SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 332 (Block) - Child abuse reporting
Version: April 14, 2015
Urgency: No
Hearing Date: April 27, 2015
Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0
Mandate: Yes
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 332 would expand the list of agencies authorized to receive
mandated reports of child abuse or neglect to include school district police departments.
Fiscal Impact:
 Local school districts: Potentially significant one-time and ongoing costs to local
school districts for Interagency Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN)-related activities
including the establishment of policies/procedures, training, accepting/referring initial
reports, cross-reporting to local agencies, reporting to licensing agencies, and
retaining records. To the extent the increase in school district police department
workload qualifies as a reimbursable state mandate, districts could submit claims for
reimbursement of those costs (General Fund).
 CDE: one-time minor and absorbable workload to the Department of Education for
staff time required to update training materials and documents.
 ICAN mandate status: the 2015-16 Governor’s Budget proposes to suspend the
ICAN mandate, rendering its provisions optional for local agencies in FY 2015-16,
thereby allowing the deferral of payment of $90.4 million in prior-year claims.
 Local reporting agencies: to the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately not
suspended, local law enforcement, county probation, and county welfare
departments could incur reduced costs to the extent a percentage of mandated
reports that otherwise would have been reported to these agencies are prospectively
reported to school district police departments.
Background: Existing law establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act,
which is intended to protect children from abuse and neglect. Under existing law, a
mandated reporter, as defined, is required to make a report to a specified agency
whenever the person, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her
employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows
or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. (Penal Code (PC)
§ 11166(a).)
Existing law requires that reports of suspected child abuse or neglect be made to any
police department or sheriff’s department, not including a school district police or
security department, county probation department, if designated by the county to
receive mandated reports, or the county welfare department. (PC § 11165.9.)
These agencies are required to accept a report of suspected child abuse or neglect
whether offered by a mandated reporter or another person, or referred by another
agency, even if the agency to whom the report is being made lacks subject matter or
SB 332 (Block)
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geographical jurisdiction to investigate the reported case, unless the agency can
immediately electronically transfer the call to an agency with proper jurisdiction.
Proposed Law: This bill would expand the list of agencies authorized to receive
mandated reports of child abuse or neglect to include school district police departments.
Additionally, consistent with the exception provided to local law enforcement agencies,
this bill would exempt a school district police department from the requirement to
forward substantiated reports of abuse or neglect to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Related Legislation: SB 478 (Huff) 2015 would authorize a county welfare agency to
develop a five-year pilot program for internet-based reporting of child abuse and
neglect, to be used by specified mandated reporters in lieu of or in addition to the initial
telephone report requirement under existing law. This bill is scheduled to be heard
today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: AB 717 (Ammiano) Chapter 468/2011 repealed the mandate for law
enforcement agencies to forward reports of abuse or neglect to the DOJ, and reduced
the DOJ reporting requirements of county probation departments and child welfare
departments to only substantiated reports of suspected child abuse.
Staff Comments: By authorizing school district police departments to receive
mandated reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, this bill will result in potentially
significant one-time and ongoing costs to local school districts. To the extent the
increase in school district police department workload is determined by the Commission
on State Mandates (CSM) as a reimbursable state mandate, districts could submit
claims for reimbursement of those costs.
The statewide cost estimate adopted by the CSM for the Interagency Child Abuse and
Neglect Investigation Reports (00-TC-22) reflects total costs of $90.4 million through FY
2012-13, and prospective costs of $2.6 million annually for ICAN-related activities
including distributing forms, accepting and referring initial child abuse reports, crossreporting between local agencies and to the district attorney’s office, reporting to
licensing agencies, completing investigations and forwarding substantiated reports to
the DOJ (for county probation and county welfare departments only), and records
retention. Staff notes the 2015-16 Governor’s Budget proposes to suspend the ICAN
mandate, rendering its provisions optional for local agencies in FY 2015-16, and
allowing the state to defer payment of $90.4 million in prior-year claims. The Governor’s
Budget proposes a $4 million grant program to fund ICAN activities carried out by
county welfare and probation departments in counties that choose to participate.
In addition to the ongoing ICAN-related activities noted above, school districts would
also incur potentially significant one-time costs for the establishment of policies and
procedures, as well as staff training on the ICAN reporting process. To the extent
additional resources are required to handle the increased workload associated with
ICAN-related activities could also result in significant, potentially state-reimbursable
costs. The CDE has indicated there are currently 22 school districts that have school
district police departments. The CDE has also indicated any staff time required to
update training materials and documents would be minor and absorbable.
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To the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately not suspended, local law enforcement,
county probation, and county welfare departments could potentially incur a reduced
amount of state-reimbursable costs for ICAN-related activities assuming a percentage
of reports that otherwise would have been reported to local agencies currently
authorized to receive the reports are instead reported to school district police
departments. The magnitude of this impact is unknown but could be significant.
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