BILL NUMBER: AB 1504	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Anderson

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act  relating to identity theft   to amend
Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
dependent children  .



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1504, as amended, Anderson. Credit reporting: identity theft:
children.
    Existing state and federal law define and regulate
consumer credit reporting agencies.  Existing law makes it a
crime for a person to use the personal identifying information of
another to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, and services,
which is commonly known as identity theft.  Existing law
requires consumer reporting agencies to block reporting any
information that the consumer alleges appears as a result of identity
theft, if the consumer submits a valid police report, as specified.
Existing law permits a credit reporting agency to unblock that
information upon establishing specified facts by a preponderance of
the evidence.   Existing law provides that a child may
come within the jurisdiction of the   juvenile court and
become a dependent child of the court in cases of abuse, the failure
of a parent or guardian to adequately supervise or protect the child,
as specified, and the failure of a parent or guardian to provide the
child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment,
among others. 
   This bill would  state the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation to protect minors from the harm they suffer when a
parent or other adult uses a minor's name to obtain a credit card,
and despite the fact that the credit card company subsequently voids
the fraudulent contract, the debts associated with the fraud continue
to be reported by a consumer reporting agency in connection with the
minor.   provide that a child may come within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court and become a dependent child of
the court if the child has been a victim of identit  y
theft, as defined, perpetrated by the parent or guardian or a member
of his or her household. 
   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.    Section 300 of the   Welfare
and Institutions Code  is amended to read: 
   300.  Any child who comes within any of the following descriptions
is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge
that person to be a dependent child of the court:
   (a) The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that
the child will suffer, serious physical harm inflicted
nonaccidentally upon the child by the child's parent or guardian. For
the purposes of this subdivision, a court may find there is a
substantial risk of serious future injury based on the manner in
which a less serious injury was inflicted, a history of repeated
inflictions of injuries on the child or the child's siblings, or a
combination of these and other actions by the parent or guardian
which indicate the child is at risk of serious physical harm. For
purposes of this subdivision, "serious physical harm" does not
include reasonable and age-appropriate spanking to the buttocks where
there is no evidence of serious physical injury.
   (b) The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that
the child will suffer, serious physical harm or illness, as a result
of the failure or inability of his or her parent or guardian to
adequately supervise or protect the child, or the willful or
negligent failure of the child's parent or guardian to adequately
supervise or protect the child from the conduct of the custodian with
whom the child has been left, or by the willful or negligent failure
of the parent or guardian to provide the child with adequate food,
clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or by the inability of the
parent or guardian to provide regular care for the child due to the
parent's or guardian's mental illness, developmental disability, or
substance abuse. No child shall be found to be a person described by
this subdivision solely due to the lack of an emergency shelter for
the family. Whenever it is alleged that a child comes within the
jurisdiction of the court on the basis of the parent's or guardian's
willful failure to provide adequate medical treatment or specific
decision to provide spiritual treatment through prayer, the court
shall give deference to the parent's or guardian's medical treatment,
nontreatment, or spiritual treatment through prayer alone in
accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or
religious denomination, by an accredited practitioner thereof, and
shall not assume jurisdiction unless necessary to protect the child
from suffering serious physical harm or illness. In making its
determination, the court shall consider (1) the nature of the
treatment proposed by the parent or guardian, (2) the risks to the
child posed by the course of treatment or nontreatment proposed by
the parent or guardian, (3) the risk, if any, of the course of
treatment being proposed by the petitioning agency, and (4) the
likely success of the courses of treatment or nontreatment proposed
by the parent or guardian and agency. The child shall continue to be
a dependent child pursuant to this subdivision only so long as is
necessary to protect the child from risk of suffering serious
physical harm or illness.
   (c) The child is suffering serious emotional damage, or is at
substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage, evidenced by
severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive
behavior toward self or others, as a result of the conduct of the
parent or guardian or who has no parent or guardian capable of
providing appropriate care. No child shall be found to be a person
described by this subdivision if the willful failure of the parent or
guardian to provide adequate mental health treatment is based on a
sincerely held religious belief and if a less intrusive judicial
intervention is available.
