Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, aimed at strengthening protections for abused children, Lackey’s office announced Monday.
Assembly Bill 2304, known as Gabriel’s Law, is named for 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, whose 2013 death after months of abuse drew widespread attention to failures in the child welfare system.
The measure requires a social worker to ensure a child receives appropriate medical care when the child appears to need immediate emergency medical, surgical or other remedial care. It also clarifies that social workers who knowingly falsify or manipulate official records can be held accountable under existing law, according to Lackey’s office.
“I have carried this bill for years, and I cannot put into words what it means to finally see Gabriel’s Law be signed,” Lackey said. “We came back, we made changes, we fought again, and we refused to let another rejection be the end of this effort.”
Lackey said Gabriel “was never just a name on a bill to me.”
“He was an 8-year-old boy who needed someone to protect him, and the people and systems responsible for doing that failed him,” Lackey said. “I have thought about that every time I walked this bill into another hearing, another committee and another vote.”
Lackey has pursued versions of the legislation for years. Earlier measures included AB 1911 in 2018, AB 1450 in 2019-20, AB 31 in 2021, AB 2654 in 2022 and AB 1544 in 2023.
Gabriel died in 2013 after enduring repeated abuse despite reports and visible signs of mistreatment. His case later became the subject of the 2020 Netflix documentary series “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez.”
The Legislature approved AB 2304 last month and sent it to Newsom for consideration.
“Today, there is finally something I can say that I have wanted to say for a very long time — Gabriel’s Law has passed,” Lackey said. “Gabriel’s life changed us, and I hope this law helps ensure that another child does not pay the price for the failures we already know how to prevent.”