BILL NUMBER: AB 830 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 682
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 3, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 27, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cohn
FEBRUARY 22, 2001
An act to add Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 9320) to
Division 8.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to senior
legal services, and making an appropriation therefor.
(Approved by Governor October 10, 2001. Filed with
Secretary of State October 10, 2001.)
I am signing Assembly Bill 830, a bill that will establish a task
force to study and recommend innovative measures to improve the
delivery of legal services to California's senior citizens.
Many California seniors of low and moderate means are in need of
legal advice and assistance to help them navigate through complex
issues of daily living. The task force will provide the California
Department of Aging and the Legislature with valuable insight and
advice regarding uniform standards, accountability in service
delivery, and local sources of funding for senior legal services. I
support the author's efforts to enhance both the quantity and quality
of legal services provided to one of California's most vulnerable
populations. I am further directing the California Department of
Aging to establish the task force within existing resources.
GRAY DAVIS, Governor
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 830, Cohn. Senior legal services.
Existing law provides for the Mello-Granlund Older Californians
Act, administered by the California Department of Aging, to provide
specified services to frail elderly individuals 60 years of age and
older.
This bill would require the department to establish a task force
of specified members to study and make recommendations to the
Legislature on issues relating to legal services to seniors.
This bill would appropriate $100,000 to the department to
establish the task force.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California senior citizens of low- and moderate means are in
great need of legal advice and assistance.
(b) Existing nonprofit local legal services that are funded by the
federal Older Americans Act through local area agencies on aging are
unable to meet the demand of senior citizens who cannot afford
private attorneys.
(c) There are areas of the state without local legal services for
senior citizens.
(d) A senior legal hotline, based in Sacramento and funded until
2002 by the Older Americans Act, has provided legal services in all
areas of law to thousands of senior citizens in northern California
since 1994. However, this senior legal hotline is unable to fully
meet the needs of seniors in its northern California service area at
current funding levels.
(e) There is no similar senior legal hotline in southern
California.
(f) Due to funding constraints, the California Department of Aging
has been unable to allocate sufficient resources for regular
communication among the various legal services programs for seniors.
(g) Unlike some other states, California does not provide matching
funds specifically for legal services programs that serve seniors.
SEC. 2. Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 9320) is added to
Division 8.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6.5. SENIOR LEGAL SERVICES
9320. (a) The department shall establish a task force to study
and make recommendations, including action steps and timelines, on
the improvement of legal services delivery to senior citizens in
California by exploring the following matters:
(1) Actions to ensure that all area agencies on aging allocate
sufficient funding to local legal assistance providers. Actions may
include, but not be limited to, the establishment of a minimum
percentage of area agency on aging funding for legal assistance
providers in California.
(2) Ways to ensure uniformity in the provision of legal services
throughout the state, including, but not limited to, possible
development of uniform statewide standards for the delivery of legal
services in California.
(3) Measures to evaluate and monitor local legal assistance
programs to ensure compliance with the federal Older Americans Act
and its implementing regulations.
(4) Establishment of statewide reporting system to assess the
effectiveness of legal assistance programs for seniors in the state.
(5) The possible establishment of a statewide legal hotline for
seniors.
(6) Opportunities to enhance communications among the various
service providers and to ensure efficient service delivery involving
local programs and a statewide hotline, should it come into
existence.
(7) Opportunities for joint training for senior legal services
advocates around the state.
(8) Other states' legal services delivery networks.
(b) The director shall serve on or appoint a representative to the
task force, and shall appoint the following additional members:
(1) One member of the Legislature or his or her representative.
(2) Three legal services director representatives of existing
legal service programs for seniors.
(3) The Legal Services Developer at the California Department of
Aging.
(4) Two area agency on aging directors.
(5) Two representatives of senior advocacy organizations.
(6) A representative of the State Bar of California.
(c) The Member of the Legislature, or his or her representative,
shall serve on the task force to the extent that the service is
compatible with the duties of a Member of the Legislature.
(e) The task force shall report and make its recommendations to
the Legislature on or before September 1, 2002.
SEC. 3. The sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is
hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the California
Department of Aging for the purpose of establishing the task force
described in Section 9320 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.