Bill Text: CA AB2790 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Reporting of crimes: mandated reporters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2790 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2790-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 23, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 30, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 17, 2022 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks (Coauthor: Assembly Member Cristina Garcia) |
February 18, 2022 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a)A health practitioner, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 11162.5, employed by a health facility, clinic, physician’s office, local or state public health department, local government agency, or a clinic or other type of facility operated by a local or state public health department who, in the health practitioner’s professional capacity or within the scope of the health practitioner’s employment, provides medical services for a physical condition to a patient whom the health practitioner knows or reasonably suspects is a person suffering from a wound or other physical injury inflicted by the person’s own act or inflicted by another where the injury is by means of a firearm shall immediately make a report in accordance with subdivision (b).
(b)A health practitioner, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 11162.5, employed by a health facility, clinic, physician’s office, local or state public health department, local government agency, or a clinic or other type of facility operated by a local or state public health department shall make a report regarding persons described in subdivision (a) to a local law enforcement agency as follows:
(1)A report by telephone shall be made immediately or as soon as practically possible.
(2)A written report shall be prepared on the standard form developed in compliance with paragraph (4), and adopted by the Office of Emergency Services, or on a form developed and adopted by another state agency that otherwise
fulfills the requirements of the standard form. The completed form shall be sent to a local law enforcement agency within two working days of receiving the information regarding the person.
(3)A local law enforcement agency shall be notified and a written report shall be prepared and sent pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) even if the person who suffered the wound or other injury has expired, regardless of whether or not the wound or other injury was a factor contributing to the death, and even if the evidence of the conduct of the perpetrator of the wound or other injury was discovered during an autopsy.
(4)The report shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(A)The name of the injured
person, if known.
(B)The injured person’s whereabouts.
(C)The character and extent of the person’s injuries.
(D)The identity of any person the injured person alleges inflicted the wound or other injury upon the injured person.
(c)For the purposes of this section, “injury” does not include any psychological or physical condition brought about solely through the voluntary administration of a narcotic or restricted dangerous drug.
(d)When two or more persons who are required to report are present and jointly have knowledge of a known or suspected instance of violence that is required to be reported pursuant
to this section, and when there is an agreement among these persons to report as a team, the team may select by mutual agreement a member of the team to make a report by telephone and a single written report, as required by subdivision (b). The written report shall be signed by the selected member of the reporting team. Any member who has knowledge that the member designated to report has failed to do so shall thereafter make the report.
(e)The reporting duties under this section are individual, except as provided in subdivision (d).
(f)A supervisor or administrator shall not impede or inhibit the reporting duties required under this section and a person making a report pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any sanction for making the report. However, internal
procedures to facilitate reporting and apprise supervisors and administrators of reports may be established, except that these procedures shall not be inconsistent with this article. The internal procedures shall not require an employee required to make a report under this article to disclose the employee’s identity to the employer.
(g)A health practitioner, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 11162.5, employed by a health facility, clinic, physician’s office, local or state public health department, local government agency, or a clinic or other type of facility operated by a local or state public health department who, in the health practitioner’s professional capacity or within the scope of the health practitioner’s employment, provides medical services to a patient whom the health practitioner knows or reasonably suspects is
experiencing any form of domestic violence, as set forth in Section 124250 of the Health and Safety Code, or sexual violence, as set forth in Sections 243.4 and 261, shall, to the degree that it is medically possible, provide brief counseling and offer a referral to local and national domestic violence or sexual violence advocacy
services, before the end of the patient visit.
(h)For the purposes of this section, it is the Legislature’s intent to avoid duplication of information.
(i)For purposes of this section only, “employed by a local government agency” includes an employee of an entity under contract with a local government agency to provide medical services.
Notwithstanding Section 11160, the following shall apply to every physician or surgeon who has under their charge or care any person described in subdivision (a) of Section 11160:
(a)The physician or surgeon shall make a report in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 11160 to a local law enforcement agency.
(b)It is recommended that any medical records of a person about whom the physician or surgeon is required to report pursuant to subdivision (a) include the following:
(1)Any comments by the injured person regarding past domestic violence,
as defined in Section 13700, or regarding the name of any person suspected of inflicting the wound or other physical injury upon the person.
(2)A map of the injured person’s body showing and identifying injuries and bruises at the time of the health care.
(3)A copy of the law enforcement reporting form.
(c)The physician or surgeon shall offer a referral to local domestic violence services if the person is suffering or suspected of suffering from domestic violence, as defined in Section 13700.
(a)In any court proceeding or administrative hearing, neither the physician-patient privilege nor the psychotherapist privilege applies to the information required to be reported pursuant to this article.
(b)The reports required by this article shall be kept confidential by the health facility, clinic, or physician’s office that submitted the report, and by local law enforcement agencies, and shall only be disclosed by local law enforcement agencies to those involved in the investigation of the report or the enforcement of a criminal law implicated by a report. In no case shall the person suspected or accused of inflicting the wound or other
injury upon the injured person, or the attorney of the suspect or accused, be allowed access to the injured person’s whereabouts.
