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 or dependent adult 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. This bill would require each family justice center to consult with community-based crime victim agencies, survivors of violence and abuse, and their advocates in the operation of the family justice center and to develop a procedure for input, feedback, and evaluation of the family justice center. The bill would prohibit victims of crime from being denied services at a family justice center on the grounds of criminal history and would prohibit a criminal history search from being conducted without the victim's written consent, unless the criminal history search is pursuant to an active criminal investigation. 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 National Family Justice Center Alliance, with private funds, to contract with an independent organization to conduct an evaluation and prepare a report on the family justice centers, as specified. The bill would require the independent organization to submit the report to the Office of Privacy Protection and the National Family Justice Center Alliance for review and comment, and then submit the report to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, the Senate Committee on Judiciary, the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, and the Senate Committee on Public Safety, no later than January 1, 2013. This bill would allow the National Family Justice Center Alliance to submit recommendations for statewide legislation, best practices, and model policies and procedures in its comments to the independent evaluation organization. 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.