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As promised last week, Senator Ben Hueso has introduced the Senior and Disability Justice Act, Senate Bill 338.
The Arc-UCP California Collaboration and the McGeorge School of Law’s Elder and Health Law Clinic are sponsoring this major bill, which has these stated intents:
- “(1) List in one place all of law enforcement agencies’ statutory powers and responsibilities that are particular to protecting senior citizens, and adults and children with disabilities, while making no changes in these powers and responsibilities.
- “(2) Draw the attention of law enforcement agencies and the public to the wide extent of abuse, sexual assault, hate crimes, domestic violence, and other serious crimes against adults and children with disabilities, including disabilities caused by advanced age.
- “(3) Reinforce understanding of the fact that elder and dependent adult abuse is a crime, not merely a civil matter.
- “(4) Strongly encourage every local law enforcement agency to adopt a comprehensive policy concerning these crimes, including effective, accountable, and locally developed protocols for carrying out the agency’s existing responsibilities.
- “(5) Build greater cooperation and collaboration among law enforcement agencies and other agencies with overlapping responsibilities for response to, and investigation of, these crimes, making no change in those responsibilities, while also reinforcing that law enforcement agencies retain exclusive responsibility for criminal investigations.
- “(6) Increase respect for, and protection of, people with disabilities by further clarifying that the statutory terms ‘dependent adult’ and ‘dependent person’ extend legal protections to many people with disabilities regardless of the fact that they live independently.”
It won’t be easy to pass this very ambitious bill. We’ll need your help. Please feel free to write me with any questions.
Greg DeGiere, Civil Rights Coordinator, The Arc of California