Title 10. Community Violence Prevention And Conflict Resolution of California Penal Code >> Title 10. >> Part 4.
The Legislature finds the following:
(a) The incidence of violence in our state continues to present an
increasing and dominating societal problem that must be addressed at
its root causes in order to reduce significantly its effects upon
our society.
(b) As an initial step toward that goal, the Legislature passed
Assembly Bill No. 23 of the 1979-80 Regular Session which created the
California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention which
was charged with compiling the latest research on root causes of
violence, in order to lay the foundation for a credible, effective
violence eradication program.
(c) The commission produced a final report in 1982 entitled
"Ounces of Prevention," which established that long-term prevention
is a valuable and viable public policy and demonstrated that there
are reachable root causes of violence in our society.
(d) The report contains comprehensive findings and recommendations
in 10 broad categorical areas for the removal of individual,
familial, and societal causal factors of crime and violence in
California.
(e) The recommendations in the report are feasible and credible,
propose an effective means of resolving conflict and removing the
root causes of violence in our society, and should be implemented, so
that their value may be provided to our citizenry.
The Legislature further finds that:
(a) It is in the public interest to translate the findings of the
California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention into
community-empowering, community-activated violence prevention efforts
that would educate, inspire, and inform the citizens of California
about, coordinate existing programs relating to, and provide direct
services addressing the root causes of, violence in California.
(b) The recommendations in the report of the commission can serve
as both the foundation and guidelines for short-, intermediate-, and
long-term programs to address and alleviate violence in California.
(c) It is in the public interest to facilitate the highest degree
of coordination between, cooperation among, and utilization of
public, nonprofit, and private sector resources, programs, agencies,
organizations, and institutions toward maximally successful violence
prevention and crime control efforts.
(d) Prevention is a sound fiscal, as well as social, policy
objective. Crime and violence prevention programs can and should
yield substantially beneficial results with regard to the exorbitant
costs of both violence and crime to the public and private sectors.
(e) The Office of Emergency Services is the appropriate state
agency to contract for programs addressing the root causes of
violence.
The Legislature therefore intends:
(a) To develop community violence prevention and conflict
resolution programs, in the state, based upon the recommendations of
the California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention,
that would present a balanced, comprehensive educational,
intellectual, and experiential approach toward eradicating violence
in our society.
(b) That these programs shall be regulated, and funded pursuant to
contracts with the Office of Emergency Services.
Unless otherwise required by context, as used in this title:
(a) "Agency" or "office" means the Office of Emergency Services.
(b) "Secretary" or "director" means the Director of Emergency
Services.
(a) First priority shall be given to programs that provide
community education, outreach, and coordination, and include creative
and effective ways to translate the recommendations of the
California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention into
practical use in one or more of the following subject areas:
(1) Parenting, birthing, early childhood development, self-esteem,
and family violence, to include child, spousal, and elderly abuse.
(2) Economic factors and institutional racism.
(3) Schools and educational factors.
(4) Alcohol, diet, drugs, and other biochemical and biological
factors.
(5) Conflict resolution.
(6) The media.
(b) At least three of the programs shall do all of the following:
(1) Use the recommendations of the California Commission on Crime
Control and Violence Prevention and incorporate as many of those
recommendations as possible into its program.
(2) Develop an intensive community-level educational program
directed toward violence prevention. This educational component shall
incorporate the commission's works "Ounces of Prevention" and
"Taking Root," and shall be designed appropriately to reach the
educational, ethnic, and socioeconomic individuals, groups, agencies,
and institutions in the community.
(3) Include the imparting of conflict resolution skills.
(4) Coordinate with existing community-based, public and private,
programs, agencies, organizations, and institutions, local, regional,
and statewide public educational systems, criminal and juvenile
justice systems, mental and public health agencies, appropriate human
service agencies, and churches and religious organizations.
(5) Seek to provide specific resource and referral services to
individuals, programs, agencies, organizations, and institutions
confronting problems with violence and crime if the service is not
otherwise available to the public.
(6) Reach all local ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and
socioeconomic groups in the service area to the maximum extent
feasible.
Other programs shall include subdivisions (a) and (f) of
Section 14114 and may include public lectures or sponsoring of
conferences, or both.
(a) First priority programs may additionally provide
specific direct services or contract for those services in one or
more of the program areas as necessary to carry out the
recommendations of the commission when those services are not
otherwise available in the community and existing agencies do not
furnish them. Direct services may include, but are not limited to,
any of the following:
(1) Training seminars for law enforcement and human service
agencies and operatives.
(2) Crisis intervention training and counseling.
(3) Casework and program consultation with local human service
providers.
(4) Drug and alcohol counseling and treatment referral.
(5) Conflict resolution training and services, including the
principles and practices of conflict mediation, arbitration, and
"citizen tribunal" programs.
(b) All direct services are subject to Section 5328 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
Second priority shall be given to programs that conform to
the requirements of Section 14114, except that the educational
component of subdivision (f) of that section shall not be mandatory
in each subject area, but shall be provided in at least three of
those areas, and the programs shall provide specific direct services
or contract for services in one or more program areas.
