AB 253: Child death investigations: review teams.
- Session Year: 2023-2024
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2023-02-22
Current Status:
Failed
(2024-02-01: From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
Existing law authorizes each county to establish an interagency child death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases. Existing law requires each child death review team to, no less than once each year, make available to the public findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the team, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths.
This bill would instead require each child death review team to meet these requirements no later than July 1 of each year and to post this report on the internet website of the county.
Existing law requires the Attorney General, subject to available funding, to develop a protocol for the development and implementation of interagency child death teams that could be used by counties.
This bill would require the Attorney General to complete and publish the protocol on their internet website and to update it every 4 years no later than January 1, regardless of the available funding.
Existing law requires multiple state departments to share data and other information necessary to establish accurate information on the nature and extent of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities in California as those documents relate to child fatality cases. Existing law also requires the California State Child Death Review Council, among other things, to oversee the statewide coordination and integration of state and local efforts.
This bill would require the Department of Justice and other agencies and organizations involved to collaborate on allocating statewide responsibilities for these provisions between, at a minimum, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Social Services, and the Department of Justice. The bill would require the Attorney General to submit a budget to the Governor and the Legislature that is sufficient to fund the council, among other things.
Existing law authorizes each county to establish an interagency child death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases. Existing law requires each child death review team to, no less than once each year, make available to the public findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the team, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths.
This bill would instead require each child death review team to meet these requirements no later than July 1 of each year and to post this report on the internet website of the county.
Existing law requires the Attorney General, subject to available funding, to develop a protocol for the development and implementation of interagency child death teams that could be used by counties.
This bill would require the Attorney General to complete and publish the protocol on their internet website and to update it every 4 years no later than January 1, regardless of the available funding.
Existing law requires multiple state departments to share data and other information necessary to establish accurate information on the nature and extent of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities in California as those documents relate to child fatality cases. Existing law also requires the California State Child Death Review Council, among other things, to oversee the statewide coordination and integration of state and local efforts.
This bill would require the Department of Justice and other agencies and organizations involved to collaborate on allocating statewide responsibilities for these provisions between, at a minimum, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Social Services, and the Department of Justice. The bill would require the Attorney General to submit a budget to the Governor and the Legislature that is sufficient to fund the council, among other things.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a)California lawmaking and expenditures should prioritize preventing Californias children from dying.
(b)A state with an annual budget of over two hundred billion dollars ($200,000,000,000) can and should spend the modest sums needed to implement current federal and state laws and best practices to track, evaluate, and report upon child deaths to permit the possibility of enacting or reforming policies and practices that will prevent children from dying in the future, if possible.
SEC. 2.Section 11174.32 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.32.(a)Each county may establish an interagency child death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases. Interagency child death review teams have been used successfully to ensure that incidents of child abuse or neglect are recognized and other siblings and nonoffending family members receive the appropriate services in cases where a child has expired.
(b)Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on children to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the identification of child abuse or neglect, in the determination of whether child abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether child abuse or neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for child abuse or neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death.
(c)In developing an interagency child death review team and an autopsy protocol, each county, working in consultation with local members of the California State Coroners Association and county child abuse prevention coordinating councils, may solicit suggestions and final comments from persons, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1)Experts in the field of forensic pathology.
(2)Pediatricians with expertise in child abuse.
(3)Coroners and medical examiners.
(4)Criminologists.
(5)District attorneys.
(6)Child protective services staff.
(7)Law enforcement personnel.
(8)Representatives of local agencies which are involved with child abuse or neglect reporting.
(9)County health department staff who deals with childrens health issues.
(10)Local professional associations of persons described in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive.
(d)Records exempt from disclosure to third parties pursuant to state or federal law shall remain exempt from disclosure when they are in the possession of a child death review team.
(e)Written and oral information pertaining to the childs death as requested by a child death review team may be disclosed to a child death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may make a request, in writing, for the information sought and any person with information of the kind described in paragraph (2) may rely on the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to the team.
(1)An individual or agency that has information governed by this subdivision shall not be required to disclose information. The intent of this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information by the individual or agency that has the information.
(2)The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision:
(A)Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the Civil Code, medical information, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(B)Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, mental health information.
(C)Notwithstanding Section 11167.5, information from child abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of the person making the report, which shall not be disclosed.
(D)State summary criminal history information, criminal offender record information, and local summary criminal history information, as defined in Sections 11105, 11075, and 13300, respectively.
