,
conditions under which it is permissible not to have the video and
audio recorder activated, the retention period of the recordings,
the method for replacing defective or malfunctioning equipment,
and a logging policy to record failures or periods when the
equipment is being repaired.

begin insert 16302. end insert   

(a) In a criminal prosecution, upon the request of the
defendant, the prosecutor shall produce a copy, in a reasonably
usable format, of the recordings that the county child protective
services social worker was required to make pursuant to Section
16301.

(b) If the prosecutor does not produce a copy of the recordings
upon request, the defendant is entitled to an instruction stating
that the missing information is presumed to be exculpatory.

begin insert 16303. end insert   

(a) In a dependency proceeding, upon the request of
the parent, the county shall produce a copy, in a reasonably usable
format, of the recordings that the county child protective services
social worker was required to make pursuant to Section 16301.

(b) If the county does not produce a copy of the recordings upon
request, the county child protective services social worker is
prohibited from testifying about the missing information, and the
missing information shall not be considered by the judge in making
his or her rulings.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert begin insert

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 16010 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code is amended to read:

16010.  

(a) When a child is placed in foster care, the case plan
for each child recommended pursuant to Section 358.1 shall include
a summary of the health and education information or records,
including mental health information or records, of the child. The
summary may be maintained in the form of a health and education
passport, or a comparable format designed by the child protective
agency. The health and education summary shall include, but not
be limited to, the names and addresses of the child’s health, dental,
and education providers; the child’s grade level performance; the
child’s school record; assurances that the child’s placement in
foster care takes into account proximity to the school in which the
child is enrolled at the time of placement; the number of school
transfers the child has already experienced; the child’s educational
progress, as demonstrated by factors, including, but not limited
to, academic proficiency scores; credits earned toward graduation;
a record of the child’s immunizations and allergies; the child’s
known medical problems; the child’s current medications, past
health problems, and hospitalizations; a record of the child’s
relevant mental health history; the child’s known mental health
condition and medications; and any other relevant mental health,
dental, health, and education information concerning the child
determined to be appropriate by the Director of Social Services.
The health and education summary may also include the name and
contact information for the educational liaison, as described in
subdivision (b) of Section 48853.5 of the Education Code, of the
child’s local educational agency. If any other law imposes more
stringent information requirements, then that section shall prevail.

(b) Additionally, a court report or assessment required pursuant
to subdivision (g) of Section 361.5, Section 366.1, subdivision (d)
of Section 366.21, or subdivision (c) of Section 366.22 shall
include a copy of the current health and education summary
described in subdivision (a). With respect to a nonminor dependent,
as described in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, a copy of the
current health and education summary shall be included in the
court report only if and when the nonminor dependent consents in
writing to its inclusion.

(c) As soon as possible, but not later than 30 days after initial
placement of a child into foster care, the child protective agency
shall provide the caregiver with the child’s current health and
education summary as described in subdivision (a). For each
subsequent placement of a child or nonminor dependent, the child
protective agency shall provide the caregiver with a current
summary as described in subdivision (a) within 48 hours of the
placement. With respect to a nonminor dependent, as described in
subdivision (v) of Section 11400, the social worker or probation
officer shall advise the young adult of the social worker’s or
probation officer’s obligation to provide the health and education
summary to the new caregiver and the court, and shall discuss with
the youth the benefits and liabilities of sharing that information.

(d) (1) Notwithstanding Section 827 or any other law, the child
protective agency may disclose any information described in this
section to a prospective caregiver or caregivers prior to placement
of a child if all of the following requirements are met:

(A) The child protective agency intends to place the child with
the prospective caregiver or caregivers.

(B) The prospective caregiver or caregivers are willing to
become the adoptive parent or parents of the child.

(C) The prospective caregiver or caregivers have an approved
adoption assessment or home study, a foster family home license,
certification by a licensed foster family agency, or approval
pursuant to the requirements in Sections 361.3 and 361.4.

(2) In addition to the information required to be provided under
this section, the child protective agency may disclose to the
prospective caregiver specified in paragraph (1), placement history
or underlying source documents that are provided to adoptive
parents pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 8706 of the
Family Code.

(e) The child’s caregiver shall be responsible for obtaining and
maintaining accurate and thorough information from physicians
and educators for the child’s summary, as described in subdivision
(a), during the time that the child is in the care of the caregiver.
On each required visit, the child protective agency or its designee
family foster agency shall inquire of the caregiver whether there
is any new information that should be added to the child’s summary
as described in subdivision (a). The child protective agency shall
update the summary with the information as appropriate, but not
later than the next court date or within 48 hours of a change in
placement. The child protective agency or its designee family
foster agency shall take all necessary steps to assist the caregiver
in obtaining relevant health and education information for the
child’s health and education summary as described in subdivision
(a). The caregiver of a nonminor dependent, as described in
subdivision (v) of Section 11400, is not responsible for obtaining
and maintaining the nonminor dependent’s health and educational
information, but may assist the nonminor dependent with any
recordkeeping that the nonminor requests of the caregiver.

(f) At the initial hearing, the court shall direct each parent to
provide to the child protective agency complete medical, dental,
mental health, and educational information, and medical
background, of the child and of the child’s mother and the child’s
biological father if known. The Judicial Council shall create a form
for the purpose of obtaining health and education information from
the child’s parents or guardians at the initial hearing. The court
shall determine at the hearing held pursuant to Section 358 whether
the medical, dental, mental health, and educational information
has been provided to the child protective agency.

end delete