BILL NUMBER: SB 1348 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Vasconcellos
JANUARY 11, 2000
An act relating to parenting , and making an appropriation
therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1348, as amended, Vasconcellos. Parenting education.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health
Services to maintain a program of maternal and child health
Superintendent of Public Instruction to superintend the schools
of the state. Under existing law, responsibilities of the
superintendent also include the administration of general child care
and development programs .
This bill would require the department
superintendent, in consultation with the Secretary for Education,
to submit a proposal to convene a summit on
or before April 30, 2001, to develop , on or before
September 1, 2001, regarding the advisability of developing a
master plan for parenting education in nonschool settings. The bill
would require the superintendent to convene and conduct the
summit pursuant to the approved plan, and would require the
various state departments to participate in the summit and collect,
complete, and submit to the summit available research regarding,
among other things, the causal relationship between the presence or
absence of parenting skills and dysfunctional behavior. The bill
would require the department to report its findings to
superintendent, in consultation with the secretary, to
prepare a report with respect to parenting education and universal
parenting education, and to submit the report to the State Board of
Education and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2002.
This bill would appropriate $145,000 from the General Fund to the
superintendent for the purposes of carrying out the superintendent's
responsibilities under the bill.
Vote: majority 2/3 .
Appropriation: no yes . Fiscal
committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Our failure to prepare young Californians to make informed,
wise choices regarding whether to become, and how to be good,
healthy, and effective parents results in too many unwise choices and
too little healthy parenting for the next generation of
Californians.
(b) Research indicates that over 50 percent of Californians
imprisoned for violent crime were abused as children.
(c) Providing early and smart parenting education to every
California pupil would help us overcome set failures.
(d) There are a variety of parenting education programs in a
variety of venues throughout California, differing in their
availability and in their accessibility with regard to geography,
time, and location.
(e) The State of California must recognize, encourage, and build
upon, rather than duplicate, the effective and available parenting
education programs.
(f) The State of California must identify venues in which
effective parenting education is not available, and strive to ensure
access to parenting education in those venues.
(g) Every Californian must recognize the need, responsibility, and
opportunity to prepare himself or herself better to become a healthy
parent.
(h) Every California institution must recognize its
responsibility, duty, and capacity to engage itself in supporting the
development of Californians into healthier parents.
(i) The private sector, through major policy development
foundations such as the California Wellness Foundation, has begun to
recognize the fundamental benefits of parenting education in
preventing crime and violence.
(j) The state should study particular strategies that are proving
successful in effectively reaching and providing parenting education
to the most vulnerable of our population.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act
that the State of California convene a top level statewide summit to
determine whether parenting education should be provided to every
young Californian and, if so, to design for submission to the
Legislature for its consideration, a comprehensive strategic action
plan for ensuring that every young Californian gain the benefit of
parenting education, in hopes of fostering the development of
healthier parents, and thereby healthier families, children and
adults.
SEC 3. (a) The Director of Health Services shall convene a summit
on or before April 30, 2001, for the
SEC. 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall design, in
consultation with the Secretary for Education, and shall submit for
consideration, possible revision, and approval, to the State Board of
Education, a proposal to convene a summit, on or about September 1,
2001, for the purpose of assessing whether it would be smart
and wise for the state of California to develop a master plan for
parenting education in nonschool settings. The master plan
shall especially accommodate those persons who are no longer
attending school in the year 2001. Upon approval of
the proposal, the superintendent shall convene and conduct the
parenting education summit pursuant to the approved plan.
(b) The summit shall include interested parties of all ideologies
and persuasions, including significant representation from diverse
communities, experts in parenting issues, family and child
development experts, representatives of current providers, academic
experts, business leaders, faith leaders, health
professionals, experts in public school parenting education programs,
parents, and children.
(c) The director, or his or her designee, of each of the following
departments shall participate in the summit as provided in
subdivision (d):
(1) The Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(2) The Chairperson of the State Board of Education.
(3) The State Secretary of Education.
(3) The Secretary for Education.
(4) The State Department of Health Services.
(5) The State Department of Social Services.
(5)
(6) The State Department of Mental Health.
(6)
(7) The State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
(7)
(8) The Department of the Youth Authority.
(8)
(9) The Board of Corrections.
(10) The Department of Corrections.
(9)
(11) The Attorney General.
(d) To the extent that his or her department has jurisdiction,
each director of the a department
listed in subdivision (c) shall collect, complete, and submit to the
summit the best research available regarding what it takes to develop
a whole child with healthy self-esteem and a healthy sense of
personal and social responsibility and regarding the causal
relationship between good and healthy parenting, or the lack thereof,
to dysfunctional behavior, as well as the costs for providing this
universal parenting education. The research submitted to the summit
shall also address the public costs that result from dysfunctional
behavior.
(e) The objectives of the summit shall include, but not be limited
to, the following:
(1) Development of an inventory of all parenting education
programs currently available in California.
(2) Determination of whether universal parenting education for
every young Californian would improve the public health and safety of
all Californians.
(3) If it is found to be valuable, the following shall be included
as part of a proposed master plan to be submitted to the Legislature
for its consideration.
(A) Development of a method by which parents of newborns may
receive parenting education in an appropriate range of public and
private nonschool settings.
(B) Identification of the classifications of licensed
professionals who would be the most appropriate educators of
parenting skills in nonschool settings, assessment of the need for
the establishment of instructor training and continuing education
requirements for these professionals, and development of mechanisms
by which these professionals can be engaged in the practice of
parenting education.
(C) Development of a method and curriculum in juvenile court
school, homes, ranches, camps, and forestry camps, as well as a
method for making parenting education available to all public high
school students.
(D) Creation of a means for coordinating parenting education
services, in consultation with the State Department of Education.
(E) Identification of the ways and means for developing the
funding for the various options for parenting education.
(F) Identification and development of additional methods by which
each of the state departments participating in this summit can ensure
that Californians receive effective and useful parenting education.
(f) The State Department of Health Services shall report its
findings to the Legislature, including, if it concludes that it would
be valuable to do so, organizing the recommendations of the summit
into a proposed California master plan for parenting education, and
shall submit that plan to the Legislature on or before January 1,
2002.
(f) The superintendent, in consultation with the Secretary for
Education, shall prepare a report with respect to parenting education
and universal parenting education, including, if he or she concludes
that it would be valuable to do so, organizing the recommendations
of the summit into a proposed California master plan for parenting
education. The report shall be submitted to the State Board of
Education for its consideration, possible revision, and adoption.
The report shall then be submitted to the Legislature on or before
January 1, 2002.
(g) The State Department of Health Services
Education shall make every reasonable effort to secure
private funding to underwrite the cost of this summit.
(h) The State Department of Health Services
Education shall not be responsible for travel costs and
per diem associated with this summit for any participant, except when
required by state law or administrative policy.
(i) After making available copies of the master plan
copies of the proposed master plan available to
the Legislature and appropriate persons in the executive branch, the
State Department of Health Services may make additional copies
available to interested persons at a reasonable charge to cover costs
of printing and mailing.
(j) The State Department of Health Services shall evaluate the
implementation of the summit's recommendations and shall make every
reasonable effort to either use existing resources or secure private
funding to underwrite this evaluation.
SEC. 4. The sum of one hundred forty-five thousand dollars
($145,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction for the purpose of carrying out
the superintendent's responsibilities under this act.