BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 849 (Garcia) - Protection of victims: address
confidentiality.
Amended: May 24, 2013 Policy Vote: Judiciary 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 849 would allow an application to the Secretary
of State's (SOS) Safe at Home (SAH) program to be completed at a
community-based assistance program that serves victims of elder
or dependent adult abuse. This bill would also require the SOS
to conduct outreach activities to identify and recruit agencies
to assist victims, as specified, in applying to the SAH program.
Fiscal Impact: Potential first-year costs to the SOS of
approximately $75,000 (General Fund) and $65,000 annually
thereafter to facilitate recruitment activities and address the
additional SAH program caseload.
Background: Under existing law, the Safe at Home program is
administered by the SOS and provides victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking, or reproductive healthcare
workers with a substitute mailing address in order to protect
the confidentiality of the participant's home, work, or school
address.
Existing law provides that upon proper application and
certification, applicants will be certified in the program for
four years, unless certification is withdrawn or invalidated.
Under current law, an applicant to the address confidentiality
program based on domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking
must complete an application in person at a community-based
victims' assistance program. Applicants are required to meet
with a victims' assistance counselor and receive orientation
information about the program. Existing law additionally
requires the application to include a sworn statement that the
applicant has good reason to believe that he or she is a victim
of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and fears for
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his or her safety.
Current law requires the SOS to designate state, local, and
nonprofit agencies that provide counseling and shelter to
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to
assist victims in applying to the SAH program.
This bill seeks to ensure that eligible victims of elder or
dependent adult abuse are able to apply for the protections of
the SAH program.
Proposed Law: This bill would authorize an applicant for the SAH
program to complete his or her application at a community-based
assistance program that serves victims of elder or dependent
adult abuse pursuant to the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult
Civil Protection Act. In addition, this bill:
Requires the SOS to designate state and local agencies
and nonprofit agencies that serve victims of elder or
dependent adult abuse to assist victims applying to be
program participants.
Requires the SOS to conduct outreach activities to
identify and recruit the agencies.
Prior Legislation: AB 2483 (Blumenfield) Chapter 102/2012
removed the requirement that victims alleging stalking as the
basis of their SAH eligibility to provide specific evidence
attached to the application.
SB 1082 (Corbett) Chapter 270/2012 made a number of changes to
the SAH program, including requiring applicants and participants
of the program to be domiciled in California, and authorizing
minor participants to renew their participation upon reaching 18
years of age.
AB 906 (Galgiani) 2012 would have authorized witnesses who have
testified in murder trials to participate in the SAH program.
This bill was held on the Suspense File of this committee.
Staff Comments: The SOS has indicated the provisions of this
bill will incur General Fund costs of about $75,000 in the
initial year of implementation and $65,000 annually thereafter
for one position to facilitate the recruitment of volunteer
elder service enrolling agencies and the increased SAH program
caseload that could potentially result under the provisions of
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this measure.