(E)Notwithstanding Section 11163.2, information pertaining to reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive conduct.
(F)Notwithstanding Section 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, records of in-home supportive services, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(3)Written or oral information disclosed to a child death review team pursuant to this subdivision shall remain confidential, and shall not be subject to disclosure or discovery by a third party unless otherwise required by law.
(f)(1)No later than July 1 of each year, each child death review team shall make available to the public findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the team, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths. This report shall be posted on the internet website of each county with a link that states it is the Child Death Review Team Annual Report.
(2)In its report, the child death review team shall withhold the last name of the child that is subject to a review or the name of the deceased childs siblings unless the name has been publicly disclosed or is required to be disclosed by state law, federal law, or court order.
(g)This section shall not be construed as prohibiting a county from entering into agreements or arrangements with other counties or the State Department of Social Services to share their resources in implementing this section, including establishing multicounty or regional review teams. Counties that establish multicounty or regional review teams shall, when recording, reporting, and publicizing data collected pursuant to this section, ensure that the data is sorted and published by county.
SEC. 3.Section 11174.33 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.33.The Attorney General, working with the California Consortium of Child Abuse Councils, shall develop a protocol for the development and implementation of interagency child death teams for use by counties, which shall include relevant procedures for both urban and rural counties. The protocol shall be designed to facilitate communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases so that incidents of child abuse or neglect are recognized and other siblings and nonoffending family members receive the appropriate services in cases where a child has expired. The protocol shall be completed and published on the Attorney Generals internet website with a link that states Child Death Review Protocol, and shall be updated every four years no later than January 1.
SEC. 4.Section 11174.34 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.34.(a)(1)The purpose of this section shall be to coordinate and integrate state and local efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect, and to create a body of information to prevent child deaths.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the California State Child Death Review Council, the Department of Justice, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Public Health, and state and local child death review teams shall share data and other information necessary from the Department of Justice Child Abuse Central Index and Supplemental Homicide File, the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics and the Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system files to establish accurate information on the nature and extent of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities in California as those documents relate to child fatality cases. Further, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that records of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities are entered into the State Department of Social Services, statewide child welfare information system. It is also the intent that training and technical assistance be provided to child death review teams and professionals in the child protection system regarding multiagency case review.
(b)(1)It shall be the duty of the California State Child Death Review Council to oversee the statewide coordination and integration of state and local efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect and to create a body of information to prevent child deaths. The Department of Justice, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Public Health, the California Coroners Association, the County Welfare Directors Association, Prevent Child Abuse California, the California Homicide Investigators Association, the Office of Emergency Services, the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect/National Center on Child Fatality Review, the California Conference of Local Health Officers, the California Conference of Local Directors of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, the California Conference of Local Health Department Nursing Directors, the California District Attorneys Association, and at least three regional representatives, chosen by the other members of the council, working collaboratively for the purposes of this section, shall be known as the California State Child Death Review Council. The council shall select a chairperson or cochairpersons from the members.
(2)The Department of Justice is hereby authorized to carry out the purposes of this section by coordinating council activities and working collaboratively with the agencies and organizations in paragraph (1), and may consult with other representatives of other agencies and private organizations, to help accomplish the purpose of this section.
(c)Meetings of the agencies and organizations involved shall be convened by a representative of the Department of Justice. All meetings convened between the Department of Justice and any organizations required to carry out the purpose of this section shall take place in this state. There shall be a minimum of four meetings per calendar year.
(d)To accomplish the purpose of this section, the Department of Justice and agencies and organizations involved shall engage in the following activities:
(1)Analyze and interpret state and local data on child death in an annual report to be submitted to local child death review teams with copies to the Governor and the Legislature, no later than July 1 each year. Copies of the report shall also be distributed to public officials in the state who deal with child abuse issues and to those agencies responsible for child death investigation in each county. The report shall contain, but not be limited to, information provided by state agencies and the county child death review teams for the preceding year.
The state data shall include the Department of Justice Child Abuse Central Index and Supplemental Homicide File, the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics, and the State Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system.
(2)In conjunction with the Office of Emergency Services, coordinate statewide and local training for county death review teams and the members of the teams, including, but not limited to, training in the application of the interagency child death investigation protocols and procedures established under Sections 11174.32 and 11174.33 to identify child deaths associated with abuse or neglect.
(3)Collaborate on allocating statewide responsibilities between, at a minimum, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Social Services, and the Department of Justice.
