BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 556
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2015
Counsel: Sandy Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
SB
556 (De León) - As Amended May 4, 2015
SUMMARY: Defines "application processing time" for the approval
or denial of a victim's compensation claim by the California
Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP). Specifically, this bill:
1)States that, for purposes of processing victim compensation
applications under the CalVCP, "time of processing
applications" means "the period of time, including all
calendar days, that begins when the board first receives an
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application and ends when a determination is made to approve
or deny the application and notice of that determination is
sent to the applicant."
2)Requires the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
(board) to annually post on its Internet Web site its current
average time of processing applications, the number of
applications approved and denied, and the number of incomplete
applications received.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the board to operate the CalVCP. (Gov. Code, §
13950 et. seq.)
2)Provides than an application for compensation shall be filed
with the board in the manner determined by the board. (Gov.
Code, § 13952, subd.(a).)
3)States that, except as provided by specified sections of the
Government Code, a person shall be eligible for compensation
when all of the following requirements are met:
a) The person form whom compensation is being sought any of
the following:
i) A victim.
ii) A derivative victim.
iii) A person who is entitled to reimbursement for
funeral, burial or crime scene clean-up expenses pursuant
to specified sections of the Government Code.
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b) Either of the following conditions is met:
i) The crime occurred within California, whether or not
the victim is a resident of California. This only
applies when the VCGCB determines that there are federal
funds available to the state for the compensation of
crime victims.
ii) Whether or not the crime occurred within the State
of California, the victim was any of the following:
(1) A California resident.
(2) A member of the military stationed in
California.
(3) A family member living with a member of the
military stationed in California.
c) If compensation is being sought for derivative victim,
the derivative victim is a resident of California, or the
resident of another state who is any of the following:
i) At the time of the crimes was the parent,
grandparent, sibling, spouse, child or grandchild of the
victim.
ii) At the time of the crime was living in the household
of the victim.
iii) At the time of the crime was a person who had
previously lived in the house of the victim for a person
of not less than two years in a relationship
substantially similar to a previously listed
relationship.
iv) Another family member of the victim including, but
not limited to, the victim's fiancé or fiancée, and who
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witnessed the crime.
v) Is the primary caretaker of a minor victim, but was
not the primary caretaker at the time of the crime.
d) And other specified requirements. (Gov. Code, § 13955.)
4)States that an application shall be denied if the board finds
that the victim failed to reasonably cooperate with law
enforcement in prosecution of the crime. (Gov. Code, § 13956,
subd. (b)(1).)
5)Authorizes the board to reimburse for pecuniary loss for the
following types of losses (Gov. Code, § 13957, subd. (a)):
a) The amount of medical or medical-related expenses
incurred by the victim, subject to specified limitations.
b) The amount of out-patient psychiatric, psychological or
other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by
the victim, as specified, including peer counseling
services provided by a rape crisis center.
c) The expenses of non-medical remedial care and treatment
rendered in accordance with a religious method of healing
recognized by state law.
d) Compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of
support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs
as a direct result of the victim's injury or the victim's
death, subject to specified limitations.
e) Cash payment to, or on behalf of, the victim for job
retraining or similar employment-oriented services.
f) The expense of installing or increasing residential
security, not to exceed $1,000, with respect to a crime
that occurred in the victim's residence, upon verification
by law enforcement to be necessary for the personal safety
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of the victim or by a mental health treatment provider to
be necessary for the emotional well-being of the victim.
g) The expense of renovating or retrofitting a victim's
residence or a vehicle to make them accessible or
operational, if it is medically necessary.
h) Expenses incurred in relocating, as specified, if the
expenses are determined by law enforcement to be necessary
for the personal safety or by a mental health treatment
provider to be necessary for the emotional well-being of
the victim.
6)Requires the board to approve or deny applications, based on
recommendations by the board staff, within an average of 90
calendar days and no later than 180 calendar days of
acceptance by the board. (Gov. Code, § 13958, subd. (a).)
7)Requires the board, if it fails to meet the 90-day average, to
report to the Legislature on a quarterly basis its progress
and current average processing time. (Gov. Code, § 13958,
subd. (b).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Through the
California Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP), California
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has been helping victims by covering the cost of bills and
expenses resulting from certain violent crimes. Many times,
these expenses include medical treatment, mental health
services, and lost income. A person seeking assistance must
first submit an application to the program to determine
eligibility. However, for reasons such as leaving a box
unchecked on whether the victim intends to file a civil suit
or not signing the form, some applications get held up in the
process for extended lengths of time. For these and other
minor deficiencies, many eligible victims are stuck with
paying bills out of pocket or otherwise unable to receive
treatment or services.
