BILL NUMBER: SB 557	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 2, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 5, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Kehoe
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins and Fletcher)

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to add Title 5.3 (commencing with Section 13750) to Part 4
of the Penal Code, relating to family justice centers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 557, as amended, Kehoe. Family justice centers.
   Existing law provides for various services and programs to assist
victims of crime, including grants to proposed and existing child
sexual exploitation and child abuse victim counseling centers and
prevention programs, and the establishment of a resource center to
operate a statewide, toll-free information service consisting of
legal information for crime victims and providers of services to
crime victims.
   This bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to
establish a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to
assist victims of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic
violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking,
cyberbullying, and human trafficking, to ensure that victims of abuse
are able to access all needed services in one location and to
enhance victim safety, increase offender accountability, and improve
access to services for victims of crime, as provided. The bill would
permit the family justice centers to be staffed by law enforcement,
medical, social service, and child welfare personnel, among others.

   The bill would provide that all information and documents provided
to a family justice center by a victim are confidential and would
authorize a family justice center to share information pursuant to an
informed consent process, as provided. The bill would authorize the
National Family Justice Center Alliance, subject to certain
limitations, to maintain nonidentifying, aggregate data on victims
receiving services from a family justice center and the outcomes of
those services. The 
    The bill would prohibit   victims of crime from
being denied services at a family justice center solely on the
grounds of criminal history and would prohibit a criminal history
search from being conducted during the client intake process. The
bill would require each family justice center to develop policies and
procedures to ensure coordinated services are provided and to
enhance the safety of victims and professionals at the family justice
centers, as specified. The bill would require each family justice
center to maintain an informed consent policy in order to authorize
the sharing of confidential, privileged, or protected information
among individuals or agencies working within a center and require
that the informed consent procedures be in compliance with all state
and federal laws protecting the confidentiality of the types of
information and documents that may be in a victim's file. The 
bill would require, if a city, county, or city and county establishes
a family justice center, each family justice center to maintain a
formal training program with mandatory training for all staff
members, volunteers, and agency professionals, as specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Title 5.3 (commencing with Section 13750) is added to
Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:

