Bill Text: CA Assembly Bill 73 - 2011-2012 Regular Session | eLobbyist
Let's get ALL States Moving on this Bill!!!!
California AB73
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Other Bill Drafts: Introduced
BILL NUMBER: AB 73 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Feuer
DECEMBER 21, 2010
An act relating to juveniles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 73, as introduced, Feuer. Dependency proceedings: public
access.
Existing law provides that the public shall not be admitted to a
juvenile court hearing in a dependency proceeding, unless requested
by a parent or guardian and consented to or requested by the minor
concerning whom the petition has been filed. Existing law permits the
judge or referee to admit those persons as he or she deems to have a
direct and legitimate interest in the particular case or the work of
the court.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to provide that juvenile court hearings in juvenile
dependency cases shall be presumptively open to the public, unless
the court finds that admitting the public would not be in a child's
best interest. The bill would also include a statement of legislative
findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Many states increasingly permit or require public access to
juvenile court hearings in juvenile dependency cases involving abuse
and neglect.
(b) Pursuant to Section 346 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
California is currently among the states that require that all
proceedings in juvenile dependency matters be closed to the public,
except under specified circumstances.
(c) Public access to juvenile court hearings has the benefit of
ensuring that the child welfare system can be held more accountable,
and of educating the public about the needs of the child welfare
system.
(d) Children's privacy rights can be protected by ensuring that
juvenile court judges have the discretion to close individual
hearings based on the circumstances of the cases and the needs and
best interests of specific children while presumptively ensuring
those proceedings are open and transparent.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
to provide that juvenile court hearings in juvenile dependency cases
shall be presumptively open to the public unless the court finds that
admitting the public would not be in a child's best interest.
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
State legislator pushes for historic public access to juvenile dependency courts statewide - San Jose Mercury News
State legislator pushes for historic public access to juvenile dependency courts statewide - San Jose Mercury News
Marking a dramatic shift in the scrutiny of how California protects its most vulnerable children, the courts overseeing the state's vast foster care system would be open to the public for the first time since 1961, under legislation now working its way through the state Assembly.
Proponents, including the state's most influential juvenile court judges, say the exposure will improve performance by allowing outsiders to view and evaluate the quality of proceedings in the courts that decide the fate of more than 58,000 children in foster care last year who were removed from their homes following allegations of abuse and neglect. The change would bring California in line with a growing number of states nationwide that have opened their courts and found no reason to return to confidentiality standards.
"In the 17 states that have prior experience in the open courts there has been no determination of harm to kids," said the bill's author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-West Hollywood. "There has, however, been even closer scrutiny, more accountability and more attention paid to the system."
The bill comes after the Mercury News spent months coaxing Northern California judges to allow a reporter into closed dependency hearings. The result, a 2008 series of stories following a year-long examination, revealed widespread dysfunction in the dependency courts -- including overwhelmed judges, and court-appointed lawyers who failed to meet even basic standards
Advertisement
of adequate representation. In some dependency courts, judges rule on more than 100 children's cases in a single day, and lawyers for parents and children are so harried they have only minutes to confer with clients in the hallway before life-altering hearings.
The stakes are high: Accused parents face a permanent loss of their children, while kids taken from their homes are often resigned to a revolving series of temporary homes and shelters.
Feuer said in light of the newspaper's findings, his bill would improve the quality of justice for children and parents, whose cases typically involve neglect due to poverty and substance abuse. "All the participants in the system, from judges to clerks to social workers to advocates will be more accountable," Feuer said.
Feuer's bill would make the courts "presumptively open," while maintaining judges' discretion to close certain cases if exposure posed a risk of harm. The bill would reverse current law, which presumes all cases are closed unless a judge rules to open them. The bill does not grant outsiders access to court files, and may include language requiring that courtroom observers keep children's identities confidential.
Although the legislation is in an early stage, critics are already lining up, including the influential social workers' union. Opponents maintain that traumatized children will be re-traumatized by exposure in court.
