BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1404 (Leno) - Victims of violent crimes: trauma recovery
centers
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|Version: April 26, 2016 |Policy Vote: HEALTH 9 - 0, PUB. |
| | S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 9, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1404 would recognize the University of California,
San Francisco General Hospital Trauma Recovery Center (UCSF TRC)
as the State Pilot TRC, and would require the Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board (Board) to enter into
an interagency agreement with the UCSF TRC to establish the
State Pilot TRC as the state's trauma recovery center of
excellence (TR-COE), as specified. This bill:
Removes the restriction in existing law limiting TRC grant
funding only from the Restitution Fund.
Deletes the limitation in existing law restricting the number
of grant awards to a specific TRC to no more than one grant
for any period of time.
Requires TRCs funded through the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund (SNSF) to meet specified statutory requirements
and standards.
Specifies procedures and policies, including reporting
requirements, for using funds from the SNSF created through
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Proposition 47 (2014).
Requires the Board to create an advisory committee to make
recommendations on regulations governing TRC funding and the
criteria for awarding grants.
Fiscal
Impact:
Administrative costs : Annual costs of $925,000 (Special
Fund*/General Fund**) to the Board to review and evaluate TRC
grant applications, facilitate advisory committee activities,
secure an evaluation contractor (potentially UC) and submit
annual reports to the Legislature. Administrative costs
payable from the SNSF would be limited to 5 percent of the
SNSF funds received annually.
TRC grants : Major future grant awards in the millions of
dollars (Special Fund*/General Fund**) annually provided to
TRCs meeting specified criteria, including the potential for
the issuance of multiple awards to a single TRC with
overlapping grant periods. In addition to the $2 million
annual appropriation from the Restitution Fund, the LAO has
projected annual disbursements from the SNSF to the Board in
the range of $10 million to $20 million to fund TRC grants.
The Restitution Fund is structurally imbalanced. In light of
the dedicated funding source for TRCs provided by Proposition
47 (2014), removal or reduction of the annual appropriation
from the Restitution Fund may be considered in the future.
UC (TR-COE) activities : To the extent the UC resolves to
enter into the agreement, significant ongoing costs
(Private/Local Fund/Federal Fund/Special Fund*) to comply with
the requirements of the agreement including but not limited to
providing training materials, ongoing consultation to the
Board and TRCs, and designing a multisite evaluation to
measure effectiveness of TRCs. Staff notes the use of SNSF
funds awarded as TRC grants may not be allowable for the
aforementioned activities to the extent the activities do not
"provide services to victims of crime," but are considered
administrative in nature.
*Restitution Fund
** Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (annual transfer from the
General Fund)
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Background: Existing law creates the Victims of Crime Program,
administered by the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board (Board), to reimburse victims of crime
for the pecuniary losses they suffer as a direct result of
criminal acts such as medical related expenses. Indemnification
is made from the Restitution Fund, which is continuously
appropriated to the Board for these purposes.
Existing law requires the Board to enter into an interagency
agreement with the UCSF to establish a recovery center for
victims of crime at the San Francisco General Hospital for
comprehensive and integrated services to victims of crime,
subject to funding appropriated for that purpose. (Government
Code (GC) § 13974.5.)
Existing law provides for $2 million annually from the
Restitution Fund to a grant program created in 2013 to replicate
the successful TRC pioneered by UCSF. The TRC treatment model
was developed in 2001 to address the multiple barriers victims
face recovering from crime, and utilizes a comprehensive,
flexible approach designed to meet the unique needs of crime
victims suffering from trauma. TRCs utilize a multidisciplinary
staff to provide direct mental health services and health
treatment while coordinating services with law enforcement and
other social service agencies, and all services are co-located
with one coordinating point of contact for the victim. (GC §
13963.1.)
Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014
(Act), reclassifies controlled substance felony and alternate
felony-misdemeanor crimes as misdemeanors, with exceptions for
defendants convicted of a sex offense, a specified drug crime
involving specified weights of volume of the drug, a crime where
the defendant used or was armed with a weapon, a homicide,
solicitation of murder, and any crime for which the sentence is
a life term.
The Act requires the Director of Finance (DOF), by August 15 of
each fiscal year beginning in 2016, to calculate the savings
from the reduced penalties and requires the Controller to
distribute the amount of savings according to the following
formula:
25 percent to the Department of Education for a grant
program to public agencies to improve outcomes for
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kindergarten through high school students at risk of dropping
out of school or who are crime victims.
10 percent to the Board, to make grants to TRCs to provide
services to victims of crime pursuant to Section 13963.1 of
the Government Code.
65 percent to the Board of State and Community Corrections
for a grant program to public agencies for mental health and
drug abuse treatment and diversion programs, with an emphasis
on reducing recidivism. (GC §§ 7599-7599.2.)
Existing law provides that the agency responsible for
administering the programs noted above shall not spend more than
5 percent of the total funds it receives from the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (SNSF) on an annual basis for
administrative costs.
Existing law requires the Controller to transfer from the
General Fund to the SNSF the total amount of savings calculated
by the DOF. Moneys in the SNSF are continuously appropriated for
the purposes of the Act. Notably, the funds transferred to the
SNSF are to be used exclusively for the purposes specified in
the Act and are not subject to appropriation or transfer by the
Legislature for any other purpose. The funds in the SNSF may
additionally be used without regard to fiscal year.
