Bill Text: CA AB2015 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Child abuse: interdisciplinary and integrated services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-27 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2015 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2015-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2015 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Arambula
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
An act to amend Sections 18961.5 and 18986.46 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to child abuse.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2015, as introduced, Arambula. Child abuse: interdisciplinary
and integrated services.
Existing law authorizes a county to establish a computerized data
base system within the county to allow designated provider agencies,
as defined, to share identifying information regarding families at
risk for child abuse or neglect, for the purpose of forming
multidisciplinary personnel teams, for the prevention,
identification, management, or treatment of child abuse.
This bill also would include the tracking of child abuse as one of
the specified objectives of the multidisciplinary teams using the
computerized database system.
Existing law provides for the establishment of integrated children'
s services programs, coordinated children's service systems that
offer designated services to children and families. Under existing
law, children's multidisciplinary services teams, consisting of two
or more persons trained and qualified to provide one or more of the
designated services, are responsible in the program for identifying
the educational, health, or social service needs of a child and his
or her family, and for developing a plan to address those needs.
Under existing law, an integrated children's services program is
permitted to establish a unified services record for a child and
family, containing specified records of prior services that are
released to the program and are relevant and necessary to formulate
an integrated services plan, pursuant to valid written
authorizations.
This bill also would authorize records of prior services, as
contained in the unified service record, to be released pursuant to
electronic authorizations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 18961.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18961.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
county may establish a computerized data base system within that
county to allow provider agencies, as defined in subdivision (h), to
share identifying information, as specified in subdivision (c),
regarding families at risk for child abuse or neglect, for the
purpose of forming multidisciplinary personnel teams, as defined in
subdivision (d) of Section 18951, for the prevention, identification,
tracking, management, or treatment of child abuse.
(b) Each county shall develop its own standards for defining "at
risk" before joining this system. Only information about children or
the families of children at risk for child abuse or neglect may be
entered into a computerized data base system established pursuant to
this section.
(c) With regard to a case in which a child or family has been
identified as at risk for child abuse or neglect under this section,
only the following information shall be entered into the system:
(1) The name, address, telephone number, and date and place of
birth of family members.
(2) The number assigned to the case by each provider agency.
(3) The name and telephone number of each employee assigned to the
case from each provider agency.
(4) The date or dates of contact between each provider agency and
a family member or family members.
(d) The information may only be entered into the system by, or
disclosed to, provider agency employees designated by the director of
each participating provider agency. Members of the multidisciplinary
personnel teams shall be drawn from these designated employees, or
other persons, as specified in Section 18961. The heads of provider
agencies shall establish a system by which unauthorized personnel
cannot access the data contained in the system.
(e) The information obtained pursuant to this section shall be
kept confidential and shall be used solely for the prevention,
identification, tracking, management, or treatment of
child abuse, child neglect, or both.
(f) This section shall not supplant any duties required by the
Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 11164) of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Penal Code).
(g) No employee of a provider agency which serves children and
their families shall be civilly or criminally liable for furnishing
or sharing information as authorized by this section.
(h) For the purposes of this section, "provider agency" means any
governmental or other agency which has as one of its purposes the
prevention, identification, tracking, management, or
treatment of child abuse or neglect. The provider agencies serving
children and their families which may share information under this
section shall include, but not be limited to, the following entities
or service agencies:
(1) Social services.
(2) Children's services.
(3) Health services.
(4) Mental health services.
(5) Probation.
(6) Law enforcement.
(7) Schools.
SEC. 2. Section 18986.46 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18986.46. (a) A program shall utilize children's
multidisciplinary services teams, as defined in this chapter.
(b) A team member shall provide program services only as employed
by, under contract with, or otherwise affiliated with, the program,
and shall not share information, or provide program services, when
acting as a separate local, state, or private agency or entity.
(c) A program shall be considered a single program for purposes of
federal substance abuse program regulations contained in Part 2
(commencing with Section 2.1) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, a program shall be permitted
to establish a unified services record for a child and family. That
record shall contain all records of prior services that are released
to the program and that are relevant and necessary to formulate an
integrated services plan, pursuant to valid written authorizations,
including electronic authorizations, as well as a record
of all service provided under the program.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, when a child enters the
program a parent, guardian, judicial office with jurisdiction over
the minor, or a minor with legal power to consent, shall be asked to
sign a single authorization that gives a knowing and informed
consent, in writing, and that complies with all other applicable
provisions of state law governing release of medical, mental health,
social service, and educational records, and that covers multiple
service providers, in order to permit the release of records to the
program. This single authorization shall not include adoption
records. The authorized representative of the child, or the child in
a case where he or she has the legal right to consent, shall be fully
apprised of the requirements of this subdivision prior to
participation in the program. Before information may be exchanged
about a particular child or family pursuant to this chapter, a
representative of the program shall do all of the following:
(1) Explain to the authorized representative of the child, or the
child in a case where he or she has the legal right to consent, both
of the following, and this explanation shall be given before any
information about the child or family is recorded and before any
services are provided:
(A) Information provided by the child or family may only be
exchanged within the program with the express written consent of the
authorized representative.
