CA AB998

Authorizes cities, counties, city and counties, and community-based nonprofit organizations to establish domestic violence and human trafficking multidisciplinary personnel teams consisting of two or more trained professionals to prevent, identify, manage, and treat these crimes.

Permits team members to disclose and exchange confidential information relevant to domestic violence or human trafficking cases among themselves, with discussions and testimony about these exchanges remaining confidential and inadmissible in court proceedings unless required by law.

Requires team members with confidential information obtained from individuals to obtain informed, written, reasonably time-limited consent before disclosing that information, in compliance with all applicable state and federal confidentiality laws.

Mandates that each county develop protocols governing how information may be shared by multidisciplinary teams to prevent violations of state or federal law, with copies distributed to participating agencies.

Protects information and records communicated to team members as private and confidential, shielded from discovery and disclosure, with existing civil and criminal penalties applying to inappropriate disclosure.