(a)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(a) The Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (TGI) Wellness and Equity Fund is established in the State Treasury.
(b)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(b) The State Department of Public Health shall administer the TGI 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.
(c)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys
in the TGI Wellness and Equity Fund may be used to fund grants for the following purposes:
(1)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(c)(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)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(c)(2) The grants shall be available to TGI-serving organizations for the purpose of facilitating evidence-based therapeutic arts programs.
(3)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(c)(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)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(c)(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)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(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)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(e) This section does not limit or impact payer coverage requirements of health care or other social services.
(f)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(1) “Health care” means all of the following:
(A)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(1)(A) Medical, behavioral, and spiritual care, which includes, but is not limited to, guided meditation and nondenominational therapy.
(B)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(1)(B) Evidence-based therapeutic arts programs.
(C)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(1)(C) Services related to substance use disorder or substance abuse.
(D)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(1)(D) Supportive housing as a mechanism to support TGI-identified individuals in accessing other social services.
(2)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(2) A “TGI-serving organization” means either of the following:
(A)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(2)(A) A public or nonprofit 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.
(B)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(2)(B) A nonprofit that serves as the fiscal agent or sponsor for an organization described in
subparagraph (A). A nonprofit that is serving as a fiscal agent or sponsor shall pass all funding to the organization, but may charge a reasonable or industry standard fee for administrative costs of not more than 16 percent.
(3)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(3) “Transgender” is broad and inclusive of all gender identities different from the gender that a person was assigned at birth.
(4)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(4) “Gender nonconforming” is an inclusive term used to describe individuals who may experience a gender that is neither exclusively male nor female or is in between or beyond both of those genders, including, but not limited to, nonbinary, gender fluid, agender or without gender, third gender, genderqueer, gender variant, Two-Spirit, Hijra, Kathoey, Mak nyah, Muxe, Waria, Māhū, and Fa’afafine.
(5)CA Health & Safety Code § 150900(f)(5) “Intersex” is an umbrella term referring to people whose anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes fall outside the strict male and female binary.
