BILL ANALYSIS
AB 503
Page 1
Corrected - July 14, 2009 per committee consultant.
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 503 (Furutani)
As Amended April 14, 2009
Majority vote
HEALTH 19-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Jones, Fletcher, Adams, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Ammiano, Block, Carter, | |Ammiano, |
| |Conway, De La Torre, De | |Charles Calderon, |
| |Leon, Emmerson, Gaines, | |Krekorian, Duvall, |
| |Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, | |Fuentes, Monning, Harkey, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, Nava, | |Miller, John A. Perez, |
| |V. Manuel Perez, Salas, | |Price, Skinner, Solorio, |
| |Audra Strickland | |Audra Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson |
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SUMMARY : Deletes the sunset date on the Domestic Violence
Advisory Council (DVAC), which provides consultation to the
Department of Public Health (DPH) Battered Women's Shelter
Program, which is now known as the Domestic Violence Program
(DVP).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, no direct fiscal impact on DPH to continue
oversight of the DVAC.
COMMENTS : The author states the DVAC helps the state allocate
$20 million per year to 94 battered women's shelters that
provide counseling and protective services to victims of
domestic violence.
According to the DVP, in California in 2006, 115 women and 26
men were killed by spouses, ex-spouses, intimate partners, or
former partners. The California Department of Justice reported
176,299 domestic violence-related calls in 2006. Data from 2003
suggest that more than half of these calls were for incidents
involving weapons. The 2003-04 California Women's Health Survey
shows that 8.6% of respondents had experienced some form of
domestic violence, including actual physical violence,
threatened violence, sexual abuse, and physical or emotional
AB 503
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control, in the past year. Women who reported experiencing
physical domestic violence were nearly three times as likely to
report frequent mental distress in the past month as women who
had not experienced domestic violence.
According to DPH, the purpose of the DVP is to support domestic
violence agencies in providing comprehensive domestic violence
services to victims of domestic violence and their children;
reduce domestic violence in California; and, ensure access to
services for non-traditional users of domestic violence services
(such as people with disabilities, substance abuse problems, and
members of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities).
The DVP provides grants to 94 domestic violence agencies that
provide a variety of services, including, but not limited to,
24-hour crisis hotlines, business centers, emergency shelter,
transitional housing, legal assistance with restraining orders
and custody disputes, court and social advocacy, counseling for
women and their children, household establishment assistance,
and community resource and referral services. The DVP also
provides technical assistance and training to local agencies to
serve all victims of domestic violence, regardless of gender.
Finally, the DVP maintains an external Web site to provide
information for shelters, domestic violence victims, the general
public, and researchers.
The DVP, in collaboration with DVAC and volunteer executive
directors of battered women's shelters, conducted a survey of
battered women's shelters which it published on the DVP Web site
in 2008. Of the 94 shelters, 71 (76%) responded to the survey.
These shelters combined reported serving 116,943 clients
face-to-face and received 110,853 crisis calls in fiscal year
2006-2007.
According to a 2008 paper by the DVP, in 1998 DVAC was charged
with producing a strategic policy report of recommendations to
help guide future funding for domestic violence programs. The
policy recommendations were documented in Preventing Domestic
Violence: A Blueprint for the 21st Century. DVAC has continued
to meet, with at least three meetings or conference calls shown
for 2008 at the DVP grant administration Web site. The DVAC
discussion topics included grant administration and funding and
new program ideas for serving the underserved.
Related legislation : SB 273 (Corbett) changes the definition of
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domestic violence in the DVP and the Domestic Violence Program
in the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) to
extend services to males, and makes the DVP subject to specified
anti-discrimination provisions. SB 273 was approved by the
Senate Health Committee on April 29, 2009.
AB 1003 (John A. Perez) makes several changes to the Equality in
Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund grant program
for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,
administered by Cal EMA. AB 1003 was approved by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee on April 29, 2009.
Analysis Prepared by : Allegra Kim / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0001924