"Our legal system was created with the intent of protecting our most vulnerable, in this case our children," said Mary Gutierrez, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents social workers. "Opening the courtroom so the media and the public can hear about how a child was molested and abused does everything but protect the child."
The nonprofit California Youth Connection, which represents foster children, has not yet taken a position on the bill. Historically, they've had mixed feelings on the issue, said legislative director Chantel Johnson.
"We understand the intent is to provide better services for foster youth and make it a more open process and we love the intent to create transparency," Johnson said. "Where we've expressed concern is for some youth who feel that it's a violation of their confidentiality."
Assembly Bill 73, which will be discussed in Sacramento in the coming weeks, is the third legislative attempt to open dependency courts. Similar bills in 2000 and 2004 failed to move out of committees, despite amendments that would have narrowed the scope to a few pilot projects. Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Michael Nash -- whose Los Angeles dependency court oversees the cases of 25,000 children in the largest child welfare agency in the country -- described himself as one of the bill's most ardent supporters.
"There are lots of folks that say, 'no, we should keep these courts closed to protect kids,' when they are really only seeking to protect themselves," said Nash, ,who maintains an offer to have Los Angeles serve as a pilot program. "We live in what's supposed to be an open society -- and this is one big, fat exception to that open society, which I don't think is justified."
Meanwhile, the presiding dependency court judge in Santa Clara County, Katherine Lucero, takes a more cautious approach. Lucero -- who granted the Mercury News rare court access for several weeks in 2007 under an agreement that no children or parents' identities would be revealed -- said she needed convincing that a new law would include training for judges, and the ability of parties to easily request a closed hearing.
"It's possibly a good thing," Lucero said of the bill, "but I am very, very cautious in my support." That said, she noted that judges in other states "have overwhelmingly indicated that it has been a good thing for their community -- they believe they are still able to protect the privacy of the youth when necessary."
Contact Karen de Sá at 408-920-5781.
Marking a dramatic shift in the scrutiny of how California protects its most vulnerable children, the courts overseeing the state's vast foster care system would be open to the public for the first time since 1961, under legislation now working its way through the state Assembly.
Proponents, including the state's most influential juvenile court judges, say the exposure will improve performance by allowing outsiders to view and evaluate the quality of proceedings in the courts that decide the fate of more than 58,000 children in foster care last year who were removed from their homes following allegations of abuse and neglect. The change would bring California in line with a growing number of states nationwide that have opened their courts and found no reason to return to confidentiality standards.
"In the 17 states that have prior experience in the open courts there has been no determination of harm to kids," said the bill's author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-West Hollywood. "There has, however, been even closer scrutiny, more accountability and more attention paid to the system."
The bill comes after the Mercury News spent months coaxing Northern California judges to allow a reporter into closed dependency hearings. The result, a 2008 series of stories following a year-long examination, revealed widespread dysfunction in the dependency courts -- including overwhelmed judges, and court-appointed lawyers who failed to meet even basic standards
Advertisement
of adequate representation. In some dependency courts, judges rule on more than 100 children's cases in a single day, and lawyers for parents and children are so harried they have only minutes to confer with clients in the hallway before life-altering hearings.
The stakes are high: Accused parents face a permanent loss of their children, while kids taken from their homes are often resigned to a revolving series of temporary homes and shelters.
Feuer said in light of the newspaper's findings, his bill would improve the quality of justice for children and parents, whose cases typically involve neglect due to poverty and substance abuse. "All the participants in the system, from judges to clerks to social workers to advocates will be more accountable," Feuer said.
Feuer's bill would make the courts "presumptively open," while maintaining judges' discretion to close certain cases if exposure posed a risk of harm. The bill would reverse current law, which presumes all cases are closed unless a judge rules to open them. The bill does not grant outsiders access to court files, and may include language requiring that courtroom observers keep children's identities confidential.
