SECTIONS 18993-18993.9 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 18993-18993.9

18993. There is hereby created the Community Challenge Grant
Program in the State Department of Health Services to provide
community challenge grants to reduce the number of teenage and unwed
pregnancies.

18993.1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) One in three children in California is born out of wedlock.
(b) As many as 70,000 children were born to teenagers in each of
at least the last two years and nearly 25 percent of these were born
to teenage mothers who have previously had children.
(c) Children who grow up without fathers are five times more
likely to be poor, twice as likely to drop out of school, and much
more likely to end up in foster care or juvenile justice facilities.
(d) Girls raised in single-parent families are three times more
likely to become unwed teenage mothers than those girls raised in
two-parent families.
(e) Boys without a father in the home are more likely to become
incarcerated, unemployed, or uninvolved with their own children when
they become fathers.
(f) The consequences of teenage pregnancy and fatherlessness are
significant and far-reaching.
(g) Teenage and unwed pregnancy are problems that affect community
health and success.
(h) Government can best solve the problems of teenage and unwed
pregnancies in partnership with local communities, parents, and
families.
(i) Communities should decide what prevention strategies will work
and be acceptable.
(j) Parents and families should be included in the teenage
pregnancy prevention strategies.

18993.2. (a) The State Department of Health Services shall
administer grants for purposes of this chapter that shall be awarded
pursuant to a request for application process.
(b) Grants shall be awarded to existing and new community-based
nonprofit organizations and county and local governments for purposes
of implementing locally developed prevention and intervention
strategies designed to do the following:
(1) Reduce the number of teenage and unwed pregnancies.
(2) Reduce the number of children growing up in homes without
fathers as a result of these pregnancies.
(3) Promote responsible parenting and the involvement of the
father in the economic, social, and emotional support of his
children.
(c) Grant funding shall not be used for clinical services and
shall target, but not be limited to, the following populations:
(1) Presexual adolescents.
(2) Sexually active adolescents.
(3) Pregnant and parenting adolescents.
(4) Parents and families.
(5) Adults at risk for unwed motherhood or absentee fatherhood.
(d) The department shall provide outreach and training to
potential grantees to increase the number of agencies and groups that
may be able to successfully compete for the grants.
(e) The department shall issue periodic reports that describe the
projects that have been awarded grants pursuant to this chapter.

18993.3. (a) An advisory committee of 10 members shall be appointed
to advise and consult with the department regarding the Community
Challenge Grant Program in the following areas:
(1) The broad goals of the program.
(2) Effective strategies for implementing the program.
(3) Elements of evaluating the effectiveness of the program
grantees.
(4) Strategies for engaging nongovernmental resources and
expertise in the implementation and success of the program.
(b) Six members shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Health
and Welfare Agency, two members by the Speaker of the Assembly, and
two members by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(c) The advisory committee shall reflect a broad constituency and
multidisciplinary approach to the problem of teenage and unwed
pregnancy, including persons that represent corporations and
foundations, the religious community, parents, teenagers, the
education and academic community, community-based organizations, and
public health organizations.

18993.4. Grant applications shall include, but not be limited to,
the following:
(a) Plans for community collaboration with parents, local
agencies, businesses, school leaders, community groups, and private
organizations.
(b) Measurable objectives selected by the applicant.
(c) Evidence of the applicant's capability to effect proposed
changes.
(d) A needs assessment.
(e) A comprehensive description of the population or populations
proposed to be served.
(f) A project description, a work plan, and budget justifications.
(g) A project evaluation and a process for data collection to
facilitate the department's ability to conduct a statewide
evaluation.

18993.5. (a) Criteria for grant selection shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
(1) Degree of community input and collaboration in the project.
(2) Degree of involvement of parents and families within the
community.
(3) Degree of involvement of nongovernmental organizations.
(4) Degree of need for the project in the local community.
(5) Geographic, economic, population, and ethnic diversity.
(6) Feasibility.
(7) Cost effectiveness.
(8) Degree to which project outcomes can be measured and
evaluated.
(b) The department shall provide an explanation for the reasons
why an applicant is not funded.

18993.6. (a) Grantees shall be required to match a portion of the
grant awarded under the Community Challenge Grant Program with either
dollar or measurable in-kind contributions as provided by this
section.
(b) Grantees shall provide a match of not less than 10 percent for
the first year of the grant, not less than 15 percent for the second
year of the grant, and not less than 20 percent for the third year
of the grant.
(c) The match required by this section shall be supplemental to
the funds appropriated for the Community Challenge Grant Program and
shall be from nongovernmental sources.

18993.7. (a) The costs for state administration of the Community
Challenge Grant Program may be up to 5 percent of the total
appropriation for the program. The Legislature shall be notified of
the administrative costs of this program pursuant to Section 28 of
the Budget Act of 1996. Indirect costs for grantees shall not exceed
10 percent of the grant amount.
(b) The department may use local assistance funds allocated for
the program to provide training to potential grantees authorized by
subdivision (d) of Section 18993.2.
(c) The department may use local assistance funds allocated to the
program for the evaluation of the program required by subdivision
(b) of Section 18993.8.

18993.8. The department shall conduct a statewide independent
evaluation of the program, assessing the program's effectiveness in
achieving stated outcomes as established by the department. The
department shall submit its findings from the evaluation to the
Legislature within six months of the completion of each grant cycle.
The evaluation shall be performed only when for this purpose funds
are appropriated in the annual Budget Act.

18993.9. The program provided for under this chapter shall be
implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated in the
Budget Act.