Bill Text: CA SB945 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Juvenile court jurisdiction: services and benefits.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 631, Statutes of 2010. [SB945 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB945-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 945	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2010

   An act to amend Section 18961.5 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to child abuse and neglect.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 945, as introduced, Liu. Child abuse and neglect: information:
computerized database.
   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.
   This bill would revise the list of provider agencies authorized to
share information regarding families at risk for child abuse or
neglect, including adding specified courts and the Department of
Justice sex offender database.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
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   a  county may establish a computerized data
base system within  that   the 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, management,
or treatment of child abuse  or neglect  .
   (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, 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   An  employee of a provider
agency  which   that  serves children and
their families shall  not  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   that 
has as one of its purposes the prevention, identification,
management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect. The provider
agencies serving children and their families  which 
 that  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  , including all child-related data  .
   (6) Law enforcement.
   (7) Schools. 
   (8) Children's courts.  
   (9) Juvenile courts.  
   (10) Delinquency courts.  
   (11) Dependency courts.  
   (12) Family courts.  
   (13) Department of Justice sex offender database.