BILL NUMBER: SB 123 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 7, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
(Coauthor: Senator Lowenthal)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Beall)
JANUARY 25, 2011
An act to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2110) to Division
2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to runaway and
homeless youth.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 123, as amended, Liu. California Runaway, Homeless, and
Exploited Youth Act.
Existing law establishes the Runaway Youth and Families in Crises
Project, and imposes certain administrative duties on the California
Emergency Management Agency relating to the operation of that
project.
This bill would enact the California Runaway, Homeless, and
Exploited Youth Act, and would encourage
the Senate Office of Research to collaborate with the California
Emergency Management Agency require, subject to the
availability of adequate resources, the California Emergency
Management Agency to develop , in collaboration
with the Senate Office of Research and various interested parties,
a statewide plan for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth, as
specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Providing services to runaway, homeless, and exploited youth
is extremely challenging due to the need for services in a great
number of diverse, yet overlapping, areas such as education, housing,
employment, community support, family support and reunification,
health care, and counseling.
(b) Despite the fact that more than 200,000 unaccompanied youth
between 12 and 17 years of age experience homelessness each year in
California, the state has no clear and coordinated policy to reduce
youth homelessness.
(c) Research has shown that runaway, homeless, and exploited youth
are at great risk for physical abuse, sexual exploitation, mental
health disabilities, chemical or alcohol dependency, and death.
(d) The cost of youth homelessness to the State of California is
also considerable. Youth who experience homelessness are
disproportionately likely to be arrested and incarcerated as adults,
costing California taxpayers over fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
per inmate in 2010.
(e) Worsening matters is the current economic recession, which has
expanded youth homelessness by limiting employment opportunities for
youth. As of July 2010, unemployment among transition-age youth
reached 49 percent, the highest level since the Bureau of Labor
Statistics began collecting data in 1948.
(f) While the California Emergency Management Agency is the state
agency that administers programming related to youth homelessness and
exploitation, it does so without a strong mandate or clear vision as
to how its activities and funding will significantly impact youth
homelessness in California. It is also limited by a budget of just
three hundred fifty-six thousand dollars ($356,000) per year, as of
2010, to serve all of California's homeless youth.
(g) The issues that face runaway, homeless, and exploited youth
are so diverse, there is a great need for cooperation among private
nonprofit entities and public entities serving these youth to break
down barriers and provide more seamless, collaborative, and effective
services.
(h) In the public sector, there is an additional need for enhanced
cooperation among the departments of corrections, education, health
care policy and financing, human services, public safety, public
health, and the judiciary to more fully serve runaway, homeless, and
exploited youth.
(i) To address this serious issue, it is imperative that the state
make an explicit commitment to ending youth homelessness and
exploitation. It is essential to ascertain the extent of the problem,
our capacity to solve it, the cost of ending youth homelessness, and
potential sources of necessary revenue.
SEC. 2. Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2110) is added to
Division 2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4. CALIFORNIA RUNAWAY, HOMELESS, AND EXPLOITED YOUTH
ACT
2110. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Runaway, Homeless, and Exploited Youth Act.
2111. The purpose of this chapter is to lay the groundwork for a
comprehensive solution to youth homelessness.
2112. For purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Agency" means the California Emergency Management Agency.
(b) "Exploited youth" means an individual under 18 years of age
who is trafficked or prostituted, involved in pornography or
stripping, a victim of rape or incest, or engaged in survival sex,
which is the exchange of sex for money or other consideration, such
as food or shelter, in order to ensure his or her survival.
(c) "Homeless youth" means an individual under 18 years of age who
is unable to live in a safe environment with a relative and lacks
safe alternative living arrangements, or an individual under 24 years
of age who is without shelter.
(d) "Runaway youth" means an unemancipated individual under 18
years of age who leaves his or her home or a place of legal residence
without the permission of a parent or legal guardian.
2113. (a) The Legislature encourages the Senate Office of
Research to collaborate with the agency to develop a statewide plan
for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. The plan may include all
of the following:
2113. (a) Subject to the availability of adequate
resources, the agency shall develop a statewide plan reflecting a
range of cost-effective, evidence-based practices for runaway,
homeless, and exploited youth. The agency shall develop this plan in
collaboration with the Senate Office of Research and a broad spectrum
of stakeholders responsible for addressing the needs of this
population, including, but not limited to, government agencies, youth
advocates, and others with expertise in the areas of social
services, mental health, housing, education, and public safety, as
well as homeless youth service providers and individuals who are
runaway, homeless, or exploited youth. The plan shall include all of
the following:
(1) A determination of the statewide demand for shelter, housing,
and supportive services for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth.
(2) An identification of data and outcome measures from which to
evaluate public investment in runaway, homeless, and exploited youth
services.
(3) A proposal for a consistent revenue stream to meet the demand
for shelter, housing, and services for these youth.
(4) An examination of the federal definition of "status offender"
and make legislative recommendations regarding the relevant sections
of state law.
(5) A description of the role of the child welfare system in
preventing and addressing homelessness for minors experiencing abuse
and neglect.
(6) A description of the role of law enforcement in responding to
runaway youth.
(b) When the plan is created, the agency shall be the entity
responsible for the coordination of information, support services,
and other resources for public and private entities serving runaway,
homeless, and exploited youth in California.