AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
95
Introduced by Assembly Member Elhawary
February 13, 2026
An act to add and repeal Chapter 19.5 (commencing with Section 18999.950) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to emergency services.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: yes Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services in the Health and Welfare Agency and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of various programs relating to public social services.
Prior law, until June 30, 2026, enacted the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act, or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act, for purposes of creating, implementing, and evaluating the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program, which the act established. The act required the department to administer the program if appropriate funding was made available to the department. The act required, on or before January 1, 2023, the department to award grants to qualified grantees, including city, county, and tribal departments of social services, disability services, health services, public health, or behavioral health, based on grant eligibility criteria developed in partnership with a stakeholder workgroup.
This bill would establish the Community Response Initiative to Strength Emergency Systems Act 2.0, or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act 2.0, and the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0, until June 30, 2032. The bill would require the department to administer the program if appropriate funding is made available in the annual Budget Act. The bill would require the department to award grants to grantees, which are community-based organizations, on or before October 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, subject to appropriate funding.
The bill would reestablish the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Program Fund within the State Treasury, and would authorize, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys to be expended by the department for purposes of the program. The bill would prohibit the department from expending more than 5% of
appropriated funds on administrative costs, as specified. more than 10% of the grant funds to be used for implementation and administration of the program. The bill would authorize the department to enter into agreements with one or more entities to facilitate the implementation of the program, not to exceed 5% of the appropriated funds.
The bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder workgroup consisting of specified individuals. The bill would require the department to award grants of at least $250,000 each to eligible grantees, which are community-based organizations, based on criteria developed by the department in consultation with the stakeholder workgroup. The bill would require a grantee to report at least annually to the department on the use of funding awarded under the program. The bill would require the department to issue a public report, to be posted on its internet website 6 months following the end of the program, with specified information.
The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of the program without taking regulatory action, as specified.
This bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2032, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2033.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 19.5 (commencing with Section 18999.950) is added to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
Chapter 19.5. Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act 2.0
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act 2.0 or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act 2.0.
The Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act 2.0 or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act 2.0 is hereby established for the purposes of creating, implementing, and evaluating the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0 in accordance with this chapter.
For purposes of this chapter:
(a) “Community-based organization” means a public or nonprofit organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or exempt from state income taxation under Section 23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or an organization fiscally sponsored by a nonprofit, that can demonstrate its ability to effectively provide community-based alternatives to law enforcement, and has a demonstrated involvement with the identified communities to be served.
(b) “Department” means the State Department of Social Services.
(c) “Fund” means the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Program Fund reestablished pursuant to this chapter.
(d) “Grantee” means a community-based organization that receives a grant pursuant to this chapter.
(e) “Law enforcement agency” means any police department, sheriff’s department, district attorney, county probation department, transit agency police department, school district police department, the police department of any campus of the University of California, the California State University, a community college, or the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
(f) “Law enforcement officer” means an officer, deputy, employee, or agent of a law enforcement agency as described above.
(g) “Local government entity” means a county, city, or tribe, or a department of a city, county, or tribe.
(h) “Program” means the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0 established by this chapter.
(i) “Stakeholder workgroup” means a group of interested parties convened by the department to make recommendations on the implementation of this program pursuant to this chapter, as described in Section 18999.953.
(a) (1) Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for purposes of this chapter, the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0 established pursuant to Section 18999.951 shall be administered by the department.
(2) (A) The department shall award grants to eligible grantees based on grant eligibility criteria developed by the department in consultation with the stakeholder workgroup.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, an eligible grantee is a community-based organization. Law enforcement agencies are not eligible grantees.
(3) Each grantee shall receive a minimum award of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per year.
(4) (A) Funds awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be utilized to create and strengthen community-based alternatives to law enforcement to lessen the reliance on law enforcement agencies as first responders to crisis situations unrelated to a fire department or emergency medical service response.
(B) Community-based alternatives may include, but are not limited to, providing mobile crisis response teams or community para-medicine programs. Community-based alternatives shall not include law enforcement officers or agencies as first responders or coresponders.
(5) The department shall prioritize grantees that propose interventions that serve historically marginalized populations and that serve communities with a demonstrated need for community-based alternatives to law enforcement, as evidenced by metrics, including a high record of police use of force, a high volume of civilian complaints, high rates of imprisonment, and racial profiling.
