BILL NUMBER: SB 557 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 2011
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 and repeal Title 5.3 (commencing with Section 13750)
of 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 the Cities of San Diego and Anaheim, and
the Counties of Alameda and Sonoma, until January 1, 2014, to
establish a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to
assist victims of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic
violence, sexual assault, elder or dependent adult 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. This bill would require each
family justice center to consult with community-based crime victim
agencies, survivors of violence and abuse, and their advocates in the
operation of the family justice center and to develop a procedure
for input, feedback, and evaluation of the family justice center.
The bill would prohibit victims of crime from being denied
services at a family justice center on the grounds of criminal
history and would prohibit a criminal history search from being
conducted without the victim's written consent, unless the criminal
history search is pursuant to an active criminal investigation. 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 and to 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 the family justice centers to
submit a report to the Office of Privacy Protection for review and
comment the National Justice Center Alliance, with
private funds, to contract with an independent organization to
conduct an evaluation and prepare a report on the family
justice centers, as specified. The bill would require the independent
organization to submit the report to the Office of
Privacy Protection and the National Family Justice Center Alliance
for review and comment , and then submit the report to the
Assembly Committee on Judiciary, the Senate Committee on Judiciary,
the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, and the Senate Committee on
Public Safety, no later than January 1, 2013 , as specified
. This bill would allow the National Justice Center
Alliance to submit recommendations for statewide legislation, best
practices, and model policies and procedures in its comments to the
independent evaluation organization. The bill would require
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) The City of San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County
of Alameda, and the County of Sonoma are each hereby authorized to
create a two-year pilot project for the establishment of a family
justice center in accordance with the provisions of this section and
Section 13751.
(b) The City of San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County of
Alameda, and the County of Sonoma may each establish a multiagency,
multidisciplinary family justice center to assist victims of domestic
violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual assault, elder
or dependent adult abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and
human trafficking, depending on the availability of services, 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 or dependent adult abuse,
stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and human
trafficking. Family justice centers, if established in the
City of San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County of Alameda, and
the County of Sonoma, may include community-based domestic violence,
officer-involved domestic violence, sexual assault, elder or
dependent adult 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.
(c) 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 or dependent adult 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 or dependent adult abuse, stalking, cyberstalking,
cyberbullying, or human trafficking.
(d) 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.
(e) 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.
(f) Victims of crime shall not be denied services on the grounds
of criminal history. No criminal history search shall be conducted of
a victim at a family justice center without the victim's written
consent unless the criminal history search is pursuant to an active
criminal investigation.
(g) (1) Each family justice center shall consult with
community-based domestic violence, officer-involved domestic
violence, sexual assault, elder or dependent adult abuse, stalking,
cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and human trafficking agencies in
partnership with survivors of violence and abuse and their advocates
in the operations process of the family justice center, and shall
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 and advocates.
(g)
(2) 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.
(h) (1) Each family justice center shall
maintain an informed client consent policy and 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. Each
family justice center shall have a designated privacy officer to
develop and oversee privacy policies and procedures consistent with
state and federal privacy laws and the Fair Information Practice
Principles. At no time shall a victim be required to sign a client
consent form to share information in order to access services.
(2) Each family justice center is required to inform the victim
that information shared with staff members at a family justice center
may, under certain circumstances, be shared with law enforcement
professionals. Each family justice center shall obtain written
acknowledgment that the victim has been informed of this policy.
(3) Information obtained from victims in family justice centers
shall be privileged and confidential to the extent it is protected
from disclosure under existing California law. Nothing in this title
related to confidentiality and client-authorized information sharing
is intended to change existing state law.
(i)
(4) 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.
(j) The four pilot centers, the National Family Justice Center
Alliance, and relevant stakeholders, under the advisement of the
Office of Privacy Protection, shall provide an evaluation report that
includes outcomes and evaluation data from the four family justice
centers, recommended best practices to ensure the privacy of all
family justice center clients, and recommendations for future state
legislation. The family justice centers shall submit the report to
the Office of Privacy Protection for review and comment, and then to
the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, the Senate Committee on
Judiciary, the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, and the Senate
Committee on Public Safety, no later than January 1, 2013, with their
recommendations.
(i) (1) The National Family Justice Center Alliance shall, with
private funds, contract with an independent organization to conduct
an evaluation and prepare a report on the four pilot centers. The
independent organization conducting the evaluation shall submit the
report to the Office of Privacy Protection and the National Family
Justice Center Alliance for review and comment, and then to the
Assembly Committee on Judiciary, the Senate Committee on Judiciary,
the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, and the Senate Committee on
Public Safety, no later than January 1, 2013. The independent
organization conducting the evaluation shall, in consultation with
the four pilot centers, the National Family Justice Center Alliance,
groups that advocate on behalf of victims, community-based crime
victim service provider representatives, including one person
recommended by the federally recognized state domestic violence
coalition, privacy rights organizations, and other relevant
stakeholders, develop evaluation criteria, which shall include, but
not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of clients served, number of children served,
reasons for seeking services at the center, services utilized, and
number of returning clients.
(B) Filing, conviction, and dismissal rates for misdemeanor and
felony criminal cases handled at the center.
(C) Subjective and objective measurements of the impacts of
co-located multiagency services for victims and their children
related to safety, empowerment, and mental and emotional well-being,
and comparison data from victims, if any, on their access to services
outside the family justice center model.
(D) Barriers, if any, to receiving needed services, including
access to services based on immigration status, criminal history, or
substance abuse/mental health issues, and potential ways to mitigate
any identified hurdles to accessing needed services.
(E) Whether privacy, immigration status, or other barriers
prevented victims from utilizing a family justice center and, if so,
recommendations to improve utilization rates.
(F) Compliance by the four pilot centers, with the service
delivery requirements set forth in subdivisions (e), (f), (g), and
(h).
(G) Recommended best practices and model protocols, if any.
(2) The independent organization conducting the evaluation shall
gather the evaluation data from preservices victim information,
postservices exit interviews, victim focus groups, partner agency
focus group data, and other evaluation criteria necessary to conduct
the evaluation under paragraph (1).
(3) The National Family Justice Center Alliance may include any
recommendations for statewide legislation, best practices, and model
policies and procedures in the comments submitted to the independent
evaluation organization and the Legislature under paragraph (1).
13751. 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, privileges and
confidentiality, information sharing, risk assessment, safety
planning, victim advocacy, and high-risk case response.
13752. This title shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.