BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1062
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 9, 2006

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                    SB 1062 (Bowen) - As Amended:  June 13, 2006 

          Policy Committee:                              JudiciaryVote:9-0  
          (Consent)
                        Public Safety                         6-0  
          (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  


          This bill expands eligibility for participation in the  
          California Confidential Address Program (CalCAP), also known as  
          the Safe at Home Project, to include victims of sexual assault.  
          Specifically, this bill:


          1)Extends the Safe at Home Project, which currently covers  
            victims of domestic violence and stalking, to include victims  
            of sexual assault. 


          2)Defines "sexual assault" as assault with intent to commit a  
            specified sex offense.


          3)Requires any agency that receives funding from both the  
            Maternal and Child Health Branch (MCHB), administered by the  
            Department of Health Services (DHS), and the Comprehensive  
            Statewide Domestic Violence Program (CSDVP), administered by  
            the Office of Emergency Services (OES), to coordinate site  
            visits and share performance assessment data with the goal of  
            improving efficiency, eliminating duplication, and reducing  
            administrative costs.


           FISCAL EFFECT  









                                                                  SB 1062
                                                                  Page  2

          Assuming a doubling of the number of "Safe at Home" enrollees  
          (from the current 2,600) and a 50% increase in current program  
          costs, annual GF costs would increase by about $180,000.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . Persons attempting to escape domestic violence and  
            stalking frequently establish new names and addresses in order  
            to prevent the abuser or stalker from finding and  
            re-victimizing them. California's Safe at Home Project,  
            created as a pilot in 1999, was modeled after a similar  
            program in the State of Washington. Safe at Home permits a  
            victim of domestic violence or stalking to apply, through a  
            community-based victims' assistance program, to the SOS for a  
            designated address, other than the victim's actual residence,  
            for use in public records. Local and state agencies are then  
            required to use the victim's designated substitute address as  
            the victim's official address for creating, maintaining,  
            modifying, or disseminating public records. 

           2)Purpose  . According to the author, CalCAP has helped thousands  
            of victims of domestic violence and stalking. 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. SB intends to remedy this  
            situation. 

           3)Coordinating Domestic Violence Programs  . These provisions were  
            previously passed unanimously by this committee in June 2005. 

           4)Related Legislation  . AB 2169 (Montanez), currently pending in  
            the Senate Appropriations Committee, in part deletes that  
            January 1, 2008 sunset date on the Safe at Home Project.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081