BILL NUMBER: AB 1003 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 13823.17 of the Penal Code, relating to
domestic violence.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1003, as amended, John A. Perez. Domestic violence grants.
Existing law establishes a grant program for the development and
support of domestic violence programs and services for the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Existing law requires
the Office of Emergency Services (OES) , renamed the California
Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA), to use funds from the
Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund to award
up to 4 grants annually to fund domestic violence programs and
services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community,
including, but not limited to, all of the following: (1) 24-hour
crisis hotlines, (2) counseling, (3) court and social service
advocacy, (4) legal assistance with temporary restraining orders,
devices, and custody disputes, (5) community resource and referral,
(6) household establishment assistance, (7) emergency housing, and
(8) educational workshops and publications.
This bill would revise that provision to instead specify that the
OES Cal EMA shall award grants annually
to fund domestic violence programs and services for that community,
including, but not limited to, any of the components described above.
Existing law provides that organizations reapplying for grants
under the grant program described above shall not be subject to a
competitive grant process, but shall be subject to a request for
application process. Existing law also provides that any organization
funded through this program in the previous grant cycle shall be
funded upon reapplication, except as specified.
This bill would delete the above provisions and would provide that
grant recipients are not subject to requirements by the state to
provide matching funds for the purposes of that section. The bill
would also require grant recipients, as a condition of receiving
funding, to ensure that appropriate staff and volunteers having
client contact meet the definition of "domestic violence counselor"
as specified by other existing law. The bill would make other related
changes to those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13823.17 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13823.17. (a) The Legislature finds the problem of domestic
violence in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community to
be of serious and increasing magnitude. The Legislature also finds
that existing domestic violence services for this population are
underfunded and that members of this population are unserved or
underserved in the state. Therefore, it is the intent of the
Legislature that a goal or purpose of the Office of
Emergency Services (OES) California Emergency
Management Agency (Cal EMA) shall be to increase access to
culturally appropriate domestic violence education, prevention, and
services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.
(b) The goal of this section is to establish a targeted or
directed grant program for the development and support of domestic
violence programs and services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender community. The OES Cal EMA
shall use funds from the Equality in Prevention and Services for
Domestic Abuse Fund to award grants annually to qualifying
organizations, with at least one in southern California and one in
northern California, to fund domestic violence programs and services
including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Twenty-four-hour crisis hotlines.
(2) Counseling.
(3) Court and social service advocacy.
(4) Legal assistance with temporary restraining orders, devices,
and custody disputes.
(5) Community resource and referral.
(6) Household establishment assistance.
(7) Emergency housing.
(8) Educational workshops and publications.
(c) Each grant shall be awarded for a three-year term for the
purposes of this section.
(d) Grant recipients are not subject to requirements by the state
to provide matching funds for the purposes of this section.
(e) As a condition of receiving funding pursuant to this section,
grant recipients shall ensure that appropriate staff and volunteers
having client contact meet the definition of "domestic violence
counselor" as specified in subdivision (a) of Section 1037.1 of the
Evidence Code. The minimum training specified in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 1037.1 of the Evidence Code shall be
provided to those staff and volunteers who do not meet the
requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1037.1 of
the Evidence Code.
(d)
(f) In order to qualify for a grant award under this
section, the recipient shall be a California nonprofit organization
with a demonstrated history of working in the area of domestic
violence education and prevention and serving the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender community.
(e)
(g) The funding process for distributing grant awards
to qualifying organizations shall be administered by the OES
Cal EMA as follows:
(1) Grants that were not funded in the previous cycle
Grant funds shall be awarded to
qualifying organizations as a result of a competitive request for
proposal (RFP) process. The RFP process shall comply with all
applicable state and federal statutes and to the extent possible, the
response to the RFP shall not exceed 15 narrative pages, excluding
attachments.
(2) The following criteria shall be used to evaluate grant
proposals:
(A) Whether the proposed program or services would further the
purpose of promoting healthy, nonviolent relationships in the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
(B) Whether the proposed program or services would reach a
significant number of people in and have the support of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
(C) Whether the proposed program or services are grounded in a
firm understanding of domestic violence and represent an innovative
approach to addressing the issue.
(D) Whether the proposed program or services would reach unique
and underserved sectors of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender community, such as youth, people of color, immigrants,
and transgender persons.
(3) Grant funds shall not be used to support any of the following:
(A) Scholarships.
(B) Awards to individuals.
(C) Out-of-state travel.
(D) Projects that are substantially completed before the
anticipated date of the grant award.
(E) Fundraising activities.
(4) Organizations reapplying for grants shall not be subject to a
competitive grant process, but shall be subject to a request for
application (RFA) process. The RFA process shall consist in part of
an assessment of the past performance history of the organization in
relation to the standards established by this section. The response
to the RFA shall not exceed 10 narrative pages, excluding
attachments.
(5) Any organization funded through this program in the previous
grant cycle shall be funded upon reapplication, unless, pursuant to
the assessment required under the RFA process, its past performance
history fails to meet the standards established by this section.
(f)
(h) Grant recipients may seek, receive, and make use of
any funds which may be available from all public and private sources
to augment any funds received pursuant to this section.
(g)
(i) The OES Cal EMA may
adopt rules as necessary to implement the grant program created under
this section.
(h)
(j) The OES Cal EMA may
hire the support staff and utilize all resources necessary to carry
out the purposes of this section.
(i)
(k) For purposes of this section, "domestic violence"
means the infliction or threat of physical harm against past or
present adult or adolescent intimate partners, including physical,
sexual, and psychological abuse against the person, and is a part of
a pattern of assaultive, coercive, and controlling behaviors directed
at achieving compliance from or control over that person.