CBS LA: Lawmaker Moves To Boost Training For Teachers To ID, Report Child Abuse

You can listen to this story and more from CBS Radio HERE

Wendy Carlson/Getty Images/CBSLA.com

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Southland lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require teachers and other school staffers to undergo training on how to identify suspected cases of child abuse.

KNX 1070′s Margaret Carrero reports Assemblyman Mike Gatto wants the California Department of Education to provide guidelines for educators on how  — and when — to alert authorities.

Under existing state law, a parent or guardian of a minor can face criminal charges for failing to provide clothing, food, shelter, or medical care “without lawful excuse.” Existing law also makes it a crime for a parent or guardian to desert a child under 14 years of age with the intent to abandon that child.

Assembly Bill 1432 (PDF) would require teachers and other school officials to pass an online course on how to identify and properly report abuse before the start of each school year.

Recent reports showed that certain abuse was prolonged because large numbers of school personnel were unaware of the processes and their responsibilities for reporting abuse, according to Gatto.

“We can’t allow unfamiliarity with the signs of abuse and the proper way to report it to serve as excuse for permitting child abusers to continue working in our schools,” said Gatto. “AB 1432 is a common-sense approach to the problem, since every year, education professionals will be reminded of their duties.”

The legislation comes after several reports of alleged abuse cases at Miramonte Elementary and other schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2012.

One Southland father of two said the legislation is a step forward for educators and students alike.

“Just to remind them of the dangers of child abuse and the signs can be subtle,” he said. “So I think it’s probably a good idea that they do something.”

You can listen to this story and more from CBS Radio HERE

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Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly.  He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake.  www.asm.ca.gov/gatto 

PRESS RELEASE: Assemblyman Gatto Introduces Bill to Improve Child Abuse Reporting in Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           Contact:  Justin Hager (818) 558-3043

January 6, 2014                                                                      Mobile (415) 889-9762

ASSEMBLYMAN MIKE GATTO INTRODUCES BILL TO IMPROVE CHILD-ABUSE REPORTING IN SCHOOLS

SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation today to prevent child abuse in schools by ensuring that school employees identify the abuse and stop it in its tracks.  Recent reports showed that certain abuse was prolonged because large numbers of school personnel were unaware of the processes and their responsibilities for reporting abuse.  Gatto's legislation, AB 1432, would require teachers and other school officials to pass an online course on how to identify and properly report abuse, as a prerequisite before the start of each school year.

Enacted in 1963, the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) requires certain professionals, known as mandated reporters, to report to law enforcement or protective services known or suspected instances of neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.  Mandated reporters include educational professionals like teachers, instructional aides, teachers’ aides, school administrators, and counselors.  Despite CANRA’s requirements, current law does not require school districts to train personnel on detecting and reporting child abuse.

“We can't allow unfamiliarity with the signs of abuse and the proper way to report it to serve as excuse for permitting child abusers to continue working in our schools,” said Gatto.  “AB 1432 is a common-sense approach to the problem, since every year, education professionals will be reminded of their duties.”

There have been several incidents recently of unreported child abuse, where one or more school employees were aware of the incident but failed to report it to law enforcement.  In the Redwood City School District, five staff members knew, but failed to tell authorities, about a teacher’s abuse of two five-year-old special-needs students. The abusing teacher was ultimately arrested, and the five staff members were fired.  In the Brentwood Union School District, eleven employees did not alert authorities of a case in which a special-education teacher, who had already been convicted of child abuse, pulled an autistic student from his chair and kicked him.  The incident resulted in a $950,000 settlement paid by the district, and eight additional students’ families have come forward with similar claims against the same teacher.

“The system has failed, when unreported instances of child abuse prolong kids' misery,” said Gatto. “AB 1432 is a simple, cost-effective means of making sure school personnel know the techniques and their responsibilities for protecting our children from predators.”

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly.  He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake.  www.asm.ca.gov/gatto 

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OpEd: Public Should Know When School Employees Have History of Abuse

The opinion editorial below appeared in this week's Crescenta Valley Weekly.  I thought I'd share it with those you outside of the Crescenta Valley.

Public Should Know When School Employees Have History of Abuse

by Assemblyman Mike Gatto

In February, a major scandal rocked the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) when teachers at Telfair Elementary in Pacoima and Miramonte Elementary in South L.A. were discovered engaging in long-time patterns of abuse and misconduct.  Despite the allegations that teachers were sexually abusing students, the district failed to take action, prompting the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the State Auditor to investigate how LAUSD handled allegations of abuse against students.

The report revealed a glaring flaw in school safety procedures – whereas teachers lose their ability to teach if they abuse a child, there are no similar mechanisms for the nearly 300,000 non-teaching school employees, such as janitors, teacher’s aides, bus drivers, office assistants, or groundskeepers.

While accusations of misconduct and disciplinary action against such employees are rare, these non-teaching staff are an everyday part of the education system and often have unsupervised access to students. Indeed, the recent arrest of a teacher’s aide in Lawndale who molested a student in full view of security cameras demonstrates that abuse by school employees can happen and should be taken seriously.

Current laws only require immediate reporting of child-abuse allegations against certified teachers, not classified employees or other personnel who do not maintain the same credentials as teachers. There is also no centralized mechanism to share information about the circumstances under which a classified employee leaves one school district to find employment in another district. Without such a system, a classified employee that is fired, resigns or settles during the course of a child-abuse investigation can easily return to work in another school district.

That’s why I introduced AB 349, which creates a landmark, statewide, information system to help prevent repeat offenders from retaining employment at a different school. This common-sense legislation requires school administrators to report to the Dept. of Education whenever a school employee is dismissed, resigns, is suspended, retires or fired as a result of a child-abuse allegation or while an investigation of alleged abuse is pending.

Protecting our children from predators while preserving the rights of individuals to be presumed innocent until proven guilty is a delicate balancing act. AB 349 maintains this balance with a simple reporting system that will provide hiring administrators the information they need to keep children safe.

Mike Gatto is a father and the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.  He represents the cities of Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, the communities of La Crescenta and Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, and portions of the Hollywood Hills and East Hollywood. Email Mike at: assemblymember.gatto@assembly.ca.gov, or call (818) 558-3043.