(b) (1) The department shall award 90 percent or more of the grant funds to one or more qualifying community-based organizations, to create and strengthen community-based alternatives to law enforcement as described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a). No more than 10 percent of the grant funds shall be used to support program administration of the grantee.
implement and administer the program in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 18999.954.
(2) The department shall publicly solicit partnerships with community-based organizations. This public solicitation shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Issuing a public notice and invitation to create a partnership to establish a program pursuant to this chapter.
(B) Inviting letters of intent from community-based organizations. A letter of intent may include letters of support or recommendation from partners in the proposed service area, which may include, but is not limited to, local government entities, community organizations, service providers, or local government officials.
(C) Convening public meetings to hear questions, concerns, and suggestions from the community that would inform the development of the program.
(3) The department shall prioritize the awarding of program funds to qualified community-based organizations that demonstrate the capacity to lead the proposed program and demonstrate experience providing community-based alternatives to law enforcement or civilian crisis response in the communities listed in paragraph (5) of subdivision (a). This includes, but is not limited to, the ability to do any of the following:
(A) Respond to emergency calls.
(B) Provide treatment, screening, and assessment.
(C) Provide stabilization and deescalation services.
(D) Coordinate with health, social services, and other support services, as needed.
(E) Maintain relationships with relevant community partners, including a range of community organizers, and medical, behavioral health, and crisis providers.
(F) Demonstrate relationships and partnerships with stakeholders in the proposed program service area, which may be evidenced by recommendations from local government entities, community organizations, service providers, or local government officials.
(c) A grantee shall report at least annually to the department on the use of program funding, which shall include data reporting on clients served and program outcomes, as determined by the department in consultation with stakeholder workgroup.
(d) (1) The department shall convene a stakeholder workgroup to make recommendations to the department regarding implementation of the program. The department shall convene regular meetings with the stakeholder workgroup in which the workgroup shall do all of the following:
(A) Provide input regarding criteria for qualified grantees.
(B) Provide best practices and program recommendations.
(C) Provide support and consultation on implementation and priorities for technical assistance.
(D) Identify barriers to implementation and suggest solutions to address those barriers.
(E) Recommend anonymous data to be collected.
(F) Collaboratively review data and program outcomes.
(G) Advise on the design of the evaluation.
(2) (A) The members of the stakeholder workgroup shall include, but not be limited to, a minimum of one of each of the following individuals:
(i) Emergency medical system practitioners with experience providing community-based, trauma-informed, culturally competent care, deescalation strategies, and harm reduction support.
(ii) Public health or behavioral health practitioners with specific experience in community health and an understanding of health care, mental health services, trauma-informed, culturally competent care, deescalation strategies, and harm reduction support.
(iii) Members of the public who have survived an emergency or crisis and have used community-based services in response to the emergency or crisis.
(iv) Survivors of police brutality.
(v) Surviving family members of someone who has been subject to use of force resulting in death or serious bodily injury by a law enforcement officer.
(B) The stakeholder workgroup shall not include current or former law enforcement officers or immediate family members of law enforcement officers.
(e) The department shall issue a public report, to be posted on its internet website six months following the end of the program, on the programmatic and fiscal savings associated with the program, key conclusions, and populations served and the benefits conferred or realized, using quantitative and qualitative data.
(a) The Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Program Fund is hereby reestablished within the State Treasury. Moneys deposited in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, may be expended by the department for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) The department may enter into agreements with one or more entities to facilitate the implementation of the program, which may not exceed 5 percent of funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Convening and facilitating the stakeholder workgroup.
(2) Providing technical assistance to grantees and community-based organizations receiving funding pursuant to this chapter.
(3) Evaluating program data and information and preparing the public report described in Section 18999.953.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department may not expend more than 5 percent of funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter on its administrative costs.
(c) The department shall award all grants pursuant to this chapter on or before October 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for purposes of this chapter.
(a) This chapter shall be implemented only if appropriate funding is made available to the department.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, funding awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, funding awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual, and shall not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services.
(c) The state shall be immune from any liability resulting from the activities of a grantee or community-based organization under the program.
(d) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the State Department of Social Services may implement, interpret, or make specific this chapter without taking any regulatory action.
(e) This chapter shall become inoperative on June 30, 2032, and, as of January 1, 2033, is repealed.