(e)The State Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the California State Child Death Review Council, shall design, test and implement a statewide child abuse or neglect fatality tracking system incorporating information collected by local child death review teams. The department shall:
(1)Establish a minimum case selection criteria and review protocols of local child death review teams.
(2)Develop a standard child death review form with a minimum core set of data elements to be used by local child death review teams, and collect and analyze that data.
(3)Establish procedural safeguards in order to maintain appropriate confidentiality and integrity of the data.
(4)Conduct annual reviews to reconcile data reported to the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics, Department of Justice Homicide Files and Child Abuse Central Index, and the State Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system data systems, with data provided from local child death review teams.
(5)Provide technical assistance to local child death review teams in implementing and maintaining the tracking system.
(6)This subdivision shall become operative on July 1, 2000, and shall be implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated for its purposes in the Budget Act.
(f)Local child death review teams shall participate in a statewide child abuse or neglect fatalities monitoring system by:
(1)Meeting the minimum standard protocols set forth by the State Department of Public Health in collaboration with the California State Child Death Review Council.
(2)Using the standard data form to submit information on child abuse or neglect fatalities in a timely manner established by the State Department of Public Health.
(g)The California State Child Death Review Council shall monitor the implementation of the monitoring system and incorporate the results and findings of the system and review into an annual report.
(h)The Department of Justice shall direct the creation, maintenance, updating, and distribution electronically and by paper, of a statewide child death review team directory, which shall contain the names of the members of the agencies and private organizations participating under this section, and the members of local child death review teams and local liaisons to those teams. The department shall work in collaboration with members of the California State Child Death Review Council to develop a directory of professional experts, resources, and information from relevant agencies and organizations and local child death review teams, and to facilitate regional working relationships among teams. The Department of Justice shall maintain and update these directories annually.
(i)The agencies or private organizations participating under this section shall participate without reimbursement from the state. Costs incurred by participants for travel or per diem shall be borne by the participant agency or organization. The participants shall be responsible for collecting and compiling information to be included in the annual report. The Department of Justice shall be responsible for printing and distributing the annual report using available funds and existing resources.
(j)The Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with the State Department of Social Services, the Department of Justice, and the California State Child Death Review Council shall contract with state or nationally recognized organizations in the area of child death review to conduct statewide training and technical assistance for local child death review teams and relevant organizations, develop standardized definitions for fatal child abuse or neglect, develop protocols for the investigation of fatal child abuse or neglect, and address relevant issues such as grief and mourning, data collection, training for medical personnel in the identification of child abuse or neglect fatalities, domestic violence fatality review, and other related topics and programs. The provisions of this subdivision shall only be implemented to the extent that the agency can absorb the costs of implementation within its current funding, or to the extent that funds are appropriated for its purposes in the Budget Act.
(k)Law enforcement and child welfare agencies shall cross-report all cases of child death suspected to be related to child abuse or neglect whether or not the deceased child has any known surviving siblings.
(l)County child welfare agencies shall create a record in the statewide child welfare information system on all cases of child death suspected to be related to child abuse or neglect, whether or not the deceased child has any known surviving siblings. Upon notification that the death was determined not to be related to child abuse or neglect, the child welfare agency shall enter that information into the statewide child welfare information system.
(m)The Attorney General shall annually, and in time to be included in the Governors January Budget, submit to the Governor and the Legislature a budget that is sufficient to fund the council, the requirements of Section 11174.32, including funding needed to ensure death reviews are conducted in every county, and Section 11174.33. The Attorney General shall annually report to the Legislature the amount of funding needed to ensure death reviews are conducted in every county. A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a)California lawmaking and expenditures should prioritize preventing Californias children from dying.
(b)A state with an annual budget of over two hundred billion dollars ($200,000,000,000) can and should spend the modest sums needed to implement current federal and state laws and best practices to track, evaluate, and report upon child deaths to permit the possibility of enacting or reforming policies and practices that will prevent children from dying in the future, if possible.
SEC. 2.Section 11174.32 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.32.(a)Each county may establish an interagency child death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases. Interagency child death review teams have been used successfully to ensure that incidents of child abuse or neglect are recognized and other siblings and nonoffending family members receive the appropriate services in cases where a child has expired.
(b)Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on children to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the identification of child abuse or neglect, in the determination of whether child abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether child abuse or neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for child abuse or neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death.
