BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2195
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 1, 2014
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2195 (Achadjian) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
SUMMARY : Authorizes a juvenile hearing officer to hear cases in
which a minor is alleged to come within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court on the basis of having four or more truancies, as
defined, within one school year.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the juvenile court to appoint as subordinate
judicial officers, as specified, to serve as a juvenile
hearing officer. A juvenile court shall be known as the
Informal Juvenile and Traffic Court when a hearing officer
appointed pursuant to this section hears a case specified in
the provisions below. (Welf. & Inst. Code, � 255.)
2)States, subject to the orders of the juvenile court, a
juvenile hearing officer may hear and dispose of any case in
which a minor under the age of 18 years as of the date of the
alleged offense is charged with the following specified
offenses:
a) Any violation of the Vehicle Code, except sections of
that code related to driving under the influence, not
declared to be a felony;
b) Trespassing, as specified;
c) A violation of the Fish and Game Code not declared to be
a felony;
d) A violation of any of the equipment provisions of the
Harbors and Navigation Code or the vessel registration
provisions of the Vehicle Code;
e) A violation of any provision of state or local law
relating to traffic offenses, loitering or curfew, or
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evasion of fares on a public transportation system, as
defined,
f) A violation of rules and regulations for control of
traffic and parking areas;
g) Prohibited acts committed on or in facilities or
vehicles of public or subsidized transportation systems or
unauthorized use of vending and slot machines, as
specified;
h) A violation of the rules and regulations established by
the Department of Parks and Recreation;
i) A misdemeanor related to illegal dumping and destroying
or defacing of property owned or managed by the Santa
Monica Mountains Conservancy, as specified;
j) Purchase, attempted purchase, or consumption of an
alcoholic beverage by a person under the age of 21 years of
age; presenting or possessing false evidence of age for the
purpose of purchasing any alcoholic beverage; or possession
of an alcoholic beverage by person under 21 years of age in
public place, as specified;
aa) Public intoxication, as specified;
bb) Misdemeanor vandalism, involving defacing property with
paint or any other liquid, as specified;
cc) Purchase or possession of aerosol paint container by a
person under the age of 18 years, as specified;
dd) Possession of not more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, as
specified;
ee) Any infraction; or
ff) Any misdemeanor for which the minor is cited to appear
by a probation officer, as specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code,
� 256.)
3)Requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years old,
not otherwise exempted, to be subject to compulsory full-time
education and attend the public full-time school for the full
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time designated as the length of the school day by the
governing board of the school district in which the person's
parent or guardian resides, and that each parent or guard or
other person having control or charge of the pupil shall
ensure that pupil's enrollment and attendance. (Ed. Code, �
48200.)
4)Defines a "truant" as a pupil subject to compulsory full-time
education or to compulsory continuation education who is
absent from school without a valid excuse three full days in
one school year or tardy or absent for more than a 30-minute
period during the schoolday without a valid excuse on three
occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof; and
requires the pupil to be reported to the attendance supervisor
or to the superintendent of the school district. (Ed. Code, �
48268, subd. (a).)
5)Authorizes the attendance supervisor or his or her designee, a
peace officer, a school administrator or his or her designee,
or a probation officer to arrest or assume temporary custody,
during school hours, of any minor subject to compulsory
full-time education or to compulsory continuation education
found away from his or her home and who is absent from school
without valid excuse within the county, city, or city and
county, or school district. (Ed. Code, � 48264.)
6)States if a minor has four or more truancies within one school
year as defined, or a school attendance review board or
probation officer determines that the available public and
private services are insufficient or inappropriate to correct
the habitual truancy of the minor, or to correct the minor's
persistent or habitual refusal to obey the reasonable and
proper orders or directions of school authorities, or if the
minor fails to respond to directives of a school attendance
review board or probation officer or to services provided, the
minor is then within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court
which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court.
However, it is the intent of the Legislature that no minor who
is adjudged a ward of the court pursuant solely to this
subdivision shall be removed from the custody of the parent or
guardian except during school hours. (Welf. & Inst. Code, �
601, subd. (b).)
7)Authorizes any peace officer or school administrator to issue
a notice to appear to a minor who is within the jurisdiction
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of the juvenile court pursuant to these sections related to
truancy. (Welf. & Inst. Code, � 601, subd. (d).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This bill would
provide a much-needed, moderate alternative for resolving
cases of truancy. The existing options are either
unenforceable or too complex, making it difficult for school
officials and probation officers to quickly and efficiently
address this problem."
2)Background : According to the background materials provided by
the author, "Current law allows truancy to be handled either
through the administration of a diversion program by the
student's school, or by the filing of a 601(b) petition, which
sends a student to juvenile court and often results in the
child being declared a "status offender." Many probation
officers and schools find the latter option too extreme;
however, the school has little ability to enforce
participation in the diversion program either. This leaves
many cases of truancy unaddressed. This bill would add a
moderate, often more appropriate route for firm action in
response to truancy, without sending students to a formal
juvenile court."
