FYI FYI FYI FYI FYI
F O R Y O U R I N F O R M A T I O N
To: All Staff
GOVERNOR SIGNS NEW LEGISLATION,
SB 208 (POLANCO): CHILD ABUSE: DEPENDENCY PROCEEDINGS
On September 16, 1999 Governor Gray Davis signed Senate Bill 208 by Senator Richard Polanco into law (Chapter 417). SB 208 is an urgency statute and takes effect immediately.
Senate Bill 208:
·  States legislative findings that children are placed at risk when permitted contact with a parent or caretaker who has committed a sex crime; that children who are WIC 300 dependents of the court are in need of protection from those persons; and that the purpose of the act is to ensure that information regarding these sex crimes is appropriately considered by the court.
·  Amends Section 355.1 WIC by adding new subsections (d) and (e) which provide:
·  Where the court finds that a parent, guardian or other person who resides with or has care or custody of a child who is the subject of a Section 300 WIC petition:
·  has been previously convicted of sexual abuse as defined in Penal Code Section 11165.1;
·  has been previously convicted of sexual abuse as defined in Penal Code Section 11165.1 if committed in California;
·  has been found in a prior dependency hearing or a similar proceeding in another state to have committed an act of sexual abuse; or
·  is required, as a result of a felony conviction, to register as a Penal Code Section 290 sex offender;
that finding shall be prima facie evidence that the child is a dependent child pursuant to Section 300, subdivision (a), (b) (c) or (d) and is at substantial risk of abuse or neglect. The prima facie evidence constitutes a presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence.
·  Where the court believes that a child has suffered abuse or neglect which may be a crime, the court may direct a CSW to report the abuse or neglect as required by the Child Abuse Reporting Law, Penal Code Section 11166.
Senate Bill 208 was sponsored by Los Angeles County pursuant to Board of Supervisors order and at the recommendation of the Children’s Services Inspector General.
Additional instructions to staff will be forthcoming.
/ / BES CONTACT: Kathy Kubota (213) 351-5720
APPROVED: ______
Paul V. Freedlund, Deputy Director