(c)In developing an interagency child death review team and an autopsy protocol, each county, working in consultation with local members of the California State Coroners Association and county child abuse prevention coordinating councils, may solicit suggestions and final comments from persons, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1)Experts in the field of forensic pathology.
(2)Pediatricians with expertise in child abuse.
(3)Coroners and medical examiners.
(4)Criminologists.
(5)District attorneys.
(6)Child protective services staff.
(7)Law enforcement personnel.
(8)Representatives of local agencies which are involved with child abuse or neglect reporting.
(9)County health department staff who deals with childrens health issues.
(10)Local professional associations of persons described in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive.
(d)Records exempt from disclosure to third parties pursuant to state or federal law shall remain exempt from disclosure when they are in the possession of a child death review team.
(e)Written and oral information pertaining to the child's death as requested by a child death review team may be disclosed to a child death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may make a request, in writing, for the information sought and any person with information of the kind described in paragraph (2) may rely on the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to the team.
(1)An individual or agency that has information governed by this subdivision shall not be required to disclose information. The intent of this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information by the individual or agency that has the information.
(2)The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision:
(A)Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the Civil Code, medical information, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(B)Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, mental health information.
(C)Notwithstanding Section 11167.5, information from child abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of the person making the report, which shall not be disclosed.
(D)State summary criminal history information, criminal offender record information, and local summary criminal history information, as defined in Sections 11105, 11075, and 13300, respectively.
(E)Notwithstanding Section 11163.2, information pertaining to reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive conduct.
(F)Notwithstanding Section 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, records of in-home supportive services, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(3)Written or oral information disclosed to a child death review team pursuant to this subdivision shall remain confidential, and shall not be subject to disclosure or discovery by a third party unless otherwise required by law.
(f)(1)No less than once later than July 1 of each year, each child death review team shall make available to the public findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the team, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths. This report shall be posted on the internet website of each county with a link that states it is the Child Death Review Team Annual Report.
(2)In its report, the child death review team shall withhold the last name of the child that is subject to a review or the name of the deceased childs siblings unless the name has been publicly disclosed or is required to be disclosed by state law, federal law, or court order.
(g)This section shall not be construed as prohibiting a county from entering into agreements or arrangements with other counties or the State Department of Social Services to share their resources in implementing this section, including establishing multicounty or regional review teams. Counties that establish multicounty or regional review teams shall, when recording, reporting, and publicizing data collected pursuant to this section, ensure that the data is sorted and published by county.
SEC. 3.Section 11174.33 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.33.Subject to available funding, the The Attorney General, working with the California Consortium of Child Abuse Councils, shall develop a protocol for the development and implementation of interagency child death teams for use by counties, which shall include relevant procedures for both urban and rural counties. The protocol shall be designed to facilitate communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases so that incidents of child abuse or neglect are recognized and other siblings and nonoffending family members receive the appropriate services in cases where a child has expired. The protocol shall be completed on or before January 1, 1991. and published on the Attorney Generals internet website with a link that states Child Death Review Protocol, and shall be updated every four years no later than January 1.
SEC. 4.Section 11174.34 of the Penal Code is amended to read:11174.34.(a)(1)The purpose of this section shall be to coordinate and integrate state and local efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect, and to create a body of information to prevent child deaths.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the California State Child Death Review Council, the Department of Justice, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Services, Public Health, and state and local child death review teams shall share data and other information necessary from the Department of Justice Child Abuse Central Index and Supplemental Homicide File, the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics and the Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system files to establish accurate information on the nature and extent of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities in California as those documents relate to child fatality cases. Further, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that records of child abuse- or neglect-related fatalities are entered into the State Department of Social Services, statewide child welfare information system. It is also the intent that training and technical assistance be provided to child death review teams and professionals in the child protection system regarding multiagency case review.
(b)(1)It shall be the duty of the California State Child Death Review Council to oversee the statewide coordination and integration of state and local efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect and to create a body of information to prevent child deaths. The Department of Justice, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, Public Health, the California Coroners Association, the County Welfare Directors Association, Prevent Child Abuse California, the California Homicide Investigators Association, the Office of Emergency Services, the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect/National Center on Child Fatality Review, the California Conference of Local Health Officers, the California Conference of Local Directors of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, the California Conference of Local Health Department Nursing Directors, the California District Attorneys Association, and at least three regional representatives, chosen by the other members of the council, working collaboratively for the purposes of this section, shall be known as the California State Child Death Review Council. The council shall select a chairperson or cochairpersons from the members.
