Children’s advocacy centers: recordings.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on how this law will affect existing confidentiality rules for records and communications within children’s advocacy centers.

Children's Advocacy Centers: Recording Rules

This law requires children’s advocacy centers to release recordings of forensic interviews to child welfare agencies investigating abuse and neglect, and allows multidisciplinary team members to share information with these agencies.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the custodian of a children's advocacy center or identified multidisciplinary team member to release recordings of forensic interviews upon request by child welfare agencies authorized to investigate child abuse and neglect.
• Allows members of a multidisciplinary team at a children’s advocacy center to share information with child welfare agencies investigating child abuse and neglect.

Who It Names or Affects

• Children's advocacy centers
• Multidisciplinary teams involved in investigating child abuse or neglect
• Child welfare agencies

Terms To Know

multidisciplinary team

A group of people from different fields who work together to help children and families dealing with abuse or neglect.

forensic interview

An interview conducted by a trained professional to gather information about suspected child abuse in a way that can be used in court.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the recordings are requested for reasons other than investigating abuse or neglect.
• It is unclear how this law will affect existing confidentiality rules for records and communications within children’s advocacy centers.

Official Summary Text

SB 1143, as amended, Caballero.
Children’s advocacy centers: recordings.
Existing law authorizes a county to use a children’s advocacy center to implement a coordinated multidisciplinary response to investigate reports involving child physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or maltreatment. Existing law requires a county that utilizes a child advocacy center to meet specified standards, including, among other things, that the children’s advocacy center must verify that interviews conducted in the course of investigations are conducted in a forensically sound manner and occur in a child-focused setting designed to provide a safe, comfortable, and dedicated place for children and families. Existing law requires the children’s advocacy center or other identified multidisciplinary team member custodian to ensure that all recordings of child forensic interviews be released only in response to a court order, or, upon request, to law enforcement agencies
authorized to investigate child abuse or agencies authorized to prosecute juvenile or criminal conduct described in the forensic interview, or to county counsel evaluating an allegation of child abuse.
Existing law requires files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in providing services through a children’s advocacy center to be confidential and not public records. Existing law authorizes the members of a multidisciplinary team associated with a children’s advocacy center to share with other multidisciplinary team members any information or records concerning the child and family and the person who is the subject of the investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect for the sole purpose of facilitating a forensic interview, case discussion, or providing services to the child or family, as specified.
This bill would additionally
require the children’s advocacy center or other identified multidisciplinary team member custodian to release a recording, upon request, to child welfare agencies authorized to investigate child abuse and neglect.
authorize the members of a multidisciplinary team associated with a children’s advocacy center to share with child welfare agencies authorized to investigate child abuse and neglect any information or records, as specified, for the purposes mentioned above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF