_________________________ 

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

State of California 

ROB BONTA 

Attorney General 

: 

OPINION : No. 19-301 

: 

of : September 29, 2022 

: 

ROB BONTA : 

Attorney General : 

: 

MARC J. NOLAN1 : 

Deputy Attorney General : 

: 

THE HONORABLE KARIN E. SCHWAB, COUNTY COUNSEL OF PLACER 

COUNTY, has requested an opinion on a question related to the Child Abuse and Neglect 

Reporting Act. 

QUESTION PRESENTED AND CONCLUSION 

Is a paid unlicensed victim advocate working with commercially sexually 

exploited children, or children at risk of becoming commercially sexually exploited, a 

mandated reporter under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA)? 

As a general matter, no. Paid victim advocates are not on CANRA’s list of 

mandated reporters of child abuse. But these advocates will nonetheless meet CANRA’s 

definition of a mandated reporter if they perform a function, such as supervising children 

as part of their employment, that places them in an enumerated reporter category under 

1 This opinion reflects substantial research, analysis, and drafting by former Deputy 

Attorney General Diane Eisenberg, who led the work on this opinion until her retirement. 

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CANRA. And some paid victim advocates are mandated reporters because they have a 

license that places them in an enumerated reporter category. 

BACKGROUND 

Statutory Framework 

The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (“CANRA” or “Act”) is a 

comprehensive statutory scheme designed to prevent and remediate child abuse and 

neglect by mandating that certain classes of individuals report instances of known or 

suspected child abuse or neglect.2 The Act reflects the state’s compelling interest in 

preventing child abuse and is “premised on the belief that reporting suspected abuse is 

fundamental to protecting children.”3 Its objective is “to identify victims, bring them to 

the attention of the authorities, and, where warranted, permit intervention.”4 At the same 

time, persons investigating cases of suspected abuse must “consider the needs of the child 

victim and . . . do whatever is necessary to prevent psychological harm to the child 

victim.”5 

The question presented here focuses on those whom the Act designates as 

mandated reporters for known or suspected “commercial sexual exploitation” of children. 

CANRA defines “child abuse or neglect” to include the sexual abuse of a child, which in 

turn means sexual assault, sexual exploitation, or commercial sexual exploitation of a 

child.6 The commercial sexual exploitation of a child refers to either the sexual 

trafficking of a child, or the provision of food, shelter, or payment in exchange for the 

performance of any of a number of sexual acts.7 The California Department of Social 

2 Pen. Code, §§ 11164-11174.3; see Dwight R. v. Christy B. (2013) 212 Cal.App.4th 697, 

707; Castillo v. County of Los Angeles (C.D. Cal. 2013) 959 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1260. 

3 Stecks v. Young (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 365, 371; see also Pen. Code, § 11164, subd. (b) 

(intent and purpose of CANRA is to protect children from abuse and neglect). 

4 Stecks v. Young, supra, 38 Cal.App.4th at p. 371. 

5 Pen. Code, § 11164, subd. (b). 

6 Pen. Code, §§ 11165.6, 11165.1. CANRA defines “child” as a person under the age of 

18 years. (Pen. Code, § 11165.) This opinion uses the terms “child” and “minor” 

interchangeably unless indicated otherwise. 

7 Pen. Code, § 11165.1, subd. (d). 

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Services thus defines a commercially sexually exploited child as a child who is sexually 

trafficked or who receives anything of value for the performance of a sex act.8 

CANRA requires a mandated reporter to make a report whenever that person, 

within the person’s professional capacity or scope of employment, “has knowledge of or 

observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the 

victim of child abuse or neglect.”9 The report must be made to a police department, 

sheriff’s department, county probation department, or county welfare department, and is 

then investigated by local law enforcement or another local authority, as specified.10 A 

report must include the name and contact information of the mandated reporter; the 

capacity that makes the person a mandated reporter; the information that gave rise to the 

reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect and the source of that information; and, if 

known, certain other information about the child, the child’s parents, and the person or 

persons who might have abused or neglected the child.11 

A mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known or reasonably 

suspected child abuse or neglect is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six 

months confinement in a county jail, or a fine of $1,000, or both.12 CANRA confers on 

mandated reporters absolute immunity from civil or criminal liability for any required or 

authorized report, even if the reporter knowingly or recklessly makes a false report.13 For 

persons who make reports but are not designated as mandated reporters, CANRA 

provides only a qualified immunity: a non-mandated reporter is immune from civil or 

8 Cal. Dept. of Social Services, Health and Human Services Agency, All County Letter 

No. 16-85 (Sept. 30, 2016) p. 5, 

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/lettersnotices/entres/getinfo/acl/2016/16-85.pdf (as of 

September 28, 2022); see also Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subd. (b)(2). 