Proposed Law:
This bill would recognize the UCSF TRC as the State Pilot TRC,
and would require the Board to enter into an interagency
agreement with the UCSF TRC, provided that the UC agrees to the
bill's provisions through a resolution, to establish the State
Pilot TRC as the state's trauma recovery center of excellence,
as specified. Additionally, this bill:
Requires the Board to use the evidence-based Integrated Trauma
Recovery Services (ITRS) model developed by the State Pilot
TRC when selecting, establishing, and implementing TRCs, as
specified.
Removes the prohibition in existing law limiting TRC grant
funding only from the Restitution Fund.
Deletes the limitation in existing law restricting the number
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of grant awards to a specific TRC to no more than one grant
for any period of time.
Requires TRCs funded through the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund (SNSF) to meet numerous specified statutory
requirements and standards.
Adds case managers and peer counselors to the list of
multidisciplinary staff of clinicians that a TRC must have as
a resource to crime victims.
Specifies procedures and policies, including reporting
requirements, for using funds from the SNSF, as follows:
o Prohibits the Board from spending more than 5
percent annually of the money appropriated to it from
the SNSF for administrative costs.
o Requires the Board to annually report to the
Legislature on the funding received from the SNSF with
a detailed summary of the programs funded by the
moneys allocated to it from the SNSF.
Requires the Board to create an advisory committee to make
recommendations on regulations governing TRC funding, the
criteria for awarding grants to TRCs.
Includes numerous uncodified and codified legislative findings
and declarations.
Prior
Legislation: SB 518 (Leno) 2015 was substantially similar to
this measure. SB 518 was held on the Suspense File of the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 854 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 28/2014,
the state and local government budget trailer bill, among its
numerous provisions revised the provision conditioning TRC
grants upon appropriation of the Legislature to instead state
the intent of the Legislature to annually appropriate $2 million
per year from the Restitution Fund for TRC grants.
SB 71 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 28/2013,
the state government budget trailer bill, among its numerous
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provisions required that upon appropriation by the Legislature,
the VCGCB award TRC grants totaling up to $2 million per year to
be funded only from the Restitution Fund.
Staff
Comments: The Board has estimated the provisions of this
measure would result in annual costs of $925,000. These costs
include funding to facilitate the interagency agreement with UC,
additional staffing to meet the operational and reporting
requirements resulting from expansion of the program, data
collection and software needs, and the funding to secure an
evaluation contractor ($490,000). The contractor costs are
estimated to constitute ten percent of the projected amount of
grant funds to be distributed (currently $2 million Restitution
Fund and $2.9 million estimated SNSF). Staff notes the SNSF
funds available for administrative costs to the Board are
limited to five percent of the total funds received by the Board
from the SNSF on an annual basis ($145,000 based on the current
estimate of total SNSF funds to the Board of $2.9 million in FY
2016-17). The remainder of expenditures would be supported by
the Restitution Fund, which staff notes is structurally
imbalanced.
The UCSF TRC currently receives approximately $1 million in
local funding, $400,000 from the Federal Office on Refugee
Resettlement, and about $400,000 from the Board (as a result of
SB 71 noted above). SB 71 (Chapter 28/2013) established six
TRC's in California based on the UCSF model and appropriated $2
million annually from the Restitution Fund to fund the TRCs
(UCSF, Long Beach, Solano, Stockton, and two in Los Angeles). To
the extent UC resolves to enter into the agreement, annual costs
to provide the level of services required would likely be in the
low millions of dollars to provide the training materials,
technical assistance, and ongoing consultation to the Board and
other TRCs as required under the agreement. Additionally, the
agreement requires the UC to design a multisite evaluation to
measure adherence to the practice and effectiveness of each TRC.
This bill would allow the Board to award multiple grants to
single TRCs with overlapping terms utilizing different grant
fund sources. It is unclear whether this allowance will result
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in unnecessary complexities in reporting and documentation
requirements for both TRCs and the Board.
Recommended
Amendments:
(1)This bill contains numerous legislative findings and
declarations. Albeit uncodified, staff recommends the
following amendments to more accurately reflect the language
of Proposition 47 (2014) which specifies grant funds are to be
used to provide services to victims of crime:
On page 3, lines 21-23:
(e) The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014 requires 10
percent of the moneys in the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund to be allocated to the California Victim Compensation
Program and Government Claims Board to administer a grant
program to establish make grants to trauma recovery centers to
provide services to victims of crime modeled after the UCSF
TRC .
(2)As noted in the Background section of this analysis, SNSF
funds are continuously appropriated, and are disbursed by the
Controller to relevant agencies pursuant to the provisions of
Proposition 47 (2014). Consequently, staff recommends an
amendment on line 9 of page 8 to strike the phrase
"appropriated to it" and replace with "it receives" to be
consistent with the verbiage in GC § 7599.2(b) to enable the
BSCC to utilize the SNSF funds disbursed by the Controller for
administrative purposes.
On page 8, lines 8-10:
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(b) The board shall not spend more than 5 percent annually of
the moneys appropriated to it from the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund for administrative costs. of the total funds it
receives from the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund on an
annual basis for administrative costs .
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