Ca. Gov. Code § 13954 Verification of Information

• Library: California Codes
• Edition: 2023 Edition
• Currency: Current through the 2023 Legislative Session.
• Year: 2023
• Citation: Ca. Gov. Code § 13954

(a) The board shall verify with hospitals, physicians, law enforcement officials, or other interested parties involved, the treatment of the victim or derivative victim, circumstances of the crime, amounts paid or received by or for the victim or derivative victim, and any other pertinent information deemed necessary by the board. Verification information shall be returned to the board within 10 business days after a request for verification has been made by the board. Verification information shall be provided at no cost to the applicant, the board, or victim centers. When requesting verification information, the board shall certify that a signed authorization by the applicant is retained in the applicant's file and that this certification constitutes actual authorization for the release of information, notwithstanding any other provision of law. If requested by a physician or mental health provider, the board shall provide a copy of the signed authorization for the release of information.

(b)

(1) The applicant shall cooperate with the staff of the board or the victim center in the verification of the information contained in the application. Failure to cooperate shall be reported to the board, which, in its discretion, may reject the application solely on this ground.

(2) An applicant may be found to have failed to cooperate with the board if any of the following occur:

(A) The applicant has information, or there is information that he or she may reasonably obtain, that is needed to process the application or supplemental claim, and the applicant failed to provide the information after being requested to do so by the board. The board shall take the applicant's economic, psychosocial, and postcrime traumatic circumstances into consideration, and shall not unreasonably reject an application solely for failure to provide information.

(B) The applicant provided, or caused another to provide, false information regarding the application or supplemental claim.

(C) The applicant refused to apply for other benefits potentially available to him or her from other sources besides the board including, but not limited to, worker's compensation, state disability insurance, social security benefits, and unemployment insurance.

(D) The applicant threatened violence or bodily harm to a member of the board or staff.

(c) The board may contract with victim centers to provide verification of applications processed by the centers pursuant to conditions stated in subdivision (a). The board and its staff shall cooperate with the Office of Criminal Justice Planning and victim centers in conducting training sessions for center personnel and shall cooperate in the development of standardized verification procedures to be used by the victim centers in the state. The board and its staff shall cooperate with victim centers in disseminating standardized board policies and findings as they relate to the centers.