BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair S
2013-2014 Regular Session B
5
4
4
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
As Amended April 4, 2013
Hearing date: April 9, 2013
Penal Code
AA:dl
VIOLENCE PREVENTION AUTHORITY
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: None
Support: California Partnership to End Domestic Violence;
National Association of Social Workers
Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD A "CALIFORNIA VIOLENCE PREVENTION AUTHORITY" BE CREATED
WITHIN THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to enact the "California Violence
Prevention Act of 2013," and create the "California Violence
Prevention Authority" within the state Department of Public
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageB
Health, as specified.
Current law establishes the "Board of State and Community
Corrections" ("BSCC"), with the following mission:
The mission of the board shall include providing
statewide leadership, coordination, and technical
assistance to promote effective state and local
efforts and partnerships in California's adult and
juvenile criminal justice system, including addressing
gang problems. This mission shall reflect the
principle of aligning fiscal policy and correctional
practices, including, but not limited
to prevention, intervention, suppression, supervision,
and incapacitation, to promote a justice investment
strategy that fits each county and is consistent with
the integrated statewide goal of improved public
safety through cost-effective, promising, and
evidence-based strategies for managing criminal
justice populations. (Penal Code � 6024(b).)
Current law establishes in statute the "Carl Washington School
Safety and Violence Prevention Act," which provides in part that
it "is the intent of the Legislature that public schools serving
pupils in any of grades 8 to 12, inclusive, have access to
supplemental resources to establish programs and strategies that
promote school safety and emphasize violence prevention among
children and youth in public schools." (Education Code �
32228(a).) This Act provides further that it is the intent of
the Legislature "that schoolsites receiving funds pursuant to
this article accomplish all of the following goals:
(1) Teach pupils techniques for resolving conflicts without
violence.
(2) Train school staff and administrators to support and
promote conflict resolution and mediation techniques for
resolving conflicts between and among pupils.
(3) Reduce incidents of violence at the schoolsite with an
emphasis on prevention and early detection.
(4) Provide age-appropriate instruction in domestic
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageC
violence prevention, dating violence prevention, and
interpersonal violence prevention. (Education Code � 32228(c).)
Current law establishes in statute the "California Gang, Crime,
and Violence Prevention Partnership Program," administered by
the Department of Justice "for the purposes of reducing gang,
criminal activity, and youth violence to the extent authorized
pursuant to this chapter in communities with a high incidence of
gang violence, including, but not limited to, the communities of
Fresno, Glendale, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Riverside,
Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose, San
Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Monica, and Venice." (Penal Code �
13825.2)
Creation of "California Violence Prevention Authority"
This bill would enact the "California Violence Prevention Act of
2013," and create the "California Violence Prevention Authority"
within the state Department of Public Health, with the following
features and responsibilities:
Duties and Responsibilities
This bill would provide that the duties and responsibilities of
the authority shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Developing a statewide, violence prevention plan that
includes multidisciplinary
approaches, including criminal justice and public health
approaches, to violence
prevention in families, schools, and communities.
(2) Coordinating statewide violence prevention efforts.
(3) Seeking, receiving, and administering grants and funds
from public and private sources for violence prevention efforts
and programs.
(4) Distributing the grants and funds obtained for violence
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageD
prevention efforts and programs, pursuant to rules adopted by
the authority and subject to appropriation, to local and
statewide organizations, initiatives, and programs that address
violence prevention in a comprehensive and collaborative manner,
including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Community based youth violence prevention programs,
including mentoring
programs, after school programs, and job training and
development programs.
(B) Early childhood intervention programs designed to
prevent violence and identify and serve at-risk children and
families.
(C) Family violence and sexual assault prevention
initiatives.
(D) Programs that integrate violence prevention services
with alcohol and substance abuse prevention services.
(E) Programs that integrate violence prevention services
with providing health care services.
(5) Providing training and technical assistance to help
build the capacity of organizations, communities, and local
government to develop, implement, and evaluate violence
prevention programs.
Advisory Board
This bill would require that the authority have an advisory
board "which shall meet periodically to carry out the purposes
of this title and to execute the duties and responsibilities"
enumerated above.
This bill would require that the advisory board include, and be
chaired by, the Attorney General, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, and the State Director of Public Health.
This bill would require that the advisory board include the
following:
(1) The Secretary of the California Health and Human Services
Agency, or his or her designee, and one additional
representative of the California Health and Human Services
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageE
Agency, to be selected by the Secretary of the California Health
and Human Services Agency.