(c)For the purposes of this article, reports of suspected child abuse and information contained therein may be disclosed only to persons or agencies with whom investigations of child abuse are coordinated under the regulations promulgated under Section 11174.
(d)The Board of Prison Terms may subpoena reports that are not unfounded and reports that concern only the current incidents upon which parole revocation proceedings are pending against a parolee.
(a)A county may establish an interagency domestic violence death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing domestic violence deaths, including homicides and suicides, and facilitating communication among the various agencies involved in domestic violence cases. Interagency domestic violence death review teams have been used successfully to ensure that incidents of domestic violence and abuse are recognized and that agency involvement is reviewed to develop recommendations for policies and protocols for community prevention and intervention initiatives to reduce and eradicate the incidence of domestic violence.
(b)For purposes of this section, “abuse” has the
meaning set forth in Section 6203 of the Family Code and “domestic violence”
has the meaning set forth in Section 6211 of the Family Code.
(c)A county may develop a protocol that may be used as a guideline to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies on domestic violence victims in the identification of domestic violence, in the determination of whether domestic violence contributed to death or whether domestic violence had occurred prior to death, but was not the actual cause of death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for domestic violence, including the designation of the cause and mode of death.
(d)County domestic violence death review teams shall be comprised of, but not limited to, the following:
(1)Experts in the field of forensic pathology.
(2)Medical personnel with expertise in domestic violence abuse.
(3)Coroners and medical examiners.
(4)Criminologists.
(5)District attorneys and city attorneys.
(6)Domestic violence shelter service staff and battered women’s advocates.
(7)Law enforcement personnel.
(8)Representatives of local agencies that are involved with domestic violence abuse reporting.
(9)County health department staff who deal with
domestic violence victims’ health issues.
(10)Representatives of local child abuse agencies.
(11)Local professional associations of persons described in paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive.
(e)An oral or written communication or a document shared within or produced by a domestic violence death review team related to a domestic violence death review is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable by a third party. An oral or written communication or a document provided by a third party to a domestic violence death review team, or between a third party and a domestic violence death review team, is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable by a third party. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
recommendations of a domestic violence death review team upon the completion of a review may be disclosed at the discretion of a majority of the members of the domestic violence death review team.
(f)Each organization represented on a domestic violence death review team may share with other members of the team information in its possession concerning the victim who is the subject of the review or any person who was in contact with the victim and any other information deemed by the organization to be pertinent to the review. Any information shared by an organization with other members of a team is confidential. This provision shall permit the disclosure to members of the team of any information deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited from disclosure by any other statute.
(g)Written
and oral information may be disclosed to a domestic violence death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may make a request in writing for the information sought and any person with information of the kind described in paragraph (2) may rely on the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to the team.
(1)An individual or agency that has information governed by this subdivision shall not be required to disclose information. The intent of this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information by the individual or agency that has the information.
(2)The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision:
(A)Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the
Civil Code, medical information.
(B)Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, mental health information.
(C)Notwithstanding Section 15633.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, information from elder abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of persons who have made
reports, which shall not be disclosed.
(D)Notwithstanding Section 11167.5 of the Penal Code, information from child abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of persons who have made reports, which shall not be disclosed.
(E)State summary criminal history information, criminal offender record information, and local summary criminal history information, as defined in Sections 11075, 11105, and 13300 of the Penal Code.
(F)Notwithstanding Section 11163.2 of the Penal Code, information pertaining to reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical injuries inflicted by means of a firearmand information relating to whether a physician referred the person to local domestic violence services, as recommended by Section 11161 of the Penal Code.
(G)Notwithstanding Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, information in any juvenile court proceeding.
(H)Information maintained by the Family Court, including information relating to the Family Conciliation Court Law pursuant to Section 1818 of the Family Code, and Mediation of Custody and Visitation Issues pursuant to Section 3177 of the Family Code.
(I)Information provided to probation officers in the course of the performance of their duties, including, but not limited to, the duty to prepare reports pursuant to
Section 1203.10 of the Penal Code, as well as the information on which these reports are based.
(J)Notwithstanding Section 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, records of in-home supportive services, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(3)The disclosure of written and oral information authorized under this subdivision shall apply notwithstanding Sections 2263, 2918, 4982, and 6068 of the Business and Professions Code, or the lawyer-client privilege protected by Article 3 (commencing with Section 950) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, the physician-patient privilege protected by Article 6 (commencing with Section 990) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, the psychotherapist-patient privilege protected by Article 7 (commencing
with Section 1010) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, the sexual assault counselor-victim privilege protected by Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 1035) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, the domestic violence counselor-victim privilege protected by Article 8.7 (commencing with Section 1037) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, and the human trafficking caseworker-victim privilege protected by Article 8.8 (commencing with Section 1038) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code.