Sen. Angelique Ashby

Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including short-term residential therapeutic programs, by the State Department of Social Services. The act defines a short-term residential therapeutic program as a residential facility licensed by the department and operated by any public agency or private organization that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children that is trauma-informed. Existing law requires specified facilities, including community care facilities, to conduct a clinical and quality review for each episode of the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints, as defined. Existing law requires the facility to conduct a debriefing regarding the incident with the person, and other specified individuals upon the person's request, to discuss how to avoid a similar incident in the future. Under existing law, the person's participation in the debriefing is voluntary. This bill, The Accountability in Children's Treatment Act, would require, in the case of an incident involving the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints in a short-term residential therapeutic program, the facility to notify any foster child who has been subject to seclusion or behavioral restraints of their personal rights by no later than the day following the incident and to provide, within 7 days, a description of the incident, in both oral and written forms, to the person subject to the seclusion or behavioral restraints and, as applicable, to the person's parent, foster parent, guardian, Indian custodian, or other authorized representative, and attorney, if any, and for Indian children, the tribal representative. The bill would require that the description contain certain information, including the actions taken during the incident and its duration, the rationale for the actions, and the personnel approving and implementing the actions. The bill would require the facility to provide a copy of the written description to the department, also within 7 days. The bill would require the department to review all reported incidents involving the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints and to investigate any incidents that indicate a potential health and safety concern or licensing violation. As part of the assessment to determine if an investigation is required, the bill would require the department to determine whether the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints potentially violated any licensing laws and regulations or violated the licensee's approved emergency intervention plan. If the department determines that an incident should be investigated, the bill would require the department to provide the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson with a copy of the incident report and require the ombudsperson to exercise their discretion in determining whether to investigate the incident, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee to take steps to establish a system of mandatory, consistent, timely, and publicly accessible data collection regarding the use of seclusion and behavioral restraints in specified facilities, including community care facilities, that utilize seclusion and behavioral restraints. Existing law requires that data collected include, among other information, the number of incidents, the duration of time spent per incident, and the number of serious injuries or deaths occurring while the person is in seclusion or subject to behavioral restraints. Existing law requires the secretary to develop a mechanism for making this information, as it becomes available, publicly available on the internet. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and other specified departments to annually provide information to the Legislature about the progress made in implementing the above-described provisions on data collection, clinical and quality review, and debriefing. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, by January 1, 2026, to display, on its internet website, data that is specific to short-term residential therapeutic programs. The bill would require the dashboard to display the above-described data on seclusion or behavioral restraints as applicable to those programs, the above-described written descriptions of the incidents, and the numbers and types of licensing and administrative actions taken for the improper use of seclusion or behavioral restraints by the short-term residential therapeutic program or an associated individual for the improper use of seclusion or behavioral restraints. The bill would require the department to update the information biannually. Under the bill, this data would exclude any personally identifiable information, as specified, and the provisions of the bill would be implemented to the extent not in conflict with any applicable federal or state privacy laws.