(2) The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, or his
or her designee.
(3) The Director of Social Services, or his or her designee.
(4) The Director of the California Department of Aging, or
his or her designee.
(5) The Secretary for the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.
(6) Six public members, each representing a health, criminal
justice, or civic association or organization working in the
area of violence prevention, or an advocate for victims
including domestic violence or sexual assault victims. Three of
the public members shall be appointed by the Attorney General
and three of the public members shall be appointed by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction. Each public member shall
be appointed for a term of three years, and may be reappointed.
Funding
This bill would create the "Violence Prevention Fund" in the
State Treasury, and provide that funds "received from private,
state, or federal sources for violence prevention purposes may
be deposited into the fund. Upon appropriation by the
Legislature, these funds shall be used by the California
Violence Prevention Authority to carry out the purposes of this
title."
This bill would state that funding "to implement the purposes,
objectives, and operations of the California Violence Prevention
Authority shall be provided from an amount appropriated to the
state Department of Public Health for that purpose in the annual
Budget Act.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation
relating to conditions of confinement. On May 23, 2011, the
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageF
United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two
years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the
state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances.
Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the
prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony
prosecutions. Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which
stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the
Committee held measures which created a new felony, expanded the
scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased
the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate
the prison overcrowding crisis. Under these principles, ROCA
was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary
to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards
reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which would
increase the prison population. ROCA necessitated many hard and
difficult decisions for the Committee.
In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the
historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of
California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the
federal court order to reduce the state's prison population to
137.5 percent of design capacity. The State submitted in part
that the, ". . . population in the State's 33 prisons has been
reduced by over 24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public
safety realignment went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates
compared to the 2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000
inmates since 2006 . . . ." Plaintiffs, who oppose the state's
motion, argue in part that, "California prisons, which currently
average 150% of capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity
at one prison, continue to deliver health care that is
constitutionally deficient."
In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal court granted
the state a six-month extension to achieve the 137.5 % prisoner
population cap by December 31st of this year.
The ongoing litigation indicates that prison capacity and
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageG
related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain
unsettled. However, in light of the real gains in reducing the
prison population that have been made, although even greater
reductions are required by the court, the Committee will review
each ROCA bill with more flexible consideration. The following
questions will inform this consideration:
whether a measure erodes realignment;
whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or
legislative drafting error;
whether a measure proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy; and
whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
Violence takes the lives of nearly 6,000 Californians
each year. In 2009, California had 3,743 suicides and
2,055 homicides. The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention reports that, youth violence is widespread
in the United States, it is the second leading cause
of death for young people between the ages of 15 and
24. In 2010, 4,828 young people, ages 10 to 24 were
victims of homicide-an average of 13 each day. In
2011, 707,212 young people, ages 10 to 24 were treated
in emergency departments for injuries sustained from
physical assaults. In 2011, 20 percent of high school
students reported being bullied on school property.
Youth violence is a tragic public health problem that
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageH
affects physical, mental and emotional health and it
is estimated that incidents of violence cost an
estimated $70 billion a year in the United States.
Research shows that violence is largely preventable
and there are proven strategies to reduce violence
with early intervention and supports for families and
communities exposed to violence.
SB 544 creates the California Violence Prevention
Authority (CVPA) that will provide leadership,
support, and coordination for community-based violence
prevention programming including comprehensive Pre
K-12 school based violence prevention programs, family
violence and sexual assault prevention initiatives,
healthcare, and alcohol and substance abuse prevention
efforts.
. . .
The CVPA will provide a statewide focused approach to
violence prevention by linking together existing
violence prevention efforts among agencies and
organizations to encourage networking and exchange of
best practice models to increase program effectiveness
and reduce violence. Using research-based planning,
the CVPA will offer professional training for direct
services for children and families, provide program
evaluation for quality and effectiveness, and raise
public awareness.
SB 544 will improve services for children and families
exposed to violence and bring local service providers
and stakeholder together to strengthen community
response to violence and offer early intervention.
2. Historical Efforts to Promote Violence Prevention; Existing
Entities and Statutory Provisions
There have been many efforts over many years to identify better
strategies for promoting violence prevention in California. For
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageI
example, in 1979, AB 23 (Vasconcellos) (Ch. 990, Stats. 1979)
created the California Commission on Crime Control & Violence
Prevention, which published its preliminary report, "A Ounce of
Prevention: Toward An Understanding of the Causes of Violence"
in 1982. Now more than 30 years old, that report began by
describing the following context for the Commission's effort:
More than 24 million households -- almost a third of
the households in the Nation -- were touched by crime
in 1980. In California, the rate of violent crime
appears to have increased almost 24 percent in the
past five years. . . .
None among us feel safe walking our cities' streets at
night. Most have witnessed the tragic results of
child neglect, or known a woman abused in her own
home. There can be no doubt that crime and vio1ence --
both their reality and the fear of it -- affects the
quality of life for all Californians.
The Commission on Crime Control and Violence
Prevention, created in late 1979 by the California
Legislature (A.B. 23, Vasconcellos), was born out of
the conviction that crime and violence-at least to the
degree we currently experience it--is not an
acceptable or inevitable part of human existence.
Violence is, instead, the result of human-made
conditions subject to human intervention and
amelioration. If we, as human beings, commit our
resources, resolve and creativity to the task, a less
violent society is possible.<1>
Over a decade later, then-Attorney General Daniel E. Lungren's
Policy Council on Violence Prevention produced its report,
Violence Prevention, A Vision of Hope, which began with similar
concerns:
. . . Increasingly, people are asking why America has
----------------------
<1>
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/82786NCJRS.pdf.
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageJ
become so violent. They are wondering what has gone
wrong, and what can be done. Violence is not a new
phenomenon in America; its roots are embedded deep in
our history, and its threads are woven through the
very fabric of our society. But, the current upsurge
in violence by and against increasingly younger
Americans - too often our children -- is a new
phenomenon, and a very disturbing one. Some say we are
witnessing the emergence of a culture of violence.<2>
The report included recommendations that state and local leaders
"create partnerships with communities, a variety of public and
private agencies, and universities to incorporate the public
health approach into their violence prevention efforts. . . .
Public and private agencies and organizations should
coordinate and invest in collaborative research to
determine what policies and programs will effectively
prevent violence before it occurs. All violence
prevention efforts should include an impact-evaluation
component, a cost-effectiveness component and a
"learn-as-we-go" approach that allows for altering the
course of action based on evaluation data.<3>
In its report of June 2001, Never Too Early, Never Too Late To
Prevent Youth Crime and Violence, the Little Hoover Commission
stated, with respect to prevention programs, that the "State has
not pulled these programs into a coherent state-wide strategy .
. . . It has not defined its goals or created the management
infrastructure necessary to ensure that resources are being
spent in the best way possible . . . . California needs to make
prevention the premise - rather than an afterthought - for every
program for children and families. The Governor, Attorney
General and Superintendent of Public Instruction must get
directly involved, along with community leaders, and a new
---------------------------
<2> Crime and Violence Prevention Center, California Attorney
General's Office, Violence Prevention, A Vision of Hope (August
1995).
<3> Id.
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageK
Secretary for Youth Development and Violence Prevention who can
bring day-to-day leadership to this effort."<4>
In 2003, the Little Hoover Commission concluded that, "(w)hile
researchers have documented which strategies best prevent and
respond to the most pressing social problems, the State does not
direct resources to the most successful strategies or to
community priorities. . . . State efforts are fragmented and
disparate. Public safety programs are sprinkled throughout the
bureaucracy - many of them duplicative and most of them
operating as if the others do not exist. The performance of the
programs is not adequately measured and is difficult to assess.
. . . Prevention programs are spread across multiple agencies
and funding streams are fragmented and uncoordinated."<5>
This bill would create the "California Violence Prevention
Authority" in the Department of Public Health, together with an
advisory committee, for the violence prevention purposes
enumerated above. As described earlier in this analysis, the
Board of State and Community Corrections ("BSCC") may have some
duties which overlap the functions contemplated in this bill.
For example, the BSCC is supposed to "(i)dentify and evaluate
state, local, and federal gang and youth violence suppression,
intervention, and prevention programs and strategies, along with
funding for those efforts." (Penal Code � 6027(b)(9).) The
author and Committee members may wish to consider how the
proposed authority would complement, and not duplicate, the
BSCC.
Similarly, members may wish to discuss if the authority would
blend with or otherwise complement or expand upon the existing
Violence Prevention Program described in the state Department of
Public Health's website:
Violence Prevention Program
----------------------
<4> http://www.lhc.ca.gov/studies/159/report159.pdf.
<5> The Little Hoover Commission, Improving Public Safety:
Beyond the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (July 2003);
http://www.lhc.ca.gov/studies/171/Report171.pdf.