9 Pen. Code, § 11166, subd. (a). 

10 Pen. Code, §§ 11165.9, 11166, subds. (a), (j). 

11 Pen. Code, § 11167, subd. (a). 

12 Pen. Code, § 11166, subd. (c); see also Pen. Code, § 11166.01, subd. (b) (providing for 

enhanced penalties under specified circumstances). 

13 Pen. Code, § 11172, subd. (a); Dwight R. v. Christy B., supra, 212 Cal.App.4th at 

p. 708; Arce v. County of Los Angeles (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 1455, 1485 (immunity 

extends even to negligent, knowingly false, or malicious reports of abuse). 

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criminal liability unless it can be proven that the person knowingly made a false report or 

made a report with reckless disregard of the truth.14 

Paid Victim Advocates 

This opinion request asks about the reporting status of paid unlicensed victim 

advocates, giving the example of employees who work as domestic violence counselors, 

sexual assault counselors, or human trafficking caseworkers, but are not licensed 

therapists or interns. Although CANRA does not define these terms, federal law defines 

“victim advocate” as someone who provides services to victims under the auspices of a 

victim services program, and defines “victim service provider” as an organization or 

entity that provides services at low or no cost to victims of domestic or dating violence, 

sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.15 This includes rape crisis centers, 

shelters, and programs that provide crisis intervention, counseling, victim advocacy, or 

other supportive services.16 Many victim service providers offer programs and services 

specifically designed to assist commercially sexually exploited youth.17 

Victim advocates are trained to assist, counsel, and provide guidance to victims.18 

And advocates for commercially sexually exploited children have often received 

14 Pen. Code, § 11172, subd. (a); Dwight R. v. Christy B., supra, 212 Cal.App.4th at 

p. 708 (referring to “voluntary reporters”); Elijah W. v. Super. Ct. (2013) 216 

Cal.App.4th 140, 154, fn. 10 (referring to “discretionary reporters”). 

15 See U.S.C. § 12291(a)(48) (Violence Against Women Act). See, e.g., 34 U.S.C. 

§ 12291(a)(50). Victim service providers often receive federal funding through grant 

programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent 

legislation. (See U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, OVW Grants 

and Programs, https://www.justice.gov/ovw/grant-programs [as of Sep. 28, 2022].) 

16 See Civ. Code, § 1798.79.8, subd. (c); 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(50). Advocacy may 

involve legal, economic, medical, civil or criminal justice, immigration, and social 

support systems issues; additional services that may be offered by providers include 

accompaniment services, community education and outreach, telephonic or web-based 

hotlines, and information and referrals. (See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(51); Pen. Code, 

§ 13837, subd. (b)(2).) 

17 See, e.g., Pen. Code, § 13837, subds. (a), (b)(1), (b)(2)(A)-(H) (providing for grants to 

child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse victim counseling centers and prevention 

programs, and specifying services that providers must offer). 

18 94 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 66, 68 (2011) (describing role of advocate assisting victims of 

sexual assault). 

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extensive training in the dynamics of exploitation and strategies for engaging with 

commercially sexually exploited children.

19 While many victim advocates lack a 

professional license, their training in relevant areas allows them to do some work similar 

to that of a licensed professional.20 For example, in California, both licensed and 

unlicensed individuals may qualify to provide services as sexual assault counselors, 

domestic violence counselors, and human trafficking caseworkers.21 

The relationship between a child and a victim service provider or victim advocate 

is usually voluntary and can be terminated by the child.22 Victim service providers and 

victim advocates are under an ethical duty to protect the confidential communications and 

records of those they assist, unless legally compelled to disclose the confidential 

19 Child Welfare Council CSEC Action Team, Memorandum of Understanding Template 

for State and Federal Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Requirements 

(2016) p. 19, https://caltribalfamilies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CSEC_MOUFINAL-111816.pdf (as of Sep. 28, 2022). 

20 A license, in this context, is permission granted under state authority, in recognition of 

specified qualifications, to engage in a profession or occupation regulated by the 

Business and Professions Code. (See Bus. & Prof. Code, § 23.7; see also Catharina J.H. 

Dubbelday, The Psychotherapist-Client Testimonial Privilege: Defining the Professional 

Involved (1985) 34 Emory L.J. 777, 816. The article notes that being able to employ 

unlicensed victim advocates enables service providers to assist greater numbers of 

victims who lack the financial resources to obtain services from for-profit providers. (Id. 

at pp. 815-816.) 

21 A person may qualify to be a sexual assault counselor or a human trafficking 

caseworker either through having some combination of professional license, advanced 

degree, and relevant experience, as specified, or by having completed a minimum of 40 

hours of training in relevant areas, as specified. (Evid. Code, §§ 1035.2 [sexual assault 

counselor], 1038.2, subd. (c) [human trafficking caseworker].) A sexual assault 

counselor must also have received a certificate evidencing completion of a training 

program issued by a counseling center that meets specified requirements. (Evid. Code, 

§ 1035.2, subd. (a).) A person may qualify to be a domestic violence counselor by 

completing a minimum of 40 hours of training in relevant areas, as specified. (Evid. 

Code, § 1037.1.) 

22 However, minors under the age of 16 who are victims of sex crimes and are already 

involved in the juvenile court system, and who refuse to testify in a matter, may be 

required to meet with a victim advocate, as specified. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1219.5.) 

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information.23 And certain victim advocates also have a legal duty to protect the 

confidentiality of communications between the victim and the advocate, unless disclosure 

is legally required or there is a waiver of the protection.24 

As to the specific request that we address the reporting status under CANRA of 

paid victim advocates, we understand that the requestor intends to distinguish this group 

from unpaid volunteers. As a general rule, “volunteers of public or private organizations 

whose duties require direct contact with and supervision of children are not mandated 

reporters” under CANRA.25 

ANALYSIS 

CANRA Does Not Designate Paid Victim Advocates As Mandated Reporters 

CANRA lists mandated reporters in Penal Code section 11165.7(a), which 

contains numerous subdivisions identifying mandated reporter categories.26 Many of 

these subdivisions include multiple occupations and positions. For example, section 

11165.7(a)(15) designates as a mandated reporter a “social worker, probation officer, or 

parole officer.” And subdivision (a)(21) provides that a mandated reporter is any 

“physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist, resident, intern, podiatrist, 

chiropractor, licensed nurse, dental hygienist, optometrist, marriage and family therapist, 

clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or any other person who is 

23 See Off. for Victims of Crime, U.S. Off. of Justice Programs, Achieving Excellence: 

Model Standards for Serving Victims and Survivors of Crime, Ethical Standard 3.1, 

https://ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh226/files/modelstandards/6/ethical_standards_3.html (as of Sep. 28, 2022). 

24 Evid. Code, §§ 1035.4, 1036, 1037.2, 1037.6, 1038, 1038.1. 

25 Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (b) (providing that such persons are nonetheless 

“encouraged to obtain training in the identification and reporting of child abuse and 

neglect and are further encouraged to report known or suspected instances of child abuse 

or neglect . . . .”) CANRA establishes a different rule for volunteers of a Court 

Appointed Special Advocate program. Such volunteers are mandated reporters. (Pen. 

Code, § 11165.7, subds. (a)(35), (b).) 

26 Penal Code section 11165.7(a) consists of an introductory clause—“As used in this 

article, ‘mandated reporter’ is defined as any of the following:”—followed by 49 

separate, numbered subdivisions. 

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currently licensed under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and 

Professions Code.”27 

The extensive list of mandated reporters in Penal Code section 11165.7(a) does 

not include “victim advocate” (whether paid or unpaid). Nor does it include the specific 

victim advocate positions identified this opinion request of sexual assault counselor, 

domestic violence counselor, or human trafficking caseworker. As the Court of Appeal 

has observed, the Legislature intended that section 11165.7(a) set forth a comprehensive 

list of mandated reporters.28 We therefore start from the premise that individuals who are 

not in a listed category in some capacity are not mandated reporters. This comports with 

the maxim “expressio unius est exclusio alterius,” the principle that the expression of 

certain things in a statute necessarily involves exclusion of other things not expressed.29 

The Legislature has frequently revisited the issue of who should be a mandated 

reporter of known or suspected child abuse. Penal Code section 11165.7 has been 

amended 27 times since the enactment of CANRA in 1987, and the Child Abuse 

Reporting Law, which preceded CANRA, was amended 62 times between 1981 and 

1987.30 Many of those amendments have expanded the list of mandated reporters to 

include additional occupations and positions.31 But the Legislature has never added 

victim advocates to the list of mandated reporters. 

27 Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subds. (a)(15), (a)(21). Division 2 of the Business and 

Professions Code, which is referenced in subdivision (a)(21) of Penal Code section 

11165.7, is titled “Healing Arts.” This division contains provisions on licensed 

professionals, such as clinical laboratory technologists, midwives, speech-language 

pathologists and audiologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, naturopathic 

doctors, psychiatric technicians, and educational psychologists, who are not explicitly 

named in subdivision (a)(21), but are mandated reporters by virtue of being licensed 

under Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code. (See Bus. & Prof. Code, 

§§ 1260-1264, 2512.5, 2532, 2532.2, 2570.3, 2635, 2636, 3630, 4510, 4511, 4989.20 

[licensure requirements for these professions].) 

28 See P.S. v. San Bernardino City Unified School Dist. (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 953, 963. 

29 Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair Empl. & Hous. Commn. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1379, 1391, fn. 13, 

citation omitted (Dyna-Med). 

30 Sen. Jud. Com., Analysis of Sen. Bill No. 1219 (1987-1988 Reg. Sess.) as amended 

May 14, 1987, May 19, 1987, p. 1. 

31 See Stecks v. Young, supra, 38 Cal.App.4th at p. 371. 

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Moreover, the Legislature has at least once considered designating certain 

unlicensed victim advocates as mandated reporters, but rejected the proposal. In 1983, 

the Legislature considered a bill to amend the Child Abuse Reporting Law, the 

predecessor to CANRA.32 One provision of this bill would have added certain social 

workers and counselors to the list of “nonmedical practitioners” required to report known 

or suspected child abuse.33 The purpose of the proposed provision was to ensure that 

these practitioners would be entitled to the same immunity from liability for reporting 

suspected cases of child abuse as were professionals who were already designated as 

having the duty to report.34 But the provision was removed from the bill before it was 

passed. While we refrain from ascribing undue significance to this deletion, we can infer 

that, at least at that time, the Legislature did not intend for certain unlicensed victim 

advocates to be required to report known or suspected child abuse.35 

The history of amendments to the Child Abuse Reporting Law and to CANRA 

also shows that when the Legislature has become aware of a gap or ambiguity in the 

mandated reporter provisions that it wishes to remedy, it has taken action to resolve the 

issue. A recent amendment to section 11165.7(a), pertaining in part to the reporting 

status of another group of unlicensed professionals, is illustrative. In 2019, the 

Legislature considered a bill to add a group of professionals collectively referred to as 

qualified autism service professionals to the list of mandated reporters in Penal Code 

section 11165.7(a). The Legislature was informed that some qualified autism service 

professionals were already mandated reporters because they also occupied another 

category on the list, such as physician, occupational therapist, or social worker.36 But 

32 Sen. Bill No. 874 (1983-1984 Reg. Sess.) § 3, as introduced Mar. 3, 1983. 

33 Id. At that time, the Child Abuse Reporting Law listed those required to report known 

or suspected child abuse (the term “mandated reporter” was not yet used) under the 

categories of “child care custodian,” “medical practitioner,” “nonmedical practitioner,” 

“child protective agency,” and “commercial film and photographic print processor.” 

(Former Pen. Code, § 11165, subds. (h)-(l).) 

34 Sen. Com. Jud., Analysis of Sen. Bill No. 874 (1983-1984 Reg. Sess.) as introduced 

Mar. 3, 1983, p. 4. 

35 “The evolution of a proposed statute after its original introduction is helpful when 

determining legislative intent,” and the Legislature’s rejection of a specific provision 

which appeared in the original version of a bill supports the conclusion that the enacted 

legislation should not be construed to include the omitted provision. (People v. 

Tingcungco (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 249, 256, citation omitted.) 

36 Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 189 (2019-2020 Reg. 

Sess.) as introduced Jan. 10, 2019, p. 4. 

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other providers were not expressly covered by the mandated reporter provisions in effect 

at the time, and were unsure about whether they had a statutory duty to report.37 

Informed that all qualified autism service professionals serve the same population, 

regardless of whether they are licensed or unlicensed,38 the Legislature amended section 

11165.7 to expressly add three sub-groups of qualified autism service professionals, 

including the group of unlicensed providers, to the list of mandated reporters in section 

11165.7(a).39 

The Legislature might similarly find it anomalous that victim advocates who do 

the same or similar work nonetheless have different reporting statuses under CANRA 

depending on whether they are licensed in some other capacity. But we cannot say that 

distinguishing mandated from non-mandated reporters on this basis produces an absurd 

or wholly irrational result, such that we could imply or presume a reporting requirement 

for victim advocates who lack a specified professional license.40 Certain commenters 

argue there is good reason for leaving this particular category of persons outside of 

CANRA’s mandates. Some victim advocates, for example, noting the factors described 

earlier that prevent or hinder commercially sexually exploited youth from seeking help, 

maintain that winning the children’s trust by protecting their confidential information is 

vital to the advocates’ ability to provide effective assistance. One commenter has 

suggested that by not designating paid victim advocates as mandated reporters, the 

Legislature has allowed for multiple paths for victims to seek assistance or to find safety, 

since almost everyone else who becomes involved with a vulnerable or at-risk child in a 

professional capacity is already a mandated reporter. That commenter and others further 

suggest that when advocates can gain the trust of victims, the victims are in fact more 

likely to consent to the eventual disclosure of the abuse to authorities, and to cooperate in 

an investigation. They argue that positioning some victim advocates outside the reach of 

the reporting mandate helps to effectuate CANRA’s objectives. 

37 Ibid. 

38 Assem. Com. on Appropriations, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 189 (2019-2020 Reg. 

Sess.) as introduced Jan. 10, 2019, pp. 2-3. 

39 Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (a)(47), added by Stats. 2019, ch. 674 (A.B. 189), § 1, eff. 

Jan. 1, 2020 (adding a “qualified autism service provider, a qualified autism service 

professional, or a qualified autism service paraprofessional,” as defined). 

40 Dyna-Med, supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 1392 (we are to avoid an interpretation of a statute 

that would lead to absurd result); see also People v. Hacker Emporium, Inc. (1971) 

15 Cal.App.3d 474, 477. 

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Conversely, commenters from law enforcement and county government agencies 

argue that a mandated reporting requirement for paid victim advocates would give effect 

to the Legislature’s intent that as many commercially sexually exploited children are 

identified to authorities as possible. This is important, they say, not only for being able to 

ensure appropriate intervention for and protection of that particular child, but also for the 

benefit and protection of other actual and potential child victims, who cannot be protected 

if both they and the perpetrators of the exploitation and abuse remain hidden from view. 

Obviously, there are profound policy considerations on both sides of this issue. It 

is not within our province, however, to exercise our own judgments or notions respecting 

legislative policy, wisdom, or expediency.41 It is within the Legislature’s purview to 

designate mandated reporters. As we have seen, should the Legislature wish to add paid 

victim advocates, regardless of licensure status, to the list of mandated reporters in Penal 

Code section 11165.7(a), it certainly knows how to do so. 

In light of the structure and history of CANRA, we conclude that paid victim 

advocates are not mandated reporters unless they also fall within an enumerated reporting 

category. Of course, some individuals employed in victim advocate capacities will be 

mandated reporters because they also have a license or perform a function that places 

them in an established reporter category. For example, licensed psychologists, 

professional clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists, are all mandated 

reporters by virtue of their licenses.42 In addition, as discussed in the next section below, 

a victim advocate is a mandated reporter if the advocate is an “employee of a public or 

private organization whose duties require direct contact [with] and supervision of 

children . . . .”43 

Although Some Victim Advocates May Supervise Children As Part Of Their Job 

Duties And Therefore Be Mandated Reporters, Supervising Children Is Not A 

Universal Job Duty Of Victim Advocates 

Some commenters argue that paid victim advocates are mandated reporters under 

Penal Code section 11165.7(a)(8), which designates as a mandated reporter “[a]n 

administrator, board member, or employee of a public or private organization whose 

duties require direct contact [with] and supervision of children, including a foster family 

agency.” In the context of working with commercially sexually exploited youth, paid 

41 67 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 225, 229 (1984). 

42 See Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (a)(21). 

43 Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subd. (a)(8). 

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victim advocates are typically “employees” who have “direct contact” with children. The 

harder question is whether their duties require “supervision of children.” 

Two authorities are offered to support the view that paid victim advocates are 

supervisors of children. The first, the 1995 case of Robbins v. Hamburger Home for 

Girls, concerned a 15-year-old girl who left home and stayed for several days at a private 

nonprofit shelter for abused and troubled girls, which was licensed by the state as a group 

home.44 While there, the girl reported to a resident counselor employed by the shelter 

that she had been physically abused by her father, and the counselor reported the 

allegation of abuse to the Department of Children’s Services.45 After the girl returned 

home with her parents, her parents sued the shelter and its counselors, alleging various 

violations of federal and state law.46 The Court of Appeal held that, with respect to 

making the report of abuse, the counselor and shelter were absolutely immune from 

liability pursuant to CANRA.47 The court found that the counselor and the shelter were 

mandated reporters, citing the language now located in section 11165.7(a)(8) – “duties 

[that] require direct contact and supervision of children.”48 It also cited another 

mandated reporter subcategory that covers “an employee of a child care institution 

including, but not limited to, . . . group home personnel, and personnel of residential care 

facilities.”49 

The second authority is a 1989 Attorney General opinion that concluded that a 

person who taught ballet at a private ballet school was required to report instances of 

44 Robbins v. Hamburger Home for Girls (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 671, 675 (Robbins). 

45 Id. at p. 676. 

46 Id. at pp. 675, 677-678. 

47 Id. at p. 679. 

48 At the time of the Robbins case, CANRA did not employ the term “mandated reporter” 

and did not list all mandated reporters in one section, as it does today. Instead, it grouped 

those who were required to report known or suspected abuse under several different 

broad classifications, such as “child care custodian” and “health practitioner.” (See 

former Penal Code sections 11165.7-11165.11 and 11165.15-11165.16.) The 

classification of “child care custodian” included “an administrator or employee of a 

public or private organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision of 

children”—as does subdivision (a)(8) of Penal Code section 11165.7 today. 

49 Id. at pp. 678-679. The quoted language now appears in Penal Code section 11165.7, 

subdivision (a)(14). 

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child abuse under CANRA.50 The basis for our conclusion in that opinion was that a 

ballet teacher at the school qualified as a “teacher,” according to that word’s ordinary 

meaning, and that CANRA expressly designated teachers as a subcategory of required 

reporters.51 The 1989 opinion did not interpret the phrase “direct contact [with] and 

supervision of children”; the provision containing that language was not added to 

CANRA until 1991.52 But the requestor asks us to look to our examination of the word 

“teacher” in this opinion as support for adopting a broad definition of the word 

“supervision” in relation to paid victim advocates and section 11165.7(a)(8). 

