BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1062
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Date of Hearing: June 20, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Dave Jones, Chair
SB 1062 (Bowen) - As Amended: June 13, 2006
Proposed Consent
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
KEY ISSUES :
1)SHOULD VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BE PERMITTED TO KEEP THEIR
ADDRESSES CONFIDENTIAL THROUGH THE SAFE AT HOME PROGRAM, JUST
AS VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND STALKING CAN DO?
2)Should the state agencies that provide financial and technical
assistance to shelter-based domestic violance programs
coordinate site visits and share performance assessment data
in order to ELIMINATE unnecessary duplication and
administrative costs?
SYNOPSIS
This non-controversial bill extends the state's existing
Confidential Address Program for victims of domestic violence
and stalking to victims of sexual assault. Because victims of
sexual assault often have the same need as victims of domestic
violence to conceal their whereabouts from past abusers, the
author believes that it is only fair and logical that sexual
assault victims be allowed to participate in the existing
confidentiality program. In addition, this bill makes
non-controversial changes to the existing statute relating to
shelter-based domestic violence programs. Under existing law,
two separate agencies - one located in the Office of Criminal
Justice Planning and the other in the Department of Health
Services -- are required to perform periodic site visits to
state-funded shelters in order to evaluate their performance.
This bill will save the state agencies time and resources by
requiring the two state agencies to coordinate site visits and
share performance data. The bill is supported by several
representatives of the law enforcement community, social
workers, and private groups that advocate on behalf of crime
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victims in general, and victims of domestic violence and sexual
assault, in particular. There is no known opposition to the
bill.
SUMMARY : Makes sexual assault victims eligible to participate
in California's Confidential Address Program for Victims of
Domestic Violence and Stalking (CalCAP), also known as the "Safe
at Home Project." Further provides that relevant state agencies
shall coordinate activities and share performance data relating
to domestic violence shelters. Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends CalCAP (or "Safe at Home") eligibility to include
victims of sexual assault, in addition to victims of domestic
violence and stalking.
2)Defines "sexual assault" as an act or attempt made punishable
by specified sections of the Penal Code.
3)Requires the Maternal and Child Health Branch (MCH), located
in the Department of Health Services (DHS), and the
Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence Program (CSDVP),
located in the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP), to
coordinate agency site visits and share performance assessment
data with the goal of improving efficiency, eliminating
duplication, and reducing administrative costs.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates, until January 1, 2008, CalCAP to keep the residential
addresses of victims of domestic violence and stalking
confidential, since the disclosure of those addresses could
place victims at risk of future violence or stalking.
Participants in CalCAP designate the Office of the Secretary
of State as the agent for service of process and mail receipt,
thereby reducing the possibility that the residential address
will be divulged in otherwise accessible public records.
(Government Code Section 6205 et seq .)
2)Establishes, within the OCJP, the Statewide Comprehensive
Domestic Violence Program to provide financial and technical
assistance to domestic violence shelters. (Penal Code Section
13823.15.)
3)Establishes, within the DHS, the Maternal and Child Health
Branch to administer a comprehensive grant program for
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domestic violence shelters. (Health & Safety Code Section
124250.)
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print, this bill is keyed
fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to extend California's CalCAP program
to victims of sexual assault. In addition, the bill makes
technical changes to the existing law relating to state-funded
domestic violence shelters so that relevant state agencies may
more efficiently coordinate activities and share performance
data relating to the funded shelters.
Extending the "Safe at Home Project" to Victims of Sexual Abuse .
SB 489 (Alpert), Chapter 1005, Statutes of 1998, created the
confidential address program to protect victims of domestic
violence from the disclosure of address information. Victims of
stalking were added in 2000 pursuant to AB 1318 (Alpert),
Chapter 562, Statutes of 2000. CalCAP, which is also known as
the "Safe at Home Project," allows documented victims of
domestic violence and stalking to use an alternate address
maintained by the Secretary of State's Office (SOS) for their
mailing address and for any public record disclosures. This
allows program participants to keep their residential address,
and therefore their physical location, confidential. The SOS
then forwards mail to the victim's actual address. When public
agencies are required to respond to a request for public
records, the information disclosed will contain only the
SOS-maintained address and not the victim's actual physical
location. The SOS is prohibited from disclosing any address for
the participant, other than the designated program address,
unless requested by a law enforcement agency, directed to do so
by a court order, or if certification for participation in
CalCAP has been canceled.
According to the author, CalCAP has helped thousands of victims
of domestic violence and stalking to elude violent abusers and
stalkers. Sexual assault victims, according to the author, have
similar fears and face the same kinds of threats as domestic
violence and stalking victims. Yet under existing law they are
not allowed to participate in the CalCAP program. This bill
will remedy this situation by allowing sexual assault victims to
participate, assuming that they meet the same documentation
requirements that existing law demands of domestic violence and
stalking victims.
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Coordinating Domestic Violence Programs . In addition to
permitting sexual assault victims to participate in CalCAP, this
bill also seeks to achieve greater efficiency in programs that
provide assistance to shelter-based domestic violence programs.
Under existing law, two separate programs provide financial and
technical assistance to domestic violence shelters: the
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Branch within the DHS; and the
Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence Program (CSDVP) within
the OCJP. When either agency provides funding to a shelter, it
is required to make site visits and evaluate the shelter's
overall performance. According to the author, about 80% of all
shelters receive funding from both the MCH and the CSDVP. This
requires both agencies to visit the same shelters. According to
the author, there is "simply no reason the two agencies can't
consolidate the visits and share assessment data." This bill,
therefore, provides that when a shelter receives funding from
both MCH and CSDVP during any grant cycle, the agencies shall,
"to the extent feasible, coordinate agency site visits and share
performance assessment data with the goal of improving
efficiency, eliminating duplication, and reducing administrative
costs."
In sum, the author believes - and the Committee staff strongly
concurs - that this sensible bill will help "promote government
efficiency by streamlining the state's administration of grant
programs for battered women and domestic violence shelters. It
will also promote fairness by allowing victims of sexual assault
to maintain a confidential and safe home address by including
them in the state's mail-forwarding service, the Safe at Home
Program, which currently protects victims of domestic violence
and stalking."
Pending Related Legislation : AB 2169 (Montanez) would delete
the current sunset date of January 1, 2008, for the CalCAP/Safe
at Home program, thereby making the program permanent. That
bill passed in the Assembly by a vote of 80-0 and is scheduled
to be heard today (June 20) in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Attorney General Bill Lockyer
Calegislation
SB 1062
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California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California District Attorneys Association
California Peace Officers' Association
Junior Leagues of California
Leadership for Safety and Justice
Los Angeles County District Attorney
National Association of Social Workers
Palomar Pomerado Health's Sexual Assault Response Team
San Diego Chief of Police William Lansdowne
San Diego Councilmember Donna Frye
San Diego Family Justice Center
Secretary of State Bruce McPherson
STAND! Against Domestic Violence
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334