(2)The Department of Justice is hereby authorized to carry out the purposes of this section by coordinating council activities and working collaboratively with the agencies and organizations in paragraph (1), and may consult with other representatives of other agencies and private organizations, to help accomplish the purpose of this section.
(c)Meetings of the agencies and organizations involved shall be convened by a representative of the Department of Justice. All meetings convened between the Department of Justice and any organizations required to carry out the purpose of this section shall take place in this state. There shall be a minimum of four meetings per calendar year.
(d)To accomplish the purpose of this section, the Department of Justice and agencies and organizations involved shall engage in the following activities:
(1)Analyze and interpret state and local data on child death in an annual report to be submitted to local child death review teams with copies to the Governor and the Legislature, no later than July 1 each year. Copies of the report shall also be distributed to public officials in the state who deal with child abuse issues and to those agencies responsible for child death investigation in each county. The report shall contain, but not be limited to, information provided by state agencies and the county child death review teams for the preceding year.
The state data shall include the Department of Justice Child Abuse Central Index and Supplemental Homicide File, the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics, and the State Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system.
(2)In conjunction with the Office of Emergency Services, coordinate statewide and local training for county death review teams and the members of the teams, including, but not limited to, training in the application of the interagency child death investigation protocols and procedures established under Sections 11166.7 and 11166.8 11174.32 and 11174.33 to identify child deaths associated with abuse or neglect.
(3)Collaborate on allocating statewide responsibilities between, at a minimum, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Social Services, and the Department of Justice.
(e)The State Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the California State Child Death Review Council, shall design, test and implement a statewide child abuse or neglect fatality tracking system incorporating information collected by local child death review teams. The department shall:
(1)Establish a minimum case selection criteria and review protocols of local child death review teams.
(2)Develop a standard child death review form with a minimum core set of data elements to be used by local child death review teams, and collect and analyze that data.
(3)Establish procedural safeguards in order to maintain appropriate confidentiality and integrity of the data.
(4)Conduct annual reviews to reconcile data reported to the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics, Department of Justice Homicide Files and Child Abuse Central Index, and the State Department of Social Services statewide child welfare information system data systems, with data provided from local child death review teams.
(5)Provide technical assistance to local child death review teams in implementing and maintaining the tracking system.
(6)This subdivision shall become operative on July 1, 2000, and shall be implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated for its purposes in the Budget Act.
(f)Local child death review teams shall participate in a statewide child abuse or neglect fatalities monitoring system by:
(1)Meeting the minimum standard protocols set forth by the State Department of Public Health in collaboration with the California State Child Death Review Council.
(2)Using the standard data form to submit information on child abuse or neglect fatalities in a timely manner established by the State Department of Public Health.
(g)The California State Child Death Review Council shall monitor the implementation of the monitoring system and incorporate the results and findings of the system and review into an annual report.
(h)The Department of Justice shall direct the creation, maintenance, updating, and distribution electronically and by paper, of a statewide child death review team directory, which shall contain the names of the members of the agencies and private organizations participating under this section, and the members of local child death review teams and local liaisons to those teams. The department shall work in collaboration with members of the California State Child Death Review Council to develop a directory of professional experts, resources, and information from relevant agencies and organizations and local child death review teams, and to facilitate regional working relationships among teams. The Department of Justice shall maintain and update these directories annually.
(i)The agencies or private organizations participating under this section shall participate without reimbursement from the state. Costs incurred by participants for travel or per diem shall be borne by the participant agency or organization. The participants shall be responsible for collecting and compiling information to be included in the annual report. The Department of Justice shall be responsible for printing and distributing the annual report using available funds and existing resources.
(j)The Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with the State Department of Social Services, the Department of Justice, and the California State Child Death Review Council shall contract with state or nationally recognized organizations in the area of child death review to conduct statewide training and technical assistance for local child death review teams and relevant organizations, develop standardized definitions for fatal child abuse or neglect, develop protocols for the investigation of fatal child abuse or neglect, and address relevant issues such as grief and mourning, data collection, training for medical personnel in the identification of child abuse or neglect fatalities, domestic violence fatality review, and other related topics and programs. The provisions of this subdivision shall only be implemented to the extent that the agency can absorb the costs of implementation within its current funding, or to the extent that funds are appropriated for its purposes in the Budget Act.
(k)Law enforcement and child welfare agencies shall cross-report all cases of child death suspected to be related to child abuse or neglect whether or not the deceased child has any known surviving siblings.
