AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2022
california legislature—2021–22 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2220
Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi
February 15, 2022
An act to amend Section 68651 of the Government Code, add and repeal Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 5475) to Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to courts. courts, and making an appropriation therefor.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2220, as amended, Muratsuchi. Appointed legal counsel in civil cases. Homeless Courts Pilot Program.
Existing law governs the jurisdiction of various criminal actions and criminal proceedings. Existing law also provides various diversion programs, including programs for defendants with cognitive disabilities and programs for defendants who were, or currently are, members of the United States military.
This bill would create the Homeless Courts Pilot Program, which would remain in effect until January 1, 2027, to be administered by the Judicial Council for the purpose of providing comprehensive community-based services to achieve stabilization for, and address the specific legal needs of, chronically homeless individuals. The bill would require programs seeking grant funds to provide any number of specified services or program components, including, but not limited to, a diversion program enabling participating defendants to have infractions, misdemeanor, or felony charges dismissed upon completion of a program, and a dedicated county representative to assist defendants with housing needs. The bill would require an applicant for grant
98 funding under the program to submit a plan for a new homeless court program or expansion of an existing homeless court program, and would require any funding awarded to an applicant to be used in accordance with that plan. The bill would also require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature describing the programs funded and the success of those programs.
The bill would require the Judicial Council to establish performance-based outcome measures for each participating homeless court. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund for the purpose of providing grants under this program.
Existing law requires legal counsel to be appointed to represent low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs in specified courts. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to develop one or more programs in selected courts to provide legal counsel to low-income persons who require legal services in civil matters involving housing-related matters, domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders, probate conservatorships, guardianships of the person, elder abuse, or actions by a parent to obtain sole legal or physical custody of a child.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
Vote: majority 2⁄3. Appropriation: no yes. Fiscal committee: no yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 5475) is line 2 added to Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, line 3 to read:
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line 5 Chapter 5.5. Homeless Courts Pilot Program
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line 7 5475. The Homeless Courts Pilot Program is hereby line 8 established and shall be administered by the Judicial Council as line 9 a grant pilot program for eligible applicants to provide line 10 comprehensive community-based services to achieve stabilization line 11 for, and address the specific legal needs of, chronically homeless line 12 individuals.
line 13 5478. (a) The council shall award grants on a competitive line 14 basis to applicants that provide, or seek to provide, support and 98 AB 2220 — 2 —
line 1 services to defendants charged with infractions, misdemeanors, line 2 or felonies who are experiencing homelessness.
line 3 (b) The council shall develop guidelines to administer the grant line 4 program and award grants to programs that provide, or seek to line 5 provide, at a minimum, any of the following program components:
line 6 (1) A diversion program enabling participating defendants to line 7 have their infraction, misdemeanor, or felony charges dismissed line 8 upon completion of the program.
line 9 (2) Regular court appearances enabling participating defendants line 10 to work with and have access to all service providers in one line 11 location. The program and services shall be in a location that is line 12 readily accessible to individuals experiencing homelessness. line 13 (3) A county representative to assist a defendant with housing line 14 goals and processes, identifying mental health and substance abuse line 15 concerns, and answer any questions and facilitate any necessary line 16 conversations between a housing agency and the defendant to line 17 enable the defendant to be successfully housed. line 18 (4) Mental health services, including mental health evaluations line 19 by county behavioral health departments and referrals to full line 20 service partnership programs.
line 21 (5) Substance abuse and alcohol detoxification and treatment line 22 referral services or a partnership with facilities that will admit line 23 low-income or Medi-Cal participants for treatment. line 24 (6) Criminal record clearing services through partnerships with line 25 a public defender’s office, legal aid, or other city or county services line 26 for criminal history record clearing and infraction citation line 27 clearing.
line 28 (7) Security services approved by the county sheriff’s line 29 department.
line 30 (8) Facilities with adequate internet capacity in order to permit line 31 remote appearances through the use of remote technology with line 32 any participating party that cannot attend in person. line 33 (9) Additional evidence-based components identified by the line 34 Judicial Council that are consistent with this section. line 35 (c) The council shall give preference to programs that provide, line 36 or plan to provide, the following services:
line 37 (1) Weekly follow-up with mental health and substance abuse line 38 counseling services in between court dates.
line 39 (2) Job training or placement services.
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line 1 (3) Court conditional releases from custody into residential line 2 narcotic and drug abuse programs, as defined in Section 11842 line 3 of the Health and Safety Code.
line 4 (4) Participation of a licensed medical practitioner to prescribe line 5 and administer medication for program participants related to line 6 substance abuse recovery or mental health treatment. line 7 (d) An applicant for funding pursuant to this chapter shall line 8 submit an application designed by the Judicial Council. The line 9 application shall include a plan for the creation of a new homeless line 10 court or expansion of an existing homeless court program. The line 11 application shall clearly detail the initiative for which funding is line 12 sought, the associated staffing activities, programs, and services line 13 to be delivered, and how the grant program will cover those costs. line 14 Any funding awarded to an applicant shall be used in accordance line 15 with the approved plan.
line 16 5480. (a) The Judicial Council shall establish line 17 performance-based outcome measures appropriate for each line 18 participating homeless court. Participating courts shall provide line 19 the required data, including individual offender level data, on a line 20 quarterly basis to the Judicial Council.
line 21 (b) On or before July 1, 2026, the council shall compile a report line 22 describing the programs funded pursuant to this chapter and the line 23 success of those programs in addressing the needs of chronically line 24 homeless individuals. The report shall be submitted to the line 25 Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code. line 26 5483. The sum of _____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated line 27 from the General Fund to the Judicial Council for the purpose of line 28 administering the Homeless Courts Pilot Program pursuant to line 29 this chapter.
line 30 5485. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, line 31 2027, and as of that date is repealed.
line 32 SECTION 1. Section 68651 of the Government Code is line 33 amended to read:
line 34 68651. (a) Legal counsel shall be appointed to represent line 35 low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues line 36 affecting basic human needs in those specified courts selected by line 37 the Judicial Council as provided in this section. line 38 (b) (1) Subject to funding specifically provided for this purpose line 39 pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 70626 and donations line 40 provided pursuant to subdivision (e), the Judicial Council shall 98 AB 2220 — 4 —
line 1 develop one or more programs in selected courts pursuant to a line 2 competitive grant process and a request for proposals. Programs line 3 authorized under this section shall provide representation of counsel line 4 for low-income persons who require legal services in civil matters line 5 involving housing-related matters, domestic violence and civil line 6 harassment restraining orders, probate conservatorships, line 7 guardianships of the person, elder abuse, or actions by a parent to line 8 obtain legal or physical custody of a child, as well as providing line 9 court procedures, personnel, training, and case management and line 10 administration methods that reflect best practices to ensure line 11 unrepresented parties in those cases have meaningful access to line 12 justice, and to gather information on the outcomes associated with line 13 providing these services, to guard against the involuntary waiver line 14 of those rights or their disposition by default. These programs line 15 should be designed to address the substantial inequities in timely line 16 and effective access to justice that often give rise to an undue risk line 17 of erroneous decision because of the nature and complexity of the line 18 law and the proceeding or disparities between the parties in line 19 education, sophistication, language proficiency, legal line 20 representation, access to self-help, and alternative dispute line 21 resolution services. In order to ensure that the scarce funds line 22 available for the programs are used to serve the most critical cases line 23 and the parties least able to access the courts without line 24 representation, eligibility for representation shall be limited to line 25 clients whose household income falls at or below 200 percent of line 26 the federal poverty level. Programs shall impose asset limitations line 27 consistent with their existing practices in order to ensure optimal line 28 use of funds.
line 29 (2) (A) In light of the significant percentage of parties who are line 30 unrepresented in family law matters, proposals to provide counsel line 31 in child custody cases should be considered among the highest line 32 priorities for funding.
line 33 (B) Up to 20 percent of available funds shall be directed to line 34 programs regarding civil matters involving actions under the line 35 Family Code, subject to the priority set forth in subparagraph (A). line 36 This subparagraph shall not apply to distributions made pursuant line 37 to paragraph (3).
line 38 (3) Amounts collected pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section line 39 70626 in excess of the total amount transferred to the Trial Court line 40 Trust Fund in the 2011–12 fiscal year pursuant to subparagraph 98 — 5 — AB 2220
line 1 (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 68085.1 and line 2 subdivision (e) of Section 70626 shall be distributed by the Judicial line 3 Council without regard to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). Those line 4 amounts may be distributed by the Judicial Council as set forth in line 5 this subdivision. If the funds are to be distributed to new programs, line 6 the Judicial Council shall distribute those amounts pursuant to the line 7 process set forth in this subdivision.
