BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Deborah V. Ortiz, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2051
A
AUTHOR: Cohn
B
AMENDED: June 19, 2006
HEARING DATE: June 21, 2006
2
FISCAL: Judiciary / Appropriations
0
5
CONSULTANT:
1
Patterson / ak
SUBJECT
Domestic violence
SUMMARY
This bill expands education and training requirements to
include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
domestic violence (DV) issues.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1.Allows two persons, who are either of the same sex, or
persons of opposite sexes where one or both is over 62,
to become domestic partners by filing a declaration with
the Secretary of State (SOS). Requires the SOS, by
regulation, to establish and charge fees to registrants
based on the actual costs, currently set at $10, and to
return a certificate of registration to registered
domestic partners.
2.Requires the California Department of Health Services
(DHS) to administer grants to support battered women's
shelters to provide emergency shelter for women and their
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children escaping family violence. Creates, until
January 1, 2010, an advisory council to consult with DHS
regarding the funding program, consisting of, among
others, DV advocates, battered women service providers
and law enforcement.
3.Requires DHS to distribute brochures that contain
DV-related information to county clerks who shall provide
the brochures to marriage license applicants.
4.Requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) to implement a training program on the
handling of DV complaints for law enforcement officers in
California and to consult with various groups on
development of the program.
5.Requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to
provide assistance to local DV centers through a grant
program, to develop and disseminate information and
materials relating to DV, and to conduct statewide
training workshops on DV.
This bill:
1.Establishes a $23 fee to be charged to persons filing
domestic partner registrations in order to support the
development of an LGBT curriculum for training workshops
on DV and a mini-grant program to promote healthy,
non-violent relationships in the LGBT community.
Establishes the Equality in Prevention and Services
Domestic Abuse Fund to be administered by OES and into
which the fee shall be deposited.
2.Requires the SOS to print and distribute an LGBT-specific
domestic abuse brochure to LGBT domestic partnership
registrants as funding allows.
3.Requires DHS to provide existing brochures that contain
information on DV to the SOS for distribution to persons
qualifying as same-sex domestic partners.
4.Requires the advisory council established to consult with
DHS regarding the Maternal and Child Health Branch (MCAH)
grants to battered women's shelters to include
individuals with a background and expertise in LGBT DV.
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5.Requires POST to include adequate instruction on the
nature and extent of DV in the LGBT community in training
program required for law enforcement officers.
6.Requires OES to include a curriculum component on LGBT
domestic abuse issues in their statewide training DV
workshops.
7.Requires that the OES DV Advisory Council have at least
one representative of DV service providers serving the
LGBT community.
8.Requires OES to develop a mini-grant program to
non-profit organizations that provide specified DV
programs and services to the LGBT community, outlines the
grant funding and distribution process, and establishes a
gender-neutral definition of DV for the purposes of the
mini-grant program.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there
would be:
1.Annual increased fee revenues, for domestic partnership
registrations, of about $140,000 based on about 6,000 new
registrations annually.
2.One-time costs of around $50,000 for the SOS to establish
the new fee collection process for same-sex domestic
partner registrants.
3.Absorbable costs to POST to incorporate LGBT-related DV
into the existing DV training program and for the
additional law enforcement training.
4.One-time costs of around $50,000 for OES to develop
curriculum on LGBT DV for its training workshops.
5.Costs to OES for developing and administering the new
grant program and providing grants are unknown.
6.Costs to DHS to distribute brochures to SOS are unknown.
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BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Need for the bill
According to the author, this bill will ensure that LGBT
victims of intimate partner abuse have access to culturally
appropriate education and services that encourage them to
break the cycle of violence. In April 2005, DHS surveyed
the current capacity of California shelters to provide
culturally competent care and identified the LGBT community
as an underserved and unserved population. Even when DHS
has evidence of the need for services in the LGBT community
and has dedicated funding for this purpose, its programs
are still designed primarily to serve battered women and
their children. From a community perspective, many LGBT
victims are afraid to access shelter services for fear of
"outing" themselves or being further harmed by service
providers who lack the understanding and sensitivity to
meet their needs. Gay male and transgender victims may
feel particularly uncomfortable at a women's shelter.