(a) Each program shall have a governing board or an
interagency coordinating team, or both, of at least nine members
representing a cross section of existing and recipient,
community-based, public and private persons, programs, agencies,
organizations, and institutions. Each team shall do all of the
following:
(1) As closely as possible represent the socioeconomic, ethnic,
linguistic, and cultural makeup of the community and shall evidence
an interest in and commitment to the categorical areas of violence
prevention and conflict resolution.
(2) Be responsible for the implementation, evaluation, and
operation of the program and all its constituent elements, including
those specific direct services as may be provided pursuant to Section
14115.
(3) Be accountable for the distribution of all funds.
(4) Designate and appoint a responsible administrative authority
acceptable to the Office of Emergency Services prior to the receipt
of a grant.
(5) Submit an annual report to the Office of Emergency Services,
which shall include information on all of the following:
(A) The number of learning events.
(B) The number of persons trained.
(C) An overview of the changing level of information regarding
root causes of violence.
(D) An overview of the changing level of attitude regarding root
causes of violence.
(E) The changing level of behavior regarding root causes of
violence.
(F) The degree to which the program has been successful in
satisfying the requirements set forth in subdivisions (e) and (f) of
Section 14114.
(G) Other measures of program efficacy as specified by the Office
of Emergency Services.
(b) Coordinating teams established under this section may adopt
local policies, procedures, and bylaws consistent with this title.
(a) The Office of Emergency Services shall prepare and issue
written program, fiscal, and administrative guidelines for the
contracted programs that are consistent with this title, including
guidelines for identifying recipient programs, agencies,
organizations, and institutions, and organizing the coordinating
teams. The Office of Emergency Services shall then issue a request
for proposals. The responses to the request for proposals shall be
rated according to the priorities set forth in subdivision (b) and
additional criteria established by the guidelines. The highest rated
responses shall be selected. The Office of Emergency Services shall
do all of the following:
(1) Subject the proposed program and administrative guidelines to
a 30-day period of broad public evaluation with public hearings
commencing in May 1985, prior to adoption, including specific
solicitation of input from culturally, geographically,
socioeconomically, educationally, and ethnically diverse persons,
programs, agencies, organizations, and institutions.
(2) Provide adequate public notice of the public evaluation around
the state in major metropolitan and rural newspapers and related
media outlets, and to local public, private, and nonprofit human
service executives and advisory boards, and other appropriate persons
and organizations.
(3) Establish a mechanism for obtaining, evaluating, and
incorporating when appropriate and feasible, public input regarding
the written program and administrative guidelines prior to adoption.
(b) Applicants for contracts under this title may be existing
community-based public and nonprofit programs, agencies,
organizations, and institutions, newly developed nonprofit
corporations, or joint proposals from combinations of either or both
of the above.
(a) The Office of Emergency Services shall promote,
organize, and conduct a series of one-day crime and violence
prevention training workshops around the state. The Office of
Emergency Services shall seek participation in the workshops from
ethnically, linguistically, culturally, educationally, and
economically diverse persons, agencies, organizations, and
institutions.
(b) The training workshops shall have all of the following goals:
(1) To identify phenomena which are thought to be root causes of
crime and violence.
(2) To identify local manifestations of those root causes.
(3) To examine the findings and recommendations of the California
Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention.
(4) To focus on team building and interagency cooperation and
coordination toward addressing the local problems of crime and
violence.
(5) To examine the merits and necessity of a local crime and
violence prevention effort.
(c) There shall be at least three workshops.
(a) Programs shall be funded, depending upon the
availability of funds, for a period of two years.
(b) The Office of Emergency Services shall provide 50 percent of
the program costs, to a maximum amount of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) per program per year. The recipient shall provide the
remaining 50 percent with other resources which may include in-kind
contributions and services. The administrative expenses for the pilot
programs funded under Section 14120 shall not exceed 10 percent.
(c) Programs should be seeking private sector moneys and
developing ways to become self-sufficient upon completion of pilot
program funding.
(d) The recipient programs shall be responsible for a yearend
independent audit.
(e) The Office of Emergency Services shall do an interim
evaluation of the programs, commencing in July 1986, and shall report
to the Legislature and the people with the results of the evaluation
prior to October 31, 1986. The evaluation shall include, but not be
limited to, an assessment and inventory of all of the following:
(1) The number of learning events.
(2) The number of persons trained.
(3) The changing level of information regarding root causes of
violence.
(4) The changing level of attitude regarding root causes of
violence.
(5) The changing level of behavior regarding root causes of
violence.
(6) The reduced level of violence in our society.
(7) The degree to which the program has succeeded in reaching and
impacting positively upon local ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic
groups in the service area.
A final evaluation shall be made with a report prior to October
31, 1987, which shall also include specific recommendations to the
Legislature and the people of this state regarding methods and means
by which these violence prevention and crime control programmatic
efforts can be enhanced and improved.
The Office of Emergency Services may hire support staff and
utilize resources necessary to carry out the purposes of this title.