BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 2183|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 2183
Author: Soto (D)
Amended: 8/25/00
Vote: 27
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/25/00
AYES: Vasconcellos, Burton, McPherson, Polanco, Rainey
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-3, 5/25/00
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Karnette,
McPherson, Perata, Vasconcellos
NOES: Kelley, Leslie, Mountjoy
SENATE FLOOR : 28-8, 5/31/00
AYES: Alarcon, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Chesbro, Costa,
Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Hayden, Hughes, Johnston,
Karnette, Kelley, McPherson, Murray, O'Connell, Ortiz,
Peace, Perata, Polanco, Rainey, Schiff, Sher, Solis,
Soto, Speier, Vasconcellos
NOES: Brulte, Haynes, Johnson, Knight, Leslie, Lewis,
Monteith, Mountjoy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-1, 8/29/00 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child victims of violence and children exposed
to violence
SOURCE : UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program
DIGEST : This bill appropriates $534,000 from the General
Fund to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for the
CONTINUED
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first six months of a four-year, multi-site child trauma
intervention project to replicate and expand the existing
Office of Criminal Justice Planning-funded Child Trauma
Intervention Program for youth exposed to community
violence. Requires the Office of Criminal Justice Planning
to issue a statewide competitive request for proposal, and
award grants to three sites for expansion. Applicants are
required to provide a 20 percent in-kind match of the total
grant award.
Assembly Amendments reduced the appropriation from
$1,500,000 to $534,000 and rewrote the Senate version, but
the intent remained the same.
ANALYSIS : Appropriates $534,000 from the General Fund
(GF) to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) for
the first six months of a four-year, multi-site child
trauma intervention project to replicate and expand the
existing OCJP-funded Child Trauma Intervention Program for
youth exposed to community violence. Requires OCJP to
issue a statewide competitive request for proposal, and
award grants to three sites for expansion. Applicants are
required to provide a 20% in-kind match of the total grant
award.
Specifically, this bill:
1.Appropriates $534,000 from the GF to OCJP to implement
this program in the first six months of a proposed
four-year program period, with additional funding
contingent upon an appropriation in the Budget At. Of
this amount, no more than five percent shall be available
to administer and conduct service utilization and
cost-effectiveness evaluations of this program each year.
2.Requires OCJP to issue a statewide competitive request
for proposals to replicate and expand the existing
OCJP-funded Child Trauma Intervention Program. Requires
OCJP to award grants to three sites for program
expansion, and applicants are 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.
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3.Requires that OCJP, in selecting the sites for program
implementation, consider the following factors,
including, but not limited to:
A. A sufficient number of youth exposed to violent
crime and traumatic death in the surrounding community
to be served by the program.
B. 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.
C. The applicant demonstrates that the school district
is willing to participate.
D.The ability to provide a 20% in-kind match of the total
grant award.
4.Requires OCJP to require a uniform, multi-site
intervention outcome evaluation, using standardized
measures to determine the effectiveness of programs. The
outcome domains shall include, but are not limited to,
the following:
A. Psychological distress.
B. Educational outcomes.
C. Behavioral and functional disturbance.
5.Requires OCJP to conduct evaluations of service
utilization and cost-effectiveness of service delivery.
6.Requires OCJP to report on the program to the Legislature
annually, on an interim basis, and shall provide a full
report by February 1, 2005.
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.
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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
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.
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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)(Unable to verify at time of
writing)
UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Program (source)
California Psychological Association
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
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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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Aroner, Ashburn,
Baldwin, Bates, Battin, Bock, Brewer, Briggs, Calderon,
Campbell, Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
Cox, Cunneen, Davis, Dickerson, Ducheny, Dutra,
Firebaugh, Florez, Gallegos, Granlund, Havice, Honda,
House, Jackson, Kaloogian, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Leach,
Lempert, Leonard, Longville, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox,
Maldonado, Margett, Mazzoni, Migden, Nakano, Olberg,
Oller, Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pescetti,
Reyes, Romero, Runner, Scott, Shelley, Steinberg,
Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thompson, Thomson, Torlakson,
Villaraigosa, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wesson,
Wiggins, Wildman, Wright, Zettel, Hertzberg
NOES: McClintock
RJG:cm 8/30/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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