Proposed bill aimed at requiring background checks for informal guardians

Murder suspects Tami Huntsman and Gonzalo Curiel were back in court on Friday as their lawyers tried to set a date for a preliminary hearing. The two are accused of killing Delylah Tara, 3, and Shaun Tara, 6, and abusing a 9-year-old girl.

Huntsman was looking after the children because their mother died in a car crash and their father is behind bars in southern California.

“I think, in this tragic case in Salinas, I think it showed that our system failed them,” said 30th District Assembly Member Luis Alejo.

In light of what happened to Delylah and Shaun, assembly member Alejo said he wants to close a loophole, and this week, introduce Assembly Bill 2380.

“We searched the law and found that when the only remaining parent is incarcerated, many times kids are sent with friends or with relatives without there being any safeguards, any background checks for these adults that are going to be taking responsibility of these children,” Alejo said.

AB 2380 calls for background checks for proposed guardians picked by incarcerated parents. These Department of Justice background checks are intended to weed out violent criminals and make sure the person is suitable to become the guardian.

According to a news release by Alejo’s office, “If a background check yields any criminal record, AB 2380 would require a potential custodian to apply to DSS for permission to become guardian of the child, giving DSS the responsibility to accept or reject that person. Certain potential custodians, including another parent and the child’s adult siblings, would be exempt from this provision of AB 2380.”

While he wasn’t available for an on-camera interview on Friday, Elliott Robinson, the director of Monterey County’s Department of Social Services, released a statement, reading, in part:

“Protecting children is our mission and preventing the informal placement of children in unsafe homes is a valuable resource in achieving safety and well-being for children. This bill provides a new tool to help incarcerated parents assure the safety of their children. As it works its way through the legislature, it will be important to make sure that it is sufficiently resourced to make sure the background checks can be well implemented, and that incarcerated parents have options to help them make placement decisions when their informal options are limited.

I’m so glad Assembly Member Alejo is carrying this bill, and that the legislature will be paying attention to the well-being of the children of people who are incarcerated.”

The bill could go forward by late March or early April.