CA AB689

Expands the Office of Emergency Services' domestic violence crisis communication requirements from 24-hour telephone hotlines only to 24-hour crisis communication systems that may include text messaging, computer chat, and other approved technologies on a 24-hour or intermittent basis.

Requires the Office of Emergency Services to provide financial and technical assistance to local domestic violence centers for implementing these expanded communication methods alongside existing services like counseling, emergency shelters, legal assistance, and court advocacy.

Adds provision that state grant funding be distributed to recipients in a single disbursement at the beginning of the grant period.

Contains conditional language making Section 1.5 operative only if this bill and Assembly Bill 673 are both enacted before January 1, 2022, with this bill enacted after AB 673, in which case Section 1 becomes inoperative.