BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 832 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 832 (Cristina Garcia) - As Amended April 16, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|5 - 2 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 832 Page 2 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 AB 832 Page 3 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: AB 832 Page 4 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 AB 832 Page 5