SB 1143: Children’s advocacy centers: recordings.
- Session Year: 2025-2026
- House: Senate
- Latest Version Date: 2026-04-14
Current Status:
In Progress
(2026-04-15: Read second time. Ordered to third reading.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
Existing law authorizes a county to use a childrens advocacy center to implement a coordinated multidisciplinary response to investigate reports involving child physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or maltreatment. Existing law requires a county that utilizes a child advocacy center to meet specified standards, including, among other things, that the childrens advocacy center must verify that interviews conducted in the course of investigations are conducted in a forensically sound manner and occur in a child-focused setting designed to provide a safe, comfortable, and dedicated place for children and families. Existing law requires the childrens advocacy center or other identified multidisciplinary team member custodian to ensure that all recordings of child forensic interviews be released only in response to a court order, or, upon request, to law enforcement agencies authorized to investigate child abuse or agencies authorized to prosecute juvenile or criminal conduct described in the forensic interview, or to county counsel evaluating an allegation of child abuse.
Existing law requires files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in providing services through a childrens advocacy center to be confidential and not public records. Existing law authorizes the members of a multidisciplinary team associated with a childrens advocacy center to share with other multidisciplinary team members any information or records concerning the child and family and the person who is the subject of the investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect for the sole purpose of facilitating a forensic interview, case discussion, or providing services to the child or family, as specified.
This bill would additionally require the childrens advocacy center or other identified multidisciplinary team member custodian to release a recording, upon request, to child welfare agencies authorized to investigate child abuse and neglect. authorize the members of a multidisciplinary team associated with a childrens advocacy center to share with child welfare agencies authorized to investigate child abuse and neglect any information or records, as specified, for the purposes mentioned above.