line 8 (4) Each program shall be a partnership between the court, a line 9 qualified legal services project, as defined by subdivision (a) of line 10 Section 6213 of the Business and Professions Code, that shall serve line 11 as the lead agency for case assessment and direction, and other line 12 legal services providers in the community that are able to provide line 13 the services for the program. The lead legal services agency shall line 14 be the central point of contact for receipt of referrals to the program line 15 and to make determinations of eligibility based on uniform criteria. line 16 The lead legal services agency shall be responsible for providing line 17 representation to the clients or referring the matter to one of the line 18 organizations or individual providers with whom the lead legal line 19 services agency contracts to provide the service. Funds received line 20 by a qualified legal services project shall not qualify as line 21 expenditures for the purposes of the distribution of funds pursuant line 22 to Section 6216 of the Business and Professions Code. To the line 23 extent practical, the lead legal services agency shall identify and line 24 make use of pro bono services in order to maximize available line 25 services efficiently and economically. Recognizing that not all line 26 indigent parties can be afforded representation, even when they line 27 have meritorious cases, the court partner shall, as a corollary to line 28 the services provided by the lead legal services agency, be line 29 responsible for providing procedures, personnel, training, and case line 30 management and administration practices that reflect best practices line 31 to ensure unrepresented parties meaningful access to justice and line 32 to guard against the involuntary waiver of rights, as well as to line 33 encourage fair and expeditious voluntary dispute resolution, line 34 consistent with principles of judicial neutrality. line 35 (5) The participating programs shall be selected by a committee line 36 appointed by the Judicial Council with representation from key line 37 stakeholder groups, including judicial officers, legal services line 38 providers, and others, as appropriate. The committee shall assess line 39 the applicants’ capacity for success, innovation, and efficiency, line 40 including, but not limited to, the likelihood that the program would 98 AB 2220 — 6 —
line 1 deliver quality representation in an effective manner that would line 2 meet critical needs in the community and address the needs of the line 3 court with regard to access to justice and calendar management, line 4 and the unique local unmet needs for representation in the line 5 community. Programs approved pursuant to this section shall line 6 initially be authorized for a three-year period, commencing July line 7 1, 2011, subject to renewal for a period to be determined by the line 8 Judicial Council, in consultation with the participating program line 9 in light of the program’s capacity and success. After the initial line 10 three-year period, the Judicial Council shall distribute any future line 11 funds available as the result of the termination or nonrenewal of line 12 a program pursuant to the process set forth in this subdivision. line 13 Programs shall be selected on the basis of whether, in the cases line 14 proposed for service, the persons to be assisted are likely to be line 15 opposed by a party who is represented by counsel. The Judicial line 16 Council shall also consider the following factors in selecting the line 17 programs:
line 18 (A) The likelihood that representation in the proposed case type line 19 tends to affect whether a party prevails or otherwise obtains a line 20 significantly more favorable outcome in a matter in which they line 21 would otherwise frequently have judgment entered against them line 22 or suffer the deprivation of the basic human need at issue. line 23 (B) The likelihood of reducing the risk of erroneous decision. line 24 (C) The nature and severity of potential consequences for the line 25 unrepresented party regarding the basic human need at stake if line 26 representation is not provided.
line 27 (D) Whether the provision of legal services may eliminate or line 28 reduce the potential need for, and cost of, public social services line 29 regarding the basic human need at stake for the client and others line 30 in the client’s household.
line 31 (E) The unmet need for legal services in the geographic area to line 32 be served.
line 33 (F) The availability and effectiveness of other types of court line 34 services, such as self-help.
line 35 (6) Each applicant shall do all of the following:
line 36 (A) Identify the nature of the partnership between the court, the line 37 lead legal services agency, and the other agencies or other providers line 38 that would work within the program.
