(a) The Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund is established in the State Treasury.
(b) The State Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity shall administer the Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund for purposes of funding grants to create programs, or funding existing programs, focused on coordinating trans-inclusive health care for individuals who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, or intersex (TGI).
(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund may be used to fund grants for the following purposes:
(1) The grants shall be available to TGI-serving organizations for the purpose of increasing the capacity of health care professionals to effectively provide TGI health care and institute TGI-inclusive best practices. This includes the creation of educational materials or facilitation of capacity building trainings.
(2) The grants shall be available to TGI-serving organizations for the purpose of facilitating therapeutic arts programs, such as dancing, painting, or writing.
(3) The grants shall be available to TGI-serving organizations for purposes of assisting, identifying, and referring TGI people to access supportive housing. This includes case management opportunities, financial assistance, and assisting TGI people in receiving and utilizing housing vouchers. If a TGI-serving organization has already implemented a TGI-specific housing program, funding may be utilized to maintain or expand existing housing programs.
(4) The grants shall be available to a hospital, health care clinic, or other medical provider that currently provides gender-affirming health care services, such as hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery, to continue providing those services, or to a hospital, health care clinic, or other medical provider that will establish a program that offers gender-affirming health care services and has an established relationship with a TGI-serving organization that will lead in establishing the program.
(d) A hospital, health care clinic, or other medical provider that applies for a grant must apply in partnership with a TGI-serving organization and consult with the TGI-serving organization throughout the process of creating and implementing its trans-inclusive health care program.
(e) This section does not limit or impact payer coverage requirements of health care or other social services.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Health care” means all of the following:
(A) Medical, behavioral, and spiritual care, which includes, but is not limited to, guided meditation and nondenominational therapy.
(B) Therapeutic arts programs, which includes, but is not limited to, dancing, painting, and writing classes.
(C) Services related to substance use disorder or substance abuse.
(D) Supportive housing as a mechanism to support TGI-identified individuals in accessing other social services.
(2) A “TGI-serving organization” is an organization with a mission statement that centers around serving transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex people, and where at least 65 percent of the clients of the organization are TGI.
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 181, Sec. 2. (AB 2218) Effective January 1, 2021.)