(a) The Legislature finds the problem of domestic violence in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community to be of serious and increasing magnitude. The Legislature also finds that existing domestic violence services for this population are underfunded and that members of this population are unserved or underserved in the state. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that a goal of the Office of Emergency Services shall be to increase access to domestic violence education, prevention, and services specifically for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

(b) The goal of this section is to establish a targeted or directed grant program for the development and support of domestic violence programs and services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. The Office of Emergency Services shall use funds from the Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund to award grants annually to qualifying organizations, with at least one in southern California and one in northern California, to fund domestic violence programs and services that are specific to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

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(1) Counseling.

(2) Legal assistance with temporary restraining orders, devices, and custody disputes.

(3) Court and social service advocacy.

(4) Batterers intervention.

(5) Educational workshops and publications.

(6) Community resource and referral.

(7) Emergency housing.

(8) Hotline or warmline.

(9) Household establishment assistance.

(c) Each grant shall be awarded for a three-year term, as funds are available, for the purposes of this section.

(d) In order to be eligible to receive funds under this section, qualified organizations shall provide matching funds of at least 10 percent of the funds to be received under the section unless this requirement is waived by the Director of Emergency Services, at his or her discretion.

(e) As a condition of receiving funding pursuant to this section, grant recipients shall ensure that appropriate staff and volunteers having client contact meet the definition of “domestic violence counselor,” as specified in subdivision (a) of § 1037.1 of the Evidence Code. The minimum training specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of § 1037.1 of the Evidence Code shall be provided to those staff and volunteers who do not meet the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of § 1037.1 of the Evidence Code.

(f) In order to qualify for a grant award under this section, the recipient shall be a California nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of working in the area of domestic violence intervention, education, and prevention and serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

(g) The funding process for distributing grant awards to qualifying organizations shall be administered by the Office of Emergency Services as follows:

(1) Grant funds shall be awarded to qualifying organizations as a result of a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process. The RFP process shall comply with all applicable state and federal statutes and to the extent possible, the response to the RFP shall not exceed 15 narrative pages, excluding attachments.

(2) The following criteria shall be used to evaluate grant proposals:

(A) Whether the proposed program or services would further the purpose of promoting healthy, nonviolent relationships in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

(B) Whether the proposed program or services would reach a significant number of people in, and have the support of, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

(C) Whether the proposed program or services are grounded in a firm understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender domestic violence and represent an innovative approach to addressing the issue.

(D) Whether the proposed program or services would reach unique and underserved sectors of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, such as youth, people of color, immigrants, and transgender persons.

(3) Grant funds shall not be used to support any of the following:

(A) Scholarships.

(B) Awards to individuals.

(C) Out-of-state travel.

(D) Projects that are substantially completed before the anticipated date of the grant award.

(E) Fundraising activities.

(h) Grant recipients may seek, receive, and make use of any funds that may be available from all public and private sources to augment any funds received pursuant to this section.

(i) The Office of Emergency Services may adopt rules as necessary to implement the grant program created under this section.

(j) The Office of Emergency Services may hire the support staff and utilize all resources necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(k) The Office of Emergency Services shall consult with the State Department of Public Health to consider the consolidation of their respective domestic violence programs and report conclusions to the Legislature no later than June 30, 2011.

(l) For purposes of this section, “domestic violence” means the infliction or threat of physical harm against past or present adult or adolescent intimate partners, including physical, sexual, and psychological abuse against the person, and is a part of a pattern of assaultive, coercive, and controlling behavior directed at achieving compliance from or control over that person.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 440. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.)