BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 2183
Author: Soto (D)
Amended: 5/26/00
Vote: 27
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/25/00
AYES: Vasconcellos, Burton, McPherson, Polanco, Rainey
NOT VOTING: Johnston
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-3, 5/25/00
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Karnette,
McPherson, Perata, Vasconcellos
NOES: Kelley, Leslie, Mountjoy
NOT VOTING: Escutia, Johnson
SUBJECT : Child victims of violence and children exposed
to violence
SOURCE : UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program
DIGEST : This bill appropriates $1,550,000 from the
General Fund to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning
(OCJP) for distribution to the UCLA Trauma Psychiatry
Program for the purpose of operating over a period of three
years, for the first year of a three-year pilot program, an
expanded version of a child trauma reduction pilot program
that currently provides trauma and grief intervention to
students.
ANALYSIS : This bill contains the following legislative
declarations:
CONTINUED
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1.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 to
four middle feeder junior high schools in northwest
Pasadena that provides trauma and grief intervention
services.
2.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.
3.The pilot program has been successful in reducing
post-traumatic stress symptoms and in improving classroom
behavior and academic achievement.
This bill provides that 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.
The bill appropriates the sum of one million five hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($1,550,000) for one year from the
General Fund to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for
the purpose of operating for the first time 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 bill requires that the program 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.
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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.
Requires the program to include an evaluation component
wherein the Legislative Analyst's Office would be required
to 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 $150,000 is
appropriated to the Legislative Analyst's Office for the
purpose of conducting the evaluation.
Requires the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to report
on the program to the Legislature annually, on an interim
basis, and shall provide a full report by February 1, 2004.
The report would be required to include, but not be
limited to, a cost benefit analysis and a recommendation
with cost component on implementing the program statewide.
Specifies that the evaluation by the Legislative Analyst's
Office is to assess delivery and achievement of program
objectives, including enrollment rates of program
participants in postsecondary institutions.
Requires the on-site program partners to conduct
intervention outcome analyses within and across sites and
shall report to the Legislative Analyst's Office based on
the following domains:
1.Psychological distress.
2.School performance, including attendance, class failure
rates, dropout rates and grade point average.
3.Social behavior, including violent aggressive and
classroom disruptive behavior.
4.Behavioral and functional disturbance, including chronic
posttraumatic stress disorder and attention deficit
symptoms.
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5.Coping and adjustment, including disciplinary action and
family functioning.
Requires the evaluation to include a cost-benefit analysis
with regard to public safety, education, and health service
benefits.
The bill declares that 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.
According to the Senate Public Safety Committee analysis,
research has indicated that young people who are abused and
exposed to violence are prone to psychological problems and
may be particularly likely to become involved in violence
and crime.
1.UCLA Psychiatry Study as to Effects of Victimization and
Exposure to Violence:
Many [students exposed to violence] suffer from
persistent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) that can last for many years after the experience
with violence . . . Our own findings indicate that
traumatized youth are more likely to be disciplined in
school, fail academically, attend alternative schools,
and be in the custody of the California Youth Authority.
Treatment Options: Funding and Site of UCLA Program
2.There is an emerging national consensus that school-based
programs are the most efficacious and cost-effective
means to deliver post-violence or post-disaster mental
health services to youth and their families. Through
funding from OCJP, the UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program is
entering its third year of implementing a school-based
trauma and grief focused intervention for a high school
and feeder junior high school complex in northwest
Pasadena.
3.Study Assessment Tools, Implementation
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The UCLA group has tested "survey and clinical evaluation
tools" and developed protocols for group intervention in
a school setting. In the program, staff members work
with parents, victim assistance programs, and juvenile
justice personnel. The program provides high quality
mental health care to many students.
4.Positive Results of Prior Programs
UCLA Trauma Psychiatry . . . conducted a pilot
school-based trauma focused intervention as Woodward
Elementary School in Inglewood, California. The most
severely affected children showed significant reduction
of their chronic posttraumatic stress symptoms . . .
Treated children improved in the following areas:
capacity for attention, appropriate expression of anger,
compliance with classroom rules, and pro-social activity
with peers.
Preliminary results from the ongoing . . . program
in Pasadena are extremely encouraging. During
treatment, there is significant reduction in PTSD
and depression. Entering treatment, 60 percent had
been failing two or more classes. These students
have raised their grades substantially after one
semester of treatment. Almost all of the program
participants who were in special classrooms were
returned to regular classes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2000-01 2001-02
2002-03 Fund
Trauma program $1,550* $1,550 $1,550 General
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/25/00)
UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program (source)
California Psychological Association
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Children's Hospital, Oakland, Department of Psychiatry
Los Angeles Unified School District
Pasadena Unified School District
Urban Counties Caucus
University of California, San Francisco
San Bernardino City Unified School District Police
Department
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Background provided by the author
asserts: The National Institute of Justice has found that
43 percent of male adolescents and 35 percent of female
adolescents have witnessed violence such as a shooting,
knifing, sexual assault, or mugging. Among those, 15
percent developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Many are despondent, reserved, and do not perform well in
school. They are more likely to commit crimes and are less
likely to be productive citizens.
Yet, despite the negative effects of witnessing
violence, these kids do not receive much assistance or
counseling. These children are the forgotten victims
of crime.
The UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program and the Office of
Criminal Justice and Planning have been operating a pilot
program in northwest Pasadena for the past three years. It
is a school-based, trauma-grief focused intervention
program that has been very successful in treating junior
high and high school students. These students improved
school performance greatly, felt better about themselves,
and became more motivated to become productive citizens.
RJG:kb 05/26/2000 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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