Cal. HSC § 24211 — California Code / Code hsc / Division 20 / Chapter 1.6 / Section 24211
Section 24211
Status: in_force

(a) The board shall do all of the following to implement the program:

(1) In consultation with community-based organizations, conduct outreach to locate qualified recipients and notify the qualified recipients of the process through which to apply for victim compensation. The board may use various methods to conduct outreach, including, but not limited to, modalities such as radio announcements, social media posts, and flyers to libraries, social service agencies, long-term care facilities, group homes, supported living organizations, regional centers, and reentry programs. Additionally, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall post notice of the program, qualifications, and claim process in all California parole and probation offices, and all state prison yards in an area accessible to the prison population.

(2) Review and verify all applications for victim compensation.

(A) The board shall consult the HIPAA-compliant eugenic sterilization database developed by the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab at the University of Michigan and may consult records of the State Archives to verify the identity of an individual claiming the individual was sterilized pursuant to eugenics laws during the period of 1919 to 1952, inclusive.

(B) The board shall consult the records of the State Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Developmental Services to verify the identity of an individual claiming to have been sterilized pursuant to eugenics laws during the period of 1953 to 1979, inclusive. The State Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Developmental Services shall make every reasonable effort to locate and share with the board records that will help the board verify claims of individuals sterilized in state institutions from 1953 to 1979, inclusive. This information shall be provided to the board pursuant to the authorizations described in subdivision (aa) of Section 4514 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and paragraph (26) of subdivision (a) of Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The information may include, but is not limited to, documentation of the individual’s sterilization, sterilization recommendation, surgical consent forms, relevant court or institutional records, or a sworn statement by the survivor or another individual with personal knowledge of the sterilization. These data may be contained in documents such as institutional reports, annual reports, extant patient records, superintendents’ files, and administrative records. The board shall maintain the confidentiality of any information received from the State Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Developmental Services in accordance with Part 160 (commencing with Section 160.101) and Part 164 (commencing with Section 164.102) of Subchapter C of Subtitle A of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Sections 4514 and 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(C) The board shall consult the records obtained, collected, and considered within the state audit into coercive sterilizations in California women’s prisons to verify the identity of individuals under the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who were coercively sterilized during labor and delivery within the scope and timeframe considered by the audit.

(D) The board shall consult with the Federal Receiver for Inmate Medical Services and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to identify individuals who were coercively sterilized while under the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(E) The board shall consult the records of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its contracting medical facilities or providers, as necessary, to verify the identity of an individual claiming to have been coercively sterilized while under the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall make every reasonable effort to locate and share with the board records that will help the board verify claims of individuals sterilized while under state custody and control.

(F) The board shall allow a claimant to submit evidence that proves the claimant was either sterilized during the period of 1919 to 1979, inclusive, or was coercively sterilized while under the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after 1979. The board shall evaluate this evidence by a preponderance of the evidence standard to determine whether it is more likely than not that the claimant is a qualified recipient. The claimant’s submission of evidence does not relieve the board of its responsibility to verify an individual’s identity by consulting the resources described in subparagraphs (A) through (E), inclusive.

(G) The board shall not have the discretion to deny compensation to any claimant who is a qualified recipient.

(3) Include an area on the application for a claimant to voluntarily report demographic information about gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

(4) Affirmatively identify and disclose coercive sterilizations that occurred in California prisons.

(A) The board shall affirmatively employ the measures outlined in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (2) to identify qualified recipients who were sterilized while in the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after 1979 and who have not personally or through an agent filed a claim for compensation.

(B) Upon identifying a qualified recipient, the board shall consult with other state and federal agencies and departments to determine contact information for the individual for purposes of disclosing the sterilization. To the extent permitted by federal law governing confidentiality of the applicable information, the board shall consult with additional entities, including, but not limited to, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Employment Development Department, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the California Secretary of State, the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Department of Justice, and the Social Security Administration.

(C) In consultation with community-based prisoner advocacy organizations and municipal health agencies responsible for communicating risk of exposure to communicable diseases, the board shall develop a culturally competent and technologically appropriate mechanism of disclosing the sterilization and available compensation to qualified recipients. The notification protocol and procedure shall require access to free counseling, culturally and linguistically appropriate notification, and a diversity of communications technologies to maximize the likelihood that disclosure is successfully relayed to the individual. If the review of an individual’s qualifications was initiated at an individual’s request by the individual’s physician, that physician shall be consulted and included in the notification and disclosure process.

(D) Upon identifying a qualified recipient who has not already submitted a claim for compensation and obtaining the qualified recipient’s contact information, the board shall contact the municipal health agency responsible for communicating possible exposure to communicable diseases in that qualified recipient’s geographic area when developing the notification protocol pursuant to subparagraph (C).

(E) Any notification protocol shall include notice of the availability of compensation under this chapter and information on how to submit a claim.

(5) Oversee the appeal process.

(b) (1) The board shall annually submit a report to the Legislature, including the number of applications submitted, the number of qualified individuals identified who have not filed an application and for whom disclosure is required, the number of disclosures communicated, the number of applications approved, the number of applications denied, the number of claimants paid, the number of appeals submitted, the result of those appeals, and the total amount paid in compensation.

(2) The report shall also include data on claimants’ demographic information, including gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, as voluntarily provided on a claimant’s application form. The report shall also include data about the age a claimant was sterilized and the facility where sterilization occurred, as verified by the board. Demographic information shall be reported in aggregate and the names of individual claimants shall be kept confidential.

(3) The report shall also include data on outreach methods or processes used by the board to reach potential claimants.

(4) The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(5) The report shall be made available to the public.

(c) (1) The board shall develop and implement procedures to receive and process applications for victim compensation under this program no later than six months after the start date of the program.

(2) The board shall implement the outreach plan described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) beginning six months after the start date of the program.