|
Sept. 5, 2007 - Both the CA Senate and Assembly have voted in favor of SB 39, which mandates public disclosure of findings and information about children who have died of abuse or neglect. The goal of the bill, authored by Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), is to promote public scrutiny of cases in order to improve child welfare policy and practice to ensure children’s safety. The bill has gone to the governor for his signature. The governor has until Oct. 15 to sign the bill into law.
In 2001, the last year data is available, an estimated 133 children in California died due to abuse and neglect and another 191 died under suspicious circumstances.
“Little is known about these children, the suffering they endured prior to their deaths, and the steps that might have been taken to protect them,” said Bill Grimm, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, co-sponsor of the bill. “Deaths of children resulting from abuse or neglect when reported in the media often lead to calls for reform. SB 39 represents an appropriate balance between the need for the facts surrounding a child’s death from abuse and the privacy rights of those involved.”
Under the proposed law, co-sponsored the Children’s Advocacy Institute, the public will have timely access to specified information in juvenile court records. The legislation lays out a three-tiered system for the release of records:
1) Reasonable suspicion - Within five days of a child’s death that is reasonably suspected to be the result of abuse or neglect, the county welfare agency must, upon request, release minimal information about the child, including: - Child’s name and gender
- Date of death
- Whether the death is under investigation by child welfare officials or law enforcement
- Whether the child was in foster care or at home with his or her parent/guardian at the time of death.
2) Substantiation – If the suspected abuse or neglect is substantiated, documents relating to the circumstances surrounding the death must be released, upon request. There is no time limit within which the agency must substantiate abuse or neglect. These documents include: - All previous referrals to the child welfare agency regarding abuse or neglect
- Emergency response referral information
Reports made by the child welfare agency to law enforcement - All health records, excluding mental health records, relating to the child’s death and previous injuries
- Police reports regarding the person believed to have inflicted the abuse
- Records pertaining to foster parents’ licensing and training, if the child was in foster care at the time of death
3) Court procedure for releasing documents – The legislation sets forth an expedited judicial procedure for release of other documents, favoring the release unless statutory grounds for confidentiality exist. No balancing or weighing of interests is required except where interests of another child are involved.
Among the bill’s supporters are the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the California Nurses Association, and the County Welfare Directors Association of California.
For a summary/analysis of the bill, click here.
|
