BILL NUMBER: SB 2183 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Soto
(Coauthors: Senators Polanco and Solis)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bock, Firebaugh, Hertzberg,
Knox, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Strom-Martin, and Washington)
MARCH 16, 2000
An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 13839) to
Chapter 4 of Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to
trauma intervention, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 2183, as amended, Soto. Trauma intervention.
Under existing law, the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP)
funds, among other programs, various programs relating to victims
services.
This bill would appropriate $534,000 from the General Fund to OCJP
for the purpose of implementing a multi-site trauma intervention
project to replicate and expand the existing OCJP-funded Child Trauma
Intervention Program for youth exposed to community violence. The
bill would require OCJP to report to the Legislature annually on the
program, on an interim basis, and to provide a full report by
February 1, 2005.
This bill would appropriate $1,550,000 from the General Fund to
OCJP for the purpose of operating, for the first year of a 3-year
pilot program, an expanded version of a child trauma reduction pilot
program that currently provides trauma and grief intervention to
students.
The bill would require the Legislative Analyst office to conduct
an evaluation of the program and appropriate the sum of $150,000 from
the General Fund to the Legislative Analyst office for the purpose
of conducting this evaluation.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
SECTION 1. Article 5 (commencing with Section 13839) is added to
Chapter 4 of Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
Article 5. Youth Victim of Crime Trauma Intervention Program
13839. The Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) shall
administer a multi-site trauma intervention project to replicate and
expand the existing OCJP-funded Child Trauma Intervention Program for
youth exposed to community violence. The goal of this program is to
reduce the impact of trauma on child and adolescent victims or
witnesses of violent crime or witnesses of traumatic death caused by
exposure to community violence.
(a) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall issue a
statewide competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) to replicate and
expand this existing trauma intervention program. The Office of
Criminal Justice Planning shall subsequently award grants, to three
sites for program expansion. Applicants shall be required to provide
a 20 percent in-kind match of the total grant award. Grants
provided under this program shall be for a period of four years.
(b) In selecting the sites for program implementation, the Office
of Criminal Justice Planning shall consider the following factors,
including, but not limited to:
(1) Documentation of sufficient numbers of youth exposed to
violent crime and traumatic death in the surrounding community to be
served by the program.
(2) The ability of the applicants to demonstrate a coordinated
plan with school and community mental health services, local
victim-witness assistance programs, and local law enforcement
officials to support successful program implementation.
(3) The applicant demonstrates that the school district is willing
to participate.
(4) The ability to provide a 20 percent in-kind match of the total
grant award.
(c) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall require a
uniform, multi-site intervention outcome evaluation, using
standardized measures to determine programs effectiveness. The
outcome domains shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Psychological distress, including Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and grief.
(2) Educational outcomes, including grade-point average (GPA),
class failures, attendance, and dropout rates.
(3) Behavioral and functional disturbance, including school
disciplinary actions, classroom and home behaviors, aggressive
behaviors, delinquency, gang involvement, and substance use.
(d) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall conduct
evaluations of service utilization and cost-effectiveness of service
delivery.
(e) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall report on the
program to the Legislature annually, on an interim basis, and shall
provide a full report by February 1, 2005.
SEC. 2. The sum of five hundred and thirty-four thousand dollars
($534,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to OCJP for
the purpose of implementing this program in the first six months of a
proposed four-year program period, with additional funding
contingent upon an appropriation in the budget act. Of this amount,
no more than 5 percent shall be available to OCJP to administer and
conduct service utilization and cost-effectiveness evaluations of
this program each year. declares as follows:
(a) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning currently funds a
child trauma reduction pilot program in one school cluster consisting
of one senior high school and two feeder junior high schools in
northwest Pasadena that provides trauma and grief intervention
services.
(b) The pilot program identifies youth that are in need of
postviolence and postdisaster mental health services. Many of the
students who participated in this program suffered severe and
debilitating chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and had lost their
motivation for learning.
(c) The pilot program has been successful in reducing
post-traumatic stress symptoms and in improving classroom behavior
and academic achievement.
(d) The pilot program shall be extended from one to five clusters,
two of which would be located in northern California and three in
southern California with specific sites selected by the project
partners in conjunction with the Office of Criminal Justice Planning.
SEC. 2. (a) The sum of one million five hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($1,550,000) is hereby appropriated for one year from the
General Fund to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for the
purpose of operating, for the first year of a three-year pilot
program, an expanded version of the child trauma reduction pilot
program that currently provides trauma and grief intervention in one
cluster consisting of one high school and two junior high schools in
northwest Pasadena. The program shall be expanded from one to five
clusters, two of which would be located in northern California and
three in southern California with specific sites selected by the
project partners in conjunction with the Office of Criminal Justice
Planning. In selecting the five sites for implementation of the
program, the Office of Criminal Justice Planning and the project
partners shall consider:
(1) The amount of crime and violence to which students are exposed
in the surrounding community.
(2) The ability of the program managers to develop a coordinated
plan with school and community mental health services, local
victim-witness assistance programs, and local law enforcement
officials.
(3) Approval of the program by the governing school district.
(b) (1) The program shall include an evaluation component wherein
the Legislative Analyst office shall conduct, or contract with
another entity to conduct, an evaluation in which students treated in
the program are compared against a control group. The sum of one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) is hereby appropriated from
the General Fund to the Legislative Analyst office for the purpose
of conducting this evaluation.
(2) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall report on the
program to the Legislature annually, on an interim basis, and shall
provide a full report by February 1, 2004. This report shall
include, but not be limited to, a cost benefit analysis and a
recommendation with cost component on implementing the program
statewide.
(3) The evaluation by the Legislative Analyst office shall assess
delivery and achievement of program objectives, including enrollment
rates of program participants in postsecondary institutions.
(4) The onsite program partners shall conduct intervention outcome
analyses within and across sites and shall then report to the
Legislative Analyst office, based on the following domains:
(A) Psychological distress.
(B) School performance, including attendance, class failure rates,
dropout rates, and grade point average (GPA).
(C) Social behavior, including violent, aggressive, and classroom
disruptive behaviors.
(D) Behavioral and functional disturbance, including chronic
posttraumatic stress disorder and attention deficit symptoms.
(E) Coping and adjustment, including disciplinary actions and
family functioning.
(5) The evaluation shall include a cost-benefit analysis with
regard to public safety, education, and health service benefits.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that, with respect to
future funding, alternative funding options be pursued and no
appropriation be made from the General Fund for this program unless
the evaluation required by this act demonstrates the feasibility of
statewide implementation of the program.