BILL NUMBER: SB 557 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins and Fletcher)
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add and repeal Title 5.3 (commencing with Section 13750)
of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to family justice centers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 557, as amended, Kehoe. Family justice centers.
Existing law provides for various services and programs to assist
victims of crime, including grants to proposed and existing child
sexual exploitation and child abuse victim counseling centers and
prevention programs, and the establishment of a resource center to
operate a statewide, toll-free information service consisting of
legal information for crime victims and providers of services to
crime victims.
This bill would authorize the cities of San Diego and Anaheim, and
the counties of Alameda and Sonoma, until January 1, 2014, to
establish a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to
assist victims of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic
violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking,
cyberbullying, and human trafficking, to ensure that victims of abuse
are able to access all needed services in one location and to
enhance victim safety, increase offender accountability, and improve
access to services for victims of crime, as provided. The bill would
permit the family justice centers to be staffed by law enforcement,
medical, social service, and child welfare personnel, among others.
The bill would prohibit victims of crime from being denied
services at a family justice center solely on the grounds of criminal
history and would prohibit a criminal history search from being
conducted during the client intake process. The bill would require
each family justice center to develop policies and procedures to
ensure coordinated services are provided and to enhance the safety of
victims and professionals at the family justice centers, as
specified. The bill would require each family justice center to
maintain an informed consent policy and to be in compliance with all
state and federal laws protecting the confidentiality of the types of
information and documents that may be in a victim's file. The
bill would require the family justice centers to submit a report to
the Office of Privacy Protection for review and comment, and then
submit the report to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the
Senate Committee on Judiciary, no later than January 1, 2013, as
specified. The bill would require each family justice center to
maintain a formal training program with mandatory training for all
staff members, volunteers, and agency professionals, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Title 5.3 (commencing with Section 13750) is added to
Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
TITLE 5.3. FAMILY JUSTICE CENTERS
13750. (a) The City of San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County
of Alameda, and the County of Sonoma are each hereby authorized to
create a two-year pilot project for the establishment of a family
justice center in accordance with the provisions of this section and
Section 13751.
(b) The City of San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County of
Alameda, and the County of Sonoma may each establish a multiagency,
multidisciplinary family justice center to assist victims of domestic
violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual assault, elder
abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and human trafficking
to ensure that victims of abuse are able to access all needed
services in one location in order to enhance victim safety, increase
offender accountability, and improve access to services for victims
of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and human
trafficking. Family justice centers, if established in the City of
San Diego, the City of Anaheim, the County of Alameda, and the County
of Sonoma, may include community-based domestic violence,
officer-involved domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse,
stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and human trafficking
agencies in partnership with survivors of violence and abuse in the
planning and operations process of a family justice center, and may
establish procedures for the ongoing input, feedback, and evaluation
of the family justice center by survivors of violence and abuse and
community-based crime victim service providers.
(c) For purposes of this title, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Abuse" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 6203 of
the Family Code.
(2) "Domestic violence" has the same meaning as set forth in
Section 6211 of the Family Code.
(3) "Sexual assault" means an act or attempt made punishable by
Section 220, 261, 261.5, 262, 264.1, 266c, 269, 285, 286, 288, 288.5,
288a, 289, or 647.6.
(4) "Elder abuse" means an act made punishable by Section 368.
(5) "Human trafficking" has the same meaning as set forth in
Section 236.1.
(6) "Victim of crime," "crime victim," or "victim" means a victim
of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual
assault, elder abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, or
human trafficking.
(d) For purposes of this title, family justice centers shall be
defined as multiagency, multidisciplinary service centers where
public and private agencies assign staff members on a full-time or
part-time basis in order to provide services to victims of crime from
one location in order to reduce the number of times victims must
tell their story, reduce the number of places victims must go for
help, and increase access to services and support for victims and
their children. Staff members at a family justice center may be
comprised of, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Law enforcement personnel.
(2) Medical personnel.
(3) District attorneys and city attorneys.
(4) Victim-witness program personnel.
(5) Domestic violence shelter service staff.
(6) Community-based rape crisis, domestic violence, and human
trafficking advocates.
(7) Social service agency staff members.
(8) Child welfare agency social workers.
(9) County health department staff.
(10) City or county welfare and public assistance workers.
(11) Nonprofit agency counseling professionals.
(12) Civil legal service providers.
(13) Supervised volunteers from partner agencies.
(14) Other professionals providing services.
(e) Victims of crime shall not be required to participate in the
criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to
receive counseling, medical care, or other services at a family
justice center.
(f) Victims of crime shall not be denied services solely on the
grounds of criminal history. No criminal history search shall be
conducted during a client intake process at a family justice center
as a condition of receiving services within a family justice center
or without the victim's consent.
(g) Each family justice center shall develop policies and
procedures, in collaboration with local community-based crime victim
service providers and local survivors of violence or abuse, to ensure
coordinated services are provided to victims and to enhance the
safety of victims and professionals at a family justice center who
participate in affiliated survivor-centered support or advocacy
groups. All family justice centers shall maintain a formal client
feedback, complaint, and input process to address client concerns
about services provided or the conduct of any family justice center
professionals, agency partners, or volunteers providing services in a
family justice center.
(h) Each family justice center shall maintain an informed client
consent policy and shall be in compliance with all state and federal
laws protecting the confidentiality of the types of information and
documents that may be in a victim's file, including, but not limited
to, medical and legal records. Each family justice center shall have
a designated privacy officer to develop and oversee privacy policies
and procedures consistent with state and federal privacy laws and the
Fair Information Practice Principles. At no time shall a victim be
required to sign a client consent form to share information in order
to access services.
(i) A victim's consent to share information pursuant to the client
consent policy shall not be construed as a waiver of confidentiality
or any privilege held by the victim or family justice center
professionals.
(j) The Office of Privacy Protection in conjunction with the four
pilot centers, the National Family Justice Center Alliance, and
relevant stakeholders shall develop best practices to ensure the
privacy of all family justice center clients and shall submit a
report to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and to the Senate
Committee on Judiciary, no later than January 1, 2013, with
recommendations.
(j) The four pilot centers, the National Family Justice Center
Alliance, and relevant stakeholders, under the advisement of the
Office of Privacy Protection, shall provide an evaluation report that
includes outcomes and evaluation data from the four family justice
centers, recommended best practices to ensure the privacy of all
family justice center clients, and recommendations for future state
legislation. The family justice centers shall submit the report to
the Office of Privacy Protection for review and comment, and then to
the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee on
Judiciary, no later than January 1, 2013, with their recommendations.
13751. Each family justice center established pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 13750 shall maintain a formal training
program with mandatory training for all staff members, volunteers,
and agency professionals of not less than eight hours per year on
subjects including, but not limited to, confidentiality, information
sharing, risk assessment, safety planning, victim advocacy, and
high-risk case response.
13752. This title shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.