(1) Existing law generally prohibits a copy, reproduction, or facsimile of any kind of a photograph, negative, or print, including instant photographs and video recordings, of the body, or any portion of the body, of a deceased person, taken by or for the coroner at the scene of death or in the course of a postmortem examination or autopsy, from being made or disseminated. Existing law authorizes the use of a copy, reproduction, or facsimile described above in specified circumstances, including for use in a potential civil action if the coroner receives written authorization from a legal heir or representative of that person before the civil action is filed or while the action is pending. Existing law requires the identity of the legal heir to be verified by, including other things, a declaration under the penalty of perjury that the individual is a legal heir or representative of the deceased person. This bill would additionally authorize a family member of the deceased, as defined, to provide the coroner with written authorization for use or potential use of a copy, reproduction, or facsimile described above in a civil action or proceeding that relates to the death of that person. The bill would also require the identity of the family member to be verified as described above. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the coroner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of certain deaths, including all known or suspected homicides, suicides, or accidental poisonings. This bill would specify the above-described suicides to include suicides where the deceased has a history of being victimized by domestic violence. The bill would authorize the coroner, if the circumstances surrounding a death known or suspected as due to suicide afford a reasonable basis to suspect that the death was caused by or related to the domestic violence of another, to conduct the inquiry in consultation with a board-certified forensic pathologist, as specified. (3) Existing law requires a coroner to investigate deaths that occurred under specified conditions, including without medical attendance, to ascertain as many of the facts as possible. Existing law makes willful infliction of corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition on specified persons, such as a spouse, former spouse, or someone with whom an individual has or had a dating relationship, among others, a crime and provides enhanced resources for the prosecution of those crimes. This bill would require law enforcement officers, prior to making findings as to the manner and cause of death of a deceased individual with an identifiable history of being victimized by domestic violence and under specified conditions, to interview family members of the decedent, as specified. The bill would authorize a law enforcement officer to request a complete autopsy be conducted in a case where they determined the decedent had an identifiable history of being victimized by domestic violence, as defined, and specified conditions are present, including that the decedent died prematurely. The bill would also require sworn law enforcement personnel investigating a case where the decedent had an identifiable history of being victimized by domestic violence be current on their training related to domestic violence incidents. By requiring specific investigatory steps be taken by law enforcement agencies, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to implement a course or courses of instruction and guidelines for law enforcement response to domestic violence. Existing law requires the course of basic training to include adequate instruction in specified procedures and techniques, including techniques for handling incidents of domestic violence that minimize the likelihood of injury to the officer and that promote the safety of the victim. Existing law requires the guidelines for law enforcement response to incorporate those procedures and techniques. This bill would require the guidelines for law enforcement under the above-described provisions to include specified indicators of domestic homicide in suspicious death cases and the identification and detection of staged crime scenes. (5) The bill would make findings and declarations relating to these provisions. 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 generally regulates the safety of motor vehicles and the use of certain types of equipment installed in a motor vehicle, and generally makes a violation of these requirements a crime. Existing law provides various protections to persons who are escaping from actual or threatened domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and other abuse, including providing for a means to keep the names and addresses of abuse survivors confidential in public records. This bill would require, beginning on January 1, 2028, a vehicle with connected vehicle service to clearly indicate to a person who is inside the vehicle when a person who is outside the vehicle has accessed either connected vehicle service or connected vehicle location access, as those terms would be defined. The bill, beginning on July 1, 2025, for vehicles with connected vehicle service, would further require a covered provider to provide a process for a driver to terminate a person's access to connected vehicle service, as specified. The bill would require, beginning on January 1, 2028, a covered provider to provide, in a vehicle manufactured on or after January 1, 2028, that has connected vehicle location access, a mechanism that meets specific requirements and can be used by a driver who is inside a vehicle to immediately disable connected vehicle location access. The bill would, beginning on July 1, 2026, apply this provision to vehicles manufactured prior to January 1, 2028, that have connected vehicle location access, and have the capability to receive software updates, as specified. The bill would define terms for these purposes, including "covered provider," which would be defined as a vehicle manufacturer or an entity acting on behalf of the vehicle manufacturer that provides connected vehicle service. By establishing new duties on vehicle manufacturers or these entities, this bill would expand the general crime applicable to provisions under the Vehicle Code, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also declare the severability of its provisions. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. 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 grants pupils, parents, and guardians certain rights regarding the delivery of educational services, including, among others, rights regarding primary supplemental instruction materials. Existing law provides that none of these rights shall be construed as restricting teachers in the assignment of homework. This bill, the Healthy Homework Act, would encourage each school district, county office of education, and charter school to (1) develop a homework policy for all grades maintained by the local educational agency, as specified, by the start of the 2027–28 school year, (2) formally adopt a final homework policy by the start of the 2028–29 school year, and (3) update the adopted homework policy at least once every 5 years, as provided. The bill would, among other things, encourage the local educational agency to annually distribute the adopted or updated homework policy at the beginning of the school year to all certificated staff and administrators, to all pupils and parents or legal guardians, as specified, and by publication on the local educational agency's internet website and on the internet websites of the individual schools operated by the local educational agency. For a local educational agency that formally adopted a homework policy on or before July 31, 2024, the bill would encourage the local educational agency to update its adopted homework policy before the start of the 2028–29 school year or within 5 years of its adoption, whichever is later, and would encourage the local educational agency's updated homework policy to be consistent with the bill's provisions. The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to develop and post on its internet website, guidelines for local educational agencies to use in developing the homework policy, as provided, and would encourage those guidelines to be developed and posted by January 1, 2026.

The Early Education Act establishes the California Universal Preschool Planning Grant Program with the goal of expanding access universally to preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-old children across the state through a mixed-delivery system, as defined. The act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish rules and regulations for the staffing of all preschool programs under contract with the State Department of Education. This bill would, notwithstanding any provision of the act to contrary, require the department to, among other things, provide prospective California state preschool program providers an equitable opportunity to establish a trained workforce and administrative systems, and technical assistance on how to meet the requirements of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, as provided. The bill would, notwithstanding any provision of the act to contrary, require the department to, among other things, develop early learning resources, as specified, and to develop and implement a proactive one-time 3-year outreach, capacity building, training, and technical assistance plan that targets prospective and new contractors, as provided. The bill would make its provisions operative only upon appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.

