Asm. Brian Maienschein

This measure would designate the month of January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month in California.

This measure, among other things, would declare that California is a Reproductive Freedom State for All and provide that the Legislature is committed to guaranteeing the constitutionally protected right to an abortion and supporting efforts to increase access to the best available reproductive and pregnancy-related care for women and pregnant individuals.

This measure would proclaim January 13, 2020, as Korean American Day.

This measure would honor the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Existing law prohibits the keeping or use of animals for diagnostic purposes, education, or research without approval by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law authorizes the department to prescribe rules under which persons who wish to keep or use animals for those purposes may obtain approval from the department, and to promulgate regulations governing the use of animals for those purposes. Existing law exempts certain persons from those requirements, including persons who use or keep animals for animal training and animal cosmetics, among other things. A person who violates these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would define "animal" for purposes of these provisions as any live vertebrate nonhuman animal used for diagnostic purposes, education, or research, as specified. The bill would require persons who keep or use animals for those purposes, including persons who are exempt from department approval, to submit specified information to the department annually, including the number of animals kept during the previous year in various pain and distress categories and the purposes for which animals were used. The bill would require the department to publish that information in electronic form via the department's internet website, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as "mandated reporters," to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Existing law states the Legislature's intent that those receiving agencies in each county develop and implement cooperative arrangements in order to coordinate existing duties in connection with the investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect cases, and requires the local law enforcement agency to report investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect to the county welfare or probation department within 36 hours after starting its investigation. Existing law generally provides for the placement of children in foster care, and provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Social Services of certain community care facilities that provide care for foster children, including short-term residential therapeutic programs and transitional housing placement providers. Existing law requires the agencies receiving mandated reports, within 24 hours of receiving a report of abuse alleged to have occurred in facilities licensed to care for children by the department, to notify the licensing office with jurisdiction over that facility. Existing law makes reports of child abuse or neglect confidential and limits the disclosure of the reports to certain individuals or entities. This bill would require certain agencies to develop and implement protocols for coordinating investigations of alleged child abuse and neglect involving children under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The bill would require, when an agency receives a report that contains a report of abuse or neglect alleged to have occurred in a resource family home, foster family home, certified foster home, the home of an approved relative or nonrelative extended family member, or a facility licensed to care for children by the department, to notify the licensing office or agency with oversight responsibility over the home or facility within the 24-hour period described above. This bill would require, whenever the department or another agency with oversight responsibility over a home or facility becomes aware of an allegation of abuse or neglect to cooperate with other agencies to coordinate existing duties in connection with the investigation and to complete the investigation no later than 45 days after receiving notice of the allegation. The bill would establish standards and protocols for the conduct of the investigation, including, among other things, requiring a face-to-face interview in private with the victim of child abuse or neglect separate and apart from the suspected offender. The bill would require, upon completion of the investigation, the approving agency or the licensing agency to send a copy of its investigation report to the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson. The bill would require that office to review a representative sample of the investigations annually and include determinations of the extent to which the investigations complied with the investigation protocols. The bill would authorize that office to make recommendations for the improvement of those protocols based on the determinations. The bill would require the department to, at a minimum, annually report to the Legislature and post on its internet website, a statewide summary of these investigations, as specified. The bill would also add the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson, as specified, to the list of individuals and entities to which reports may be disclosed, and would delete obsolete provisions. By imposing new duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes the State Department of Public Health, among other state departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health has authority over various programs promoting public health, including genetic disease testing and newborn screenings. This bill would establish the Rare Disease Advisory Council within the agency for specified purposes, including, among others, coordinating statewide efforts for the study of the incidence of rare diseases within the state, and acting as the advisory body on rare diseases to the Legislature and state and private agencies that provide services to persons with rare diseases. Under the bill, the duties of the advisory council would include, among others, researching and determining the most appropriate method to collect data on rare diseases, and identifying best practices for rare disease care. The bill would specify the composition of the advisory council, whose members would be appointed by the Secretary of California Health and Human Services and the State Public Health Officer. Before any appointments are made, the bill would require the agency to research and report to the Legislature on existing sources of funding that may be used to finance the formation and operation of the advisory council. The bill would require the advisory council to apply for, and accept, any grant of funds from the federal government, private foundations, or other sources, as specified. The bill would require the advisory council to meet at least 3 times annually and to report to the agency and the Legislature every 2 years on its activities, findings, and recommendations.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of that act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies that provide hospital, medical, or surgical coverage to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, as defined, of a person of any age. Existing law also requires health care service plans and health insurers, by July 1, 2019, to develop maternal mental health programs, as specified. This bill would require health care service plans and health insurers, by January 1, 2021, to establish a telehealth consultation program that provides providers who treat children and pregnant and postpartum persons with access to a psychiatrist, as specified, in order to more quickly diagnose and treat children and pregnant and postpartum persons suffering from mental illness. The bill would require the consultation to be done by telephone or telehealth video, and would authorize the consultation to include guidance on providing triage services and referrals to evidence based treatment options, including psychotherapy. The bill would require health care service plans and insurers to communicate information relating to the telehealth program at least twice a year in writing. The bill would require health care service plans and health insurers to maintain records and data pertaining to the utilization of the program and the availability of psychiatrists in order to facilitate ongoing changes and improvements, as necessary. The bill would exempt certain specialized health care service plans and health insurers from these provisions. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirement by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.