LGBT victims of DV are much more likely to seek safe havens
at community centers and organizations that cater directly
to the LGBT community. In addition, law enforcement, DV
shelters and other providers require better training to
serve LGBT victims, especially in parts of the state that
do not have LGBT-specific organizations.
The author states that there is no government source that
systematically reports LGBT DV and statistics on the rate
of abuse in the LGBT community. However, a number of
studies have reviewed the prevalence of DV in the gay and
lesbian community. While there are not sufficient data on
which to draw firm conclusions, it appears that the
prevalence of DV in gay and lesbian relationships is
comparable to the prevalence in heterosexual relationships.
(Gregory Merrill and Valerie Wolfe, Battered Gay Men: An
Exploration of Abuse, Help Seeking, and Why They Stay,
Journal of Homosexuality (2000).) According to information
provided by the author, while it is believed that most of
the DV in opposite sex couple is committed by men against
women, it appears that about half of the abuse in the gay
and lesbian community occurs in lesbian relationships and
about half in gay relationships.
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The author states that there are almost no organizations
throughout the nation that provide services specifically
for LGBT victims of DV. Moreover, law enforcement and
health care workers are usually not specifically trained to
deal with LGBT abuse and, as a result, victims do not
necessarily receive appropriate services as compared with
heterosexual victims.
DV in the LGBT community
According to the National Gay Lesbian Taskforce, there are
many additional barriers to addressing DV in the LGBT
community because it is generally considered to be an issue
faced only by heterosexual women. While LGBT DV may be as
prevalent as heterosexual DV, resources services and
education on LGBT DV are not easily obtainable.
The Taskforce cites studies of lesbian couples which found
that 22 to 46 percent of lesbians have been in physically
violent same-sex relationships. In 1997, the Gay Men's DV
Project conducted a survey of over 2,000 men in Boston and
found that 25 percent had experience DV. The Taskforce
cites a survey of 12 service organizations nationwide that
yielded 4,048 reported cases of LGBT DV in 2000. The
Taskforce asserts that this number likely represents a
small portion of actual cases nationwide.
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP)
reports that sometimes LGBT DV victims are inappropriately
arrested in cases where they are physically larger or
perceived as stronger than the assailant. The organization
states that survivors of same-sex abuse often confront
ignorance and/or prejudice in treatment from medical
providers, DV specialists, law enforcement and other
service providers who may lack training in the unique
challenges faced by LGBT victims. Furthermore, gay men
have difficulties finding DV service and shelters which
have traditionally been available only to battered women.
In 2003, the NCAVP issued a report stating that there were
6,523 cases of DV documented by programs from throughout
the nation. This number represented a 13 percent increase
from 5,718 cases recorded in 2002 by the same agencies.
The cases included six DV-related deaths. Of the victims
in the report for whom race was known, 44 percent were
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white, 25 percent Latino/a, 15 percent of African American,
5 percent Asian/Pacific Islander and 4 percent reported as
multiracial. Additionally there was a 54 percent increase
in reports from victims under the age of 30.
Registration fee for domestic partners
This bill would create a $23 fee for persons registering as
domestic partners. It mirrors the $23 fee opposite-sex
couples pay for a marriage that is used to fund programs
designed to mitigate and prevent DV. The fee created under
this bill would be deposited in the newly established
Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund
which would be administered by OES. The funds would be
used for the development and support of an LGBT curriculum
for training on DV within OES which currently conducts
statewide training workshops on DV for local centers, law
enforcement, and other DV service providers.