"To curb delays, the Legislature required that CalVCP approve or
deny applications within an average of 90 day and that the
program report to the Legislature whenever the 90-day-average
standard was not being met. CalVCP's current method of
calculating application processing time, however, starts only
when a completed application is received, leaving the time an
application is first received, but not fully filled out,
outside of the official processing time. This method is not a
true reflection of how long it takes the program to process
applications and may be masking issues of lengthy processing
times that hinder crime victims in their efforts towards
rehabilitation and moving on with their lives.
"SB 556 will help ensure that crime victims receive the
financial assistance they are owed in a timely manner by
clarifying the start and end times that CalVCP uses in
processing applications to determine eligibility and requiring
this data be made available on the program's website."
2)Background: The CalVCP provides compensation for victims of
violent crime. It reimburses eligible victims for many
crime-related expenses, such as medical treatment, mental
health services, funeral expenses, home security, and
relocation services. Funding for the board comes from
restitution fines and penalty assessments paid by criminal
offenders, as well as federal matching funds. (See CVGCB
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Website < http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/board >.)
3)Bureau of State Audit Recommendations: In 2008, the Bureau of
State Audits conducted a review of the CalVCP. (Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board: It Has Begun
Improving the Victim Compensation Program, but More Remains to
Be Done, (Dec. 2008),
< http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2008-113.pdf >.) One of
the areas the bureau considered was how long it took the board
to process applications. The bureau concluded that, at times,
applications were not processed in a timely manner:
State law related to eligibility determinations for
the program requires the board to approve or deny
applications, based on the recommendation of board
staff, within an average of 90 calendar days, and no
later than 180 calendar days after the acceptance date
for an individual application. For the 49
applications we reviewed, the board's average
processing time was 76 days, which is well within the
statutory average. However, the board did not make a
determination within 180 days in two instances. We
also noted various instances in which the board did
not demonstrate that it approved or denied the
applications as promptly as it could have after
receiving the information necessary to make the
determination. (Id. at pp. 30-31.)
For the 49 applications we reviewed from fiscal years
2003-04 through 200708, we found that the boards
average processing time was 76 days, which is well
within the 90day average required under state law.
However, we noted that in 16 of the 49 applications we
reviewed, the board took more than 90 days from
acceptance to notify the applicant of its recommended
decision to approve or deny the application. Although
taking more than 90 days to approve or deny an
individual application is not a violation of state
law, any unnecessary delays in processing contribute
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to crime victims waiting longer than necessary to be
reimbursed for outofpocket expenses. Delays may also
cause providers to become frustrated and stop
participating in the program, reducing services
available to crime victims and their families. (Id.
at p. 31.)
The bureau discussed the board's process as follows:
The board considers the date of acceptance to be the
date that it determines it has received an application
that is 'complete' rather than the date that it
receives an application. State regulations describe a
complete application as including, among other things,
information requested from the applicant that allows
board staff to confirm that the applicant is qualified
and a crime report or other documentation necessary to
corroborate that a qualifying crime occurred. Our
legal counsel advised us that the board's
interpretation does not conflict with any of the
statutes governing the processing of applications.
(Id. at p. 32.)
This bill would specify that the application processing
time begins when the board first receives an application
and ends when notice of the determination to approve or
deny the claim is sent to the applicant.
4)Argument in Support: Californians for Safety and Justice, the
sponsor of this bill, write, "Current law requires the Victim
Compensation and Government Claim Board (VCGCB) to either
approve or deny a claim an average of 90 days after acceptance
by VCGCB. However, there is no statutory definition of
'accepted,' leading to much longer response times for some
applicants. For example, an application may not be 'accepted'
because the application hasn't been signed, or because the
applicant hasn't checked a box indicated whether or not a
civil suit will be filed. These and other similar minor
deficiencies can lead to an application not being 'accepted,'
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leaving the applicant in limbo waiting for a response. And
because they applications are not 'accepted' the time the
applicant is waiting for a response does not count towards the
statutorily required 90 day response time. This can lead to
needless delays for the victim in receiving services he or she
is entitled to."
5)Related Legislation:
a) AB 1140 (Bonta) revises various rules governing the
CalVCP. AB 1140 is pending hearing in the Senate Public
Safety Committee.
b) SB 519 (Hancock) makes various changes to the CalVCP,
including but not limited to expanding eligibility for
compensation and revising processing standards. SB 519 is
pending hearing in this committee.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 972 (Poochigian), Chapter 238, Statutes of 2005, made
various changes to facilitate the recovery of restitution
for the VCGCB.
b) SB 1423 (Chesbro), Chapter 1141, Statutes of 2002,
recast and revised numerous provisions of existing law
pertaining to the CalVCP, and made many technical and
substantive changes, including the time requirements for
approval or denial of an application.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
SB 556
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Californians for Safety and Justice (Sponsor)
California Immigrant Policy Center
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by:Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744