Bill Text: CA AB2064 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2064

CA State Legislature page for AB2064

Bill Title: Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-01 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. [AB2064 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2064-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2064

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

February 01, 2024

An act ~~relating to state government.~~ to add Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 8270) to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to youth, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2064, as amended, Jones-Sawyer. ~~Racial equity: violence prevention.~~ Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program.

Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law establishes the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program within the Board of State and Community Corrections to grant funds, upon appropriation, to local jurisdictions and Indian tribes for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for minors, as specified.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for the work. Existing law requires a school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist school health centers, which are defined as centers or programs, located at or near local educational agencies, that provide age-appropriate health care services at the program site or through referrals, as specified.
This bill would create the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program to be administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency to provide funding to local community programs for community-driven solutions to decrease violence in neighborhoods and schools. The bill would specify the types of programs the grant funds may be used for, including, but not limited to, programs that create and enhance recreation- and health-based interventions for youth during peak times of violence and the creation and operation of school-based health centers. The bill would require the agency to develop an application process and criteria for funding and would require the agency to administer the grant program, as specified. The bill would require, beginning July 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office to calculate the savings to the state from the closure of state prisons, as specified, and would require the Director of Finance to certify the results of the calculation to the Controller no later than August 1 of each fiscal year. The bill would create the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund as a continuously appropriated fund and would require that the Controller, before August 15, 2025, and annually thereafter, transfer from the General Fund to the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund the total amount of savings from the closure of state prisons so calculated. By continuously appropriating these funds, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2030, the Racial Equity Commission within the Office of Planning and Research and requires the commission to develop resources, best practices, and tools for advancing racial equity by, among other things, developing a statewide Racial Equity Framework that includes methodologies and tools that can be employed to advance racial equity and address structural racism in California.
This bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this bill to include provisions that would establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities.

Vote: ~~MAJORITY~~2/3 Appropriation: NOYES Fiscal Committee: NOYES 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. Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program
8270.
(a) The California Health and Human Services Agency shall administer the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program to provide funding to local community programs for community-driven solutions to decrease violence in neighborhoods and schools.
(b) Eligible programs shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Evidence-based, focused-deterrence collaborative programs that conduct outreach to targeted gangs and offer supportive services in order to preemptively reduce and eliminate violence and gang involvement.
(2) Programs that create and enhance recreation- and health-based interventions for youth during peak times of violence.
(3) Programs that implement evidence-based interventions for pupils impacted by trauma for the improvement in the health and well-being of the youth and school and community stability.
(4) Youth diversion programs that promote positive youth development by relying on responses that prevent a youth’s involvement or further involvement in the justice system.
(5) The creation and operation of school-based health centers.
8271.
(a) The agency shall develop an application process and criteria for funding.
(b) Grants pursuant to this chapter shall be made on a competitive basis with preference to cities and local jurisdictions that are disproportionately impacted by violence and gang involvement, and with preference to community-based organizations that serve the residents of those cities and local jurisdictions.
(c) In implementing the grant program, the agency shall work with relevant stakeholders to promote and implement the grant program in a manner that effectively reaches a wide geography throughout the state and ensures that regions most impacted by violence and gang involvement are adequately considered with an emphasis on addressing the violence prevention and gang deterrence needs within these regions.
(d) Applicants seeking grant funding to implement evidenced-based interventions for pupils impacted by trauma shall demonstrate how they will prioritize interventions for pupils most impacted by trauma and typically unable to access traditional services, including, but not limited to, pupils who are low income or homeless, display symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or severe trauma-related symptoms, members of immigrant and refugee groups, pupils with exceptional needs, and pupils who interact with child protective systems or who have had contact with the juvenile justice system.
8272.
(a) The Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury and, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
(b) On or before July 31, 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall calculate the savings that accrued to the state from the closure of state prisons during the preceding fiscal year. In making the calculation required by this subdivision, the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall use actual data or best available estimates where actual data is not available.
(c) The Director of Finance shall calculate the average of the two calculations made pursuant to subdivision (b). The calculation shall be final and shall not be adjusted for any subsequent changes in the underlying data. The Director of Finance shall certify the results of the calculation to the Controller no later than August 1 of each fiscal year.
(d) Before August 15, 2025, and before August 15 of each fiscal year thereafter, the Controller shall transfer from the General Fund to the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund the total amount calculated pursuant to subdivision (c).

SECTION 1.
~~(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:~~
(1)According to the final report released by the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans (the California Reparations Report), racial terror, and lynchings in particular, pervaded every aspect of pre- and post-enslavement African American life, and the threat and legacy of terror continue to haunt African American communities.
(2)The racial terror inflicted on the African American community has influenced the use of violence within the community, and as a result, African Americans experience violence at the family, school, and community levels. Although rates of violent crime have declined significantly, African American communities are disproportionately affected by it.
(3)Limited resources and concentrated disadvantage influence the rate of violence within a neighborhood. “Concentrated disadvantage” is a sociological term used to describe neighborhoods or communities with high percentages of residents who are poor and lacking in critical resources, including, but not limited to, access to quality healthcare and education.
(4)Investing in programs that increase inclusion and belonging within the community, support education, help residents acquire skills, and increase access to jobs can reduce violent crime within neighborhoods.
(5)The California Reparations Report recommends that the Legislature establish a grant program to address violence in African American communities and in communities where there is a significant African American population, and prioritize funding for youth empowerment, mental health support services, rehabilitation of structures and public spaces, and other programs for violence prevention and early intervention.
(b)It is the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this measure to include provisions that would establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities.