The Anti-Gang Violence Parental Accountability Act, AB 1291 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) passed the California State Assembly by a unanimous vote on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. AB 1291, would allow juvenile court judges to send the parents of young gang members to Anti-Gang Violence Parenting 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. 
   

Assemblymember Mendoza says, “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 require accountability. There are also many parents who want to keep their kids away from gangs but don't know where to turn for help. My bill will help in both situations. ”  AB1291 is co-authored by Assemblymember Anna Caballero, the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention.  The bill is supported by Los Angels County Sheriff Lee Baca, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and the cities of Cerritos, Norwalk, Whittier, and Santa Fe Springs as well as council members from the cities of Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens.