Bill Text: CA AB2218 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens (ESAVN) program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-08 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. [AB2218 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2218-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 11, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2218
| Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago |
February 07, 2024 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2218, as amended, Santiago.
Immigration. Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens (ESAVN) program.
Existing law, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, establishes the Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens (ESAVN) program to provide resettlement services for persons granted asylum by the United States Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security or who are eligible to receive refugee cash assistance and services as victims of crime. Existing law requires the program, under the administration of the State Department of Social Services, to provide specified services for up to 90 days within the first year following a person’s grant of asylum or eligibility for services as a victim of a crime, respectively.
Existing law requires that grants or contracts awarded pursuant to the program be executed only with nonprofit
organizations that meet specified requirements, including that an organization have as least 3 years of experience providing both case management services and culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
This bill would instead require that a nonprofit organization have at least one year of providing the above-described services.
Existing law requires the department, in collaboration with service providers, to determine outcome metrics to define program success.
This bill would require the department to collect data related to those outcome metrics from grantees and post the findings on the department’s internet website.
Existing law establishes in the California Health and Human Services Agency the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law, the director of the department is required, among other things, to administer the laws pertaining to the administration of public social services, except health care services and medical assistance. Existing law requires the department to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state.
This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation related to undocumented immigrants.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 13650 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:13650.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) Vulnerable noncitizens, asylees, and refugees are important to the fabric of our society.
(2) Regardless of their legal distinctions, noncitizens face many of the same challenges integrating into the state and are often living in the same communities.
(3) Refugees, asylees, and other noncitizens are granted different services due to the legal distinction of when they were identified, with refugees often being identified in the country of origin and asylees in the country of arrival.
(4)Between 2017 and 2019, the number of applicants granted asylum increased from 26,199 applicants to 46,508 applicants, representing a 56-percent increase. In 2019 alone, California was the settlement state for 34 percent of all new asylees, which was the highest rate of all states.
(4) In 2022, California was the settlement state for 24 percent of all individuals granted asylum, which is the highest percentage of all states. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of individuals granted asylum who live in California ranged from 5,585 to 2,684 with 3,442 asylees living in California in 2022.
(5) Research indicates that while individuals granted asylum in this state are given eligibility to a wide range of benefits, most asylees do not get these benefits due to the lack of case management services and assistance in navigating the social safety net and health care systems.
(6) The state-funded Trafficking and Crime Victim Assistance Program (TCVAP) provides critical benefits and services to noncitizen victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes. TCVAP
benefits and services mirror those that are available to refugees after initial resettlement. These vulnerable noncitizens would benefit from initial case management services.
(7) Studies show that with proper case management support, noncitizens are better able to secure the benefits for which they are eligible, and find employment and bring immense contributions to the economy.
(b) The Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens (ESAVN) program is hereby established to provide resettlement services for persons who are currently residing in California and who are granted asylum by the United States Attorney General or the United States Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to Section 1158 of Title 8 of the United States Code or who are eligible for assistance
and services under Section 13283.
(c) For purposes of this chapter, a “vulnerable noncitizen” is defined as any individual who would be eligible for services under Section 13283.
(d) Grants or contracts awarded pursuant to this section shall be executed only with nonprofit organizations that meet the requirements set forth in paragraph (3) or (5) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code and have at least three years one year of experience with both of the following:
(1) Providing case management services, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 13651.
(2) Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
(e) The department shall require qualified nonprofit organizations awarded contracts or grants pursuant to this section to report, monitor, or audit the services provided, as determined by the department.
(f) Funds allocated for these services may also be used to conduct a formal evaluation of the services provided by a qualified entity, as determined by the department.
SEC. 2.
Section 13651 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:13651.
(a) The program shall provide culturally appropriate and responsive case management services for asylees and vulnerable noncitizens for up to 90 days within the first year following the grant of asylum or after having been deemed eligible for services under Section 13283.(b) Case management services under the program shall include assistance in identifying and applying for all benefits to which the person is legally entitled, including cultural orientation and integration programs, support in accessing and navigating the public benefits and health care systems, community connection and relationship building, English language instruction, and employment training, job placement assistance, and professional recredentialing and licensing application assistance.
(c) (1) The department shall, in collaboration with service providers, determine outcome metrics to define program success.
(2) The department shall collect data from grantees related to the outcome metrics determined pursuant to paragraph (1). The department shall post the findings on its internet website.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation related to undocumented immigrants.