(l)County child welfare agencies shall create a record in the statewide child welfare information system on all cases of child death suspected to be related to child abuse or neglect, whether or not the deceased child has any known surviving siblings. Upon notification that the death was determined not to be related to child abuse or neglect, the child welfare agency shall enter that information into the statewide child welfare information system.
(m)The Attorney General shall annually, and in time to be included in the Governors January Budget, submit to the Governor and the Legislature a budget that is sufficient to fund the council, the requirements of Section 11174.32, including funding needed to ensure death reviews are conducted in every county, and Section 11174.33.
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Date
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Status
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| Feb 1, 2024 | From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| Jan 31, 2024 | Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. |
| May 18, 2023 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Mar 29, 2023 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Feb 28, 2023 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (February 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Feb 23, 2023 | Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. |
| Feb 22, 2023 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. |
| Feb 2, 2023 | Referred to Com. on PUB. S. |
| Jan 20, 2023 | From printer. May be heard in committee February 19. |
| Jan 19, 2023 | Read first time. To print. |
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Date
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Description
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Location
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Votes
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| Feb 28, 2023 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar | Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
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Organization
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Position
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Date
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| Children Now | ** Support | |
| Childrens Advocacy Institute | ** Support |
Date of Hearing: March 29, 2023
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Chris Holden, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 253
Author:(Maienschein) – As Amended Ver:February 22, 2023
Policy Committee: | Public Safety | Vote: | 8 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to submit an annual budget sufficient to fund the State Child Death Review Council (SCDRC) and to fund county child death review teams (CDRTs).
Specifically, this bill:
- Requires the DOJ to annually report to the Legislature the amount of funding needed for each county to create or operate a CDRT.
- Requires the DOJ to post its “child death review protocol” on its website and requires that this protocol be updated every four years no later than January 1.
- Requires a county CDRT to prepare a report and post the report on the CDRT’s website by July 1 of each year.
- Allows a county to enter into agreements with other counties or the Department of Social Services to share resources.
FISCAL EFFECT:
- DOJ estimates costs of approximately $1.5 million in 2024-25 and $1.4 million per year thereafter (General Fund (GF)) for seven new positions and operating expenses and equipment. DOJ notes that these resources are required to cover work that is already statutorily mandated but subject to available finding, which this bill mandates, regardless of funding.
- Cost pressure, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars (GF), to fund county CDRTs. Funding is currently provided for local assistance under the federal Maternal Child Adolescent Health Title V Block Grant to the Department of Public Health (DPH). DPH reports that it provides approximately $150,000 of this local assistance money to reimburse counties for submitting data reports into the Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect Surveillance (FCANS) system at a rate of $150 per case reported. This funding acts as an incentive for counties to voluntarily upload their child fatality data. Twelve of the 58 counties submitted data and requested reimbursement in 2020-21.
- Costs for each CDRT to prepare and post on its website an annual report, as this bill requires, would likely range from negligible to thousands of dollars. There may be 37 CDRTs in California. Total costs for CDRT reports could exceed $100,000 annually. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the duties imposed by this bill constitute a reimbursable state mandate, the state would be required to pay these costs (GF).
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author:
AB 253 would fill significant gaps in reporting of child deaths across California by making sure each Child Death Review Team makes data available to the public and prescribes a uniform way of posting and identifying the report to enable users to easily find the information.
- CDRTs. A CDRT is a multidisciplinary team that reviews sudden, traumatic, and unexpected child deaths. CDRTs try to assist in identifying and investigating potential child maltreatment, assist in protecting siblings and other children, improve agency and systems problems, and prevent further child deaths from all causes through understanding circumstances surrounding child deaths and developing recommendations and effective action. CDRTs have been functioning since the early 1980s, with Los Angeles County starting in 1978. Most California counties continue to maintain CDRTs. California currently does not have a state CDRT. The SCDRC was disbanded in 2008 when state funds were cut.
The Department of Public Health created the Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect Surveillance (FCANS) Program in 2000 to carry out its mandate to track data on fatal child abuse and neglect cases. Funding for FCANS was cut in 2008. However, $150,000 in local assistance funding is provided annually under the federal Maternal Child Adolescent Health Title V Block Grant to support local teams. - Governor’s Veto of AB 2660 (Maienschein): This bill is substantially similar to AB 2660 (Maienschein), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, which was vetoed by the governor, who stated:
While I agree with the intent of this bill, it creates a large mandate, potentially costing the state millions of dollars… Bills with significant fiscal impact, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for as part of the annual budget process. For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill. While this bill does not explicitly mandate that each county have a [CDRT], it would require the DOJ to submit a budget for funding the [SCDRC] and for county CDRTs.
