PROGRAMS | A SAFE PLACE

LEGISLATION

A Safe Place Supports Bills that Aid Survivors of Domestic Violence

A Safe Place supports CPEDV in its sponsoring of the following bills:

SB 975 (Min) Coerced Debt. This bill provides survivors with the urgently needed opportunity to seek relief from repaying debts they were coerced into by their abusive partner. According to recent research, fifty-two percent of domestic violence survivors report experiencing coerced and fraudulent debt, and these debts are significant. An average of $15,936 of debt is incurred in a survivor’s name without their knowledge or consent each year and at least 42% of survivors experience damaged credit as a result of these debts. We are pleased to co-sponsor this bill with Public Law Center and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

SB 1017 (Eggman) Eviction Protections. This bill strengthens California’s eviction protection for survivors of violence to close several loopholes and increase the number of survivors eligible for protection. Supporting survivors in maintaining their housing will support their healing and stability. We are co-sponsoring this bill alongside the Western Center on Law and Poverty, Californians for Safety and Justice, Family Violence Appellate Project, and the Women’s Foundation of California, Dr. Beatriz Maria Solis Policy Institute.

SB 914 (Rubio) Homelessness System. This bill improves California’s response to homelessness by requiring cities, counties, and continuums of care that receive state funding to address homelessness to include domestic violence survivors and unaccompanied women within the vulnerable populations for whom specific system supports are developed. The bill also requires the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness for these vulnerable populations. Co-sponsoring the bill are Downtown Women’s Center and Rainbow Services.

AB 1726 (Aguiar-Curry) Safe At Home. This bill makes a range of updates to the Safe At Home program, which allows survivors to receive a confidential mailing address. This bill will increase its functionality for participants and ease challenges with the application process.

A Safe Place also supports Bill AB 1461, which expands the services available to domestic violence survivors. This bill adds to an existing law by allowing U-Visa, T-Visa, Asylum seekers, as well as qualified women and youth to access state and local public benefits as soon as they submit a formal application for services.

A Safe Place supports bills that will aid domestic abuse survivors with their domestic abuse cases as well as in their lives beyond the violence. We stand with the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV) and their policy strategy to support an intersection of bills and laws that assist survivors. Specifically, A Safe Place agrees with their mission to focus on policy targets that:

“Address the structural and systemic factors which contribute to domestic violence, and [address] the intersectional nature of [their] priorities positions [to] work alongside other social justice movements. This policy agenda is also grounded in recognition that the lived experience of people of color differs from that of white people, and that it is essential for our work to recognize the disproportionate, systemic impact of these issues on people of color. Racial justice advocacy will continue to be an essential element of [this] work.”

The Following is a List of Recent Bills and Laws that A Safe Place Supports:

AB 118

Emergency services: community response: grant program

AB 124

Sentencing

AB 547

Domestic violence: victim's rights

SB 2

Peace officers: certification: civil rights

SB 300

Crimes: murder: punishment

AB 92