3)Current Penalties for Truancy : Under current law, the first
time a truancy report is issued, the pupil, and as appropriate
the parent or guardian, may be requested to attend a meeting
with a school counselor or other school designee to discuss
the root causes of the attendance issue and develop a joint
plan to improve the pupil's attendance. (Ed. Code, � 48264.5,
subd. (a).) The second time a truancy report is issued within
the same school year, the pupil may be given a written warning
by a peace officer. A written warning may be kept at the
school for not less than two years or until the pupil
graduates or transfers from that school. A record of the
written warning may be maintained by the law enforcement
agency in accordance with the agency's policies and
procedures. The pupil may also be assigned by the school to
an afterschool or weekend study program located within the
same county as the pupil's school. If the pupil fails to
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successfully complete the assigned study program, the pupil
shall be subject to the provisions governing the third time a
truancy report is required. (Ed. Code, � 48264.5, subd. (b).)
The third time a truancy report is issued within the same
year, the pupil shall be classified as a habitual truant, as
defined, and may be referred to, and required to attend, an
attendance review board or a truancy mediation program, or
other comparable program. If the pupil does not successfully
complete the program, the pupil shall be subject to the
provisions governing the fourth time a truancy report is
required. (Ed. Code, � 48264.5, subd. (c).)
The fourth time a truancy report is issued within the same
year, the pupil may be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court that may adjudge the juvenile to be ward of the court.
If the pupil is adjudged a ward of the court, the pupil shall
be required to do one of the following: performance at a
court-approved community services sponsored by either a public
or private nonprofit agency for not less than 20 hours but not
more than 40 hours over a period of 90 days, during a time
other than the pupil's hours of school attendance or
employment; payment of a fine by the pupil of not more than
$50 for which a parent or guardian may be jointly liable;
attendance of a court-approved truancy prevention program; or
suspension or revocation of driving privileges. (Ed. Code, �
48264.5, subd. (d).)
4)Los Angeles County School Attendance Task Force Report : In
January 2012, Los Angeles County School Attendance Task Force
released a report with recommendations for schools, juvenile
courts, law enforcement, municipalities, parents, guardians
and caregivers, and communities, in order to increase school
attendance and decrease truancy. The Task Force found that
research supports school-based rather than law
enforcement-based interventions as the most effective means to
improve student attendance rates. The strategies range from
utilizing rewards and attendance incentives, determining root
causes of truancy, maximizing partnerships with local service
agencies that address the root causes, and referring truancy
issues to law-enforcement agencies only as a last resort and
only after documentation of multiple failed interventions.
(See Los Angeles County Education Coordinating Council, A
Comprehensive Approach to Improving Student Attendance in Los
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Angeles County: A Report from the School Attendance Task Force
(Jan. 2012).)
The report discussed Los Angeles County's approach to truancy.
"In 1995, the Los Angeles City Council enacted Los Angeles
Municipal Code (LAMC) �45.04, which makes it unlawful, with
limited exceptions, for any youth under the age of 18 to be in
a public place during the hours of the day when the youth's
school is in session. A similar code section-Los Angeles
County Code 13.57.010, et seq.-applies to youth in Los Angeles
County jurisdictions policed by the Sheriff's Department.
Almost every city in California has enacted similar ordinances
over the last two decades.
"In Los Angeles County, this type of ticket is referred to the
Informal Juvenile and Traffic Court (IJTC), and has been
punishable with a fine and the possible loss of driving
privileges.
"Unfortunately, in the absence of a comprehensive,
research-based approach to addressing attendance-related
issues in Los Angeles, the enforcement of daytime curfews has
often been the primary response to truancy, and extensive
resources and effort have been focused on using law
enforcement to ticket and cite students. For example, between
2005 and 2009, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and
the Los Angeles Schools Police Department (LASPD) issued more
than 47,000 tickets under the Los Angeles City curfew
ordinance. Data related to curfew citations in other parts of
Los Angeles County have not been collected or analyzed.
"The Los Angeles City curfew ordinance's burdens have fallen
most heavily on low-income communities and on families who are
least able to afford them. They include:
a) Hefty fines ($250 per citation plus court fees, which
can result in fines in the thousands of dollars);
b) For every ticket issued, the loss for students of at
least one day of school-and in some cases up to three
days-to attend court;
c) Lost average daily attendance funding, especially to the
lowest-performing schools, for each day a student misses to
attend court;
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d) Lost earnings by parents who must accompany children to
court; and,
e) Accumulated fines that low-income families cannot afford
to pay, which result in youth being denied employment
opportunities and driver's licenses, further preventing
them from moving forward as productive citizens. (Los
Angeles County Education Coordinating Council, A
Comprehensive Approach to Improving Student Attendance in
Los Angeles County: A Report from the School Attendance
Task Force (Jan. 2012) pp. 5-6.)
A few years ago, Los Angeles County started to move away from
criminalization of truancy. "The Los Angeles County District
Attorney and the Los Angeles City Attorney have both
implemented truancy intervention programs and have dedicated
staff to work with students and parents at an early stage of
truancy identification. The District Attorney's Abolish
Chronic Truancy Program (ACT) has been studied by the Rand
Corporation and is an American Bar Association model program
for addressing truancy. The ACT program, which served
approximately 58,000 students and parents from September of
2006 to June of 2011, deals primarily with elementary-aged
children and operates by sending deputy district attorneys and
hearing officers into schools to work with students and
families. At participating schools, students with attendance
issues are identified and referred to the program. Students
assigned to the program are longitudinally tracked for both
further truancy and for subsequent involvement in the juvenile
delinquency system. Annual internal reviews have demonstrated
a 50 percent reduction in truancy rates among students
referred to the program, and only 1 percent of students who
are in the ACT program are later identified by the Los Angeles
Probation Department as being involved in the justice system.
"The City Attorney's Truancy Prevention Program has educated
over 250,000 families about the importance of attending
school. The program's letters have directed over 70,000
families to general assemblies where families are taught the
legal and practical consequences of truancy. Additionally,
almost 4,000 families have been referred to City Attorney
Hearings for one-on-one intervention. From these families,
counselors have taken over 200 to SARBs and have referred 70
families for court intervention that includes diversion in
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lieu of prosecution." (Id. at pp. 8-9.)
The Task Force found that even with these changes, the truancy
levels remained high calling for a countywide effort to
address the problem. After holding several meetings with
stakeholders, the Task Force recommended several reforms
within schools, municipalities, parents, law enforcement and
courts. Some of the recommendations by the Task Force related
to the IJTC include, (a) at the youth's option, community
service in lieu of a monetary fine for any offense adjudicated
in the IJTC; (b) dismissal of any citation for which the
evidence shows the youth was late to school or en route to
school; and (c) informing youth and parents of their rights in
the IJTC. (Id. at p. 35.)
Currently, a juvenile hearing officer has jurisdiction over
truancy cases where a pupil is cited for violating curfew
ordinances. (Welf. & Inst. Code, � 256.) This bill will
allow juvenile hearing officers to hear truancy cases without
requiring a citation under one of these local ordinances, if
the pupil has had four or more truancies within one school
year. Having truancy cases heard by a juvenile hearing
officer may be more appropriate in certain circumstances,
however, as the Task Force report indicates, the penalties may
result in fines that the pupil or parent is unable to pay, or
missed days at school and work in order to make it to court
dates. Adopting some of the recommendations found in the Task
Force report may alleviate these adverse consequences.
5)Argument in Support : According to the San Luis Obispo County
Board of Supervisors , the sponsor of this bill, "At times
there is a need to address a minor's truancy through the Court
process. This occurs after all volunteer services have been
exhausted and there is still no change in the minor's
behavior. The filing of [Welfare and Institutions Code] WIC
601(b) petition allows this to happen. However, this is a
lengthy process, as the petition requests that the minor be
made a ward of the court. This disposition at times may not
always be the most appropriate and a less involved process in
the Juvenile Informal Traffic Court would accomplish the same
outcome in a timelier manner.
"The School Resource Officers in San Luis Obispo County have
expressed a need for many years on a way in which they can
hold habitual truants accountable through the Court absent the
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filing of WIC 601(b) petition. Assembly Bill 2195 would allow
this to happen. This bill would allow a Juvenile Hearing
Officer to impose immediate and certain consequences upon
those minors who have failed other truancy interventions. The
consequence would range from community work service to the
loss of a drivers' license."
6)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 2616 (Carter), Chapter 432, Statutes of 2012,
identifies specific reasons that constitute a valid excuse
for which a pupil may be absent from school for purposes of
being classified as a truant; and revises certain penalties
resulting from the issuance of specified truancy reports.
b) SB 1317 (Leno), Chapter 647, Statutes of 2010, creates a
misdemeanor when a parent or guardian of a pupil of six
years of age or older, who is in kindergarten or any of
Grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and who is subject to compulsory
full-time education whose child is a chronic truant, and
has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the
pupil's school attendance. Also authorizes superior courts
to establish deferred entry of judgment programs that
include specified components to adjudicate cases involving
parents or guardians of elementary school pupils who are
chronic truants.
c) SB 1728 (Hughes), Chapter 1023, Statutes of 1994,
strengthened laws governing school truancy and increased
the requirements on parents, schools and the law
enforcement
community to encourage school attendance.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors (Sponsor)
Chief Probation Officers of California
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office
Opposition
None
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Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744