Bill Text: CA AB2247 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2247

Bill Title: Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)

Status: (Engrossed) 2026-08-17 - Read second time. Ordered to third reading. [AB2247 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB2247-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026

Amended IN Assembly May 18, 2026

Amended IN Assembly April 23, 2026

Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2247

Introduced by Assembly Member Elhawary
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Bonta, and Krell)

February 19, 2026

An act to add and repeal Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 8270) of Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to victims of crime.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2247, as amended, Elhawary. Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act.

Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and limits on the amount of compensation that the board may award, and requires the application for compensation to be verified under penalty of perjury.

This bill would create a pilot program, the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act (T.H.R.I.V.E.), to be administered by the State Department of Health Care ~~Services~~ Services, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration of grants to ~~specified counties~~ the County of Los Angeles to establish and administer a program to pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence, as defined, who request those services and who reside in ~~the~~ that county. The bill would require policies and procedures for distributing funds to meet certain requirements, including, among other things, allowing youth survivors of gun violence, or their parents or guardians for survivors who are minors, to attest to their experiences of gun violence without requiring external documentation of the gun violence incident. The bill would prohibit a youth survivor of gun violence from being denied assistance solely on the basis of having another source of funding for mental health care services if that source is not able to fully cover services from the provider or peer support specialist of the youth survivor’s choosing at a rate that is reasonable for the type of service, licensure, and geographic area in which the youth survivor of gun violence resides, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually issue a public report posted on the department’s internet website regarding the impact of the T.H.R.I.V.E..

The bill would create the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Fund to be used by the department for the purposes of this program, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would make client information and records of mental health services provided to these provisions confidential.

~~The~~

The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 8270) is added to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

CHAPTER 9. Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act

8270.

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act or the T.H.R.I.V.E. Act.

8271.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Community-based organization” means a nonprofit organization, or organization fiscally sponsored by a nonprofit, that provides direct services to youth survivors of gun violence and includes, but is not limited to, a trauma recovery center as described in Section 13963.1 of the Government Code.

(b) “Department” means the State Department of Health Care Services.

(1) A person related to another by blood, adoption, or marriage.

(2) A household member or former household member of another.

(3) A person who is not related by blood, adoption, or marriage to another, but who otherwise has a significant emotional relationship with another.

(d) “Fund” means the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Fund established pursuant to Section 8273.

(e) “Grantee” means the County of ~~Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, or Solano,~~ Los Angeles or a lead agency designated by ~~those counties~~ that county to administer funds awarded under this chapter.

(f) “Law enforcement agency” means any police department, sheriff’s department, district attorney, county probation department, transit agency police department, school district police department, highway patrol, the police department of any campus of the University of California, the California State University, or a community college, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and federal law enforcement agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

(g) “Lead agency” means a department of the County of ~~Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, or Solano,~~ Los Angeles, including, but not limited to, departments of social services, disability services, health services, public health, or behavioral health. “Lead agency” does not include a law enforcement agency.

(h) “Youth survivor of gun violence” means a person 25 years of age or younger who has experienced any of the following:

(1) Been shot by another person with a firearm.

(2) Been shot at by another person with a firearm, whether the shooting resulted in bodily injury.

(3) Has witnessed someone else being shot or shot at with a firearm.

(4) Has a family member or close friend who has sustained serious bodily injury or death from being shot by another person with a firearm, including a person whose parent was killed with a firearm before the person was born.

8272.

(a) The Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act or the T.H.R.I.V.E. pilot grant program is hereby established and shall be administered by the department.

(b) ~~(1)The department shall award to the Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Solano,~~ Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department shall award to the County of Los Angeles a grant to establish and administer a program to pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence who request those services and who reside in ~~those counties.~~ the County of Los Angeles.

(2)The department shall award a first round of grants to each county within nine months of funds being appropriated for the purpose of implementing this chapter or within nine months of the enactment of this chapter, whichever is later. The department shall award grants each fiscal year thereafter for which funds are available, on a timeline determined by the department.
~~(3)Any portion of a grant that a grantee does not use in the grant period shall revert to the fund established pursuant to Section 8273.~~

(c) (1) ~~Each~~ The county shall use funds awarded under this chapter to establish and administer a program to pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence within the county who request those services.

(2) A The county may designate a lead agency for the purposes of administering a program under this chapter. A The county shall not designate any law enforcement agency as a lead agency.

(d) (1) From funds awarded under this chapter, ~~grantees~~ the grantee may provide stipends to youth survivors of gun violence directly, or to their parents or guardians for survivors who are minors, to use to pay for their own mental health and counseling services, may pay providers or peer support specialists directly for mental health and counseling services on behalf of youth survivors, or may provide funds to one or more community-based organizations, to distribute in stipends to youth survivors of gun violence to pay for mental health and counseling services, or to pay providers directly to provide these services.

(2) No more than 10 percent of the funds awarded under this chapter shall be used to support program administration of the grantee or of a community-based organization that receives funds from a grantee to distribute as provided by this section.

