CDCAN Advocacy Without Borders :: One Community

Current Status This bill has passed out of the Senate by a vote of (31 Ayes, 1 No) and it has moved to the Assembly for concurrence. Digest This bill enacts the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 2010 which (1) requires domestic violence death review teams to add information about whether or not a victim had a disability, (2) allows counties to add dependent adult cases to any elder death review teams and protocols they may already have, (3) requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and the Department of Justice to create a two-hour "Crime Victims with Disabilities" telecourse for law enforcement officers and permits that every law enforcement agency that complies with POST training, provide this telecourse training for its officers, and (4) creates new reporting requirements for the Department of Developmental Services. Analysis Existing law regulates the investigation and prosecution of crimes against a dependent adult, which is defined to include a person who is between 18 and 64 years of age, inclusive, and who has a physical or mental limitation which restricts his or her ability, or substantially restricts his or her ability, to carry out normal activities or to protect his/her rights, including, but not limited to, a person who has a physical or developmental disability or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished, or significantly diminished, because of age. Under existing law, the term also includes any person between 18 and 64 years of age, inclusive, who is admitted as an inpatient to certain 24-hour health facilities. Existing law provides that in order to ensure consistent and uniform results, data may be collected and summarized by the domestic violence death review teams to show the statistical occurrence of domestic violence deaths in the team's county that occur under the following circumstances:

1. The deceased was a victim of a homicide committed by a current or former spouse, fiancé, or dating partner.
2. The deceased was the victim of a suicide, was the current or former spouse, fiancé, or dating partner of the perpetrator and was also the victim of previous acts of domestic violence.
3. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a former or current spouse, fiancé, or dating partner and the perpetrator was also the victim of a suicide.
4. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a former or current spouse, fiancé, or dating partner and the perpetrator was also the victim of a homicide related to the domestic homicide incident.
5. The deceased was a child of either the homicide victim or the perpetrator, or both.
6. The deceased was a current or former spouse, fiancé, or dating partner of the current or former spouse, fiancé, or dating partner of the perpetrator.
7. The deceased was a law enforcement officer, emergency medical personnel, or other agency responding to a domestic violence incident.
8. The deceased was a family member, other than identified above, of the perpetrator.
9. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a family member, other than identified above.
10. The deceased was a person not included in the above categories and the homicide was related to domestic violence. (Section 11163.6 of the Penal Code)
This bill provides that data should also be included if the deceased had a disability and the homicide was related to domestic violence. Existing law provides that each county may establish an interagency elder death team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious elder deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in elder abuse or neglect cases. Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on elder adults to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the identification of elder abuse, in the determination of whether elder abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether elder abuse or neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for elder abuse or neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death. (Section 11174.5 of the Penal Code) This bill provides that the interagency death review team should also apply to review deaths of dependent adults. Existing law provides an oral or written communication or a document shared within or produced by an elder death review team related to an elder death review is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable by another third party. An oral or written communication or a document provided by a third party to an elder death review team, or between a third party and an elder death review team, is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable by a third party. Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), recommendations of an elder death review team upon the completion of a review may be disclosed at the discretion of a majority of the members of the elder death review team. (Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code) This bill provides that this provision applies to elder and dependent adult death review teams. Existing law provides generally for mandated and recommended peace officer training by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and specifically provides that: the Legislature finds and declares that research, including "Special Report to the Legislature on Senate Resolution 18: Crimes Committed Against Homeless Persons" by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and "Hate, Violence, and Death: A Report on Hate Crimes Against People Experiencing Homelessness from 1999-2002" by the National Coalition for the Homeless demonstrate that California has had serious and unaddressed problems of crime against homeless persons, including homeless persons with disabilities. (Section 13519.64(a) of the Penal Code) This bill adds a number of additional reports to the findings and declarations in the above sections. Existing law provides that by July 1, 2005, POST, using available funding, shall develop a two-hour telecourse to be made available to all law enforcement agencies in California on crimes against homeless persons and on how to deal effectively and humanely with homeless persons, including homeless persons with disabilities. The telecourse shall include information on multimission criminal extremism, as defined in Section 13519.6. In developing the telecourse, POST shall consult subject-matter experts including, but not limited to, homeless and formerly homeless persons in California, service providers and advocates for homeless persons in California, experts on the disabilities that homeless persons commonly suffer, the California Council of Churches, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the Senate Office of Research, and the Criminal Justice Statistics Center of DOJ. (Section 13519.64 (b) of the Penal Code) Existing law provides that every state law enforcement agency, and every local law enforcement agency, to the extent that this requirement does not create a state-mandated local program cost, shall provide the telecourse to its peace officers. (Section 13519.64(c) of the Penal Code) This bill provides that every state law enforcement agency that participates may provide training to its peace officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims with Disabilities," produced by POST and DOJ each time that POST, DOJ, or both POST and DOJ update the telecourse to reflect changes in law, standards, and information since they produced the telecourse in 2002. This bill provides that every participating local law enforcement agency may provide training to its officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims with Disabilities." Existing law provides for an advisory committee to develop a course of training for district attorneys in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases, etc. The course shall include training in the unique emotional trauma experienced by victims of these crimes. (Section 13836 of the Penal Code) This bill provides that the course shall also include training in the special problems of investigating and prosecuting these crimes when committed against individuals with disabilities. Existing law provides that the advisory committee shall consist of 11 members and shall represent the view of diverse ethnic and language groups. (Section 13836.1 of the Penal Code) This bill further provides that the advisory committee shall also represent subject-matter experts on crimes against individuals with disabilities. This bill further provides that the requirement that the Commission on the Status of Women appoint an expert on crimes against victims with disabilities shall take effect upon the occurrence of the first vacancy for a member appointed by the Commission, other than the member who represents a rape crisis center or the member who is a medical professional, on or after January 1, 2011. Existing law provides that the online missing persons' registry shall accept and generate complete information on a missing person and that information shall be retrievable by specified categories. (Section 14203 of the Penal Code) Existing law provides that "missing person" includes but is not limited to a child who has been taken, detained, concealed, enticed away or retained by a parent. It also includes any child who is missing voluntarily or involuntary. It further provides that evidence that a missing person is at risk includes evidence that the missing person is mentally impaired. (Section 14213 of the Penal Code) This bill provides in addition that evidence that a missing person is at risk includes evidence that the missing person has a mental or physical disability. Existing law provides that when the Department of Developmental Services (DSS) has reason to believe that any person held in custody as developmentally disabled is wrongfully deprived of his liberty, or is cruelly or negligently treated, or that inadequate provision is made for the skillful medical care, proper supervision, and safekeeping of any such person, it may ascertain the facts. It may issue compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, and may exercise the powers conferred upon a referee in a superior court. It may make such orders for the care and treatment of such person as it deems proper. Whenever DSS undertakes an investigation into the general management and administration of any establishment or place of detention for the developmentally disabled, it may give notice of such investigation to the Attorney General, who shall appear personally or by deputy, to examine witnesses in attendance and to assist the department in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it in this code. DSS may at any time cause the patients of any county or city almshouse to be visited and examined, in order to ascertain if developmentally disabled persons are kept therein. (Section 4427 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) This bill provides instead that when DSS has reason to believe that any person held in custody as developmentally disabled is wrongfully deprived of liberty, or is cruelly or negligently treated, or that inadequate provision is made for the skillful medical care, proper supervision, and safekeeping of any such person, or is otherwise the victim of crime, DSS shall do either of the following:
1. Report the case immediately to the local police department or sheriff's office that has jurisdiction.
2. Ascertain the facts. It may issue compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, and may exercise the powers conferred upon a referee in a superior court. It may make such orders for the care and treatment of such person as it deems proper. If it ascertains that the person is the victim of a crime, it shall report the case immediately to the local police department or sheriff's office that has jurisdiction.
Existing law provides that a developmental center shall immediately report all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate law enforcement agency that may, at its discretion, conduct an independent investigation. (Section 4427.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) This bill provides that the reporting requirements of this subdivision are in addition to, and do not substitute for, the reporting requirements of mandated reporters. Existing law provides that each county shall establish an emergency response adult protective services program that shall provide in person response, 24 hours per day, seven days per week to reports of abuse of an elder or a dependent adult. (Section 15763 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) This bill makes technical changes to that section. Support
• The Arc of California (sponsor)
• Access to Independence of San Diego
• Aging Services of California
• Arc of Riverside County
• Arc of San Diego
• Arc South Bay
• Autism Society of America, San Diego Chapter
• California Church IMPACT
• California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• California Commission on the Status of Women
• California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
• California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
• California Police Chiefs Association
• California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
• Congress of California Seniors
• Crime Victims Action Alliance
• Crime Victims United of California
• Disability Rights California
• Housing Now
• Loaves and Fishes
• Orange County Arc
• People First of California
• Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee
• San Diego People First
Opposition
• Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Arguments in Support According to the author: Crime against victims with disabilities has been called an 'invisible epidemic,' comparable with domestic violence before society awakened to the horror and widespread extent of that terrible problem. Children and elders with disabilities, homeless people with disabilities, and people with disabilities in care, treatment, and incarceration facilities are among those most vulnerable and most often victimized. Women and men with disabilities also are at high risk of sexual assault and domestic violence. Despite great efforts, California - like the rest of the country - continues to fall shamefully short of meeting its responsibility to provide equal protection from crime to people with disabilities. Research shows that the current system generally fails to prevent crimes, assist victims, prosecute perpetrators, or even report most crimes against victims with disabilities. It is unlikely that society would tolerate this level of violent crime against most other classes of victims without demanding much more effective action.

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sb_110_bill_20100126_amended_sen_v94.pdf	198.13 KB

Vote Record

Senate Ayes: Sam Aanestad, Gil Cedillo, Ellen Corbett, Lou Correa, Dave Cox, Jeff Denham, Mark DeSaulnier, Denise Ducheny, Bob Dutton, Dean Florez, Loni Hancock, Tom Harman, Dennis Hollingsworth, Christine Kehoe, Mark Leno, Carol Liu, Alan Lowenthal, Gloria Negrete McLeod, Jenny Oropeza, Alex Padilla, Fran Pavley, Curren Price, Jr., Gloria Romero, Joe Simitian, Darrell Steinberg, Tony Strickland, Patricia Wiggins, Lois Wolk, Rod Wright, Mark Wyland, Leland Yee

Senate Noes: Roy Ashburn