California AB 2304: Nutrition Assistance: "Food as Medicine."

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 Bill Text - AB-2304 Social workers.

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 |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | Version: 06/24/26 - Amended Senate
 06/15/26 - Amended Senate
 04/16/26 - Amended Assembly
 03/23/26 - Amended Assembly
 02/19/26 - Introduced

 AB-2304 Social workers.(2025-2026)

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 Date Published: 06/24/2026 09:00 PM

AB2304:v95#DOCUMENTBill Start

 Amended
 IN 
 Senate
 June 24, 2026

 Amended
 IN 
 Senate
 June 15, 2026

 Amended
 IN 
 Assembly
 April 16, 2026

 Amended
 IN 
 Assembly
 March 23, 2026

 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

 Assembly Bill

No. 2304

Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Nguyen)

February 19, 2026

An act to amend Section 6201 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 369 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to social workers.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2304, as amended, Lackey.
 Social workers.

Existing law makes it a crime for a person having the custody of any record, map, or book, or of any paper or proceeding of any court, filed or deposited in any public office, or placed in their hands for any purpose to steal, remove, secrete, destroy, mutilate, deface, alter, or falsify, or to allow another to do any of those acts, with regard to the whole, or any part of, the record, map, book, paper, or proceeding. Existing law provides that if those acts are done by an officer, it is a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years, and, if done by a person who is not an officer, it is either a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years, or a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both.

This
 bill would clarify that, for the purposes of these provisions, a social worker employed by a county child welfare department is not an officer.

Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent or ward of the court under certain circumstances. Under existing law, if a minor child has been, or has a petition filed with the court to be, adjudged a dependent child of the court, and it appears the minor child needs immediate emergency treatment, a social worker may, without court order, authorize medical and other care for a minor,
 child, to be provided by a licensed physician and surgeon or dentist, as applicable.

This bill would require, if it reasonably appears that the child is in that situation, the social worker to secure care for the child. By increasing the duties of social workers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory
 provisions noted above.

Digest Key

 Vote:
 MAJORITY 
 Appropriation:
 NO 
 Fiscal Committee:
 YES 
 Local Program:
 YES 

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as Gabriel’s Law.

SEC. 2.

 Section 6201 of the Government Code is amended to read:

6201.

 A person who is not an officer referred to in Section 6200, including, but not limited to, a social worker employed by a county child welfare department, who is guilty of any of the acts specified in that section, is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 3.

 Section 369 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

369.

 (a) (1) If a person is taken into temporary custody under Article 7 (commencing with Section 305) and is in need of medical, surgical, dental, or other remedial care, the social worker may, upon the recommendation of the attending physician and surgeon or, if the person needs dental care and there is an attending dentist, the attending dentist, authorize the performance of the medical, surgical, dental, or other remedial care.

(2) The social worker shall notify the paren