AB 912

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) 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. This bill would repeal these provisions. The bill would reestablish the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, to be administered by the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, for the purpose of implementing a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth, as specified. The bill would create the Youth Reinvestment Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the office for the purposes of the program. The bill would require applicants for the program to be nongovernmental agencies or tribal governments, as specified. The bill would provide that an applicant under this program be awarded no less than $50,000, and no more than $2,000,000, and would specify the requirements of diversion programs to qualify for funding under these provisions. (2) Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2025, 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. This bill would establish, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Department of Justice Violence Reduction Grant Program to be administered by the department for the purpose of supporting evidence-based, focus-deterrence collaborative programs that conduct outreach to targeted gangs and offer supportive services to preemptively reduce and eliminate violence and gang involvement. The bill would require the department to award grants on a competitive basis, with preference given to cities and local jurisdictions that are disproportionately impacted by violence and gang involvement. The bill would require the department to form a grant selection advisory committee, as specified. The bill would require grantees to report to the department, in a form and at intervals prescribed by the department, regarding the progress in achieving the grant objectives, and would require the department to report to the Legislature on the impact of violence prevention initiatives supported by the grant program. (3) 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. This bill would also establish, upon appropriation by the Legislature, within the California Health and Human Services Agency a program to evaluate applications and award grants, in 5-year cycles, to schools to implement the Trauma Intervention Program to implement evidence-based interventions for pupils impacted by trauma. The bill would give the priority to the Counties of Alameda, Fresno, Merced, Tulare, Kern, and Los Angeles, as specified. The bill would require the agency to open eligibility for grants every 5 years, with priority to the top 6 counties that have the highest rate of violent crime and homicide, as reported by the Department of Justice's annual crime data report. The bill would also require grants to be awarded to a research organization to conduct a study on the effects of the treatment, including any effect on subsequent criminality. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Alameda, Fresno, Merced, Tulare, Kern, and Los Angeles. (4) 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 rename the program as the School-Based Health Center Support Program and would redefine a school-based health center to mean a student-focused health center or clinic that is located at or near a school or schools, is organized through school, community, and health provider relationships, and provides age-appropriate, clinical health care services onsite by qualified health professionals. The bill would authorize a school-based health center to provide primary medical care, behavioral health services, or dental care services onsite or through mobile health or telehealth. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to contract with other entities for the purpose of providing assistance in specified areas to school-based health centers that receive grant moneys. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation, to establish a grant program within the Public School Health Center Support Program to provide technical assistance and funding for the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school health centers and the development of new school health centers. Existing law requires a health center receiving grant funds to meet or have a plan to meet specified requirements relating to the provision of certain services. This bill would make changes to certain service requirements relating to, among other things, primary medical care, substance use disorder services, population health, and integrated and individualized support. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that planning grants under the program be available in amounts between $25,000 and $50,000 for a 6- to 12-month period for specified uses. This bill would instead require that planning grants be available in amounts between $50,000 and $100,000, inclusive, for up to a 24-month period. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that facilities and startup grants be available in amounts between $20,000 and $250,000 per year for a 3-year period for the purpose of establishing a school health center, with the potential addition of $100,000 in the first year for facilities construction, purchase, or renovation. This bill would instead require that facilities and startup grants be available in amounts between $300,000 and $850,000, inclusive, for a 3-year period. The bill would make certain changes to preference-related criteria. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that sustainability grants be available in amounts between $25,000 and $125,000 per year for a 3-year period for the purpose of operating a school health center, or enhancing programming at a fully operational school health center, and sets forth certain criteria for those grants. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead require that expansion grants be available in amounts between $150,000 and $300,000, inclusive, for up to a 3-year period for the purpose of renovating and improving an existing school-based health center or enhancing and expanding programming at a fully operational school-based health center, as specified. The bill would require that sustainability grants be available in amounts between $150,000 and $300,000, inclusive, per year for the purpose of operating a school health center. The bill would set forth certain eligibility-related criteria for these grants. This bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation, to administer grants pursuant to this program beginning on or before January 1, 2025. Existing law requires the program, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to act as a liaison for school-based health centers. This bill would delete that provision. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to establish an Office of School-Based Health Programs for the purpose of assisting local educational agencies regarding the current health-related programs under the purview of the department, as specified. This bill would require the office to work with the State Department of Public Health in supporting the School-Based Health Center Support Program. (5) Existing law requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to establish the Outdoor Equity Grants Program to increase the ability of underserved and at-risk populations to participate in outdoor environmental educational experiences at state parks and other public lands where outdoor environmental education programs take place. This bill would create a grant program, subject to an appropriation, under the Department of Parks and Recreation to award grants to tribal and local governments and community-based organizations for the purpose of supporting existing and creating new parks and recreation opportunities and supporting existing and creating new summer programs for youth in order to create and enhance recreation- and health-based interventions for youth during peak times of violence. The bill would require the department to develop criteria, procedures, and accountability measures to implement the grant program and to administer the grant program to ensure priority is given to underserved populations, as specified. The bill would require the department to give priority for funding to outdoor recreation- and health-based intervention programs during peak times of violence that primarily provide outreach to and serve youth who are impacted by violence and gang involvement in their communities. The bill would also require the department to annually report to the appropriate policy, budget, and fiscal committee of the Legislature regarding the effectiveness of the programs awarded funding in achieving the overall objectives of the grant program. (6) Existing law establishes the California Gang, Crime, and Violence Prevention Partnership Program for the purposes of reducing gang, criminal activity, and youth violence in specified communities. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to disburse all available funds to community-based organizations and nonprofit agencies that meet specified program requirements. This bill would repeal those provisions.