We agree that the residential counselor in Robbins and the ballet teacher in our 

prior opinion were both mandatory reporters, but this does not answer the question of 

whether all victim advocates’ duties require “supervision of children” within the meaning 

of section 11165.7(a)(8). There is no definition in CANRA of the term “supervision.” 

Therefore, in accordance with well-established principles of statutory construction, we 

look to the usual and ordinary meaning of the word in question, which may often be 

obtained by referring to a dictionary.53 The primary definition of “supervision” in 

relation to another is the “action or function of overseeing, directing, or taking charge of 

a person, organization, [or] activity.”54 Other provisions of section 11165.7(a) that 

identify mandated reporters use various forms of the word “supervision” in this sense, to 

denote oversight with the powers of direction and decision, including with respect to 

minors.55 Of additional relevance to the context of subdivision (a)(8), to “supervise” 

children may also mean to watch over them and be temporarily responsible for their care 

50 72 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 216, 216, 226 (1989). 

51 Ibid. We also noted that the predecessor to CANRA, the Child Abuse Reporting Law, 

had explicitly named private school teachers as having a duty to report, and we concluded 

that the unqualified term “teacher” as adopted in CANRA still encompassed both public 

and private school teachers. (Ibid.) 

52 Stats. 1991, ch. 132 (A.B. 1133), § 1. 

53 Smith v. Selma Community Hospital (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1, 30. 

54 Oxford English Dict. (3d ed. 2012, updated through June 2021) [“supervision”]. 

55See Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subds. (a)(5) (supervisor of child welfare and attendance in a 

school), (a)(41) (employee or administrator of a postsecondary educational institution 

who supervises those whose duties bring the administrator or employee into contact with 

children on a regular basis), (a)(49) (adult person whose duties require direct contact with 

and supervision of minors in the performance of the minors’ duties in the workplace of a 

business subject to regulation by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing). 

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or safety.56 But supervision of this nature is still generally invested with some measure 

of direction or control, which helps to ensure the child’s health and safety.57 The 

protection of others may also require the supervision and control of children. For 

example, a parent or legal guardian has a legal duty to exercise care, supervision, 

protection, and control over their minor children so that their children do not engage in 

delinquent acts.

58 

In the Robbins case, the resident counselor and the organization operating the 

shelter seem to have provided both oversight of and care to the girls who were 

temporarily living there. In a similar vein, we are informed by some victim service 

providers that their employees who spend a significant amount of their time staffing 

residential facilities that house or provide temporary shelter for children are considered 

by the providers to be mandated reporters. Assuming that these employees have duties 

that require supervision of children, we agree that they are mandated reporters under 

section 11165.7(a)(8). And, as noted above, depending on the type of facility, even 

employees who do not “supervise” children within the meaning of section 11165.7(a)(8) 

may be mandated reporters under other subdivisions of CANRA.59 

Because the term “victim advocate” can encompass a number of different job titles 

and roles, there will be some individuals who are referred to as victim advocates (or as 

domestic violence counselors, sexual assault counselors, or human trafficking 

caseworkers) who do have responsibility for the supervision of children. We agree that 

these individuals are mandated reporters. But we cannot say as a categorical matter that 

all victim advocates are supervisors of children. An advocate, generally speaking, is a 

56 Oxford English Dict. Online (3d ed. 2012, updated through Sept. 2021) [“supervise”]. 

57 In re Kadence P. (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 1376, 1384, citation omitted (absence of 

adequate supervision poses inherent risk to child’s health and safety); Welf. & Inst. Code, 

§ 300, subd. (b)(1) (risk of physical harm to child due to inadequate supervision). 

58 Pen. Code, § 272, subd. (a)(2); Williams v. Garcetti (1993) 5 Cal.4th 561, 571 

(specifically linking the duties of supervision and control). 

59 See, e.g., Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subds. (a)(7) (“An administrator or employee of a 

public or private youth center, youth recreation program, or youth organization” is a 

mandated reporter), (a)(10) (“A licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed 

community care or child daycare facility” is a mandated reporter); (a)(14) (“An employee 

of a childcare institution, including, but not limited to, foster parents, group home 

personnel, and personnel of residential care facilities” is a mandated reporter); Welf. & 

Inst. Code, § 307.5 (employees of certain programs for abused or neglected children are 

mandated reporters). 

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person who pleads for, speaks on behalf of, or supports another, and a victim advocate or 

child advocate is someone who advises on and protects the rights and needs of that 

person, and who “may act as his or her representative” in official contexts. 60 The 

essence of a victim advocate’s job, according to advocacy organizations, is to understand 

and respect the child victims’ perspectives, make them aware of their options, and try to 

restore in them a sense of control and self-determination.61 These activities are 

functionally different from exercising powers of decision over, or watching over, a child. 

