Bill > A3627

Introduced Session

This bill would establish a predatory alienation prevention and consensual response system in the State. Predatory alienation occurs whenever a person or group uses predatory behaviors, such as entrapment, coercion, and undue influence (persuasion that overpowers a person's will), to establish a relationship with a victim and isolate the victim from existing relationships and support systems, with the goal of gaining and retaining sweeping control over the victim's actions and decisions. Predatory alienation tactics and other forms of undue influence are commonly used by cults, religious sects, gangs, extremist groups, human traffickers, sexual predators, domestic abusers, and other similar persons and groups, as a means to recruit members, carry out crimes, spread their belief systems, advocate their political agendas, or simply impose their will on, and exert power, control, and supremacy over, victims. Nevertheless, because compulsive third-party influence and control are difficult things to measure, it is often hard to prove that an individual is being victimized by coercive or compulsive third-party tactics and is not making their own independent life decisions in that regard. By establishing a system that focuses on front-line prevention efforts, and that provides for consensual (as opposed to mandatory and involuntary) counseling and treatment in response to victimization, the State can better protect individuals from predatory alienation and undue influence without questioning the legitimacy of their personal decisions or otherwise infringing upon their personal liberty or autonomy. Specifically, under the bill, the Commissioner of Human Services would work to lessen the effectiveness of predatory alienation tactics and other methods of undue influence through the use of extensive public education, proactive screening, and the facilitation of consensual counseling and treatment for victims and concerned third parties (i.e., the family members or friends of people who are susceptible to, or victims of, predatory alienation or undue influence). The bill requires the commissioner's public awareness campaign to include two components: 1) the dissemination of targeted information to vulnerable populations, concerned third parties, professional actors, and the general public; and 2) the provision of in-person training on predatory alienation, undue influence, and healthy relationship building at facilities that serve vulnerable populations. The bill defines "vulnerable population" to include children, young adults, senior citizens, veterans, individuals with developmental disabilities, and incarcerated individuals, as well as any other population group whose members are deemed by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to be inherently vulnerable to predatory alienation or other undue influence, due to age, physical or mental incapacity or fragility, or other distinguishing characteristics that are held in common by all, or the majority of, the group's members. The bill also requires the DHS to operate a predatory alienation counseling referral system, which would be accessible by phone, in person, or over the Internet. The counseling referral system would be designed to: 1) assist concerned third parties by connecting them to legal experts, health care and mental health care practitioners, and support groups who would be able to assess the situation of concern and identify avenues that can be pursued by the concerned third party to prevent further harm to, or further alienation or undue influence of, the victim; and 2) assist victims of predatory alienation or other undue influence both by connecting them to legal experts, health care and mental health care practitioners, and support groups that can provide consensual, culturally sensitive counseling and health care to address the victim's trauma, and by connecting them to shelters, financial aid resources, and other resources and services that are available for trauma survivors. Finally, the commissioner would be required to develop a comprehensive screening and assessment tool to facilitate the identification of, and the provision of consensual assistance to, individuals who are personally susceptible to, or are being victimized by, predatory alienation or undue influence. The screening and assessment tool would be used to evaluate individual clients, patients, or residents, as appropriate, at hospital emergency rooms and private medical offices; retirement homes and senior centers; nursing homes and other long-term care facilities; group homes, community care residences, and day programs serving individuals with developmental disabilities; churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious institutions; educational institutions and child care facilities; law enforcement agencies; veterans' affairs agencies and associations; correctional institutions; and other appropriate facilities serving vulnerable populations. If the predatory alienation screening and assessment tool indicates that an individual is personally susceptible to predatory alienation or other undue influence, the DHS-certified screener would be required, under the bill, to: 1) notify the individual and the individual's authorized family members of this determination and the factors that support the determination; 2) provide the individual and the individual's authorized family members with appropriate informational materials on predatory alienation, undue influence, and healthy relationship building, which have been developed by the department pursuant to the bill; and 3) refer the individual to an in-person training session on predatory alienation and healthy relationship building, which is offered either at the facility where the screening was performed or at another facility that is located within the individual's county of residence. If the predatory alienation screening and assessment tool indicates that an individual is the victim of predatory alienation or other undue influence, the screener would be required to: 1) notify the individual and the individual's authorized family members of this determination and the factors that support the determination; 2) provide the individual and the individual's authorized family members with appropriate informational materials on undue influence, predatory alienation, and healthy relationship building, which have been developed by the department; 3) refer the individual and the individual's authorized family members to the State's predatory alienation counseling referral system, and, to the extent practicable, offer to provide the individual and the individual's authorized family members with direct access to the counseling referral system while they are still present at the facility; and 4) as appropriate, and based on the capabilities of professionals employed at the facility, offer to immediately provide the individual with consensual counseling or treatment at the facility, in order to begin addressing the trauma suffered thereby. Each facility performing screening assessments under the bill would be required to annually submit a screening report to the DHS, which includes aggregate and de-identified information about the results of screening assessments performed at the facility. The DHS would similarly be required to annually submit a written report on predatory alienation to the Governor and Legislature. This report would include: 1) a de-identified aggregate summary of the annual screening data reported by facilities; 2) an indication of the number and location of in-person training sessions that were offered in each county during the reporting period and the total number of distinct individuals who participated in those training sessions; and 3) an indication of the number and type of referral requests that were submitted through the predatory alienation counseling referral system and the average and mean amount of time that elapsed between the submission of a request and the issuance of associated referrals. The report would also include a representative sample of informational materials prepared by the department; information showing the frequency of victimization occurring among members of various vulnerable populations; an analysis of trends in the data; an evaluation of the reach and effectiveness of the predatory alienation prevention and consensual response system; and recommendations for executive, legislative, or other action necessary to improve the system.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Carol Murphy (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee (on 02/12/2024)

Official Document