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageL
Violence has emerged as one of the central public
health problems of our time. Violence takes many
forms: between intimate partners, the physical and
emotional abuse of children and elders, and between
strangers. Each type of violence provides specific
opportunities and strategies for prevention.
The Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control
Branch (EPIC), Violence Prevention Unit (VPU), seeks
to address violence through shifting cultural norms,
policies, and practices to create a climate free from
violence. Rather than focusing on individuals and
victims, the VPU's strength and imperative is in
community and population-based prevention focusing on
preventing violence before it is initiated, and
critical referral to services for those at risk, as
opposed to an approach which concentrates on service
provision after victimization has occurred. This
primary prevention public health approach is a
systematic process that promotes healthy behaviors and
environments, and reduces the likelihood or frequency
of intimate partner violence and sexual violence.
Primary prevention is distinguished from secondary
prevention because it explicitly focuses on action
before there is a threat of violence.
(More)
The overall mission of the VPU is to "provide
leadership in the application of public health
principles and practices to prevent violent
(intentional) injuries." The goal of the VPU is to
"conduct epidemiological investigations; collaborate
with statewide constituencies in building capacity and
resources for violence prevention efforts; and to
develop, implement and evaluate violence prevention
projects and policies." Although the VPU addresses
varied violence prevention issues, current projects
focus primarily on the prevention of violence against
women.<6>
There also are existing statutory provisions which on their face
describe efforts to promote violence prevention in California.
It is not clear that there are active programs operating
pursuant to these provisions at this time or that, if such
efforts exist, they fulfill the coordination and comprehensive
planning functions proposed by this bill.
HOW WOULD THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION AUTHORITY CREATED BY THIS BILL
DIFFER FROM, OR BE COMPLEMENTARY TO, EXISTING VIOLENCE
PREVENTION-RELATED MISSIONS DESCRIBED IN STATE LAW?
WOULD THIS BILL CREATE A FRAMEWORK WHICH COULD ACHIEVE THE
COORDINATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION EFFORTS
RECOMMENDED IN CALIFORNIA FOR OVER 30 YEARS?
3. Models from Other States
In preparing this bill, the author's staff worked with the
Senate Office of Research to identify models employed in other
jurisdictions to promote comprehensive approaches to violence
prevention. The author's office has submitted some example
models which may be instructive to the approach proposed by this
bill, including the following:
---------------------------
<6>
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/ViolencePreventionProgram.a
spx.
(More)
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageN
Illinois Violence Prevention Authority . Enacted in 1995, the
Illinois Violence Prevention Authority ("IVPA") is the
structural model for this bill. According to its website, "the
IVPA has defined five main goals:
Develop and implement a statewide plan for violence
prevention
Fund local and statewide anti-violence programs
Coordinate existing violence prevention initiatives and
encourage collaborative projects
Evaluate and provide technical assistance for violence
prevention programming
Conduct public education and awareness efforts about
violence and its prevention.<7>
Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development According to its
website, "The Blueprints mission is to identify evidence-based
prevention and intervention programs that are effective in
reducing antisocial behavior and promoting a healthy course of
youth development. . . .
In 1996, the Center for the Study and Prevention of
Violence (CSPV), at the University of Colorado at
Boulder, with initial funding from the Colorado
Division of Criminal Justice, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and the Pennsylvania
Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and with major
long-term funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), designed and
launched a national violence prevention initiative to
identify and replicate violence prevention programs
that are effective. The project, called Blueprints for
Violence Prevention (today renamed Blueprints for
Healthy Youth Development), identifies youth
prevention and intervention programs that meet a
strict scientific standard of program effectiveness.
Program effectiveness is based upon an initial review
by CSPV and a final review and recommendation from a
----------------------
<7> http://ivpa.org/ .
SB 544 (DeSaulnier)
PageO
distinguished Advisory Board, comprised of 6 to 8
experts in the field of youth development. The model
and promising programs, called Blueprints, have been
effective in reducing problem behaviors and promoting
healthy youth development. To date, more than 1,100
programs have been reviewed, and the Center continues
to look for programs which meet the selection
criteria. As a result of the funding from OJJDP, the
Blueprints Initiative became a comprehensive effort to
provide communities with a set of demonstrated
effective programs and the technical assistance and
monitoring necessary to plan for and develop an
effective violence intervention.<8>
***************
---------------------------
<8> http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/.