BILL ANALYSIS
AB 616
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
Consultant: Larry Yee
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Jose Solorio, Chair
AB 616 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
SUMMARY : Requires the Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy
(OSVGP) to use federal money OSVGP receives from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to provide grants to
certified local conservation corps for programs for at-risk
young adults. Specifically, this bill :
1)Finds and declares that Congress enacted the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides funding for state
discretionary purposes such as grants for employment and
training programs.
2)Finds and declares that 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.
3)Provides that upon receipt of federal funds from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Office of Gang and
Youth Violence Policy in the Governor's Office of Emergency
Services shall provide nonrenewable grants of up to $500,000
to certified local conservation corps.
4)Provides that 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. Grant money
shall be used for those purposes.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 616
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1)Establishes the OSVGP within the Office of Emergency Services.
The OSVGP is responsible for coordinating and assisting
schools, parents, community groups and organizations, and law
enforcement agencies with information and innovative
strategies to help prevent violence and gang involvement. The
OCVGP is required to administer various federal grants
relative to juvenile justice, including street gang crime
prevention, as specified. [Penal Code Section 13827.]
2)Defines "criminal street gang" as any ongoing organization,
association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal
or informal, having as one of its primary activities the
commission of one or more enumerated offenses, having a common
name or identifying sign or symbol, and whose members engage
in a pattern of gang activity. [Penal Code Section
186.22(f).]
3)Merges the OES and Office of Homeland Security into the
California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA). [Government
Code Section 8585.]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "There are more
than 3,300 youths in detention at Los Angeles County's 22
juvenile halls and camps. Police report that some 16 gangs
currently operate in the San Fernando Valley. Even though
gang crime in Los Angeles has dropped by 11% since 2007,
devastating effects of gang violence remain. Law enforcement
agrees that one of the best ways to combat gang violence is by
reaching youths before they become involved in street crime
and gang activity.
"In his 2008 report, 'Gang Crime and Violence in Los Angeles
County,' District Attorney Steve Cooley stated,
'Disenfranchised youth are still drawn to gangs because they
find there an acceptance and path to personal power and
recognition that they feel is denied to them in mainstream
society . . . We have learned that the best way to curb gang
violence is to prevent a child from ever becoming a gang
member in the first place by providing positive alternatives
and role models to our youth in our schools and communities.'
AB 616
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Like the Los Angeles district attorney, California's first
gang czar, Paul Seave, recommends support for mentoring, job
training and employment opportunities for at-risk youth
through programs such as community conservation corps. He
provided an oral report to the Assembly Committee on Public
Safety on March 24, 2009.
"Community conservation corps are among the most effective
programs for at-risk youth, offering structured programs to
help teenagers and young adults overcome personal challenges
through much-needed support in job training, education,
mentoring, and work experience while contributing to the local
community. Through conservation and community service
projects such as restoring park trails, roadside cleanup,
highway landscape planting and assisting in major emergencies
such as fires, earthquakes and floods, these at-risk youths
are taught job skills and exposed to a life other than street
crime. Presently, there is no community conservation corps
dedicated solely to serving the San Fernando Valley.
"The federal economic stimulus package includes one-time funding
for expanded job-training, including funds targeting at-risk
youth. California currently provides public safety and job
training grants for projects such as the Los Angeles
Conservation Corps. The public safety grants are administered
by the California Emergency Management Agency, the Department
of Corrections and the Labor Department. The grants generally
disallow a recipient organization from receiving consecutive
year grants.
"This bill would allow local community conservation corps that
have received funding grants for job training of at-risk youth
to receive supplemental grants from the federal economic
stimulus package to support expanded job training
opportunities in areas not already served, such as the San
Fernando Valley, and help channel at-risk youth into
constructive behavior that benefits California communities."
2)Technical Correction : If future amendments are made, it is
suggested that on Page 2, Line 12, delete "Governor's Office
of Emergency Services" and insert: "California Emergency
Management Agency".
3)Related Legislation : AB 1439 (Solorio) requires the OGYVP
Director to consolidate and streamline existing state agency
AB 616
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gang and youth violence grant programs with a goal toward
giving priority to grant programs that employ evidence-based
practices. AB 1439 authorizes the director to create a
working group to assist in this effort. AB 1439 will be heard
by this Committee today.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Larry Yee / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744