- Prior Legislation: AB 2654 (Lackey), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have reconvened the SCDRC by removing the requirement for an appropriation to be operative. AB 2654 was held on this committee’s suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by: Allegra Kim / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: February 28, 2023
Consultant: Elizabeth Potter
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:
Author:() – As Ver:
SUMMARY: Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual budget that is sufficient to fund the State Child Death Review Council and to fund county child death review teams. Specifically, this bill:
- Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual budget to the Governor that is sufficient to fund the State Child Death Review Council.
- Requires the Attorney General to annually report to the Legislature the amount of funding needed for each county to conduct child death review teams.
- Requires the Attorney General to post its “Child Death Review Protocol” on the Department of Justice website and requires that this protocol be updated every four years no later than January 1.
- Sets a due date of July 1 for an annual report by a county child death review team, and requires the report to be posted on the child death review team’s website.
- Allows counties to enter into agreements and arrangements with other counties or the State Department of Social Services to share resources.
- Makes findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW:
- Allows each county to establish an interagency child death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious child deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (a).)
- Allows each county to develop an autopsy protocol that may be used as a guideline to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the identification of child abuse or neglect in the determination of whether child abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether child abuse or neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death, and in the proper reporting procedures for child abuse or neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (b).)
- Permits the following information to be disclosed to a child death review team:
- Medical information, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law;
- Mental health information;
- Information from child abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of the person making the report, which shall not be disclosed;
- State summary criminal history information, criminal offender record information, and local summary criminal history information, as specified;
- Information pertaining to reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive conduct; and,
- Records of in-home supportive services, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (e)(2).)
- Medical information, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law;
- Clarifies that an individual or agency that has information governed by these provisions is not required to disclose information; the intent is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information by the individual or agency that has the information. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (e)(1).)
- Maintains the confidentiality of written or oral information disclosed to a child death review team and states that it shall not be subject to disclosure or discovery by a third party, unless otherwise required by law. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (e)(3).)
- States that records exempt from disclosure to third parties under state or federal law shall remain exempt from disclosure when they are in the possession of a child death review team. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (d).)
- Requires each child death review team to make publicly available, at least once a year, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the team, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths, as specified. (Pen. Code, § 11174.32, subd. (f).)
- Requires, subject to available funding, the Attorney General to develop a protocol for the development and implementation of interagency child death review teams for use by counties. The protocol shall be designed to facilitate communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in child abuse or neglect cases so that incidents of child abuse or neglect are recognized and other siblings and non-offending family members receive the appropriate services in cases where a child has died. (Pen. Code, § 11174.33.)
- Creates the California State Child Death Review Council to oversee the statewide coordination and integration of state and local efforts to address fatal child abuse or neglect and to create a body of information to prevent child deaths, but makes its implementation contingent on funds being appropriated for its purposes in the Budget Act. (Pen. Code, § 11174.34, subds. (b)(1) & (d)(6).)
- Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to work with state and local child death review teams and child protective services agencies in order to identify child death cases that were, or should have been, reported to or by county child protective services agencies. (Pen. Code, § 11174.35.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
- Author's Statement: According to the author, “It is unacceptable that California’s child death reporting system is in disarray. There is no clear guidance in state law declaring which State department is held responsible for monitoring and reporting child fatalities. When it comes to reporting deaths of children in California, the lines of accountability should not be this blurred.
“AB 253 would fill significant gaps in reporting of child deaths across California by making sure each Child Death Review Team makes data available to the public and prescribes a uniform way of posting and identifying the report to enable users to easily find the information.” - Background: Currently in California there is no state child death review team. The mandate to the Attorney General’s Office for a state team is contingent upon funds being available. (Pen. Code, § 11174.34, subd. (e)(6).) The State Child Death Review Council was disbanded in 2008 when state funds were cut. Local Child Death Review Teams have been functioning since the early 1980s, with Los Angeles County starting in 1978. Many California counties continue to maintain child death review teams, however they are formally authorized (not mandated) in statute (Pen. Code, §11174.32).
