BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1003|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1003
          Author:   John A. Perez (D)
          Amended:  7/2/09 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE  :  7-3, 6/25/09
          AYES:  Alquist, Cedillo, DeSaulnier, Leno, Negrete McLeod,  
            Pavley, Wolk
          NOES:  Strickland, Aanestad, Cox
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Maldonado

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  46-20, 5/14/09 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Domestic violence grants

           SOURCE  :     Equality California


           DIGEST  :    This bill 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 programs staff who provide services using these  
          grant awards.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:
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          1. 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.

          2. 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  
             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. 

          3. 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:

          1. 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.  

          2. Changes the process by which these grants are awarded  
             from a reapplication process to a competitive grant  
             process.  








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          3. 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.

          4. 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.  

          5. 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 center for a period of less than six  
             months. 

          6. Requires CalEMA to consult with the Department of Health  
             to consider consolidation of their domestic violence  
             program and report their conclusions to the Legislature  
             by June 30, 2011.

          7. Makes a number of clarifying and technical changes:

             A.    Clarifies that the grants awarded for these  
                programs and services are specific to the LGBT  
                community.  

             B.    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.  

             C.    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.

             D.    Makes other clarifying and technical changes, as  
                specified.  

           Background
           







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          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."

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/25/09) (Per Sen. Health Cmte.  
          Analysis, unable to reverify)
          Equality California (source)
          California Communities United Institute
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
          L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center
          Peace Over Violence
          Rainbow Services


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,  
            Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,  
            Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong,  
            Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  
            Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal,  
            Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel  
            Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner,  
            Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada
          NOES:  Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,  
            Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Fletcher, Fuller, Gilmore, Hagman,  
            Harkey, Knight, Logue, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Audra  
            Strickland, Villines
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Ammiano, Arambula, Bill Berryhill,  
            Emmerson, Fuentes, Gaines, Garrick, Jeffries, Miller,  
            Nestande, Saldana, Smyth, Tran, Bass


          CTW:JJA:do  8/19/09   Senate Floor Analyses 







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                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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