(Sacramento, CA) - Assemblymember Tony Mendoza’s  (D-Artesia) Anti-Gang Violence Parental Accountability Act, AB 1291, passed the Assembly Insurance Committee by a unanimous vote today.  It is one of two bills in Mendoza’s Anti-Gang Violence Package.  The second bill, AB 1290, which creates an Anti-Gang Violence Joint Powers Authority in four districts in California to help law enforcement agencies share resources and get grant funding, passed with only one opposing vote. AB 1290 also calls for the business community, non-profit organizations and others to unite to find suitable job training, jobs and positive recreational activities to help keep kids from participating in gangs.

Both bills were supported by the cities of Cerritos, Norwalk, Whittier, and Santa Fe Springs as well as council members from the cities of Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens.   The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office also supported the bills.  Deputy District Attorney Michael Enomoto Jr. from the Hardcore Gang Division testified in support. .  
    
Anti-Gang Violence Parental Accountability Act

The AGPA classes
AB 1291 also establishes an outline for the curriculum which would include:

1. teaching parents how to identify gang and drug activity in their kids,
2. how to communicate with adolescents,
3. an overview and the contacts for alcohol and drug abuse intervention agencies,
4. where and how to get educational support,
5. where to go for job training and positive recreational activities for youth,
6. a primer on the fines and lengths or incarceration which their children will be subjected to if convicted of further crimes,
7. and also the potential penalties to parents for hiding, aiding or abetting their own children when a crime is committed.

The Act calls for the program to be funded by requiring parents to pay for the classes.  Howeve291 also establishes an alternative payment plan for the fees to be paid.  The intent of AB 1291 is to serve as both an informational/educational service and a deterrent by requiring the parent’s time and fees.

Assemblymember Mendoza says, “We need to help some parents take back control of their kids.  There are many parents who want to keep their kids away from gangs but don't know where to turn for help.  There are good parents whose kids, for some reason or another, commit violent crimes.  AB 1291 allows judges and probation officers to exempt those families. Sadly, however, there are also parents whose own dependencies and other problems are so severe that they themselves are to blame for the kids seeking gangs.  We need to break the cycle of gang activity in families and stop the revolving door of juvenile gang-members going in and out of jail. The Anti-Gang Parental Accountability Bill is a great first step because it's flexible enough for all family situations”  

“We must hold parents accountable for the actions of their children by requiring them to take parenting classes and pay for them.  When someone commits a moving violation we send them to driving school.  When someone drives drunk we send them to dependency classes, but when someone can’t control their kids, we look the other way.  It’s time we not only require accountability but also step in to help,” he adds.