AB 1913: Pupil safety: child abuse prevention: training.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention in the State Department of Social Services, to, among other things, (1) develop and disseminate information to all school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools, and their school personnel in California, regarding the detection and reporting of child abuse, (2) establish best practices for school personnel to prevent abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel, or in school-sponsored programs, as provided, and (3) develop appropriate means of instructing school personnel in the detection of child abuse and neglect and the proper action that school personnel should take in suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, including, but not limited to, an online training module to be provided by the State Department of Social Services.

This bill would revise and recast these provisions by, among other things, requiring the department to (1) additionally develop and disseminate information to all school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools, and their school personnel in California, regarding the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel, or in school-sponsored programs, and (2) additionally develop appropriate means of instructing school personnel in the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel, or in school-sponsored programs, as provided. The bill would delete the above-described requirement that the State Department of Education establish best practices for school personnel to prevent abuse, and would, commencing July 1, 2025, delete the existing requirement that the department develop appropriate means of instructing school personnel in the detection of child abuse and neglect and the proper action that school personnel should take in suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, as provided.

Existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools to provide annual training, using the online training module provided by the State Department of Social Services or an alternative training, to their employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated reporters, as defined, on the mandated reporting requirements related to child abuse, as provided. Existing law also requires those entities to develop a process for all persons required to receive that training to provide proof of completing the training within the first 6 weeks of each school year or within the first 6 weeks of that persons employment. Existing law encourages those entities to participate in training on the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel, or in school-sponsored programs, and also encourages those entities to provide all school employees with that training at least once every 3 years.

Commencing July 1, 2025, this bill would additionally require school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools to, among other things, provide annual training to their employees on the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel, or in school-sponsored programs, as provided, and would apply the above-described proof of training requirements to this training. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.