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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-21-06

2/06/06 HB

SHORT TITLE

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & CHILDREN' S SERVICES

SB 124/a SPAC

ANALYST David Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$3,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB58, Relates to HB213 & SB221 and HB12

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Family Department (CYFD)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SB124/a SPAC

The Senate Public Affairs Committee amendment to SB124 as follows:

1. On page 1, line 18, strike "a".

2. On page 1, line 19, strike "coalition" and insert in lieu thereof "service providers".

3. On page 1, line 19, strike "improvements to" and insert in lieu thereof "services".

4. On page 1, line 20, strike "shelters and services" and after "for" insert "women and",

The amendment does not affect the appropriation, but replaces the language which limited the

appropriation to statewide coalitions (there are only two) and allows the department to contract

directly with service providers statewide, rather than limiting to a coalition.

The amendment substitutes language to direct the appropriation to women and children’s ser-

Senate Bill 124/a SPAC – Page

2

vices rather than to shelter improvements, which resolves the anti-donation or general fund re-

payment issue. By directing the appropriation to women and children’s services, the amendment

has greater performance impact for the department.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 124 appropriates $3,000.0 from the general fund for expenditure in FY 06 and FY 07

to Children, Youth and Families Department for the purpose of contracting with a statewide do-

mestic violence coalition to provide needed improvements to shelters and services for children

who are victims of domestic violence.

This bill declares an emergency for public peace, health and safety.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $3,000.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balances remaining at the end of FY 07 shall revert to the

general fund.

This appropriation was not included in the Department’s Budget Request. The Executive rec-

ommendation includes $3,000.0 for Domestic Violence Services.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The bill allows for contracting with a statewide coalition to provide needed improvements to

shelters and services for children who are victims of domestic violence. Currently there are only

two statewide providers. This language limits the appropriation to statewide coalitions and more

specifically to provide services for children.

The bill specifies that the appropriation can be used for shelter improvements. Providing a gen-

eral fund appropriation for shelter improvements or capital improvements may violate the anti-

donation statute. Funds which have been used to improve a non-profit or for profit provider fa-

cility may have to return the funds to the general fund if and when the asset is sold. As an alter-

native, a revolving fund can provide low or no interest loans to providers for shelter improve-

ments.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

CYFD contributed the following statement:

“The bill, as written, would positively affect existing CYFD performance outcome meas-

ures of “Percent of adult victims receiving Domestic Violence services who are living in

a safer, more stable environment as measured by the Domestic Violence Assessment

Tool” and “Percent of adult victims receiving Domestic Violence services who show im-

proved client competencies in social living, coping and thinking skills as measured by the

Domestic Violence Assessment Tool”.”

However, the bill states “to provide needed improvements to shelters and services for children

who are victims of violence; there is no mention of adults services.

Senate Bill 124/a SPAC – Page

3

CYFD contributed the following statement:

The bill would allow for increased program and service capacity statewide enabling a greater

number of children who are victims of domestic violence to be served.

Administrative Office of the Courts contributed the following statement:

FY 06 is the third year that the courts are participating in performance based budgeting. This bill

may have an impact on the measures of the courts in the following areas:

1.

Cases disposes as a percent of cases filed

2.

Percent change in case filings by case type

3.

Clearance rate

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

CYFD will absorb the additional administrative services for developing and monitoring the con-

tract.

None to the judiciary

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates HB58

Relates to:

HB213 and SB221 which specify:

•

$1 million for shelter care and shelter improvements..

•

$1.5 million to provide child adolescent counseling and crisis intervention for victims of

domestic violence and their children

•

$500 thousand to provide training and education in public schools and other community

centers that provide services to families dealing with domestic violence

HB12 is for a Shiprock domestic violence shelter

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Unlike HB213/SB221, this bill does not specify how much of the appropriation can be used for

improvements to shelters and how much for services for children who are victims of domestic

violence.

The contract with an eligible provider should specify and ensure state funds are not used for any

religious, sectarian or denominational purposes, instruction or material.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The language in the bill limits the expenditure to a contract with a statewide domestic violence

coalition. Currently, CYFD is issuing RFP’s for its domestic violence programming. This bill,

appropriating to a statewide coalition, may undermine how CYFD is currently operating unless it

intends to provide a separate “pot of money” for statewide coalitions versus the current “pot of

Senate Bill 124/a SPAC – Page

4

money” for all domestic violence providers.

There are currently only two statewide domestic violence coalitions.

ALTERNATIVES

The bill could focus on prevention or adult victims since HB213/SB221 provides for services for

children.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo.

DL/nt:mt