By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
At the beginning of the current legislative session in January, Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) set out on a mission.
His goal was to reform California laws that automatically bar parents with violent felony convictions from receiving child-welfare reunification services — a term used in the child welfare system to describe support programs designed to safely return children to their biological parents or legal guardians.
Jackson, a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1201, legislation he wrote to end the way criminal records permanently separate families.
On June 23, AB 1201, the “ReUNITY Act,” passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with an 11-2 vote. The bill has now advanced to the Appropriations Committee for review.
“Too much of our justice system is now automated, meaning a judge cannot make a case-by-case decision,” Jackson told California Black Media (CBM). “When a parent has paid their debt to society, because of their criminal record they are unable to reunify with their children even though they pose no threat to them.”
Jackson continued, “In many cases, keeping a child away from their parent is actually doing much more harm.”
AB 1201 requires courts to provide reunification services to a parent convicted of a violent felony unless a preponderance of evidence shows reunification is not in the best interest of the child.
Jackson told CBM that family reunification provides a vital emotional anchor that actively reduces recidivism among formerly incarcerated people.
Existing law provides that reunification services do not need to be provided to a parent or guardian when the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the parent or guardian of the child has been convicted of a violent felony.
In the bill’s language, AB 1201 amends Section 361.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code of California to create a more nuanced, individualized, and trauma-informed approach to child-dependency cases.
About half of all children who exit foster care are safely reunited with their biological families, according to Child Trends, a leading nonpartisan research organization in the United States dedicated to improving the lives of children, youth, and their families.
However, parents with felony convictions or histories of incarceration are reunited with their children at significantly lower rates because they face strict legal deadlines — typically 15 to 22 months — and other barriers to demonstrating they can provide a safe and stable home.
“AB 1201 is just a detanglement of all that ‘tough on crime’ stuff from the 1980s and ’90s when we just put a whole lot of things on auto, similar to three strikes – you go to prison if you steal a piece of candy,” Jackson said. “Not every circumstance fits in the same way.”
Fidel Chagoya, an advocate and project manager for the All of Us or None program at Starting Over Inc., in Riverside appeared before the Judiciary Committee to share his experience of losing a child as a convicted felon even though he was making efforts to turn his life around.
“I am a formerly incarcerated parent who lost my rights as a parent,” Chagoya, who holds a certificate of rehabilitation and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from the University of Redlands, told the committee.
Chagoya’s daughter, his first child, was born in 2016 when he was 39 years old. He had been out of prison for six years and off parole for four. Chagoya said he worked tirelessly to create a stable life, securing steady employment, housing, and reliable transportation.
However, during childbirth, Chagoya’s daughter’s mother tested positive for opiates from“Tylenol with codeine” that a dentist prescribed, he said.
The fact that the mother had previously lost parental rights to her other children triggered the involvement of San Bernardino County’s Children and Family Services. The agency looked at Chagoya’s past criminal record and decided that “I should not have an opportunity to even reunify with my child,” he said.
“In 2019, Zoe was adopted out with 119 other children in San Bernardino County even though my prior criminal history had no bearing on whether I would be a good parent or not,” Chagoya told the committee. “If this change in law proposed by AB 1201 existed at the time of my case, I would have had an opportunity of getting reunification services with my daughter.”
AB 1201 officially passed on the Assembly floor on June 3 with a 55-15 vote before advancing to the Senate for consideration.
So far, there has been little public opposition to the bill. However, some lawmakers are registering their objection to the legislation through votes.
State Senators Roger Niello (R-Roseville) and Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) voted no against the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on June 23.
Jackson insists that his goal is simple: to end a “cookie-cutter approach” to child welfare.
“The question becomes, ‘are we a society that believes in redemption. Do we believe that a person can reform themselves, and be an asset to our community?’” Jackson said. “I say that because there are a whole host of people, including some of the people we celebrate today like Malcolm X, who have the longest rap sheets – but they became symbols of hope, resilience, and liberation.”