Existing law provides for the licensing, regulation, and inspection of various types of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health, including general acute care hospitals. Existing law imposes certain requirements on licensed general acute care hospitals, including, among others, maintaining a medical records system and complying with the standards for the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, as specified. Existing law generally makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. Existing law makes it a crime of human trafficking for a person to deprive or violate the personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services, or with the intent to effect or maintain any violation of specified crimes. Existing law sets forth provisions for the prevention of domestic violence, including procedures for the issuance of protective orders. This bill would require all general acute care hospitals with an emergency department to adopt and implement policies and procedures to facilitate the self-identification of an emergency department patient as a victim of human trafficking or domestic violence, as defined, to hospital personnel. The bill would require the policies and procedures to meet certain minimum requirements, including, among others, providing for patient confidentiality and facilitating a reasonably prompt, private, and voluntary interview of the patient by medical personnel, as defined, for the purpose of providing certain information to the patient relating to local services and resources for victims of human trafficking or domestic violence, if any. The bill would authorize general acute care hospitals subject to these provisions to track specified information related to the use of the self-identification procedure. The bill would limit the liability of a general acute care hospital, including its directors, officers, employees, medical staff, contracted health care providers, agents, and specified licensed persons, acting in compliance with provisions described above for any injuries or damages arising from, or related to, a patient who is offered or receives the information described above or who self-identifies, as specified, so long as the hospital has acted in good faith. By creating new requirements for certain health facilities, thereby expanding the scope of an existing crime, this 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.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education, as defined, as 4 segments of postsecondary education in the state. This bill would establish the Designation of California Black-Serving Institutions to recognize campuses of these segments that excel at providing academic resources to Black and African American students. The bill would establish a governing board composed of certain members to approve or deny initial and renewal applications to receive this designation. The bill would designate the California State University Statewide Central Office for the Advancement of Black Excellence as the managing entity and would require it to act as a neutral administrative body tasked with, among other duties, developing the application processes and processing and presenting applications to the governing board, as specified. The bill would make an initial and renewal award for this designation valid for 5 years.

Under existing law, human trafficking is a crime and law enforcement officers who are assigned field and investigative duties are required to complete minimum training pertaining to the handling of human trafficking complaints. Existing law generally provides support services for individuals who are survivors of human trafficking, including public social services and address confidentiality, as specified. Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to prescribe selection and training standards for peace officers. Existing law requires the commission to develop training curriculum in specified areas and to develop model policies that may be used by local law enforcement agencies, including model policies for investigations of missing persons, elder and dependent adult abuse, and hate crimes. This bill would require the commission to, by no later than June 1, 2026, develop guidelines for interacting with survivors of human trafficking. The bill would require each law enforcement agency to, by no later than December 1, 2026, adopt a written policy for interacting with survivors of human trafficking based on the guidelines developed by the commission. By requiring local agencies to adopt a new policy, this 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Under existing law, a person who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, any act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Under existing law, if the person solicited was a minor, and the person who solicited the minor knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of 2 days and not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This bill would make this offense applicable only to a defendant who is 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense. The bill would, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, or if the person solicited was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the person solicited was a victim of human trafficking, make the offense punishable as a wobbler by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. For a 2nd or subsequent offense under those conditions, the bill would require that the offense be punishable as a felony by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. By changing the elements and increasing the punishment of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires persons convicted of certain specified crimes to annually register as a sex offender, as specified, for a term of 10, 20, or 30 years. This bill would require a person who is 18 years of age or older, on or after January 1, 2025, is convicted of, and who has a prior conviction for, soliciting a minor, as specified, to annually register as a sex offender for a term of 10 years if, at the time of the offense, the person was more than 10 years older than the solicited minor. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 647 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 926, AB 1874, and AB 1962, to be operative only if this bill and some or all of those other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 authorizes a county, until January 1, 2029, with approval of the board of supervisors, to utilize construction manager at-risk construction contracts for the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of infrastructure, excluding roads, and including, among other things, buildings, subject to certain requirements and limitations. This bill would authorize the City of Elk Grove, with the approval of the city council, to utilize construction manager at-risk construction contracts for a zoo project, as defined, subject to certain requirements. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Elk Grove. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.