BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 877
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
877 (Pan)
As Amended August 18, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 28-6
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Health |16-0 |Wood, Maienschein, | |
| | |Bonilla, Burke, | |
| | |Campos, Chiu, Gomez, | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Lackey, Nazarian, | |
| | |Olsen, Ridley-Thomas, | |
| | |Rodriguez, Santiago, | |
| | |McCarty, Waldron | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |15-4 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Jones, Wagner |
| | |Calderon, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, Wood, | |
SB 877
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| | |McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish and maintain the California Electronic Violent Death
Reporting System (CalEVDRS) and to collect data on violent
deaths, as specified; permits DPH to enter into a contract,
grant, or other agreement with a local agency to collect data on
violent deaths as reported from data sources, as specified;
permits local agencies to enter into their own agreements with
DPH to meet data collection requirements; and, permits DPH to
apply for federal, private, or foundation grants and moneys to
implement CalEVDRS.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, DPH received a tentative award of funding on July 13,
2016 through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in
order to resume participation in the National Violent Death
Reporting System (NVDRS). The actual funding amount is not able
to be released until the award is official. Assuming funds are
appropriated or available through private sources:
1)Ongoing costs of $460,000 per year for staff to oversee
contracts with counties and law enforcement organizations,
analyze data, and prepare reports (General Fund (GF or
potentially federal/private funds, if available).
2)Ongoing costs of $300,000 for payments to counties and law
enforcement agencies to reimburse counties and law enforcement
agencies who would provide information to DPH for entry into
the tracking system (GF or potentially federal/private funds,
if available). Previously, DPH provided reimbursement to
local government agencies to reimburse them for the time
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needed to provide information to DPH.
3)DPH has an existing database that was used for such reporting
- however, to the extent reinstating the program requires any
upgrade, expansion, or ongoing maintenance of CalEVDRS, there
could be unknown, likely minor information technology costs
(GF or potentially federal/private funds, if available).
COMMENTS: According to the author, violence is a threat to
public health and proper data could be used to prevent violent
deaths. In 1975 a national database tracking detailed
information on car deaths in the nation helped decrease and
prevent car fatalities. The data did not get rid of cars but
made them safer; this bill will do the same thing. Re-creating
CalEVDRS allows us to do research on how we can best prevent
violent deaths. It shows us what is working and what is not.
We cannot prevent these types of deaths if we do not understand
what is driving them. This bill lets us make smarter decisions
so we can prevent violence.
In 2014, more than 42,000 people died by suicide and homicide
claimed another 16,000 people. Homicide was the third leading
cause of death among one to four year olds and 15-34 year olds.
As of June 19, 2016, 6,211 Americans have died due to gun
violence.
1)National Violent Death Reporting System. In 2002, the NVDRS
was established at the CDC as a surveillance system that
collects data on violent deaths from participating states.
NVDRS collects information from death certificates, coroner or
medical examiner reports, police reports, and crime
laboratories. The goal of NVDRS is to gain a better
understanding of violence, upon which to base the development
of effective public health strategies that prevent violent
injuries and fatalities. NVDRS accomplishes this by:
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informing decision makers and program planners about the
magnitude trends, and characteristics of violent deaths so
that appropriate prevention efforts can be put into place;
and, facilitating the evaluation of state-based prevention
programs and strategies. In 2008, the United States (U.S.)
Congress appropriated more than $3.2 million for CDC to
continue funding the implementation of NVDRS in 17 states.
Currently, states participating in the NVDRS include: Alaska,
Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Historically, participation in the NVDRS has been a costly and
difficult undertaking and therefore has seen little
participation by large states.
2)CalEVDRS. From 2005 to 2008, California was one of the 17
states participating in the NVDRS. The California Violent
Death Reporting System (CalVDRS) was established to collect
data from the City of Oakland, City and County of San
Francisco, and Santa Clara County. CalVDRS eventually
expanded in 2006-07 to include data collection from the
counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, Alameda, and Shasta.
During these years, DPH contracted with county health
departments to collect data on violent deaths from four data
sources: death certificates; coroner/medical examiner
records; police reports; and, crime laboratory records.
During its four years of data collection, DPH compiled
detailed information on the circumstances of more than 10,000
violent deaths, including homicides and suicides.
Participation of Alameda, Los Angeles, Riverside, San
Francisco, Santa Clara, and Shasta Counties in the system
meant that DPH had valuable information on approximately half
of the state's violent deaths during this time.
Unfortunately, due to its size, decentralized government,
privacy concerns, and lack of resources among law enforcement
agencies, California was unable to obtain law enforcement
records required by NVDRS and could not reapply for funding.
As a result, DPH developed CalEVDRS, and with the creation of
the Electronic Death Registration System in 2005, allowed
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counties to file death certificates online instead of mailing
paper forms, DPH was able to capture information from coroners
on violent death. In 2010, 14 counties were contributing data
to the system, which operated with funding from the California
Wellness Foundation, funding that has since expired.
3)Federal Funding. In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama
unveiled his plan called "Now is the Time" which calls for
public health research on gun violence. Now is the Time
states that the country needs better data to help Americans
better understand how and when firearms are used in violent
deaths and to inform future research and prevention
strategies. The President's 2014 budget included $30 million
in new funding to track gun violence and to research
strategies that might prevent it. Specifically, $20 million
of these funds is appropriated for the NVDRS to allow the CDC
to expand the system to all 50 states and the District of
Columbia. DPH confirms that the U.S. Congress has approved
increased funding for the NVDRS and the CDC has begun
implementing simplifications and other reforms to make it
easier for large states to participate. DPH is in the process
of applying for a new CDC grant in order to resume
participation in the NVDRS, which, if successful, would begin
in September of this year.
The CDC grants vary in funding level based on the percentage
of violent death cases on which a state will be able to
collect data. California has already demonstrated that it can
collect data on approximately 50% of California's cases with
14 counties participating. DPH estimates that data could be
collected on 90 to100% of the state's cases with 35-40
counties participating. The CDC funding is based on a per
case cost estimate of approximately $27.50, and DPH explains
that this might be based on the smaller states that
participate in NVDRS, however it does not accurately reflect
actual data collection costs in California, which they
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estimate at approximately $50 per case. While DPH cannot
predict the level of funding that the CDC will grant
California, if any, it is estimated that at most the CDC
funding could cover approximately 33% to 50% of the costs of a
fully-developed statewide active surveillance system that
covers close to 100% of California's violent death cases.
The Union of American Physicians and Dentists and the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, sponsors
of this bill, state that this bill will help better understand
the circumstances and risk factors that lead to violent deaths
in California through the use of innovative, efficient data
collection from the richest data sources on violent deaths. The
American Academy of Pediatrics, California states that in order
to address this highly preventable public health crisis, it is
essential to understand the personal, familial, and community
conditions and behaviors that contribute to violent childhood
death. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention writes
that to design effective violence prevention strategies, an
essential first step is to ensure the availability of complete,
accurate and timely information, particularly with regard to
populations at risk and the circumstances and predisposing
factors that contribute to deaths from violence, and that by
linking this data, CalEVDRS can reveal new insights into the
prevention of violent deaths, insights that can be used by state
public health officials to better target prevention activities.
Physicians for Social Responsibility writes that California
claims to be a national leader in violence prevention, and in
order to make that claim, it is imperative that the state
collect complete data on the circumstances of violent deaths and
share that data with NVDRS. The National Association of Social
Workers writes that "we cannot prevent violent deaths if we do
not understand what is driving them."
Analysis Prepared by:
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Paula Villescaz / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097 FN:
0004493