BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          832 (Cristina Garcia) - As Amended April 16, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill provides that "sexual assault" for purposes of  
          reporting incidents of abuse under the Child Abuse Neglect and  
          Reporting Act (CANRA) does not include voluntary acts of sodomy,  
          oral copulation, or sexual penetration, unless it involves a  








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          person who is 21 years of age or older engaging in these acts  
          with a minor who is under 16 years of age. 

          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Negligible


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, "AB 832 creates a clear,  
            uniform, and non-discriminatory standard for mandated  
            reporters to follow when reporting instances of consensual  
            sexual expressions amongst minors. Clear and consistent  
            reporting requirements would ensure that reporters are more  
            confident and knowledgeable about what needs to be reported  
            and result in increased safety for our youth.  

            "AB 832 would treat all consensual sexual activity the same  
            way that sexual intercourse is treated for the purposes of  
            child abuse reporting. All activity that is exploitive or  
            coercive in nature would remain a mandated report."
           
           2)Background.  Current law, CANRA, requires a mandated reporter  
            to report to law enforcement whenever, in his or her  
            professional capacity, the reporter has knowledge of or  
            observes a child who the reporter reasonably suspects has been  
            a victim of child abuse or neglect. Under CANRA, child abuse  
            or neglect includes physical injury or death, neglect as  
            defined, willful injury of a child, endangering a child as  
            defined, unlawful corporal punishment, and sexual abuse. 

            Sexual abuse is defined, pursuant to CANRA, to include rape,  
            statutory rape involving a person who is 21 years of age or  
            older with a minor who is under 16 years of age, incest,  
            sodomy with a person who is under 18 years of age, and lewd or  
            lascivious acts upon a child who is 14 or 15 years of age by a  








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            person who is at least 10 years older than the child. 

            A 1986 California Appeal Court ruled in Planned Parenthood  
            Affiliates v. Van de Kamp that the legislative intent of CANRA  
            was "to allow the trained professional to determine an abusive  
            from a nonabusive situation. Instead of a blanket reporting  
            requirement of all activity of those under a certain age, the  
            professional can make a judgment whether a minor is having  
            voluntary relations or is being sexually abused."  

          3)Argument in Support:  According to Equality California,  
            "Mandated reporting law currently requires mandated reporters  
            to make a child abuse report anytime they reasonably believe  
            that a youth has been the victim of sexual assault or coerced  
            into sexual activity in any way. AB 832 will not change that.  
            AB 832 simply proposes to amend the definition of sexual abuse  
            so that all sexual activity among young people is treated the  
            same under California's definition of child abuse and  
            reporting law.
            
            "We support AB 832 because it will increase access to critical  
            preventive health and mental health care services for young  
            people; will allow reporters and child welfare to focus on  
            youth who truly are abused or at risk of abuse; and will  
            eliminate a law that has a discriminatory impact and is rooted  
            in discriminatory and outdated beliefs."

          4)Argument in Opposition:  The California District Attorneys  
            Association states, "Consensual sexual conduct between a 16  
            year old and a 20 year old is still a misdemeanor.  We believe  
            that removing that category from the mandated reporter statute  
            is bad policy.  The purpose of the Child Abuse and Neglect  
            Reporting Act is to protect children from abuse and neglect  
            and to 'do whatever is necessary to prevent psychological harm  
            to the child victim.'  Removing this category from the Act  
            goes against its very purpose."

          5)Related Legislation: 









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             a)   AB 1001 (Maienschein), pending in Assembly Public  
               Safety, would make it a misdemeanor to impede or interfere  
               with the making of a report of suspected child abuse or  
               neglect by a mandated reporter. 

             b)   AB 1207 (Lopez), pending in this committee, would  
               require the Department of Social Services to develop and  
               disseminate information to specified employees of child day  
               care centers and home licensees that care for children  
               regarding the duties of mandated reporters under CANRA.

             c)   SB 332 (Block), pending in Senate Public Safety, would  
               authorize a mandated reporter to make a report to a school  
               district police department. 

             d)   SB 478 (Huff), pending in Senate Public Safety, would  
               authorize, until January 1, 2021, certain county welfare  
               agencies to develop a pilot program for Internet-based  
               reporting of child abuse and neglect, as specified. 

          6)Prior Legislation:  AB 1505 (Garcia), of the 2013-2014  
            Legislative Session, a substantially similar bill, was never  
            heard in this Committee. 






          Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081
















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