BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1003
A
AUTHOR: John A. Perez
B
AMENDED: June 15, 2009
HEARING DATE: June 25, 2009
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CONSULTANT:
0
Tadeo/
0
3
SUBJECT
Domestic violence grants
SUMMARY
Allows the number of grants awarded in the Equality in
Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Program to be
increased beyond the four annual limit currently permitted.
Changes the process by which these grants are awarded, and
provides standards for domestic violence program staff who
provide services using these grant awards.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Requires the Office of Emergency Services, now known as the
Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), to administer the
Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse
Program, a targeted grant program, to increase access to
culturally appropriate domestic violence education,
prevention, and services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT) community.
Requires CalEMA to use funds from the Equality in
Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund (EPSDA
Fund), established by an additional $23 fee for persons
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filing domestic partner registrations, to award up to four
grants annually to qualifying organizations to provide
domestic violence programs and services targeted for the
LGBT community. These programs and services include, but
are not limited to: 24-hour crisis hotlines; counseling;
court and social service advocacy; legal assistance with
temporary restraining orders, devices, and custody
disputes; community resource and referral; household
establishment assistance; emergency housing; and,
educational workshops and publications. At least one
organization must be in southern California and one in
northern California.
Defines a domestic violence counselor as a person who is
employed by a domestic violence center for the purpose of
rendering advice or assistance to victims of domestic
violence, regardless of compensation, and who has at least
40 hours of supervised training under a domestic violence
counselor who has at least one year of experience
counseling domestic violence victims for the domestic
violence service organization.
This bill:
Eliminates the limit of four annual grant awards from the
EPSDA Fund, administered by CalEMA, for domestic violence
programs and services for the LGBT community.
Changes the process by which these grants are awarded from
a reapplication process to a competitive grant process.
Requires qualified organizations to provide matching funds
of at least 10 percent of the funds to be received, unless
this requirement is waived by the Secretary of CalEMA, at
his or her discretion.
Requires, as a condition of receiving funding, grant
recipients to ensure that appropriate staff and volunteers
having client contact meet the definition of "domestic
violence counselor" as specified for other domestic
violence programs in existing law.
Requires a domestic violence counselor who has at least one
year of experience counseling domestic violence victims for
a domestic violence center to supervise a domestic violence
counselor who has been employed by a domestic violence
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center for a period of less than six months.
Makes a number of clarifying and technical changes:
Clarifies that the grants awarded for these
programs and services are specific to the LGBT
community.
Clarifies that these programs and agencies are
required to provide services already in state law, but
that they are not required to provide all of them.
Adds batterers intervention and a warm line
(similar to a hotline, but operates during normal
business hours, 24 hours a day) to this list of
services.
Makes other clarifying and technical changes, as
specified.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis
of AB 1003, to the degree there are sufficient funds in the
EPSDA Fund to support meaningful programs, this bill could
result in more cost-effective programming to the extent
more stringent eligibility requirements are met and
presumptive grantees are required to compete.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, AB 1003 would help support
innovative program models that are proven most effective in
serving LGBT survivors of violence, such as those being
pioneered by LGBT centers and organizations across the
state.
Domestic violence
Domestic violence most often refers to intimate partner
violence. It includes violence between spouses,
individuals in dating relationships, and former partners or
spouses, and can occur inside or outside the home.
Domestic violence often involves a pattern of coercive
behavior that includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional
and psychological abuse. The California Penal Code defines
abuse as "intentionally or recklessly causing or attempting
to cause bodily injury, or placing another person in
reasonable apprehension of imminent, serious bodily injury
to himself, herself or another."
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Domestic violence in the LGBT community
As with all populations, domestic violence occurs in all
segments of the LGBT community regardless of race, class,
ethnicity, culture, age, physical/mental ability, education
or religion. The statistical breakdown in the LGBT
community appears to be relatively equal regardless of
gender identity/expression.
LAMBDA, a non-profit, LGBT agency dedicated to reducing
homophobia, inequality, hate crimes, and discrimination,
reports on its website that the rates of domestic violence
in same-gender relationships is roughly the same as
domestic violence against heterosexual women. As in
opposite-gendered couples, the problem is likely
underreported. But for the LGBT community, which exists
within a social system often oppressive and hostile towards
them, those involved in same-gender battering frequently
report being afraid of revealing their sexual orientation
or the nature of their relationship. An additional form of
emotional abuse for someone who is gay, lesbian, or
bisexual may be to threaten to "out" them at work or to
family or friends. Local resources for domestic violence in
the LGBT community are often scarce and many traditional
domestic violence services lack the training, sensitivity,
and expertise to adequately recognize and address abusive
LGBT relationships.