(B) Information shall not be disclosed to anyone other than
members of the multidisciplinary children's services team, and those
qualified to receive information as explained in subdivision (i).
(2) The authorized representative of the child, or the child in a
case where he or she has the legal right to consent, shall be
informed that he or she has a right to refuse to sign, or to limit
the scope of, the consent form, and that a refusal to sign, or to
limit the scope of, the consent form will not have an adverse impact
on the client's eligibility for services under the programs described
in this chapter.
(f) The knowing and informed consent given pursuant to this
chapter shall only be in force for the time that the child or family
is a client of the program.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of state law governing the
disclosure of information and records, persons who are trained,
qualified, and assigned by their respective agencies to serve on
teams within a program and other team members included pursuant to
this chapter may view relevant sections of unified program records
and may disclose to one another relevant information and view records
on a child or the child's family as necessary to formulate an
integrated services plan or to deliver services to children and their
families.
(2) This information and records may include information relevant
to the evaluation of the child and his or her family, the development
of a treatment plan for the child and his or her family, and the
delivery of services. Relevant information and records shall be
shared with family members or family designees on the team, except
information or records, if any, disclosure of which the team
determines would present a reasonable risk of a significant adverse
or detrimental effect on the minor's psychological or physical
safety.
(h) (1) If the members of a multidisciplinary services team within
an integrated children's services program require records held by
other team members, copies may be provided to them.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, a program may establish and
maintain a common data base for the purpose of delivering services
under the program. The data base may contain demographic data and may
identify the services recommended for, and provided to, a child and
his or her family by the program. The data base shall be for use and
disclosure only within the program, except by properly authorized
consent by a parent, guardian, judicial officer with jurisdiction
over the child, or a minor with the legal power to consent.
(3) The program may authorize use of information contained in the
data base for bona fide evaluation and research purposes, unless
otherwise prohibited by law. No information disclosed under this
paragraph shall permit identification of the individual patient or
client. The release of copies of mental health records, physical
health records, and drug or alcohol records in programs establishing
a unified services record shall be governed by the single
authorization of informed and knowing consent to release these
records. In programs not establishing a unified services record and
not utilizing the single authorization of informed and knowing
consent, release of these records may take place only after the team
has received a form permitting release of records on the child or the
child's family, signed by the child, to the extent the records were
generated as a result of health care services to which the child has
the power to consent under state law, or, to the extent that the
records have not been generated by the provision of these health care
services, by the child's parent, guardian, or legal representative,
including the court which has jurisdiction over those children who
are wards or dependents of the court.
(i) The multidisciplinary team may designate persons qualified
pursuant to Section 18986.40 to be a member of the team for a
particular case. A person designated as a team member pursuant to
this subdivision may receive and disclose relevant information and
records, subject to the confidentiality provisions of subdivision
(k).
(j) The sharing of information permitted under subdivision (g)
shall be governed by memoranda of understanding among the
participating service providers or agencies in the coordinated
children's service system or program. These memoranda shall specify
the types of information that may be shared without a signed release
form, in accordance with subdivision (e), and the process to be used
to ensure that current confidentiality requirements, as described in
subdivision (k), are met. This paragraph shall not be construed to
waive any right of privilege contained in the Evidence Code, except
in compliance with Section 912 of that code.
(k) Every member of the children's multidisciplinary services team
who receives information or records on children and families served
in the integrated children's services program shall be under the same
privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same
confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the
information or records. The information or records obtained shall be
maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy
and confidentiality rights.
( l ) This section shall not be construed to restrict
guarantees of confidentiality provided under federal law.
(m) Information and records communicated or provided to the
program, by all providers, programs, and agencies, as well as
information and records created by the program in the course of
serving its children and their families, shall be deemed private and
confidential and shall be protected from discovery and disclosure by
all applicable statutory and common law protections. Civil and
criminal penalties shall apply to the inappropriate disclosure of
information held by the program. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to affect the authority of a health care provider to
disclose medical information pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(c) of Section 56.10 of the Civil Code.