The bill declares legislative intent for OES to increase
access to culturally appropriate DV education, prevention,
and services for the LGBT community. As such, the funds
would also be used to support a mini-grant program,
administered by OES, to promote healthy non-violent
relationships in the LGBT community. The bill states that
OES would award at least four mini-grants of up to $10,000
each to qualifying organizations that fund DV programs and
services such as crisis hotlines, counseling, court and
social service advocacy, and emergency housing.
Only non-profit organizations that have a demonstrated
history of working in the area of DV education and
prevention and serving the LGBT community would be eligible
for the mini-grants. The bill also outlines the funding
process by which mini-grants would be awarded to qualifying
organizations, including a competitive request for proposal
process, and criteria that OES would use to evaluate
mini-grant proposals such as whether the funded program
would reach a significant number of LGBT individuals, and
whether the funded program would be grounded in a firm
understanding of LGBT DV issues. Mini-grant funds could
not be used for items such as out-of-state travel,
fundraising activities and others.
For the purposes of the mini-grant, the bill would define
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DV as the infliction or threat of physical harm against
past or present adult or adolescent intimate partners,
including physical, sexual and psychological abuse against
the person, and is a part of a pattern of assaultive,
coercive and controlling behaviors directed at achieving
compliance from or control over that person. Whereas in
other areas of the law definitions of DV may relate to
battered women in opposite-sex relationships, this bill
would create a gender-neutral definition of DV for the
mini-grant program.
Brochures
Under existing law, applicants for a domestic partnership
must submit a Declaration of Domestic Partnership to the
SOS. Upon qualification of a domestic partnership, the SOS
sends the qualified registrants a copy of the Declaration
of Domestic Partnership and a Certificate of Registered
Domestic Partnership. This bill would require the SOS to
provide an LGBT-specific DV brochure to individuals who
qualify for a domestic partnership as a same-sex couple.
The SOS would be responsible for printing and distributing
the brochure, as funding allows, to qualified domestic
partnership registrants at the same time as sending the
copy of the Declaration of Domestic Partnership and
Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership.
Additionally, existing law requires DHS to prepare and
publish a brochure containing information about genetic
defects and diseases, acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS), and information concerning DV including a statement
that DV is against the law and resources where victims can
seek assistance. DHS is responsible for distributing this
brochure to county clerks who are required to give the
brochure to each applicant for a marriage license. This
bill would require DHS to also make this brochure available
to the SOS who shall then distribute it to qualifying
same-sex domestic partnership registrants at the same time
as sending the copy of the Declaration of Domestic
Partnership and Certificate of Registered Domestic
Partnership.
Advisory councils
Existing law requires the MCAH within DHS to administer a
comprehensive grant program to battered women's shelters.
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In implementing the grant program, DHS is required to
consult with an advisory council that is comprised of up to
15 members appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the
Assembly, or the Senate Rules Committee. The membership of
this council shall consist of DV advocates, battered women
service providers, and representatives of women's
organizations, law enforcement and other DV groups.
AB 2051 would require that at least one representative of
service providers serving the LGBT community for DV
purposes serve on the advisory council. It appears as
though this provision is consistent with the law's
expressed intent of the Legislature that the council
membership reflects the state's diversity. To that end,
the bill also declares that it is the intent of the
Legislature that services funded by the grant program
include services for battered women in underserved
communities, including the LGBT community.
Lastly, existing law provides for the OES Domestic Violence
Advisory Council which consists of experts in the provision
of direct or intervention services to battered women and
their children. The Council is similar to the
abovementioned advisory council that consults with the MCAH
in that it is comprised of up to 15 members appointed by
the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, or the Senate Rules
Committee and must consist of DV victims' advocates,
battered women services providers and representatives of
women's organizations, law enforcement, and other groups
involved with DV. This bill would require that at least
one representative of LGBT DV service providers serve on
the advisory council.
Law enforcement training
Current law requires POST to implement a training program
on the handling of DV complaints for law enforcement
officers in California and consult with various groups on
development of the program. This bill requires that the
training include adequate instruction on the nature and
extent of DV in the LGBT community and that the Commission,
when developing the course of instruction for the training
program, consult with, among others, individuals with an
interest and expertise in LGBT DV.
