BILL NUMBER: AB 1003 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2009
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
Cal EMA shall award grants annually to fund domestic violence
intervention, education, and prevention programs and services for
that community, including, but not limited to, any of the components
described above as well as batterers intervention and warmlines
.
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 shall be required to provide at least 10% matching
funds, unless this requirement is waived by the Secretary of Cal EMA.
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. This bill would
additionally require the Cal EMA to consult with the State Department
of Public Health to consider consolidation of their respective
domestic violence programs, as specified, and to report its
conclusions to the Legislature no later than June 30, 2011. 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
California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) shall be to increase
access to domestic violence education, prevention, and services
specifically 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 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 that are specific to the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender community, including, but not limited to,
any of the following:
(1) Counseling.
(2) Legal assistance with temporary restraining orders, devices,
and custody disputes.
(3) Court and social service advocacy.
(4) Batterers intervention.
(5) Educational workshops and publications.
(6) Community resource and referral.
(7) Emergency housing.
(8) Hotline or warmline.
(9) Household establishment assistance.
(c) Each grant shall be awarded for a three-year term, as funds
are available, for the purposes of this section.
(d) In order to be eligible to receive funds under this section,
qualified organizations must shall
provide matching funds of at least 10 percent of the funds to be
received under the section unless this requirement is waived by the
Secretary of Cal EMA, at his or her discretion.
(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" 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.
(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
intervention, education, and prevention and serving the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender community.
(g) The funding process for distributing grant awards to
qualifying organizations shall be administered by the Cal EMA as
follows:
(1) 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 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
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.
(h) Grant recipients may seek, receive, and make use of any funds
that may be available from all public and private sources to augment
any funds received pursuant to this section.
(i) The Cal EMA may adopt rules as necessary to implement the
grant program created under this section.
(j) The Cal EMA may hire the support staff and utilize all
resources necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(k) The Cal EMA shall consult with the State Department of Public
Health to consider the consolidation of their respective domestic
violence programs and report conclusions to the Legislature no later
than June 30, 2011.
(k)
(l) 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
behavior directed at achieving compliance from
or control over that person.