BILL NUMBER: AB 616	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 13, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blumenfield

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2009

    An act relating to community conservation corps.
  An act to add Section 13827.3 to the Penal Code,
relating to youth violence prevention. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 616, as amended, Blumenfield.  San Fernando Valley
Community Conservation Corps.   Youth violence
prevention: grants.  
   Existing law establishes the Office of Gang and Youth Violence
Policy within the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Under
existing law, that office is responsible for identifying, evaluating,
and coordinating gang and youth violence suppression efforts
throughout the state, as specified.  
   This bill would require the Office of Gang and Youth Violence
Policy to use federal money it receives from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to provide grants to certified local
conservation corps for programs that would expand and enhance
opportunities for at-risk young adults and schoolage youth, as
specified.  
   Existing law creates the Department of Conservation in the Natural
Resources Agency.  
   Existing law defines community conservation corps, for the
purposes of the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter
Reduction Act, as a nonprofit public benefit corporation formed or
operating pursuant to certain requirements or an agency operated by a
city or county that is certified by the California Conservation
Corps as meeting specified criteria.  
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would require, by July 1, 2010, the department to
complete a plan for the establishment of a San Fernando Valley
Community Conservation Corps whose primary mission would be to offer
at-risk young adults and schoolaged youth with opportunities to
succeed by providing them with job training, education, and work
skills training with an emphasis on environmental and service
projects that benefit the community, and would require the department
to seek a one-time grant of youth employment training funds from the
federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5)
to pay for the cost of establishing the San Fernando Valley Community
Conservation Corps and initial startup operations. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares the
following:  
   (a) Congress has enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 that provides, in part, funding for state discretionary
purposes such as grants for employment and training programs. 

   (b) By employing and training at-risk youth, certified local
conservation corps such as the Los Angeles Conservation Corps may
offer a strategy for combating gang and youth violence in California.

   SEC. 2.    Section 13827.3 is added to the  
Penal Code   , to read:  
   13827.3.  The Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy in the
Governor's Office of Emergency Services shall, upon receipt of
federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, provide nonrenewable grants of up to five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000) to certified local conservation corps. The grant
money shall be awarded to certified local conservation corps that
show an ability to expand and enhance opportunities for at-risk young
adults and schoolage youth to succeed by providing them with job
training, education, and work skills training with an emphasis on
environmental and service projects that benefit the community,
including housing rehabilitation, emergency and disaster relief,
graffiti abatement, park improvements, bike and pedestrian trail
building and restoration, or other conservation and community service
projects and the grant money shall be used for those purposes. 

  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that does all of the following:
   (a) By July 1, 2010, the Department of Conservation should
complete a plan for the establishment of a San Fernando Valley
Community Conservation Corps whose primary mission is to offer
at-risk young adults and schoolaged youth opportunities to succeed by
providing them with job training, education, and work skills
training with an emphasis on environmental and service projects that
benefit the community.
   (b) Functions performed by the San Fernando Valley Community
Conservation Corps may include, but would not be limited to, all of
the following:
   (1) Providing services in energy conservation and weatherization.
   (2) Housing rehabilitation.
   (3) Emergency and disaster relief.
   (4) Graffiti abatement.
   (5) Park improvements.
   (6) Bike and pedestrian trail building and restoration.
   (7) Other conservation and community service projects.
   (c) The Department of Conservation should seek a one-time grant of
youth employment training funds from the federal American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to pay for the cost of establishing the
San Fernando Valley Community Conservation Corps and initial startup
operations.
   (d) Once established, the San Fernando Valley Community
Conservation Corps should operate as a local nonprofit conservation
corps and become certified.