Although the legislation is in an early stage, critics are already lining up, including the influential social workers' union. Opponents maintain that traumatized children will be re-traumatized by exposure in court.
"Our legal system was created with the intent of protecting our most vulnerable, in this case our children," said Mary Gutierrez, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents social workers. "Opening the courtroom so the media and the public can hear about how a child was molested and abused does everything but protect the child."
The nonprofit California Youth Connection, which represents foster children, has not yet taken a position on the bill. Historically, they've had mixed feelings on the issue, said legislative director Chantel Johnson.
"We understand the intent is to provide better services for foster youth and make it a more open process and we love the intent to create transparency," Johnson said. "Where we've expressed concern is for some youth who feel that it's a violation of their confidentiality."
Assembly Bill 73, which will be discussed in Sacramento in the coming weeks, is the third legislative attempt to open dependency courts. Similar bills in 2000 and 2004 failed to move out of committees, despite amendments that would have narrowed the scope to a few pilot projects. Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Michael Nash -- whose Los Angeles dependency court oversees the cases of 25,000 children in the largest child welfare agency in the country -- described himself as one of the bill's most ardent supporters.
"There are lots of folks that say, 'no, we should keep these courts closed to protect kids,' when they are really only seeking to protect themselves," said Nash, ,who maintains an offer to have Los Angeles serve as a pilot program. "We live in what's supposed to be an open society -- and this is one big, fat exception to that open society, which I don't think is justified."
Meanwhile, the presiding dependency court judge in Santa Clara County, Katherine Lucero, takes a more cautious approach. Lucero -- who granted the Mercury News rare court access for several weeks in 2007 under an agreement that no children or parents' identities would be revealed -- said she needed convincing that a new law would include training for judges, and the ability of parties to easily request a closed hearing.
"It's possibly a good thing," Lucero said of the bill, "but I am very, very cautious in my support." That said, she noted that judges in other states "have overwhelmingly indicated that it has been a good thing for their community -- they believe they are still able to protect the privacy of the youth when necessary."
Contact Karen de Sá at 408-920-5781.
New York City Pilot Program Shows Promise for Decreasing Child Welfare Involvement... -- NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
New York City Pilot Program Shows Promise for Decreasing Child Welfare Involvement... -- NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
orporation for Supportive Housing releases study results on their 'Keeping Families Together' pilot project designed to protect children and reunite families involved in the city's child welfare system
NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) announced evaluation results of their cutting-edge Keeping Families Together pilot program. The results show the program's comprehensive, supportive housing intervention makes major strides in stopping entrenched, generational cycles of abuse and neglect for the city's most at-risk families. The study tracked 29 participating New York City families from October 2007 to July 2009.
The program resulted in the closure of more than half (61.1%) of the participating families' child welfare cases and six children who had been removed from their families by children's services were reunited by the conclusion of the evaluation. No children were removed from their home during the pilot period.
The Keeping Families Together program is founded on the notion that supportive housing involving coordinated public support systems, can help stabilize vulnerable families and enhance children's safety. The model combined permanent, affordable housing with a range of on and off site services—like substance abuse treatment, medication management, parenting skills training, and career counseling—designed to address the needs of the most at-risk families.
orporation for Supportive Housing releases study results on their 'Keeping Families Together' pilot project designed to protect children and reunite families involved in the city's child welfare system
NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) announced evaluation results of their cutting-edge Keeping Families Together pilot program. The results show the program's comprehensive, supportive housing intervention makes major strides in stopping entrenched, generational cycles of abuse and neglect for the city's most at-risk families. The study tracked 29 participating New York City families from October 2007 to July 2009.
The program resulted in the closure of more than half (61.1%) of the participating families' child welfare cases and six children who had been removed from their families by children's services were reunited by the conclusion of the evaluation. No children were removed from their home during the pilot period.