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Arguments in support
Supporters state that this bill will support a number of
initiatives to address the problems of DV among same-sex
partners, and will provide educational brochures specific
to LGBT DV, grants to support organizations that serve LGBT
DV victims, and LGBT DV training to law enforcement and DV
service providers. This bill takes the first critical
steps to implement efforts to increase public knowledge
about LGBT DV victims and explore ways to better serve
them.
Arguments in opposition
All of the registered opponents to this bill have taken an
oppose unless amended position.
The California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson has taken
an opposed unless amended position on this bill stating
that it will more than triple the current cost for
registering a domestic partnership which is far too
excessive. Secretary McPherson suggests that the bill be
amended to require DHS to develop a brochure informing
people of domestic abuse that may be faced by any
registered domestic partner and to provide this brochure to
the SOS who would distribute the brochure to each new
registrant upon the submission of their application. With
this amendment, the Secretary McPherson states that the
production of this brochure should not warrant any fee
increase for the registration of a domestic partnership.
It should be noted that Secretary McPherson registered his
position on April 13, 2006 and also opposed provisions in
the bill that would have required opposite-sex domestic
partnership registrants to pay the bill's proposed $23 fee.
The remaining organizations and individuals who have taken
an oppose unless amended position state that men comprise a
large number of DV victims, and that research shows that
violence in intimate relationships is reciprocal and not
unilateral violence against women. By focusing uniquely on
female victims, the bill is expressly discriminatory
against men. These organizations suggest amending the bill
so as to assure that benefits and services are provided to
all DV victims, including heterosexual males.
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The Family Violence Treatment and Education Association
submitted proposed amendments to the bill that appear to
make the bill gender-neutral and expand its provisions to
heterosexual males and females.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
1.Registration Fee. It is unclear if intent of the author
is to create a $23 domestic partnership registration fee
that is in addition to or inclusive of the $10 fee
applicants currently pay. If this bill were passed,
would the new fee be $23 or $33? To clarify this, the
author may wish to amend the bill to state whether or not
the $23 fee is in addition to or inclusive of existing
registration fees.
2.Entity responsible for creating the brochure. The bill
requires the SOS to print and distribute an LGBT-specific
DV brochure, but does not state what entity is
responsible for creating the brochure. Does the author
intend for the SOS to develop the brochure?
3.Distribution of brochure. The bill states that the SOS
would be required to print and distribute the
LGBT-specific brochure as funds allow, and also requires
the SOS to distribute the non-LGBT-specific brochure
published by DHS. If funds become available for the SOS
to print and distribute the LGBT-specific brochure, the
language could be interpreted that the SOS would be
required to distribute both brochures. Does the author
intend for the SOS to distribute the DHS brochure until
or unless funds become available to distribute the
LGBT-specific brochure?
4.Drafting error. Section 9 of the bill begins with a
reference to Section 13823.17 of the Family Code. This
is a drafting error, and should refer to the Penal Code,
not the Family Code.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 49 - 29 Pass
Assembly Appropriations: 13 - 5 Do Pass as Amended
Assembly Public Safety: 4 - 2 Do Pass
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Assembly Judiciary: 6 - 2 Do Pass as Amended
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POSITIONS
Support: Equality California (sponsor)
California State Controller Steve Westly
City of West Hollywood
Community United Against Violence
Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast
Junior Leagues of California State
Public Affairs Committee
San Diego LGBT Community center
Oppose: California Alliance for Families and Children
(unless California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson
amended) Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women
Family Non-Violence, Inc.
Family Violence Treatment and
Education Association
Forensic Psychiatric Services
Commission
Grant Joint Union High School
District Adult Education Domestic
Violence Batterer's Treatment
Program
Life Change Counseling
Peace Creations
Safe Homes for Children and Families
Coalition
Simon Fraser University
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Two individuals
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