BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1439
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
Consultant: Larry Yee
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Jose Solorio, Chair
AB 1439 (Solorio) - As Amended: April 16, 2009
SUMMARY : Requires the Director of the Office of Gang and Youth
Violence Policy (OGYVP) to consolidate and streamline existing
state agency gang and youth violence grant programs with a goal
toward giving priority to grant programs that employ
evidence-based practices. This bill authorizes the director to
create a working group to assist in this effort.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the OSVGP within the Office of Emergency Services.
The OSVGP is responsible for coordinating and assisting
schools, parents, community groups and organizations, and law
enforcement agencies with information and innovative
strategies to help prevent violence and gang involvement. The
OCVGP is required to administer various federal grants
relative to juvenile justice, including street gang crime
prevention, as specified. [Penal Code Section 13827.]
2)Defines "criminal street gang" as any ongoing organization,
association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal
or informal, having as one of its primary activities the
commission of one or more enumerated offenses, having a common
name or identifying sign or symbol, and whose members engage
in a pattern of gang activity. [Penal Code Section
186.22(f).]
3)Merges the OES and Office of Homeland Security into the
California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA). [Government
Code Section 8585.]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "The OGYVP,
AB 1439
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located in the California Emergency Management Agency,
identifies and evaluates gang and youth violence programs and
strategies, as well as funding those efforts through the
California Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention
Program (CalGRIP). The Director of the Office of Gang and
Youth Violence Policy is responsible for reviewing,
allocating, and distributing CalGRIP grants. In creating more
efficiency and accountability in the CalGRIP grant
disbursement process, it is necessary to consolidate the
volume of funding streams and give priority to programs that
employ evidence-based practices."
2)Background : According to the background submitted by the
author:
a) There is currently no accountability among CalGRIP
recipients to ensure that funds are being used effectively.
b) "The amount of funding streams has made the process of
reviewing, allocating, and distributing CalGRIP grants
cumbersome and delayed.
c) "There is further need for support staff in the OGYVP."
3)Evidence-Based Practices : According to the University of
California Irvine's Center for Evidence-Based Corrections,
"Evidence-based policy is an approach that helps people make
well-informed decisions about policies and programs by putting
the best available evidence from research at the heart of
policy development and implementation. This approach stands in
contrast to opinion-based policy, which relies heavily on
either the selective use of evidence (e.g., on single studies
irrespective of quality) or on the untested views of
individuals or groups, often inspired by ideological views and
speculative conjecture." [University of California Irvine
Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, (as of April 23, 2009).]
4)Related Legislation : AB 616 (Blumenfield) requires the OSVGP
to use federal money OSVGP from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 to provide grants to certified local
conservation corps for programs for at-risk young adults. AB
616 will be heard by this Committee today.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 1439
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Support
None
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Larry Yee / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744