      TITLE 5.3.  FAMILY JUSTICE CENTERS


   13750.  (a) A city, county, or city and county may establish a
multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to assist
victims of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic violence,
sexual assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying,
and human trafficking to ensure that victims of abuse are able to
access all needed services in one location in order to enhance victim
safety, increase offender accountability, and improve access to
services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder
abuse, and human trafficking. Family justice centers, if established
in a city, county, or city and county, may include community-based
domestic violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual
assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and
human trafficking agencies in partnership with survivors of violence
and abuse in the planning and operations process of a family justice
center, and may establish procedures for the ongoing input, feedback,
and evaluation of the family justice center by survivors of violence
and abuse and community-based crime victim service providers.
   (b) For purposes of this title, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1)  "Abuse" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 6203 of
the Family Code.
   (2) "Domestic violence" has the same meaning as set forth in
Section 6211 of the Family Code.
   (3) "Sexual assault" means an act or attempt made punishable by
Section 220, 261, 261.5, 262, 264.1, 266c, 269, 285, 286, 288, 288.5,
288a, 289, or 647.6.
   (4) "Elder abuse" means an act made punishable by Section 368.
   (5) "Human trafficking" has the same meaning as set forth in
Section 236.1.
   (6) "Victim of crime," "crime victim," or "victim" means a victim
of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual
assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, or
human trafficking.
   (c) For purposes of this title, family justice centers shall be
defined as multiagency, multidisciplinary service centers where
public and private agencies assign staff members on a full-time or
part-time basis in order to provide services to victims of crime from
one location in order to reduce the number of times victims must
tell their story, reduce the number of places victims must go for
help, and increase access to services and support for victims and
their children. Staff members at a family justice center may be
comprised of, but are not limited to, the following:
   (1) Law enforcement personnel.
   (2) Medical personnel.
   (3) District attorneys and city attorneys.
   (4) Victim-witness program personnel.
   (5) Domestic violence shelter service staff.
   (6) Community-based rape crisis, domestic violence, and human
trafficking advocates.
   (7) Social service agency staff members.
   (8) Child welfare agency social workers.
   (9) County health department staff.
   (10) City or county welfare and public assistance workers.
   (11) Nonprofit agency counseling professionals.
   (12) Civil legal service providers.
   (13) Supervised volunteers from partner agencies.
   (14) Other professionals providing services.
   (d) Victims of crime shall not be required to participate in the
criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to
receive counseling, medical care, or other services at a family
justice center. 
   (e) Each family justice center shall offer victims the choice to
interact with criminal justice professionals, if present at the
center, and the ability to receive services only from noncriminal
justice professionals, if the victims choose to do so. Victims should
not be denied services solely on the grounds of criminal history. No
criminal history search of the victim may be conducted without the
victim's consent.  
   (f) Each family justice center shall develop a process to ensure
that services are provided to victims and to enhance the safety of
all clients and professionals located at a center, in collaboration
with local community-based crime victim service providers and local
survivors of violence and abuse who may participate in
survivor-centered support or advocacy groups affiliated with the
family justice center.  
   (g) Information and documents provided by a victim to a family
justice center are confidential. Each family justice center shall
maintain an informed client consent policy in order to authorize the
sharing of confidential, privileged, or protected information among
individuals or agencies working within a center. The policy may be
developed in collaboration with local community-based crime victim
service providers and local survivors of violence and abuse who may
participate in survivor-centered support or advocacy groups
affiliated with the family justice center. The informed consent
procedures shall be in compliance with all state and federal laws
protecting the confidentiality of the types of information and
documents that may be in a victim's file, including, but not limited
to, medical and legal records.  
   (h) A victim's consent to share information pursuant to the client
consent policy shall not be construed as a waiver of any
confidentiality or any privilege held by the victim or family justice
center professionals.  
   13751.  (a) The National Family Justice Center Alliance (NFJCA)
may, subject to authorization from each individual victim, maintain
nonidentifying, aggregate data on victims receiving services from
family justice centers and the outcomes from the services provided.
The NFJCA may, for evaluation and monitoring purposes, report to the
Legislature annually by April 30th of each year on the findings and
outcomes documented by each center in the preceding year. Any report
submitted by NFJCA to the Legislature shall be submitted pursuant to
Section 9795 of the Government Code.  
   (b) Any family justice center may, subject to authorization from
each individual victim, provide nonidentifying, aggregate data on
victims receiving services and the outcomes from services provided to
the NFJCA by February 28th of each year for all victims receiving
services in the preceding year.  
   (c) Confidential records maintained by the NFJCA shall not be
subject to disclosure to any third party without the written
authorization by the victim who originally provided the information
to a particular family justice center. Under no circumstances shall
any identifying information or confidential personal information
about a victim be disclosed by the NFJCA, unless required by federal
law.  
   (e) Victims of crime shall not be denied services solely on the
grounds of criminal history. No criminal history search shall be
conducted during a client intake process at a family justice center
as a condition of receiving services within a family justice center
or without the victim's consent.  
   (f) Each family justice center shall develop policies and
procedures, in collaboration with local community-based crime victim
service providers and local survivors of violence or abuse, to ensure
coordinated services are provided to victims and to enhance the
safety of victims and professionals at a family justice center who
participate in affiliated survivor-centered support or advocacy
groups. All family justice centers shall maintain a formal client
feedback, complaint, and input process to address client concerns
about services provided or the conduct of any family justice center
professionals, agency partners, or volunteers providing services in a
family justice center.  
   (g) Each family justice center shall maintain an informed client
consent policy in order to authorize the sharing of confidential,
privileged, or protected information among individuals or agencies
working within a center. The policy shall be developed in
collaboration with local community-based crime victim service
providers and local survivors of violence or abuse who may
participate in survivor-centered support or advocacy groups
affiliated with the family justice center. However, at no time shall
a victim be required to sign a client consent form to share
information in order to access services. The informed consent
procedures shall be in compliance with all state and federal laws
protecting the confidentiality of the types of information and
documents that may be in a victim's file, including, but not limited
to, medical and legal records.  
   (h) A victim's consent to share information pursuant to the client
consent policy shall not be construed as a waiver of confidentiality
or any privilege held by the victim or family justice center
professionals. 
   13752.  Each family justice center established pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 13750 shall maintain a formal training
program with mandatory training for all staff members, volunteers,
and agency professionals of not less than eight hours per year on
subjects including, but not limited to, confidentiality, information
sharing, risk assessment, safety planning, victim advocacy, and
high-risk case response.