(a)
The Flexible Assistance for Survivors (FAS) pilot grant program is hereby established, to be administered by the Office of Emergency Services, with the goal of improving safety, healing, and financial stability for survivors, and the loved ones of those violently injured or killed.
(b)
FAS grants shall be made to qualifying community-based organizations pursuant to this chapter for the purpose of establishing assistance funds to distribute in direct cash assistance to survivors.
(c)
The office shall establish an advisory committee that includes, without limitation, persons who have been impacted by violence, formerly incarcerated persons, and persons with direct experience in implementing
supportive services for marginalized survivors. Racial, gender, and ethnic diversity, and representation of communities and identities described in subdivisions (h) and (i), shall be considered for all appointments. The committee shall consist of six members, as follows:
(1)
(A)
Three representatives from community-based organizations providing direct services and recovery assistance such as housing, job placement, or economic support to vulnerable survivors.
(B)
Of the three members described by subparagraph (A), one member shall be appointed by the Governor, one member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member shall be appointed by the Senate President pro Tempore.
(2)
(A)
Three community providers or advocates with expertise in community-based
violence reduction programs.
(B)
Of the three members described by subparagraph (A), one member shall be appointed by the Governor, one member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member shall be appointed by the Senate President pro Tempore.
(d)
Notwithstanding any other law, except as specified in subdivision (b) of Section 8 of Article VII of the California Constitution, a person’s criminal history shall not disqualify them from appointment to the advisory committee.
(e)
The advisory committee shall establish rules for implementing this chapter. Community-based organizations shall include all of the following in their application:
(1)
A description of the organization’s history serving one or more of the groups described in
subdivision (i).
(2)
A description of how the community or communities the organization serves are impacted by violence and incarceration.
(3)
The estimated number of survivors the organization or program currently serves.
(4)
The estimated number of survivors to whom the organization or program anticipates it will distribute grant funds.
(5)
How the organization plans to distribute cash assistance funds to survivors to meet immediate financial needs quickly.
(6)
How the organization plans to minimize the burden on survivors to provide documentation or submit paperwork.
(f)
The advisory committee shall do all of the
following:
(1)
Strive to minimize the paperwork burden on grant applicants and grantees.
(2)
Provide guidance on developing an application, the program structure, and progress reports.
(3)
Develop a plan to publicize the grant program in advance of an application deadline, including outreach to underserved areas, communities with disproportionately high rates of gun violence and imprisonment, and smaller organizations.
(4)
Work with the office to develop tools to support applicants applying for an award under this chapter, including, but not limited to, templates and sample applications, which shall be posted prominently on the office’s internet website.
(5)
Prior to an application
deadline, work with the office to publicize and host at least two webinars that are open to the public detailing how to apply for a grant under this chapter.
(6)
Develop reporting metrics for grantees to provide information to the office to aid the office in creating the reports required by Section 8699.02. In developing these metrics, the advisory committee shall strive to minimize the paperwork burden on survivors that apply for assistance.
(g)
A community-based organization shall be eligible to apply for a grant under this chapter if the organization has a history of serving survivors and the majority of people the organization, or a project within the organization that will administer the grant, serves are survivors.
(h)
The office, with concurrence from the advisory committee, shall develop a rating process that
gives preference to organizations that are located in, serve, and employ members of communities that experience disproportionately high rates of gun violence and imprisonment.
(i)
The office, with concurrence from the advisory committee, shall develop a rating process that gives preference to community-based organizations that have a history of providing services to vulnerable survivors, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1)
Survivors of color.
(2)
Elderly survivors.
(3)
Survivors with disabilities.
(4)
Survivors who are transgender or gender nonconforming.
(5)
Survivors who have faced disproportionate police
contact.
(6)
Survivors who are formerly incarcerated or who have past arrests or convictions.
(7)
Survivors with immigration status issues.
(8)
Survivors who are unhoused.
(9)
Survivors of firearm injuries.
(10)
Survivors who have lost a family member to homicide.
(11)
Survivors facing mental health crises.
(12)
Low-income survivors.
(13)
Survivors challenged by substance abuse.
(j)
An organization receiving a grant under this chapter
may use the funds as follows:
(1)
Flexible cash assistance to survivors to meet survivors’ financial needs or to cover survivors’ expenses, distributed at the discretion of the organization in amounts determined by the organization based on the needs of survivors and in a way that minimizes or eliminates the burden on survivors to provide external documentation of their need or expenses. The organization may distribute flexible cash assistance funds to a survivor directly, to the parent or guardian of a survivor on the survivor’s behalf if the survivor is a minor or dependent adult, or if the survivor or the parent or guardian of a minor or dependent survivor requests, to a vendor, business, or another third party to pay for an expense or to purchase a product on a survivor’s behalf. Cash assistance distributed to a survivor or parent or guardian of a survivor may be distributed in the form of cash, electronic transfer, check, direct deposit,
prepaid card, or in another similar manner at the discretion of the organization and based on the needs of survivors. Cash assistance awards of more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to an individual survivor may require additional documentation of significant need.
(2)
Up to 10 percent for the organization’s expenses in administering the grant.
(k)
A community-based organization receiving a grant under this chapter shall establish policies and procedures for distributing funds to survivors whom the organization serves that comply with all the following:
(1)
Develop a method that allows survivors to attest to their experience of victimization that minimizes the burden of requiring survivors to obtain documentation of a victimization, such as by using verified written statements from a community-based
organization.
(2)
Promote distribution of funds to survivors in a manner that meets the immediate needs of survivors quickly.
(3)
Do not require survivors to engage in other services or programs as a condition of receiving funds.
(4)
Do not require survivors to provide or maintain burdensome documentation of their need or spending.
(5)
Do not require survivors to report a crime to a law enforcement agency as a condition of receiving cash assistance.
(6)
Do not exclude survivors on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.
(7)
Do not exclude survivors on the basis of an arrest or conviction record, nor on the basis of a
survivor’s status under correctional supervision.
(l)
Notwithstanding any other law, cash assistance received by a survivor under this chapter shall be treated in the same manner as the federal earned income refund for the purpose of determining eligibility to receive benefits under Division 9 (commencing with Section 10000) of the Welfare and Institutions Code or amounts of those benefits.
(m)
Notwithstanding any other law, cash assistance received under this chapter shall not reduce a victim’s maximum benefit allowance provided by the California Victim Compensation Board, except that an expense for specific purposes paid in full for a survivor under this chapter shall not be eligible for reimbursement or payment by the board for the same purposes. If an organization distributes flexible cash assistance under this chapter on a survivor’s behalf to partially cover a specific
expense or bill, the California Victim Compensation Board may reimburse or pay the survivor any remaining amount of the specific expense or bill that has not been covered.
(n)
Each grantee shall annually report to the office all of the following:
(1)
The aggregate number of survivors who received cash assistance through the grant program.
(2)
The average amount of assistance each survivor received through the grant program.
(3)
Information responsive to the metrics developed pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (f).
(o)
The office may use up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated for the grant program each year for the costs of administering the grant program, including, without
limitation, employing personnel, providing technical assistance to grantees or prospective grantees, and issuing a report on the impacts of the grant program through the 2026–27 fiscal year.
