BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1348
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2000
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Martin Gallegos, Chair
SB 1348 (Vasconcellos) - As Amended: May 26, 2000
SENATE VOTE : 26-13
SUBJECT : Parenting Education.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to
convene a summit to develop a master plan for parenting
education in nonschool settings, as specified, and submit these
findings to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2002.
Specifically, this bill :
1)States legislative intent that the state design and implement
a comprehensive parenting education plan and implement a
comprehensive parenting education plan that would foster the
development of healthier parents, families, children, and
adults.
2)Requires DHS to convene a summit on or before March 31, 2001,
for the purpose of developing a master plan for parenting
education in non-school settings which shall especially
accommodate those persons who are no longer attending school
in the year 2001.
3)Requires the summit to include interested parties of all
ideologies and persuasions, legislative experts in parenting
issues, representative of current providers, academic experts,
business leaders, family and child development experts, health
professionals, experts in public school parenting education
programs, parents, and children.
4)Requires participation from the Department of Corrections,
Department of Youth Authority, State Department of Social
Services, State Department of Mental Health, State Department
of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the State Department of
Education in the summit, as specified.
5)Requires the participating departments to participate in the
summit to the extent that his or her department has
jurisdiction, each director is to collect, complete and submit
to the summit the best research available regarding the causal
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relationship between good and healthy parenting, or lack
thereof, to dysfunctional behavior and the public cost as a
result from dysfunctional behavior.
6)Requires that the summit have a variety of objectives
including;
a)An inventory of all parenting education programs currently
available in California.
b)Development of a method by which parents of newborns may
receive parenting education in public and private nonschool
settings.
c)Identification 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, as specified.
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.
7)Requires DHS to organize the recommendations of the summit
into a proposed California master plan for parenting
education, and submit that plan to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2002, and to make available copies of the
master plan to interested persons at a reasonable charge to
cover costs of printing and mailing after copies have been
distributed to the Legislature and appropriate persons in the
executive branch.
8)Requires DHS to make every reasonable effort to secure private
funding to underwrite the cost of this summit.
9)Specifies that DHS is not responsible for travel costs and per
diem associated with this summit for any participant, except
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when required by state law or administrative policy.
10)Requires DHS to evaluate the implementation of the summit's
recommendations and make every reasonable effort to either use
existing resources or secure private funding to underwrite
this evaluation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a parent or guardian to participate in child welfare
services or services provided by an appropriate agency
designated by the court, including a parent education and
parenting program operated by a community college, school
district, or other appropriate agency designated by the court,
when a child is adjudged a dependent of the court.
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with funds
appropriated for this purpose, to administer general child
care and development programs including age and
developmentally appropriate activities for children, parenting
education and parent involvement, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis, the DHS summit will cost $500,000 for fiscal year
2000-01 (General Fund).
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . The author believes that attention
should be focused on parenting education to better prepare
children to be responsible, caring adults. The author notes
that as many as 75% percent of all prison inmates were abused
as children and inappropriate or inadequate parenting skills
are among the strongest predictors of later delinquency. This
bill would require a summit to assess parenting education
programs and require a master plan for programs in non-school
settings.
2)SUPPORT . According to the Juvenile Court Judges of California
(JCJC), Juvenile Courts routinely order parents who have
abused or neglected their children to attend parenting
classes. JCJC indicates that the obvious and sensible
objective of this bill is to develop strategies to prevent
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instances of child abuse and neglect by teaching parenting
skills first, rather than when it is too late. JCJC endorses
this legislation in the realistic expectation that its
enactment will be a first step in reducing the enormous
caseload that now burdens juvenile courts. The California
Federation of Teachers believes that a master plan is
essential for seeking ways to establish programs for students
who are likely to have children at an early age. Planned
Parenthood Affiliates of California believes this bill is
clearly designed to help create healthier parents, healthier
families, healthier children, and healthier adults by giving
young men and women the tools to understand what is involved
in parenting. The Little Hoover Commission (LHC) supports this
bill based on its report, "Now in Our Hands: Caring for
California's Abused and Neglected Children", (Report) released
in August 1999. The LHC Report noted that there are dozens of
government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private
providers involved in caring for abused children and the
Report recommends that the state improve its partnerships
among agencies to improve outcomes for abused children. The
LHC supports this bill because the summit would include
representatives of current providers, academic experts,
business leaders, family and child development experts, health
professionals, experts in public school parenting education
programs, parents, and children.
1)PROPOSED AMENDMENTS BY THE AUTHOR . The author proposes to
bring amendments to the committee, which will amend this bill
as follows:
a) Add various legislative findings and declarations
including recognizing that 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
and that the state must recognize, rather than duplicate
the effective and available parenting education programs.
b) Replace existing legislative intent with intent that the
summit be convened to determine whether parenting education
ought to be provided to every Californian and if so to
design for submission to the Legislature a comprehensive
strategic plan.
c) Change the date the Director of DHS is to convene the
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summit from March 31, 2001 to on or before April 30, 2001,
and clarify that the summit would assess whether it would
be smart and wise for California to develop a master plan
for providing parenting education to every young
Californian.
d) Add to the description of interested parties to be
included in the summit, significant representation from
diverse communities.
e) Require the participating departments to submit to the
summit the best research available regarding what resources
are available showing what it takes to develop a whole
child with healthy self esteem and a healthy sense of
personal and social responsibility, and the costs for
providing such universal parenting education.
f) Add to the participating departments the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, the Chairperson of the State Board
of Education, State Secretary of Education, and the
Attorney General.
g) Add to the objective of the summit, the determination of
whether universal parenting education for every young
Californian would improved the public health and safety of
all Californians, and if such is found to be valuable, then
require it to be included as part of a proposed master plan
to be submitted to the Legislature for its considerations,
as specified, including 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.
1)PRIOR LEGISLATION. In 1984, legislation was enacted that
established the Family Relationships and Parenting Education
Chapter as part of the State Master Plan for education. This
statute required the Department of Education to survey school
districts within the state to determine the existence,
character, and components of their current programs and their
needs in family relationships and parenting education
curricula, and stated various legislative findings. AB 2587
(Eastin), Chapter 922, Statutes of 1994, repealed all sections
of the Family Relationships and Parenting Education Chapter
except for a definition of family relationships and parenting
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education. In 1994, AB 2947 (Vasconcellos) would have
expanded existing statutory requirements for parenting
education by requiring the Department of the Youth Authority,
juvenile court schools, and public secondary schools to offer
courses in parenting education to students in grades 9 to 12.
In addition, the measure required DHS to convene a summit for
the purpose of developing a master plan for parenting
education in non-public schools. Governor Wilson vetoed the
bill, citing the bill's lack of provisions for parental
consent and the inappropriate inclusion of private schools in
a required state master plan for parenting education. In 1995,
the Legislature considered another similar bill, AB 262
(Vasconcellos), but the bill failed passage in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee. In 1997, SB 669 (Vasconcellos),
which is similar to this bill, was vetoed by Governor Wilson,
because the Governor believed the bill was overly prescriptive
in some respects and left a number of questions unaddressed.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Counseling and Development
California Federation of Teachers
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Teachers Association
Californians for Parenting Education in Schools
Crime Victims Bureau
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Home Economics Teachers Association of California
Juvenile Court Judges of California
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System
The Little Hoover Commission
Opposition
Capitol Resource Institute
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Gilliard / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097