line 39 (B) Describe the referral protocols to be used, the criteria that line 40 would be employed in case assessment, why those cases were 98 — 7 — AB 2220
line 1 selected, the manner to address conflicts without violating line 2 attorney-client privilege when adverse parties are seeking line 3 representation through the program, and the means for serving line 4 potential clients who need assistance with English. line 5 (C) Describe how the program would be administered, including line 6 how the data collection requirements would be met without causing line 7 an undue burden on the courts, clients, or the providers, the line 8 particular objectives of the project, strategies to evaluate their line 9 success in meeting those objectives, and the means by which the line 10 program would serve the particular needs of the community, such line 11 as by providing representation to limited-English-speaking clients. line 12 (7) To ensure the most effective use of the funding available, line 13 the lead legal services agency shall serve as a hub for all referrals, line 14 and the point at which decisions are made about which referrals line 15 will be served and by whom. Referrals shall emanate from the line 16 court, as well as from the other agencies providing services through line 17 the program, and shall be directed to the lead legal services agency line 18 for review. That agency, or another agency or attorney in the event line 19 of conflict, shall collect the information necessary to assess whether line 20 the case should be served. In performing that case assessment, the line 21 agency shall determine the relative need for representation of the line 22 litigant, including all of the following:
line 23 (A) Case complexity.
line 24 (B) Whether the other party is represented.
line 25 (C) The adversarial nature of the proceeding.
line 26 (D) The availability and effectiveness of other types of services, line 27 such as self-help, in light of the potential client and the nature of line 28 the case.
line 29 (E) Language issues.
line 30 (F) Disability access issues.
line 31 (G) Literacy issues.
line 32 (H) The merits of the case.
line 33 (I) The nature and severity of potential consequences for the line 34 potential client if representation is not provided. line 35 (J) Whether the provision of legal services may eliminate or line 36 reduce the need for, and cost of, public social services for the line 37 potential client and others in the potential client’s household. line 38 (8) If both parties to a dispute are financially eligible for line 39 representation, each proposal shall ensure that representation for line 40 both sides is evaluated. In these and other cases in which conflict 98 AB 2220 — 8 —
line 1 issues arise, the lead legal services agency shall have referral line 2 protocols with other agencies and providers, such as a private line 3 attorney panel, to address those conflicts.
line 4 (9) Each program shall be responsible for keeping records on line 5 the referrals accepted and those not accepted for representation, line 6 and the reasons for each, in a manner that does not violate line 7 privileged communications between the agency and the prospective line 8 client. Each program shall be provided with standardized data line 9 collection tools and shall be required to track case information for line 10 each referral to allow the evaluation to measure the number of line 11 cases served, the level of service required, and the outcomes for line 12 the clients in each case. In addition to this information on the effect line 13 of the representation on the clients, data shall be collected regarding line 14 the outcomes for the trial courts.
line 15 (10) A local advisory committee shall be formed for each line 16 program, to include representatives of the bench and court line 17 administration, the lead legal services agency, and the other line 18 agencies or providers that are part of the local program team. The line 19 role of the advisory committee is to facilitate the administration line 20 of the local program and to ensure that the program is fulfilling line 21 its objectives. In addition, the committee shall resolve any issues line 22 that arise during the course of the program, including issues line 23 concerning case eligibility, and recommend changes in program line 24 administration in response to implementation challenges. The line 25 committee shall meet at least monthly for the first six months of line 26 the program, and no less than quarterly for the duration of the line 27 funding period. Each authorized program shall catalog changes to line 28 the program made during the three-year period based on its line 29 experiences with best practices in serving the eligible population. line 30 (c) The Judicial Council shall conduct a study to demonstrate line 31 the effectiveness and continued need for the programs established line 32 pursuant to this section and shall report its findings and line 33 recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature every five line 34 years, commencing June 1, 2020. The study shall report on the line 35 percentage of funding by case type and shall include data on the line 36 impact of counsel on equal access to justice and the effect on court line 37 administration and efficiency, and enhanced coordination between line 38 courts and other government service providers and community line 39 resources. This report shall describe the benefits of providing line 40 representation to those who were previously not represented, both 98 — 9 — AB 2220
line 1 for the clients and the courts, as well as strategies and line 2 recommendations for maximizing the benefit of that representation line 3 in the future. The report shall describe and include data, if line 4 available, on the impact of the programs on families and children. line 5 The report also shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet line 6 needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs. line 7 (d) This section does not negate, alter, or limit any right to line 8 counsel in a criminal or civil action or proceeding otherwise line 9 provided by state or federal law.
line 10 (e) The Judicial Council may accept donations from public or line 11 private entities for the purpose of providing grants pursuant to this line 12 section.
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