CHILD WELFARE ALERT!
What is SB 1391

July 18, 2000

Legislators are attempting to pass SB 1391. This bill sponsored by Adam Schiff and Richard Polanco would allow the public into Juvenile Court dependency hearings. The public would only be denied access if a Judge found that there would be either "harm" or "serious" harm to the child's best interests. Your Union has taken a strong position against this bill in Sacramento but, thus far, our voices have fallen on deal ears. Assemblywoman Dion Aroner is the only one who has championed our position. Under this bill, social workers would continue to be the scapegoats for Judge's bad decisions and would still not be able to defend their positions outside the courtroom. No one, including social workers, wants to see their name and face in the media with events surrounding a child abuse case. We believe that a complete overhaul of juvenile court proceedings is needed but this piece of legislation is unwise and dangerous in its current form. The next stop for this bill is the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 9th. Our lobbyist Michelle Castro will testify in opposition to SB 1391. We have found out that they will probably not let anyone else testify but if people want to come and support Michelle, they are welcome. The committee meeting starts at 9 a.m. in Room 4202.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

* Write or fax a letter to the your district legislator in the Assembly and the Senate (2 letters) and express that they vote against SB 1391today (sample letter on back with extra talking points you can add). If you don't know who your legislators are, you can try locally with your Field Rep. or call James Johnson, So. Political Director 626-796-0051.

* Send a copy of the letter to Governor Davis at 1st Floor Capitol, Sacramento, 95814 or fax 916-445-4633 or email graydavis@governor.ca.gov

* Send a copy to the Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair, Carol Migden at Capitol Bldg. #3173, Sacramento 95814 or email assemblymember.Migden@assembly.ca.gov

* It is imperative that each of you takes 5-10 minutes as soon as you get this flyer and send these letters. Don't rely on your coworkers, don't rely on your field reps., and don't tell yourself that you just don't have the time. MAKE THE TIME NOW. YOU MIGHT BE THE SOCIAL WORKER FACING THOSE CAMERAS AND HAVING YOUR NAME AND FACE PLASTERED ON A TV SCREEN. ARE YOU READY FOR THAT?

If you want the specific language of the bill, call Adam Schiff's office at 626-683-0282 in Pasadena or 916-445-5976.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Senator/Assemblymember.................

I am a constituent in your District and I work for the County as a Child Protective Services social worker. Currently, the legislators are considering passage of SB 1391, which would allow the public into the Juvenile Courts to hear the details of child abuse cases. Please don't let this happen. As a social worker, I see families every day that would be seriously harmed if their personal life circumstances were displayed in the community. While the intent of the bill may have been worthy to consider, it has too many flaws. These are just some of the concerns I have: (Use any one or more of these to make your points)

1. I believe this bill would violate the civil rights of families and children.

2. Because most of the children coming into the system are Latino or African-American, I see that would be a form for the media to racially profile the children in our system.

3. Abusive parents could intimidate their children not to report child abuse with the threat that the family would be ruined by widespread TV coverage. This would have the unfortunate effect of reducing child abuse referrals without reducing child abuse.

4. Social workers already are and will continue to be the scapegoats for any negative decisions made in a court of law.

5. There are no provisions in the bill to protect children from being intimidated by family or friends of a perpetrator who could sit in on the court hearings and then use the court information to verbally threaten the child before, during or after a hearing.

6. Social workers decisions and recommendations will be exposed to public scrutiny without the benefit or knowledge of the applicable laws and codes pertinent to the matter before the Court. In many instances, the Departments of Social Services and the Courts may be influenced by parties outside the scope of the proceedings who may have other agendas in mind. Sadly, social workers will still not be able to break confidentiality rules outside the courtroom to let the press know exactly what is happening in a case.

7. Children and other principled parties may be intimidated by the presence of the public in the courtroom and may compromise their stories.

8. The costs to counties of continuing cases as a result of this bill could be extraordinary, yet this bill has no money attached with it.

9. I believe that this bill violates the Federal confidentiality laws of Title IV-E and Title IV-B programs and would result in a loss of federal funds in California.

10. There is no evidence that outcomes are better for children in Juvenile Dependency cases once the public is allowed into the hearings.

11. There are no provisions in the bill to protect children from being profiled by pedophiles since the entire public can be admitted to the courtroom.

12. The courts currently have the ability to allow the public into the courtroom on a selective basis. There is no reason to expand this process without a full "Impact Study" of the states where public access is already practiced. This study should include full disclosure of the legal (federal vs. state), social, medical, mental health, and fiscal ramifications.

13. Social workers are already leaving the profession at an alarming 22%. Workers will continue to leave in droves if they will be scrutinized by the public.

14. This bill contains no language to mitigate the extra workload for social workers and the courts, which will be required by this bill. SB2030 yardstick results already showed that if social workers' caseloads dropped by 50%, they could meet the requirements of the law. The legislators must commit to placing the necessary resources in child welfare if they expect to see better outcomes for children.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, (Your name, address and phone number)