Amended in Assembly May 23, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1629


Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Garcia, Maienschein, V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Ting, and Waldron)

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February 10, 2014


An act to amend Sections 13951 and 13957 of the Government Code, relating to crime victims, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1629, as amended, Bonta. Crime victims: compensation: reimbursement of violence peer counseling expenses.

Existing law provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and specified limits on the amount of compensation the board may award. Existing law authorizes the board to reimburse a crime victim or derivative victim for the amount of outpatient mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim, including peer counseling services provided by a rape crisis center, as specified.

This bill would additionally authorize the board to reimburse a crime victim or derivative victim for the amount of outpatient violence peer counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim, as specified. By expanding the authorization for the use of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 13951 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:

3

13951.  

As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall
4apply:

5(a) “Board” means the California Victim Compensation and
6Government Claims Board.

7(b) (1) “Crime” means a crime or public offense, wherever it
8may take place, that would constitute a misdemeanor or a felony
9if the crime had been committed in California by a competent
10adult.

11(2) “Crime” includes an act of terrorism, as defined in Section
122331 of Title 18 of the United States Code, committed against a
13resident of the state, whether or not the act occurs within the state.

14(c) “Derivative victim” means an individual who sustains
15pecuniary loss as a result of injury or death to a victim.

16(d) “Law enforcement” means every district attorney, municipal
17police department, sheriff’s department, district attorney’s office,
18county probation department, and social services agency, the
19Department of Justice, the Department ofbegin delete Corrections,end deletebegin insert Corrections
20and Rehabilitation,end insert
the Department of the Youth Authority, the
21Department of the California Highway Patrol, the police
22department of any campus of the University of California,
23California State University, or community college, and every
24 agency of the State of California expressly authorized by statute
25to investigate or prosecute law violators.

26(e) “Pecuniary loss” means an economic loss or expense
27resulting from an injury or death to a victim of crime that has not
28been and will not be reimbursed from any other source.

29(f) “Peer counseling” means counseling offered by a provider
30of mental health counseling services who has completed a
31specialized course in rape crisis counseling skills development,
32participates in continuing education in rape crisis counseling skills
33development, and provides rape crisis counseling within the State
34of California.

P3    1(g) “Service organization for victims of violent crime” means
2a nongovernmental organization that meets both of the following
3criteria:

4(1) Its primary mission is to provide services to victims of
5violent crime.

6(2) It provides programs or services to victims of violent crime
7and their families, and other programs, whether or not a similar
8program exists in an agency that provides additional services.

9(h) “Victim” means an individual who sustains injury or death
10as a direct result of a crime as specified in subdivision (e) of
11Section 13955.

12(i) “Victim center” means a victim and witness assistance center
13that receives funds pursuant to Section 13835.2 of the Penal Code.

14(j) “Violence peer counseling” means counseling by a violence
15peer counselor for the purpose of rendering advice or assistance
16for victims of violent crime and their families.

17(k) “Violence peer counselor” means a provider of formal or
18informal counseling services who is employed by a service
19organization for victims of violent crime, whether financially
20compensated or not, and whobegin delete has had at least 40 hours of
21specialized training that includes, but is not limited to, applied
22peace building and violence prevention strategies, practical
23applications of violence prevention strategies, trauma-informed
24care, post-traumatic stress disorder and vicarious trauma, victim
25compensation advocacy, retaliation prevention and conflict
26mediation, and case management practices.end delete
begin insert meets all of the
27following requirements:end insert

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28(1) Possesses at least six months of full-time equivalent
29experience in providing peer support services acquired through
30employment, volunteer work, or as part of an internship experience.

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31(2) Completed a training program aimed at preparing an
32individual who was once a mental health services consumer to use
33his or her life experience with mental health treatment, combined
34with other strengths and skills, to promote the mental health
35recovery of other mental health services consumers who are in
36need of peer-based services relating to recovery as a victim of a
37violent crime.

