BILL NUMBER: SB 314	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Calderon

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2009

   An act to amend Section 13957 of the Government Code, relating to
crime victims, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 314, as introduced, Calderon. Crime victims: relocation
expenses.
   Existing law provides that crime victims and derivative victims,
as defined, may be awarded compensation by the California Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board from the State Restitution
Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the pecuniary losses they
suffer as a direct result of criminal acts. Existing law authorizes
the board to grant an award not to exceed $2,000 to a victim for
expenses of relocation determined by law enforcement to be necessary
for the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health treatment
provider to be necessary for the personal safety or emotional
well-being of the victim.
   This bill would allow the board to increase the cash payment or
reimbursement for relocation to an amount greater than $2,000, if the
board finds this amount is appropriate due to the unusual, dire, or
exceptional circumstances of a particular claim. By authorizing an
increase in the amount of an expenditure from a continuously
appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 13957 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   13957.  (a) The board may grant for pecuniary loss, when the board
determines it will best aid the person seeking compensation, as
follows:
   (1) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2,
reimburse the amount of medical or medical-related expenses incurred
by the victim, including, but not limited to, eyeglasses, hearing
aids, dentures, or any prosthetic device taken, lost, or destroyed
during the commission of the crime, or the use of which became
necessary as a direct result of the crime.
   (2) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2,
reimburse the amount of outpatient psychiatric, psychological, or
other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the
victim or derivative victim, including peer counseling services
provided by a rape crisis center as defined by Section 13837 of the
Penal Code, and including family psychiatric, psychological, or
mental health counseling for the successful treatment of the victim
provided to family members of the victim in the presence of the
victim, whether or not the family member relationship existed at the
time of the crime, that became necessary as a direct result of the
crime, subject to the following conditions:
   (A) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense of
their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to exceed
ten thousand dollars ($10,000):
   (i) A victim.
   (ii) A derivative victim who is the surviving parent, sibling,
child, spouse, fiance, or fiancee of a victim of a crime that
directly resulted in the death of the victim.
   (iii) A derivative victim, as described in paragraphs (1) to (4),
inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 13955, who is the primary
caretaker of a minor victim whose claim is not denied or reduced
pursuant to Section 13956 in a total amount not to exceed ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) for not more than two derivative victims.
   (B) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense of
their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to exceed
five thousand dollars ($5,000):
   (i) A derivative victim not eligible for reimbursement pursuant to
subparagraph (A), provided that mental health counseling of a
derivative victim described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of
Section 13955, shall be reimbursed only if that counseling is
necessary for the treatment of the victim.
   (ii) A victim of a crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a
minor committed in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of
the Penal Code. A derivative victim of a crime committed in violation
of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of the Penal Code shall not be
eligible for reimbursement of mental health counseling expenses.
   (iii) A minor who suffers emotional injury as a direct result of
witnessing a violent crime and who is not eligible for reimbursement
of the costs of outpatient mental health counseling under any other
provision of this chapter. To be eligible for reimbursement under
this clause, the minor must have been in close proximity to the
victim when he or she witnessed the crime.
   (C) The board may reimburse a victim or derivative victim for
outpatient mental health counseling in excess of that authorized by
subparagraphs (A) or (B) or for inpatient psychiatric, psychological,
or other mental health counseling if the claim is based on dire or
exceptional circumstances that require more extensive treatment, as
approved by the board.
   (D) Expenses for psychiatric, psychological, or other mental
health counseling-related services may be reimbursed only if the
services were provided by either of the following individuals:
   (i) A person who would have been authorized to provide those
services pursuant to former Article 1 (commencing with Section 13959)
as it read on January 1, 2002.
   (ii) A person who is licensed by the state to provide those
services, or who is properly supervised by a person who is so
licensed, subject to the board's approval and subject to the
limitations and restrictions the board may impose.
   (3) Reimburse the expenses of nonmedical remedial care and
treatment rendered in accordance with a religious method of healing
recognized by state law.
   (4) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.5,
authorize compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of
support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs as a
direct result of the victim's or derivative victim's injury or the
victim's death. If the victim or derivative victim requests that the
board give priority to reimbursement of loss of income or support,
the board may not pay medical expenses, or mental health counseling
expenses, except upon the request of the victim or derivative victim
or after determining that payment of these expenses will not decrease
the funds available for payment of loss of income or support.
   (5) Authorize a cash payment to or on behalf of the victim for job
retraining or similar employment-oriented services.
   (6) Reimburse the claimant for the expense of installing or
increasing residential security, not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000). Reimbursement shall be made either upon verification by law
enforcement that the security measures are necessary for the
personal safety of the claimant or verification by a mental health
treatment provider that the security measures are necessary for the
emotional well-being of the claimant. For purposes of this paragraph,
a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a
person who resided with the deceased at the time of the crime.
Installing or increasing residential security may include, but need
not be limited to, both of the following:
   (A) Home security device or system.
   (B) Replacing or increasing the number of locks.
   (7) Reimburse the expense of renovating or retrofitting a victim's
residence or a vehicle, or both, to make the residence, the vehicle,
or both, accessible or the vehicle operational by a victim upon
verification that the expense is medically necessary for a victim who
is permanently disabled as a direct result of the crime, whether the
disability is partial or total.
   (8) (A) Authorize a cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed
two thousand dollars ($2,000) to a victim for expenses incurred in
relocating, if the expenses are determined by law enforcement to be
necessary for the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health
treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional well-being of
the victim.
   (B) The cash payment or reimbursement made under this paragraph
shall only be awarded to one claimant per crime giving rise to the
relocation. The board may authorize more than one relocation per
crime if necessary for the personal safety or emotional well-being of
the claimant. However, the total cash payment or reimbursement for
all relocations due to the same crime shall not exceed two thousand
dollars ($2,000). For purposes of this paragraph a claimant is the
crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a person who resided
with the deceased at the time of the crime.
   (C) The board may, under compelling circumstances, award a second
cash payment or reimbursement to a victim for another crime if both
of the following conditions are met:
   (i) The crime occurs more than three years from the date of the
crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash payment or
reimbursement.
   (ii) The crime does not involve the same offender.
   (D) When a relocation payment or reimbursement is provided to a
victim of sexual assault or domestic violence and the identity of the
offender is known to the victim, the victim shall agree not to
inform the offender of the location of the victim's new residence and
not to allow the offender on the premises at any time, or shall
agree to seek a restraining order against the offender. 
   (E) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the board may
increase the cash payment or reimbursement for expenses incurred in
relocating to an amount greater than two thousand dollars ($2,000),
if the board finds this amount is appropriate due to the unusual,
dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim. 
   (9) When a victim dies as a result of a crime, the board may
reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of
personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay any of the
following expenses:
   (A) The medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the crime
in an amount not to exceed the rates or limitations established by
the board.

   (B) The funeral and burial expenses incurred as a direct result of
the crime, not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,500).
   (10) When the crime occurs in a residence, the board may reimburse
any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of personal
gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay the reasonable costs to
clean the scene of the crime in an amount not to exceed one thousand
dollars ($1,000). Services reimbursed pursuant to this subdivision
shall be performed by persons registered with the State Department of
Public Health as trauma scene waste practitioners in accordance with
Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 118321) of Part 14 of Division
104 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (11) Reimburse the licensed child care expenses necessarily
incurred by a victim or derivative victim as a direct result of a
crime that resulted in physical injury or death, if the following
conditions are met:
   (A) The injured or deceased victim was a primary caregiver for the
victim's dependent children.
   (B) The total reimbursement for all child care expenses does not
exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). The board shall have the
ability to set a lower reimbursement amount if necessary to protect
the solvency of the Restitution Fund.
   (C) The periods of time for which child care expenses may be
reimbursed do not exceed a total of 180 days. The time periods need
not be continuous.
   (D) The child care expenses are consistent with the usual and
customary rates charged by the child care provider for other children
in the provider's care. If the provider only cares for the victim's
children, the reimbursement rate shall not exceed two hundred dollars
($200) per week for one child or four hundred dollars ($400) per
week for two or more children subject to the limit in subparagraph
(E).
   (E) No victim or derivative victim may receive reimbursement for
child care expenses in addition to reimbursement subject to paragraph
(4).
   (F) This paragraph is a pilot program and shall be operative only
until January 1, 2010.
   (b) The total award to or on behalf of each victim or derivative
victim may not exceed thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000), except
that this amount may be increased to seventy thousand dollars
($70,000) if federal funds for that increase are available.