This bill would require that existing child death review teams publish their findings annually, and no later than July 1 of each year. - Death by Child Abuse and Neglect: Child death review teams are not required in each county at this time. Therefore, each county that participates may choose how and when to publish its findings. For example, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has been compiling and publishing data about abuse and neglect on a monthly basis, since 2019, and annual basis, since 2015. Their data includes, but is not limited to: age, ethnicity, gender, contact with social services, type of abuse, etc. SB 39 (Migden), Chapter 467, Statutes of 2007 provided for the streamlined process of releasing this data, while still maintaining the confidentiality of victims. This information can be critical in determining the best way to meet the needs of children throughout California.
- Governor’s Veto: This bill is substantially similar to AB 2660 (Maineschein), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. The governor’s veto message is as follows:
“I am returning Assembly Bill 2660 without my signature.
“This bill would require each county, by no later than January 1, 2025, to establish an interagency child death review team, and to develop and adopt a protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on children to assist coroners in the identification of child abuse or neglect.
“While I agree with the intent of this bill, it creates a large mandate, potentially costing the state millions of dollars. With our state facing lower-than-expected revenues over the first few months of this fiscal year, it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing. We must prioritize existing obligations and priorities, including education, health care, public safety and safety-net programs.
“The Legislature sent measures with potential costs of well over $20 billion in one-time spending commitments and more than $10 billion in ongoing commitments not accounted for in the state budget. Bills with significant fiscal impact, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for as part of the annual budget process. For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.”
While this bill does not mandate that each county have a child death review team, it would require the Attorney General to submit a budget for funding the State Child Death Review Council and for county child death review teams. - Argument in Support: According to the Chidlren’s Advocacy Center, a Co-Sponsor of this bill, “AB 2660 from last year was vetoed at the end of the bill signing period by the Governor along with a large number of bills with standardized language citing possible costs. The major cost component of AB 2660 was changing the language that current gives counties the option to establish death review (“may”) teams into a “shall”. That has been deleted from AB 253. What remains is critical to merging from the Catch-22 we are in currently: because child safety advocates do not know how much even a barely adequate death review system costs, we cannot successfully advocate for the money to fund it or shape policy to reduce the projected costs. And, without the funding, no state agency has so far been willing to project the cost of an operational statewide program to prevent children from dying.
“That Catch-22 is ended by the requirement that the Attorney General – currently responsible for leading the statewide team – simply include an amount in the office’s budget request. There is no obligation the Governor will include it. The same is true of the cost projection for county-level death review teams. With these numbers we can have an informed conversation about the costs, whether they reasonable, and how to reduce them. Without these numbers, we are forever stuck in the limbo we have been in since 2008. Our children deserve better than that.” - Related Legislation:
- AB 271 (Quirk-Silva), would allow counties to establish homeless death review committees. AB 271 is modeled after child death review teams and elder & dependent adult death review teams. AB 271 will be heard in this committee today.
- AB 391 (Jones-Sawyer), would require non-mandated reported to provide their contact information, including their name, telephone number, and the information that gave rise to the suspicion of child abuse or neglect. Additionally, AB 391 would prohibit the transmittal of the report unless contact information from the non-mandated reporter was provided. AB 391 is pending hearing in this committee.
- AB 271 (Quirk-Silva), would allow counties to establish homeless death review committees. AB 271 is modeled after child death review teams and elder & dependent adult death review teams. AB 271 will be heard in this committee today.
- Prior Legislation:
- AB 2654 (Lackey), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have reconvened the State Child Death Review Council by removing the requirement that funds are appropriated for it in the Budget Act in order to be operative. AB 2654 was held on the Appropriations Suspense Calendar.
- AB 2660 (Maienschein), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have required each county to establish an interagency child death review team no later than January 1, 2024. AB 2660 was vetoed by the governor.
- SB 187 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 50, Statutes of 2022, required statistical information be recorded through the Department of Social Services in the statewide child information system on all cases of child death suspected to be related to abuse or neglect.
- SB 863 (Min), Chapter 986, Statutes of 2022, authorizes a county domestic violence death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing domestic violence near-death cases, as defined.
- SB 39 (Migden), Chapter 467, Statutes of 2007, provides for the release of certain information by county welfare agencies regarding a deceased child if the death is the result of abuse or neglect.
- AB 2654 (Lackey), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have reconvened the State Child Death Review Council by removing the requirement that funds are appropriated for it in the Budget Act in order to be operative. AB 2654 was held on the Appropriations Suspense Calendar.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Children Now (Co-Sponsor)
Childrens Advocacy Institute (Co-Sponsor)
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by:
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):