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38(3) Possesses 40 hours of training on all of the following:

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39(A) The profound neurological, biological, psychological, and
40social effects of trauma and violence.

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P4    1(B) Peace-building and violence prevention strategies, including,
2but not limited to, conflict mediation and retaliation prevention
3related to gangs and gang-related violence.

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4(C) Post-traumatic stress disorder and vicarious trauma,
5especially as related to gangs and gang-related violence.

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6(D) Case management practices, including, but not limited to,
7ethics and victim compensation advocacy.

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8

SEC. 2.  

Section 13957 of the Government Code, as amended
9by Section 2 of Chapter 147 of the Statutes of 2013, is amended
10to read:

11

13957.  

(a) The board may grant for pecuniary loss, when the
12board determines it will best aid the person seeking compensation,
13as follows:

14(1) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2,
15reimburse the amount of medical or medical-related expenses
16incurred by the victim, including, but not limited to, eyeglasses,
17hearing aids, dentures, or any prosthetic device taken, lost, or
18destroyed during the commission of the crime, or the use of which
19became necessary as a direct result of the crime.

20(2) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2,
21reimburse the amount of outpatient psychiatric, psychological, or
22other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the
23victim or derivative victim, including peer counseling services
24provided by a rape crisis center as defined by Section 13837 of
25the Penal Code or violence peer counseling services provided by
26a service organization for victims of violent crime, and including
27family psychiatric, psychological, or mental health counseling for
28the successful treatment of the victim provided to family members
29of the victim in the presence of the victim, whether or not the
30family member relationship existed at the time of the crime, that
31became necessary as a direct result of the crime, subject to the
32following conditions:

33(A) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense
34of their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to
35exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000):

36(i) A victim.

37(ii) A derivative victim who is the surviving parent, sibling,
38child, spouse, fiancé, or fiancée of a victim of a crime that directly
39resulted in the death of the victim.

P5    1(iii) A derivative victim, as described in paragraphs (1) to (4),
2inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 13955, who is the primary
3caretaker of a minor victim whose claim is not denied or reduced
4pursuant to Section 13956 in a total amount not to exceed ten
5thousand dollars ($10,000) for not more than two derivative
6victims.

7(B) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense
8of their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to
9exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000):

10(i) A derivative victim not eligible for reimbursement pursuant
11to subparagraph (A), provided that mental health counseling of a
12derivative victim described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of
13Section 13955, shall be reimbursed only if that counseling is
14necessary for the treatment of the victim.

15(ii) A victim of a crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a
16minor committed in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5
17of the Penal Code. A derivative victim of a crime committed in
18violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of the Penal Code
19shall not be eligible for reimbursement of mental health counseling
20expenses.

21(iii) A minor who suffers emotional injury as a direct result of
22witnessing a violent crime and who is not eligible for
23reimbursement of the costs of outpatient mental health counseling
24under any other provision of this chapter. To be eligible for
25reimbursement under this clause, the minor must have been in
26close proximity to the victim when he or she witnessed the crime.

27(C) The board may reimburse a victim or derivative victim for
28outpatient mental health counseling in excess of that authorized
29by subparagraph (A) or (B) or for inpatient psychiatric,
30psychological, or other mental health counseling if the claim is
31based on dire or exceptional circumstances that require more
32extensive treatment, as approved by the board.

33(D) Expenses for psychiatric, psychological, or other mental
34health counseling-related services may be reimbursed only if the
35services were provided by either of the following individuals:

36(i) A person who would have been authorized to provide those
37services pursuant to former Article 1 (commencing with Section
3813959) as it read on January 1, 2002.

39(ii) A person who is licensed by the state to provide those
40services, or who is properly supervised by a person who is so
P6    1licensed, subject to the board’s approval and subject to the
2limitations and restrictions the board may impose.

3(3) Reimburse the expenses of nonmedical remedial care and
4treatment rendered in accordance with a religious method of healing
5recognized by state law.

