(a) The purpose of this section is to coordinate and integrate state and local efforts to address fatal domestic violence, and to create a body of information to prevent domestic violence deaths.
(b) (1) The Department of Justice is hereby authorized to carry out the purpose of this section with the cooperation of the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Services, the California State Coroner’s Association, the County Welfare Directors Association, and the state domestic violence coalition.
(2) The Department of Justice, after consulting with the agencies and organizations specified in paragraph (1), may consult with other representatives of other agencies and private organizations to accomplish the purpose of this section.
(c) To accomplish the purpose of this section, the Department of Justice and agencies and organizations involved may engage in the following activities:
(1) Collect, analyze, and interpret state and local data on domestic violence death in an annual report to be available upon request. The report may contain, but need not be limited to, information provided by state agencies and the county domestic violence death review teams for the preceding year.
(2) Develop a state and local data base on domestic violence deaths.
(A) The state data may include the Department of Justice statistics, the State Department of Health Services Vital Statistics, and information obtained by other relevant state agencies.
(B) The Department of Justice, in consultation with the agencies and organizations specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), may develop a model minimal local data set and request data from local teams for inclusion in the annual report.
(3) Distribute a copy of the report to public officials in the state who deal with domestic violence issues and to those agencies responsible for domestic violence death review investigation in each county.
(d) The Department of Justice may direct the creation of a statewide domestic violence death review team directory, which shall contain the names of the members of the agencies and private organizations participating under this section, the members of local domestic violence death review teams, and the local liaisons to those teams. The department may maintain and update the directory annually.
(e) The agencies or private organizations participating under this section shall participate without reimbursement from the state. Costs incurred by participants for travel or per diem shall be borne by the participant agency or organization. Any reports prepared by the Department of Justice pursuant to this section shall be in consultation with the state domestic violence coalition.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 710, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1996.)