CA AB597

Authorizes Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo counties to jointly establish a computerized database system to share identifying information about families at risk for child abuse or neglect between and among those counties.

Allows the joint database system to share personal identifying information for research purposes upon approval by an institutional review board, with requirements for protecting confidentiality and limiting data use.

Requires institutional review boards to determine necessity of personal identifying information, permit access only to minimum necessary data, use unique subject codes instead of social security numbers when feasible, and allow counties to bill researchers for data protection costs.

Expands the definition of "provider agency" for the joint system to include local educational agencies in addition to existing entities like social services, health services, law enforcement, and schools.

Requires counties to decommission the joint database system if equivalent functionality becomes available in the statewide child welfare information system, and mandates removal of duplicative county database functions when functionality is deployed statewide.