(a) The Legislature finds the problem of family violence to be of serious and increasing magnitude. The Legislature also finds that acts of family violence often result in other crimes and social problems.

(b) There is in the Office of Emergency Services, a Family Violence Prevention Program. This program shall provide financial and technical assistance to local domestic and family violence centers in implementing family violence prevention programs.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

The goals and functions of the program shall include all of the following:

(1) Promotion of community involvement through public education geared specifically toward reaching and educating the friends and neighbors of members of violent families.

(2) Development and dissemination of model protocols for the training of criminal justice system personnel in domestic violence intervention and prevention.

(3) Increasing citizen involvement in family violence prevention.

(4) Identification and testing of family violence prevention models.

(5) Replication of successful models, as appropriate, through the state.

(6) Identification and testing of domestic violence model protocols and intervention systems in major service delivery institutions.

(7) Development of informational materials and seminars to enable emulation or adaptation of the models by other communities.

(8) Provision of domestic violence prevention education and skills to students in schools.

(c) The Director of Emergency Services shall allocate funds to local centers meeting the criteria for funding that shall be established by the Office of Emergency Services in consultation with practitioners and experts in the field of family violence prevention. All centers receiving funds pursuant to this section shall have had an ongoing recognized program, supported by either public or private funds, dealing with an aspect of family violence, for at least two years prior to the date specified for submission of applications for funding pursuant to this section. All centers funded pursuant to this section shall utilize volunteers to the greatest extent possible.

The centers may seek, receive, and make use of any funds which may be available from all public and private sources to augment any state funds received pursuant to this section. Sixty percent of the state funds received pursuant to this section shall be used to develop and implement model program protocols and materials. Forty percent of the state funds received pursuant to this section shall be allocated to programs to disseminate model program protocols and materials. Dissemination shall include training for domestic violence agencies in California. Each of the programs funded under this section shall focus on no more than two targeted areas. These targeted model areas shall be determined by the Office of Emergency Services in consultation with practitioners and experts in the field of domestic violence, using the domestic violence model priorities survey of the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence.

Centers receiving funding shall provide matching funds of at least 10 percent of the funds received pursuant to this section.

(d) The Office of Emergency Services shall develop and disseminate throughout the state information and materials concerning family violence prevention, including, but not limited to, a procedures manual on prevention models. The Office of Emergency Services shall also establish a resource center for the collection, retention, and distribution of educational materials related to family violence and its prevention.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 432. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.)