BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1165
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Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 1165 (Mitchell and Block) - As Amended: July 2, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC),
during the next revision of the health framework after January 1
2015, to consider for adoption by the State Board of Education
(SBE), a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking
prevention education. Further, this bill authorizes school
districts to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention
education. Specifically, this bill:
1)Encourages school districts to collaborate with outside
consultants, including law enforcement, with expertise in
sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education in order
to create a school safety plan to address the threat of sexual
abuse and sex trafficking and a referral protocol for high
risk pupils and minors.
2)Authorizes a school district to provide sexual abuse and sex
trafficking prevention education. Specifies a parent or
guardian has the right to excuse his or her child from this
education.
3)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to
make available on the department's Internet Web site resources
on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention for
professional learning purposes, and relevant materials for
parents and guardians of pupils.
4)Authorizes school districts to provide in-service training to
instruct school district personnel on current prevention
efforts and methods relative to sexual abuse and sex
trafficking. Further encourages the training to include early
identification of sexual abuse and sex trafficking of pupils
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and minors.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Ongoing General Fund/Proposition 98 cost pressures, in the
millions of dollars, for school districts that choose to
provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education
and associated in-service training. CDE notes the lack of
existing programs or strategies on this topic. Currently one
program listed on the CDE Web site for HIV/AIDS prevention
education is somewhat comparable to what a district might use
to provide instruction. For illustration, there were 470,000
seventh grade students in 2012-13. If half of these students
are provided curriculum similar to the HIV/AIDS curriculum at
a cost of $135 per unit, LEAs could incur costs of
approximately $30 million.
2)General Fund cost pressure, in the range of $135,000, for the
CDE to hire a researchers if the IQC decides to include a
distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking in the
state's next health curriculum framework revision. CDE notes
the lack of existing programs or strategies on this topic.
CDE would need to contract with a researcher with recognized
expertise in sexual abuse and sex trafficking to assist with
this framework revision. Additionally, the framework revision
could take several years since there is little research on sex
trafficking as an educational topic.
3)Likely minor costs to the CDE to provide resources on sexual
abuse and sex trafficking prevention for professional learning
purposes and relevant material for parents on the CDE website,
to the extent existing resources are available. CDE notes some
information currently available from the Department of Social
Services may be used but also note additional work may be
needed to identify and vet with experts resources that might
be posted.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, the average age of entry
into the sex trade is 12-14 years old. Traffickers recruit
their victims in or around many middle and high schools, and
some elementary schools. Traffickers also target other
locations where youth tend to congregate, such as parks,
transit stops, malls, shelters and group homes. Traffickers
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have been known to use other students or young men acting as
boyfriends to recruit classmates and friends. The author
contends that education is key to preventing sexual abuse and
sex trafficking from occurring in the first place.
2)Health Curriculum Frameworks . California curriculum is based
on content standards that are developed by the IQC and
approved by the SBE. The curriculum frameworks are guidelines
for implementing these standards. The Health Academic Content
Standards for Kindergarten through grade 12, were adopted by
the SBE in March, 2008. The health standards and framework
currently include some references to sexual assault, sexual
harassment, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation but do
not reference sex trafficking. A review and update of the
health framework was underway when the state suspended the
process in 2009 due to fiscal constraints. It is not clear
when the review of the health framework will resume.
3)Concerns . According to CDE, the topics related to sexual abuse
are already addressed in the Health Education Standards and,
therefore, will be included in the next revision of the Health
Framework regardless of enactment of this bill. However, with
regard to incorporating sex trafficking into the frameworks,
CDE notes that there are no proven sex trafficking prevention
education programs or strategies and no instructional
strategies or proven curriculum for widespread use in
California's diverse classrooms. Without proven programs or
curricula, CDE questions the feasibility of including sex
trafficking prevention education in the Health Framework.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081