BILL NUMBER: SB 60	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        JANUARY 7, 2013

   An act to amend Section 13951 of the Government Code, relating to
the Victims of Crime Act, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 60, as introduced, Wright. Victims of Crime Act: elderly
adults.
   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.
   This bill would include financial abuse of an elderly or dependent
adult within the definition of crimes that are eligible for
compensation under these provisions and provide legislative findings
and declarations regarding financial crimes against elderly or
dependent adults.
   By expanding the application of provisions authorizing certain
uses of continuously appropriated funds, this bill would make an
appropriation.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. 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:
   (a) California has the highest number of older adults compared to
any other state in the nation, with 4.2 million individuals over 65
years of age counted in the 2010 census.
   (b) Elderly and dependent adults are seen as easy targets by
financial predators who take advantage of their victims' loneliness,
isolation, and vulnerability. This population often falls victim to
scams such as foreign lotteries, the sale of costly and ineffective
annuities, identity theft, reverse mortgage scams, and fraudulent
home repairs.
   (c) A 1998 study reported in the Journal of The American Medical
Association (Lachs et al, 1998) found that an elder victimized by
financial abuse has a decreased projected lifespan when compared to
elders who have not suffered that exploitation.
   (d) State Department of Social Services reports that as many as
1,600 reports of elder and dependent adult financial abuse are under
investigation in a given month by the Adult Protective Services
Division statewide.
   (e) The California Victims of Crime Program does not serve this
population even though federal law allows Victims of Crime Act funds
to be used to assist victims of financial crimes. Federal guidelines
identify elders and dependent adults as being underserved in this
area.
   (f) Many states already provide assistance to victims of financial
crimes, including Colorado, Florida, Idaho, New Jersey, New York,
Oklahoma, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.
  SEC. 2.  Section 13951 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   13951.  As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall
apply:
   (a) "Board" means the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board.
   (b) (1) "Crime" means a crime or public offense,  including
financial abuse of an elderly or dependent adult,  wherever it
may take place, that would constitute a misdemeanor or a felony if
the crime had been committed in California by a competent adult.
   (2) "Crime" includes an act of terrorism, as defined in Section
2331 of Title 18 of the United States Code, committed against a
resident of the state, whether or not the act occurs within the
state.
   (c) "Derivative victim" means an individual who sustains pecuniary
loss as a result of injury or death to a victim.
   (d) "Law enforcement" means every district attorney, municipal
police department, sheriff's department, district attorney's office,
county probation department, and social services agency, the
Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections  and
Rehabilitation  , the  Department of the Youth Authority
  Division of Juvenile Facilities, Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation  , the Department of the
California Highway Patrol, the police department of any campus of the
University of California, California State University, or community
college, and every agency of the State of California expressly
authorized by statute to investigate or prosecute law violators.
   (e) "Pecuniary loss" means an economic loss or expense resulting
from an injury or death to a victim of crime that has not been and
will not be reimbursed from any other source.
   (f) "Peer counseling" means counseling offered by a provider of
mental health counseling services who has completed a specialized
course in rape crisis counseling skills development, participates in
continuing education in rape crisis counseling skills development,
and provides rape crisis counseling within the State of California.
   (g) "Victim" means an individual who sustains injury or death as a
direct result of a crime as specified in subdivision (e) of Section
13955.
   (h) "Victim center" means a victim and witness assistance center
that receives funds pursuant to Section 13835.2 of the Penal Code.