BILL NUMBER: AB 1852ENROLLED BILL TEXT PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 9, 2012 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 13, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 3, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Campos (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Blumenfield, Hill, Ma, Mitchell, Williams, and Yamada) (Coauthor: Senator Evans) FEBRUARY 22, 2012 An act to add Section 103627.8 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 18966, 18968, and 18969 of, and to add Section 18309.10 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to domestic violence. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1852, Campos. Vital records: fees. Existing law requires the collection of fees for providing certified copies of vital records, including marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records. Existing law provides for the establishment of county domestic violence program special funds for the purpose of funding local domestic violence programs. Certain fees payable at the time a certified copy of any of the above-referenced vital records is issued may be collected by the county clerks for deposit into these funds. Additionally, existing law authorizes certain counties, upon making certain findings and declarations, to authorize an increase in fees for certified copies of certain vital records, as specified. Existing law requires the revenue from the fee increase to be allocated for purposes relating to domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution. Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to designate a local voluntary commission, whose duties primarily relate to services for children or human services, and requires the county board of supervisors, if the local voluntary commission is designated, to establish a county children's trust fund. Existing law establishes the State Children's Trust Fund, of which money may be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Social Services for the purpose of funding child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs. This bill would authorize a county board of supervisors and certain city councils, upon making findings and declarations regarding the need for governmental oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with domestic violence and child abuse, to authorize an increase in the fees for certified copies of certain vital records up to a maximum of $5 per license or record and to annually adjust that amount for inflation, as specified. This bill would require the fees to be allocated, as specified, by the county or city for purposes relating to the prevention and intervention of domestic violence and child abuse. This bill would require proceeds from the fee increase from birth certificates to be deposited into the county children's trust fund or the State Children's Trust Fund, as specified. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Domestic violence is costly, both in human and organizational terms. The results of domestic violence have many "hidden" costs, including job turnover, loss of productivity, school absenteeism, and low school performance, in addition to the high cost of law enforcement, civil and criminal justice, health services, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, human services, and community-based services. (b) Domestic violence affects people of all economic and education levels, age groups, ethnic groups, and other social and community characteristics. Domestic violence is characterized by a predictable, escalating cycle that can result in the injury or death of victims, including children. (c) Domestic violence puts children at risk. According to the National Woman Abuse Prevention Project in Washington, D.C., children in homes where domestic violence occurs are physically abused or seriously neglected at a rate significantly higher than the national average in the general population. (d) Child abuse and neglect have lifelong impacts on affected children and society. Child abuse and neglect hinder brain development in, and cause behavioral and emotional challenges for, affected children. Studies have also shown that individuals with adverse childhood experiences may demonstrate higher rates of health problems, including obesity, alcoholism, depression, cancer, and heart disease, as adults. (e) Domestic violence is learned and generational. Studies show that boys who witness family violence are more likely to batter their female partners as adults than boys raised in nonviolent homes. Girls who witness their mothers' abuse have higher rates of being battered as adults. (f) Family violence encompasses all types of violent crime committed by an offender who is related to the victim either biologically or legally through marriage or adoption. (g) Domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and family violence require a multifaceted intervention that engages civil, criminal, health, and social service sectors working together to align objectives, protocols, policies, and activities of each sector. SEC. 2. Section 103627.8 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 103627.8. (a) (1) A county board of supervisors, upon making findings and declarations supporting the need for governmental oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with domestic violence and child abuse, may authorize an increase in the fees for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records, up to a maximum increase of five dollars ($5). (2) A city council of a city with a local registrar, upon making findings and declarations supporting the need for governmental oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with domestic violence and child abuse, may authorize an increase in the fees for certified copies of birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records, up to a maximum increase of five dollars ($5). (b) Effective July 1 of each year, a county board of supervisors and a city council of a city with a local registrar may authorize an increase in these fees by an amount equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan area for the preceding calendar year, rounded to the nearest half-dollar ($0.50). The fees shall be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of Section 18309.10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (c) In addition to any other fees prescribed by law, an applicant for a certified copy of a marriage certificate, birth certificate, fetal death record, or death record in a county or city shall pay the fees specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) to the local registrar, county recorder, or county clerk, as applicable, as established by the county board of supervisors or the city council of a city with a local registrar. SEC. 3. Section 18309.10 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 18309.10. (a) (1) A county board of supervisors shall direct the local registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to deposit fees collected pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code into a special fund. (2) The county may retain up to 4 percent of the fund for administrative costs associated with the collection and segregation of the additional fees and the deposit of these fees into the special fund. (3) Proceeds from the fee increase collected pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code shall be used as follows: (A) (i) Sixty percent of the proceeds from the fee increase from marriage certificates, fetal death records, and death records shall go to nonprofit, community-based organizations that serve domestic violence victims and their families, including, but not limited to, organizations that serve underserved communities, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, ethnic and racial communities, the disabled community, teens, and the elderly. (ii) Forty percent of the proceeds from the fee increase from marriage certificates, fetal death records, and death records shall be used for governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence and family violence prevention and intervention efforts, including law enforcement, mental health, public health, substance abuse, victim advocacy, community education, and housing services, in order to increase