We acknowledge that victim advocates may also sometimes provide supportive 

services, such as transportation or helping to arrange shelter or housing. But this kind of 

contact does not necessarily constitute supervision. The advocate may offer the service 

without imposing direction on the child. Similarly, a taxi driver who picks up and 

transports an unaccompanied teenager would not be thought of as “supervising” that 

teenager. In contrast to our conclusion in the 1989 Attorney General Opinion, which 

relied on the usual and ordinary meaning of the word “teacher,” the meaning of 

“supervision” urged on us here does not comport with our understanding of the usual role 

of a victim advocate, and is overly broad. In short, to advocate for or advise is not the 

same as to supervise. 

Other Considerations 

Certain commenters have concluded, as we have, that paid victim advocates are 

generally not mandated reporters under CANRA, but those commenters have relied on 

different grounds from those we have advanced. First, some victim service providers 

assert that designating paid victim advocates as mandated reporters would jeopardize 

sources of funding for their victim assistance programs, because mandatory reporting will 

conflict with their advocates’ ability to comply with confidentiality requisites upon which 

the funding is conditioned. While both federal and state grant programs typically make 

funding contingent on a provider’s commitment to rigorously protecting the 

60 Oxford English Dict. (3d ed. 2011, updated through June 2021) [“advocate”]. The 

Oxford English Dictionary refers to child and victim advocates as being “appointed,” but 

while some may be, such as court appointed special advocates, the victim advocates we 

consider here are not appointed by a governmental authority. 

61 The California Department of Social Services has recently endorsed this approach, 

which “involves promoting self-determination and essentially assisting youth in gaining, 

or re-establishing, their own sense of power,” in dealing with commercially sexually 

exploited youth. (Cal. Dept. of Social Services, Child Trafficking Response Unit, All 

County Information Notice No. I-59-18, Introduction to the Harm Reduction Strategies 

Series Regarding Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (Sept. 14, 2018) p. 7.) 

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confidentiality of its clients’ communications and records, they also permit legally 

mandated disclosures, including legally mandated reporting of abuse or neglect.62 The 

federal funding regimes we have reviewed thus appear to authorize compliance with state 

law, but they do not assist in determining what state law is, with respect to mandated 

reporting. Hence, while we appreciate the seriousness of concerns about funding, that 

consideration does not inform our interpretation of the scope of the statute. 

Second, some organizations suggest that victim advocates such as domestic 

violence counselors, human trafficking caseworkers, and sexual assault counselors are 

exempt from CANRA’s mandatory reporting requirement by virtue of the statutory 

privileges that attach to the relationships those advocates have with victims. We 

disagree. For domestic violence counselors and human trafficking caseworkers, the 

Evidence Code explicitly states that the applicable privileges do not negate the obligation 

of a mandated reporter to report known or suspected child abuse. Evidence Code 

sections 1037.3 and 1038.3 identically provide: “Nothing in this article shall be construed 

to limit any obligation to report instances of child abuse as required by Section 11166 of 

the Penal Code.”63 The sexual assault counselor privilege does not include this 

language,64 but for the following reasons we believe the legislative intent was the same 

for all three statutes. Importantly, both the domestic violence counselor-victim privilege 

and the human trafficking caseworker-victim privilege were expressly modeled on—and 

designed to be consistent with—the earlier enacted sexual assault counselor-victim 

62 See, e.g., 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(25), (b)(2)(A)-(C), (E) (Violence Against Women Act); 

42 U.S.C. § 10406(c)(5) (Family Violence and Services Act); 28 C.F.R. § 94.115(a), (b), 

(e) (Victims of Crime Act). Further analysis of the relationship between CANRA and 

any particular source of funding for victim service providers is beyond the scope of this 

Opinion. 

63 Evid. Code, §§ 1037.3 (domestic violence counselor-victim privilege), 1038.3 human 

trafficking victim-caseworker privilege). 

64 Evid. Code, §§ 1035-1036.2 (sexual assault counselor-victim privilege). 

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privilege.65 Indeed, when legislative committees cataloged the differences between the 

sexual assault counselor-victim and the domestic violence counselor privileges, they 

made no reference to the fact that the domestic violence counselor scheme contained the 

limitation expressed in Evidence Code section 1037.3 while the sexual assault counselor 

scheme did not contain a like provision.66 And when the Legislature added Evidence 

Code section 1038.3 to the human trafficking caseworker-victim privilege article, it 

characterized that section as a clarification, not a change of law, and declared the human 

trafficking caseworker-victim privilege to be “consistent with” the sexual assault 

counselor-victim and domestic violence counselor-victim privileges.67 

Thus, based on both the statutory language and legislative history of these 

privileges, we conclude that they do not take precedence over any duty to report known 

or suspected child abuse under CANRA. As discussed earlier, a mandated reporter has 

an affirmative duty to report known or suspected child abuse. This duty generally 

prevails even when the reporter otherwise has an ethical or legal obligation to maintain 

the confidentiality of communications with the person disclosing the abuse. We have 

previously concluded, for example, that the duty to report child abuse under the Child 

Abuse Reporting Law superseded statutory confidentiality provisions of the LantermanPetris-Short Act—provisions that, as we noted, were even more protective than any 

privilege established in the Evidence Code.68 Consistent with that view, we conclude that 

65 Assem. Com. on Judiciary, Analysis of Sen. Bill. No. 2040 (1985-1986 Reg. Sess.) as 

amended June 30, 1986, Jul. 8, 1986, p. 4 (domestic violence counselor-victim privilege 

“substantially similar” to sexual assault counselor-victim privilege); Assem. Com. on 

Public Safety, Analysis of Sen. Bill No. 2040 (1985-1986 Reg. Sess.) as amended June 

30, 1986, Aug. 18, 1986, p. 2 (domestic violence counselor-victim privilege “patterned 

on” sexual assault counselor-victim privilege); Sen. Com. on Judiciary, Analysis of 

Assem. Bill No. 22 (2005-2006 Reg. Sess.) as amended June 29, 2005, Jul. 12, 2005, p. 5 

(human trafficking caseworker-victim privilege “substantially the same” as sexual assault 

counselor-victim privilege). 

66 Assem. Com. on Judiciary, Analysis of Sen. Bill. No. 2040 (1985-1986 Reg. Sess.) as 

amended June 30, 1986, Jul. 8, 1986, p. 4; Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of 

Sen. Bill No. 2040 (1985-1986 Reg. Sess.) as amended June 30, 1986, Aug. 18, 1986, 

p. 2. 

67 Assem. Com. on Judiciary, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 1735 (2019-2020 Reg. Sess.) 

as introduced Feb. 22, 2019, Mar. 26, 2019, pp. 2, 4, 9, 10. 

68 65 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 345, 348, 353, 359 (1982); see also 68 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 313, 

320-322 (1985) (Reporting requirement of Elder Abuse Reporting Law took precedence 

over conflicting confidentiality provision in state law ombudsman act). 

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if a victim advocate also belongs to one or more of the mandated reporter categories 

specified by Penal Code section 11165.7(a), the duty to report takes precedence, even 

when confidential communications are protected from disclosure in other contexts by a 

statutory privilege. 

We are mindful that a determination as to whether paid victim advocates are, or 

are not, mandated reporters carries with it significant consequences for the advocates, 

their clients, and others who seek to assist commercially sexually exploited children and 

other victims of child abuse. As we have seen, there are differences between a mandated 

reporter’s and a non-mandated reporter’s legal exposure both for failing to report known 

or suspected abuse and for making a report that is known to be false or is made with 

reckless disregard of the truth.69 The extent to which paid domestic violence counselors, 

sexual assault counselors, and human trafficking caseworkers can maintain the 

confidentiality of their communications with victims, and the disclosures the advocates 

must make to clients about any limits on confidentiality, will also be different, depending 

on whether or not the advocates are deemed to be mandated reporters.70 In addition, the 

reporting status of victim advocates who collaborate with local government employees to 

work on multidisciplinary teams dealing with commercially sexually exploited and at-risk 

youth may affect the advocates’ obligations with respect to sharing information with 

other members of the team.71 Some commenters suggest, and we agree, that clarity from 

the Legislature in this area would be welcome. 

CONCLUSION 

In light of our examination of CANRA’s current language and structure, we 

conclude that paid victim advocates working with commercially sexually exploited 

children, or with children at risk of becoming commercially sexually exploited, are 

generally not mandated reporters under CANRA. This is not because these advocates are 

exempted from the reporting requirement by a statutory privilege, but rather because they 

are not included in the comprehensive list of reporters set forth in Penal Code section 

69 Pen. Code, §§ 11166, subd. (c), 11172, subd. (a). 

70 See, e.g., Pen. Code, 679.05, subd. (a); Evid. Code, §§ 1037.8, 1038, subd. (c) 

(requiring the counselor or caseworker to notify the client of any limitations on the 

confidentiality of communications between them). A mandated reporter would be 

required to inform the client that confidential information regarding child abuse would be 

disclosed to governmental authorities, with or without the client’s consent. 

71 See Pen. Code, §§ 11166.4, subds. (a), (b)(1), (e), 11167.5, subd. (b)(4), 13750, subds. 

(a), (d), (h)-(j), 13752, subds. (a), (c)-(h), 13753, subds. (a), (c)-(h); Welf. & Inst. Code, 

§§ 16524.7, subds. (a)(1), (a)(4), (d)(2)(A)-(B), 18961.7. 

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11165.7(a). But paid victim advocates may be mandated reporters in particular 

circumstances, for instance if they supervise children or have a license that places them in 

an enumerated reporter category. 

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