The Keeping Families Together program is founded on the notion that supportive housing involving coordinated public support systems, can help stabilize vulnerable families and enhance children's safety. The model combined permanent, affordable housing with a range of on and off site services—like substance abuse treatment, medication management, parenting skills training, and career counseling—designed to address the needs of the most at-risk families.
State Department Briefing on Human Trafficking | C-SPAN
State Department Briefing on Human Trafficking | C-SPAN
Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Luis CdeBaca spoke to reporters at the State Department about the U.S. Government's new interagency initiatives to combat trafficking in persons and responded to questions.
Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Luis CdeBaca spoke to reporters at the State Department about the U.S. Government's new interagency initiatives to combat trafficking in persons and responded to questions.
Attorneys Attack Rights of Citizen Journalists | Dailycensored.com
Attorneys Attack Rights of Citizen Journalists | Dailycensored.com
The Florida Bar has proposed a new rule to eliminate coverage of court proceedings by citizen journalists. The Bar’s proposed rule prohibits anyone other than an employee of a traditional media outlet or an official court reporter from using any device which can make video or audio recording from being brought into a court including laptop computers.Of course, the proposed rule allows the courts to continue to record you, but unfortunately, the courts usually don’t want to give up their own recordings without a fight even though they are required to do so.
The Florida Bar has proposed a new rule to eliminate coverage of court proceedings by citizen journalists. The Bar’s proposed rule prohibits anyone other than an employee of a traditional media outlet or an official court reporter from using any device which can make video or audio recording from being brought into a court including laptop computers.Of course, the proposed rule allows the courts to continue to record you, but unfortunately, the courts usually don’t want to give up their own recordings without a fight even though they are required to do so.
The Truth Bites "NH": NO SMALL WONDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS NOT ADDRESSED IN NH PROPERLY
The Truth Bites "NH": NO SMALL WONDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS NOT ADDRESSED IN NH PROPERLY
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
County prosecutor arrested on domestic violence charges
MERRIMACK – A Hillsborough County attorney prosecutor and former police officer was arrested Monday night on domestic violence charges, police report.
Joseph Fricano, 37, of Belmont Drive, Merrimack, is charged with simple assault, criminal mischief and obstructing the report of a crime, police report. He was released on personal recognizance, and arraigned Tuesday in Merrimack District Court, police reported.
Police were called to the home at 8:42 p.m. for a report of a disturbance, and they charge that Fricano had assaulted someone in the home, damaged property and then stopped the victim from calling police.
Fricano has taken leave from his job as an Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney, where he has worked for more than six years since leaving the Nashua Police force, Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan said Tuesday.
Fricano’s case work will be reassigned, but no decision has been made regarding his employment, Hogan said. Hogan declined to speculate on whether Fricano could continue to work as a prosecutor if he were convicted of the charges.
“The office is sad about it,” Hogan said of Fricano’s arrest. “Obviously, our hearts go out to him and his family, his wife and him.”
- Andrew Wolfe
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
County prosecutor arrested on domestic violence charges
MERRIMACK – A Hillsborough County attorney prosecutor and former police officer was arrested Monday night on domestic violence charges, police report.
Joseph Fricano, 37, of Belmont Drive, Merrimack, is charged with simple assault, criminal mischief and obstructing the report of a crime, police report. He was released on personal recognizance, and arraigned Tuesday in Merrimack District Court, police reported.
Police were called to the home at 8:42 p.m. for a report of a disturbance, and they charge that Fricano had assaulted someone in the home, damaged property and then stopped the victim from calling police.
Fricano has taken leave from his job as an Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney, where he has worked for more than six years since leaving the Nashua Police force, Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan said Tuesday.
Fricano’s case work will be reassigned, but no decision has been made regarding his employment, Hogan said. Hogan declined to speculate on whether Fricano could continue to work as a prosecutor if he were convicted of the charges.
“The office is sad about it,” Hogan said of Fricano’s arrest. “Obviously, our hearts go out to him and his family, his wife and him.”
- Andrew Wolfe
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