the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention of domestic and family violence. (B) (i) All proceeds from the fee increase from birth certificates shall be deposited into the county children's trust fund, established pursuant to Section 18966, and shall go to community-based organizations and other agencies in the county for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness and prevention and early intervention of child abuse and neglect. (ii) If a county does not have a county children's trust fund, the proceeds from the fee increase from birth certificates shall be transferred by the local registrar or county recorder to the Treasurer for deposit in the State Children's Trust Fund. (b) (1) A city council of a city with a local registrar shall direct the local registrar to deposit fees collected pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code into a special fund. (2) The city may retain up to 4 percent of the fund for administrative costs associated with the collection and segregation of the additional fees and the deposit of these fees into the special fund. (3) Proceeds from the fee increase collected pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code shall be used as follows: (A) (i) Sixty percent of the proceeds from the fee increase from fetal death records and death records shall go to nonprofit, community-based organizations that serve domestic violence victims and their families, including, but not limited to, organizations that serve underserved communities, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, ethnic and racial communities, the disabled community, teens, and the elderly. (ii) Forty percent of the proceeds from the fee increase from fetal death records and death records shall be used for governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence and family violence prevention and intervention efforts, including law enforcement, mental health, public health, substance abuse, victim advocacy, community education, and housing services, in order to increase the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention of domestic and family violence. (B) (i) All proceeds from the fee increase from birth certificates shall be deposited into the county children's trust fund, established pursuant to Section 18966, and shall go to community-based organizations and other agencies in the county for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention of child abuse and neglect. (ii) If a county does not have a county children's trust fund, the fee increase from birth certificates shall be transferred by the local registrar or county recorder to the Treasurer for deposit in the State Children's Trust Fund. SEC. 4. Section 18966 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 18966. When a county board of supervisors designates a commission pursuant to Section 18965, the board of supervisors shall establish a county children's trust fund. The children's trust fund shall consist of the fees for birth certificates, collected pursuant to Section 103625 of the Health and Safety Code, proceeds from a fee increase from birth certificates, collected pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code, grants, gifts, or bequests from private sources to be used for child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs, any funds appropriated by local governmental entities to the trust fund, and any funds appropriated to the county for the trust fund by the Legislature. The local registrar or county recorder may, however, retain a percentage, not to exceed 10 percent, of the surcharge collectible pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 103625 of the Health and Safety Code, in order to defray the costs of collection. The county treasurer shall transmit moneys collected from birth certificate fees for the county children's trust fund, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 103625 of the Health and Safety Code, collected with respect to the birth certificate of a child whose mother was a resident of another county at the time of the birth to the treasurer of the county of the mother's residence at the time of the birth if the county to receive the funds has established a program pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 18965) of Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and does not have a licensed health facility that provides maternity services within its jurisdiction. SEC. 5. Section 18968 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 18968. In any county where the board of supervisors does not designate a commission to carry out the purposes of this article, pursuant to Section 18965, except for a percentage of the receipts necessary for purposes of collection, the amount collected for the surcharge upon birth certificates pursuant to Section 103625 of the Health and Safety Code and the amount collected from the proceeds from the fee increase from birth certificates pursuant to Section 103627.8 of the Health and Safety Code shall be transferred by the local registrar or county recorder to the Treasurer for deposit in the State Children's Trust Fund. SEC. 6. Section 18969 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 18969. (a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a fund which shall be known as the State Children's Trust Fund. The fund shall consist of funds received from a county pursuant to Section 18968, funds collected by the state and transferred to the fund pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 103625 of the Health and Safety Code and Article 2 (commencing with Section 18711) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, funds received from the county pursuant to Section 18309.10, grants, gifts, or bequests made to the state from private sources to be used for innovative and distinctive child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention projects and money appropriated to the fund for this purpose by the Legislature. The State Registrar may retain a percentage of the fees collected pursuant to Section 10605 of the Health and Safety Code, not to exceed 10 percent, in order to defray the costs of collection. (b) Money in the State Children's Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be allocated to the State Department of Social Services for the purpose of funding child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs. The department may not supplant any federal, state, or county funds with any funds made available through the State Children's Trust Fund. (c) The department may establish positions as needed for the purpose of implementing and administering child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs that are funded by the State Children's Trust Fund. However, the department shall use no more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section for administrative costs. (d) No State Children's Trust Fund money shall be used to supplant state General Fund money for any purpose. (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Children's Trust Fund provide for all of the following: (1) The development of a public-private partnership by encouraging consistent outreach to the private foundation and corporate community. (2) Funds for large-scale dissemination of information that will promote public awareness regarding the nature and incidence of child abuse and the availability of services for intervention. These public awareness activities shall include, but not be limited to, the production of public service announcements, well designed posters, pamphlets, booklets, videos, and other media tools. (3) Research and demonstration projects that explore the nature and incidence and the development of long-term solutions to the problem of child abuse. (4) The development of a mechanism to provide ongoing public awareness through activities that will promote the charitable tax deduction for the trust fund and seek continued contributions. These activities may include convening a philanthropic roundtable, developing literature for use by the State Bar for dissemination, and whatever other activities are deemed necessary and appropriate to promote the trust fund. SEC. 7. This act shall not be construed to affect any other law that authorizes a county or city to increase fees for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records.