(e) ~~Grantees~~ The grantee shall establish policies and procedures for distributing funds to youth survivors of gun violence to use to pay for mental health and counseling services that comply with all of the following:

(1) Allow youth survivors of gun violence, or their parents or guardians for survivors who are minors, to attest to their experiences of gun violence without requiring external documentation of the gun violence incident.

(2) Allow youth survivors of gun violence, or their parents or guardians for survivors who are minors, to select a licensed mental health services provider or peer support specialist of their choice, regardless of whether the provider or specialist accepts insurance, Medi-Cal, or another form of coverage.

(3) Provide youth survivors of gun violence with a list of mental health care providers and peer support specialists in the county with expertise in recovery from trauma or violence. This list may include, but is not limited to, providers trained under the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Aware Initiative or that are listed in the statewide ACEs Aware Clinician Directory, and who provide individual counseling.

(4) Do not exclude youth survivors of gun violence on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.

(5) Establish a mechanism to ensure youth survivors of gun violence are not required to incur out-of-pocket mental health and counseling expenses or wait to be reimbursed for those costs.

(6) Do not exclude youth survivors of gun violence on the basis of an arrest, conviction, or juvenile adjudication record, or on the basis of a survivor’s status under correctional supervision.

(f) ~~Grantees~~ The grantee shall not require, as a condition of receiving mental health and counseling services, that a youth survivor of gun violence report any crime to a law enforcement agency, or require documentation from law enforcement of the incident of gun violence.

(g)A youth survivor of gun violence who has health insurance, Medi-Cal, or is eligible for another government or private program that may provide mental health and counseling services or funds for such services remains eligible to receive funds from a grantee to pay for mental health and counseling services from a licensed mental health services provider or peer support specialist of their choosing who is out of network or not fully covered by another program, at a rate that is reasonable for the type of service, licensure, and geographic area in which the youth survivor of gun violence resides and in an amount not to exceed seven thousand eight hundred dollars ($7,800) annually. A youth survivor of gun violence shall not be denied assistance from a grantee solely on the basis of having another source of funding for mental health care services generally if that source is not able to fully cover services from the provider or peer support specialist of the youth survivor’s choosing at a rate that is reasonable for the type of service, licensure, and geographic area in which the youth survivor of gun violence resides, in an amount not to exceed seven thousand eight hundred dollars ($7,800) annually.
~~(h)~~

(g) Notwithstanding any other law, a stipend or payment made under this chapter shall not reduce a youth survivor of gun violence’s maximum benefit allowance provided by the California Victim Compensation Board, except that an expense for specific purposes paid in full for a youth survivor of gun violence under this chapter shall not be eligible for reimbursement or payment by the board for the same purposes.

(i)The department shall annually issue a public report, to be posted on its internet website, on the impact of the T.H.R.I.V.E. grant program, key conclusions, populations served, and the benefits conferred or realized, using quantitative and qualitative data. The department may require grantees to maintain and submit nonidentifying data about program implementation for the purpose of compiling a report under this subdivision, but shall not require grantees to submit any information that could identify individual youth survivors of gun violence or their family members.
~~(j)~~

(h) This section shall be implemented only to the extent that funds are provided from the fund for purposes of this section. This section does not obligate any county to use funds from any other source for services pursuant to this section.

(k)The department shall develop a formula to determine the amount of funds to be allocated to each grantee, using data from the most recent three-year period to estimate the number of youth survivors of gun violence in each county, and allocating funds proportionally based on those numbers.

8273.

(a) The Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury. Moneys deposited into the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, may be expended by the department for the purposes of this chapter.

(b)The department may enter into agreements with one or more entities to facilitate the implementation of the T.H.R.I.V.E. grant program, which may not exceed 5 percent of funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
~~(1)Providing technical assistance to grantees and community-based organizations receiving funding pursuant to this chapter.~~
~~(2)Conducting outreach or supporting grantees to conduct outreach to youth and families who may be eligible for the program.~~
~~(3)Evaluating T.H.R.I.V.E. grant program data and information and preparing the public report described in Section 8272.~~
~~(c)Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department shall not expend more than 5 percent of funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter on its administrative costs.~~
(d)It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate funds annually for the purposes of this chapter that are sufficient to pay for every youth survivor of gun violence in the Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Solano to receive a minimum of one year of mental health and counseling services at an amount of seven thousand eight hundred dollars ($7,800) per survivor, per year.
(b) The client information and records of mental health services provided pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential and shall be exempt from inspection under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer this chapter through all-county letters or similar instructions that shall have the same force and effect as regulations.

8274.
(a)Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b)Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual, and shall not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services.
(c)The client information and records of mental health services provided pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential and shall be exempt from inspection under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).
~~(d)The state shall be immune from any liability resulting from the implementation of this chapter.~~
(e)Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer this chapter through all-county letters or similar instruction that shall have the same force and effect as regulations.

8274.
Implementation of this chapter shall be contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature.

8275.

This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2032, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which adds Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 8270) to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

In order to protect the privacy and safety concerns of victims of violent crime, and to provide records relating to private health care services, it is necessary that this act limit the public’s right of access to that information.