6(4) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.5,
7authorize compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of
8support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs as a direct
9result of the victim’s or derivative victim’s injury or the victim’s
10death. If the victim or derivative victim requests that the board
11give priority to reimbursement of loss of income or support, the
12board may not pay medical expenses, or mental health counseling
13expenses, except upon the request of the victim or derivative victim
14or after determining that payment of these expenses will not
15decrease the funds available for payment of loss of income or
16support.

17(5) Authorize a cash payment to or on behalf of the victim for
18job retraining or similar employment-oriented services.

19(6) Reimburse the claimant for the expense of installing or
20increasing residential security, not to exceed one thousand dollars
21($1,000). Reimbursement shall be made either upon verification
22by law enforcement that the security measures are necessary for
23the personal safety of the claimant or verification by a mental
24health treatment provider that the security measures are necessary
25for the emotional well-being of the claimant. For purposes of this
26paragraph, a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is
27deceased, a person who resided with the deceased at the time of
28the crime. Installing or increasing residential security may include,
29 but need not be limited to, both of the following:

30(A) Home security device or system.

31(B) Replacing or increasing the number of locks.

32(7) Reimburse the expense of renovating or retrofitting a
33victim’s residence or a vehicle, or both, to make the residence, the
34vehicle, or both, accessible or the vehicle operational by a victim
35upon verification that the expense is medically necessary for a
36victim who is permanently disabled as a direct result of the crime,
37whether the disability is partial or total.

38(8) (A) Authorize a cash payment or reimbursement not to
39exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) to a victim for expenses
40incurred in relocating, if the expenses are determined by law
P7    1enforcement to be necessary for the personal safety of the victim
2or by a mental health treatment provider to be necessary for the
3emotional well-being of the victim.

4(B) The cash payment or reimbursement made under this
5paragraph shall only be awarded to one claimant per crime giving
6rise to the relocation. The board may authorize more than one
7relocation per crime if necessary for the personal safety or
8emotional well-being of the claimant. However, the total cash
9payment or reimbursement for all relocations due to the same crime
10shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000). For purposes of
11this paragraph a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is
12deceased, a person who resided with the deceased at the time of
13the crime.

14(C) The board may, under compelling circumstances, award a
15second cash payment or reimbursement to a victim for another
16crime if both of the following conditions are met:

17(i) The crime occurs more than three years from the date of the
18crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash payment or
19reimbursement.

20(ii) The crime does not involve the same offender.

21(D) When a relocation payment or reimbursement is provided
22to a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence and the identity
23of the offender is known to the victim, the victim shall agree not
24to inform the offender of the location of the victim’s new residence
25and not to allow the offender on the premises at any time, or shall
26agree to seek a restraining order against the offender.

27(E) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the board may
28increase the cash payment or reimbursement for expenses incurred
29in relocating to an amount greater than two thousand dollars
30 ($2,000), if the board finds this amount is appropriate due to the
31unusual, dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim.

32(9) When a victim dies as a result of a crime, the board may
33reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation
34of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay any of the
35following expenses:

36(A) The medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the crime
37in an amount not to exceed the rates or limitations established by
38the board.

P8    1(B) The funeral and burial expenses incurred as a direct result
2of the crime, not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars
3($7,500).

4(10) When the crime occurs in a residence, the board may
5reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation
6of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay the
7reasonable costs to clean the scene of the crime in an amount not
8to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Services reimbursed
9pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed by persons
10registered with the State Department of Public Health as trauma
11scene waste practitioners in accordance with Chapter 9.5
12(commencing with Section 118321) of Part 14 of Division 104 of
13the Health and Safety Code.

14(b) The total award to or on behalf of each victim or derivative
15victim may not exceed thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000),
16except that this amount may be increased to seventy thousand
17dollars ($70,000) if federal funds for that increase are available.



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