BILL NUMBER: SB 123AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 7, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu (Coauthor: Senator Lowenthal) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Beall) JANUARY 25, 2011 An act to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2110) to Division 2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to runaway and homeless youth. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 123, as amended, Liu. California Runaway, Homeless, and Exploited Youth Act. Existing law establishes the Runaway Youth and Families in Crises Project, and imposes certain administrative duties on the California Emergency Management Agency relating to the operation of that project. This bill would enact the California Runaway, Homeless, and Exploited Youth Act, and would require, subject to the availability of adequate resources, the California Emergency Management Agency to develop, in collaboration with the Senate Office of Research and various interested parties, a statewide plan for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth, as specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Providing services to runaway, homeless, and exploited youth is extremely challenging due to the need for services in a great number of diverse, yet overlapping, areas such as education, housing, employment, community support, family support and reunification, health care, and counseling. (b) Despite the fact that more than 200,000 unaccompanied youth between 12 and 17 years of age experience homelessness each year in California, the state has no clear and coordinated policy to reduce youth homelessness. (c) Research has shown that runaway, homeless, and exploited youth are at great risk for physical abuse, sexual exploitation, mental health disabilities, chemical or alcohol dependency, and death. (d) The cost of youth homelessness to the State of California is also considerable. Youth who experience homelessness are disproportionately likely to be arrested and incarcerated as adults, costing California taxpayers over fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per inmate in 2010. (e) Worsening matters is the current economic recession, which has expanded youth homelessness by limiting employment opportunities for youth. As of July 2010, unemployment among transition-age youth reached 49 percent, the highest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting data in 1948. (f) While the California Emergency Management Agency is the state agency that administers programming related to youth homelessness and exploitation, it does so without a strong mandate or clear vision as to how its activities and funding will significantly impact youth homelessness in California. It is also limited by a budget of just three hundred fifty-six thousand dollars ($356,000) per year, as of 2010, to serve all of California's homeless youth. (g) The issues that face runaway, homeless, and exploited youth are so diverse, there is a great need for cooperation among private nonprofit entities and public entities serving these youth to break down barriers and provide more seamless, collaborative, and effective services. (h) In the public sector, there is an additional need for enhanced cooperation among the departments of corrections, education, health care policy and financing, human services, public safety, public health, and the judiciary to more fully serve runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. (i) To address this serious issue, it is imperative that the state make an explicit commitment to ending youth homelessness and exploitation. It is essential to ascertain the extent of the problem, our capacity to solve it, the cost of ending youth homelessness, and potential sources of necessary revenue. SEC. 2. Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2110) is added to Division 2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: CHAPTER 4. CALIFORNIA RUNAWAY, HOMELESS, AND EXPLOITED YOUTH ACT 2110. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Runaway, Homeless, and Exploited Youth Act. 2111. The purpose of this chapter is to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive solution to youth homelessness. 2112. For purposes of this chapter: (a) "Agency" means the California Emergency Management Agency. (b) "Exploited youth" means an individual under 18 years of age who is trafficked or prostituted, involved in pornography or stripping, a victim of rape or incest, or engaged in survival sex, which is the exchange of sex for money or other consideration, such as food or shelter, in order to ensure his or her survival. (c) "Homeless youth" means an individual under 18 years of age who is unable to live in a safe environment with a relative and lacks safe alternative living arrangements, or an individual under 24 years of age who is without shelter. (d) "Runaway youth" means an unemancipated individual under 18 years of age who leaves his or her home or a place of legal residence without the permission of a parent or legal guardian. 2113. (a) Subject to the availability of adequate resources, the agency shall develop a statewide plan reflecting a range of cost-effective, evidence-based practices for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. The agency shall develop this plan in collaboration with the Senate Office of Research and a broad spectrum of stakeholders responsible for addressing the needs of this population, including, but not limited to, government agencies, youth advocates, and others with expertise in the areas of social services, mental health, housing, education, and public safety, as well as homeless youth service providers and individuals who are runaway, homeless, or exploited youth. The plan shall include all of the following: (1) A determination of the statewide demand for shelter, housing, and supportive services for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. (2) An identification of data and outcome measures from which to evaluate public investment in runaway, homeless, and exploited youth services.(3) A proposal for a consistent revenue stream to meet the demand for shelter, housing, and services for these youth.(4)(3) An examination of the federal definition of "status offender" andmakelegislative recommendations regarding the relevant sections of state law.(5)(4) A description of the role of the child welfare system in preventing and addressing homelessness for minors experiencing abuse and neglect.(6)(5) A description of the role of law enforcement in responding to runaway youth. (b) When the plan is created, the agency shall be the entity responsible for the coordination of information, support services, and other resources for public and private entities serving runaway, homeless, and exploited youth in California.