The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center website reports that
accurate statistics on LGBT domestic violence are difficult
to obtain because of the often hidden nature of the
population, invisibility of the problem itself,
underreporting, and inaccurate reporting of the problem,
and that more research in this area is needed. Although
LGBT domestic violence shares some similarities with
domestic violence in heterosexual relationships, the
differences between the two are numerous and complex. It
is estimated that information, research, resources and
legislation related to LGBT domestic violence is decades
behind what advocates in the battered women's movement have
developed.
Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse
Program
The Equality in Prevention and Services Domestic Abuse
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Program, administered by CalEMA, is a targeted grant
program established by the implementation of AB 2051
(Cohn), Chapter 856, Statutes of 2006, designed to develop
services for a population that was previously unserved or
underserved. Historically, this population of victims has
not sought services from the traditional domestic violence
shelter program due to the lack of targeted services that
focus on intimate partner violence with same sex couples.
The program provides local assistance to existing service
providers to maintain and/or expand services to LGBT
victims of domestic violence and their children. In
addition, the goal of this program is to raise awareness of
domestic violence as it pertains to same sex couples and
their ability to access services.
In June 2008, four agencies were awarded $75,000 each for a
July 1, 2008 start date. The agencies are Antelope Valley
Domestic Violence Council, Asian Women's Shelter,
Community United Against Violence, and Interval House
Crisis Shelters. The four agencies currently funded are the
only ones eligible for funding in the future at present.
Domestic violence counselors
Domestic violence counselor is defined as a person who is
employed by a domestic violence center for the purpose of
rendering advice or assistance to victims of domestic
violence, regardless of compensation, and who has at least
40 hours of supervised training under a domestic violence
counselor, who has at least one year of experience
counseling domestic violence victims for the domestic
violence service organization.
The 40 hours of training includes, but is not limited to:
history of domestic violence, civil and criminal law as it
relates to domestic violence, the domestic violence
victim-counselor privilege and other laws that protect the
confidentiality of victim records and information, societal
attitudes towards domestic violence, peer counseling
techniques, housing, public assistance and other financial
resources available to meet the financial needs of domestic
violence victims, and referral services available to
domestic violence victims.
Funding
Funding has not materialized as expected in the EPSDA Fund,
and $700,000 of the $821,000 that was allocated for grants
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in the prior and current budget years was actually a
transfer from the Restitution Fund. For 2009-10, the
budget introduced in January proposed expenditures of
$180,000. That figure is likely to be adjusted downward to
less than $100,000, given the lack of revenue from the $23
fee. The 2009-10 budget does not propose a Restitution Fund
transfer.
Relevant Legislation:
SB 273 (Corbett) would change the definition of domestic
violence in the DPH and CalEMA domestic violence program in
to extend services to males. Would also make the DPH
program subject to specified anti-discrimination
provisions. this bill is currently located in the Assembly
Health Committee.
AB 503 (Furutani) would extend a January 2010 sunset for
the Domestic Violence Advisory Council, which provides
consultation to the DPH Domestic Violence Program, to
January 2015. Would require DPH, in collaboration with
CalEMA to research the consolidation of their respective
domestic violence programs and report findings to the
Legislature by June 30, 2011. This bill is currently
located in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Prior legislation:
AB 2051 (Cohn), Chapter 856, Statutes of 2006, establishes
training and services for LGBT victims of domestic violence
by requiring CalEMA to establish a grant program, funded by
the Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse
Fund.
Arguments in support
Equality California, sponsor of AB 1003, states that
changes the bill proposes would allow CalEMA the
flexibility to issue more grants to support innovative
program models that are proven most effective in serving
LGBT survivors of violence, such as those being pioneered
by LGBT centers and LGBT-specific organizations across the
state.
PRIOR ACTIONS
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Assembly Floor: 46-20
Assembly Appropriations: 11-5
Assembly Public Safety: 5-2
COMMENTS
1.Duplicity of domestic violence programs. In addition to
the domestic violence program addressed by AB 1003,
CalEMA also administers a comprehensive statewide
domestic violence program, and the Department of Public
Health administers another domestic violence program. It
may be of benefit to the state to require CalEMA and DPH
to report on the feasibility of combining these programs.
suggested amendment:
On page 5, after line 13, insert:
The Emergency Management Agency shall consult with the
Department of Public Health to consider the consolidation
of their respective domestic violence programs and report
conclusions to the Legislature by June 30, 2011.
POSITIONS
Support: Equality California (sponsor)
California Partnership to End Domestic
Violence
Peace Over Violence
L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center
Rainbow Services
California Communities United Institute
Fifty-seven individuals
Oppose: None received
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