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11781-11781.5

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 11781-11781.5

11781.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Federal, state, and local governments have the responsibility
and the expressed intent to provide and ensure the accessibility of
alcohol and other drug treatment, recovery, intervention, and
prevention services to all individuals, with specific emphasis on
women, ethnic minorities, and other disenfranchised segments of the
population.
   (b) The effects of inappropriate alcohol use by ethnic populations
in California are increasing. Concurrently, the use of available
recovery services by these populations is not in keeping with the
increase of problems experienced by these populations.
   (c) There is a great shortage of treatment programs available to
pregnant women and their offspring. Blacks have an infant mortality
rate twice that of the general population, and substance abuse only
exacerbates the problem.
   (d) Barriers to accessing the services available specifically
include, but are not limited to, the following:
   (1) Lack of educational materials appropriate to the community.
   (2) Geographic isolation or remoteness.
   (3) Institutional and cultural barriers.
   (4) Language differences.
   (5) Lack of representation by affected groups employed by public
and private service providers and policymakers.
   (6) Insufficient research information regarding problems and
appropriate strategies to resolve the problems of access to services.
   (e) While current law requires the department to develop and
implement a statewide plan to alleviate problems related to
inappropriate alcohol use and other drug use and to overcome the
barriers to their solution, these attempts have been ineffective due
to the magnitude of the task.



11781.5.  The department shall provide direction to counties and to
public and private organizations serving the target populations to
increase access to alcohol and other drug abuse prevention and
recovery programs in all of the following ways:
   (a) Assume responsibility to increase the knowledge within state
agencies and the Legislature of problems affecting the target
populations.
   (b) Determine, compile, and disseminate information and resource
needs of the counties and constituent service providers to better
serve the target populations.
   (c) Ensure that established state and county standards, policies,
and procedures are not discriminatory and do not contribute to
service accessibility barriers.
   (d) Promote an understanding of ethnic and gender differences,
approaches to problems, and strategies for increasing voluntary
access to services by the target populations.
   (e) Affirmatively coordinate with the counties for the provision
of services to the target populations and to assure accountability
that necessary services are actually provided.