   (d) The child has been sexually abused, or there is a substantial
risk that the child will be sexually abused, as defined in Section
11165.1 of the Penal Code, by his or her parent or guardian or a
member of his or her household, or the parent or guardian has failed
to adequately protect the child from sexual abuse when the parent or
guardian knew or reasonably should have known that the child was in
danger of sexual abuse.
   (e) The child is under the age of five years and has suffered
severe physical abuse by a parent, or by any person known by the
parent, if the parent knew or reasonably should have known that the
person was physically abusing the child. For the purposes of this
subdivision, "severe physical abuse" means any of the following: any
single act of abuse which causes physical trauma of sufficient
severity that, if left untreated, would cause permanent physical
disfigurement, permanent physical disability, or death; any single
act of sexual abuse which causes significant bleeding, deep bruising,
or significant external or internal swelling; or more than one act
of physical abuse, each of which causes bleeding, deep bruising,
significant external or internal swelling, bone fracture, or
unconsciousness; or the willful, prolonged failure to provide
adequate food. A child may not be removed from the physical custody
of his or her parent or guardian on the basis of a finding of severe
physical abuse unless the social worker has made an allegation of
severe physical abuse pursuant to Section 332.
   (f) The child's parent or guardian caused the death of another
child through abuse or neglect.
   (g) The child has been left without any provision for support;
physical custody of the child has been voluntarily surrendered
pursuant to Section 1255.7 of the Health and Safety Code and the
child has not been reclaimed within the 14-day period specified in
subdivision (e) of that section; the child's parent has been
incarcerated or institutionalized and cannot arrange for the care of
the child; or a relative or other adult custodian with whom the child
resides or has been left is unwilling or unable to provide care or
support for the child, the whereabouts of the parent are unknown, and
reasonable efforts to locate the parent have been unsuccessful.
   (h) The child has been freed for adoption by one or both parents
for 12 months by either relinquishment or termination of parental
rights or an adoption petition has not been granted.
   (i) The child has been subjected to an act or acts of cruelty by
the parent or guardian or a member of his or her household, or the
parent or guardian has failed to adequately protect the child from an
act or acts of cruelty when the parent or guardian knew or
reasonably should have known that the child was in danger of being
subjected to an act or acts of cruelty.
   (j) The child's sibling has been abused or neglected, as defined
in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (i), and there is a substantial
risk that the child will be abused or neglected, as defined in those
subdivisions. The court shall consider the circumstances surrounding
the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the age and gender of each
child, the nature of the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the mental
condition of the parent or guardian, and any other factors the court
considers probative in determining whether there is a substantial
risk to the child. 
   (k) The child has been a victim of identity theft, as defined in
Section 530.5 of the Penal Code, perpetrated by the parent or
guardian or a member of his or her household. 
   It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this section
disrupt the family unnecessarily or intrude inappropriately into
family life, prohibit the use of reasonable methods of parental
discipline, or prescribe a particular method of parenting. Further,
nothing in this section is intended to limit the offering of
voluntary services to those families in need of assistance but who do
not come within the descriptions of this section. To the extent that
savings accrue to the state from child welfare services funding
obtained as a result of the enactment of the act that enacted this
section, those savings shall be used to promote services which
support family maintenance and family reunification plans, such as
client transportation, out-of-home respite care, parenting training,
and the provision of temporary or emergency in-home caretakers and
persons teaching and demonstrating homemaking skills. The Legislature
further declares that a physical disability, such as blindness or
deafness, is no bar to the raising of happy and well-adjusted
children and that a court's determination pursuant to this section
shall center upon whether a parent's disability prevents him or her
from exercising care and control. The Legislature further declares
that a child whose parent has been adjudged a dependent child of the
court pursuant to this section shall not be considered to be at risk
of abuse or neglect solely because of the age, dependent status, or
foster care status of the parent.
   As used in this section, "guardian" means the legal guardian of
the child. 
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to protect minors from the harm they suffer when
a parent or other adult uses a minor's name to obtain a credit card,
and despite the fact that the credit card company subsequently voids
the fraudulent contract, the debts associated with the fraud
continue to be reported by a consumer reporting agency in connection
with the minor.