As of March 31, 6 Bay Area counties have extended the previous shelter-in-place orders to remain in effect through May 3, 2020. Two important items were added which pertain to victims of domestic violence:
(1) “Travel to avoid domestic violence or child abuse” is now specified as “essential travel,” in other words, it is permitted. (See Paragraph 13(i)(ix).
(2) “Travel for parental custody arrangements” is also “essential travel. (See Paragraph 13(i)(x.)
As a reminder, while court services are extremely limited at this time, they remain open to process domestic violence restraining order requests. See our prior blog post on limited court services here.
Law enforcement continue to operate as they are “essential services.” We wish everyone safety and good health during this difficult time, and remain open and available to assist clients with domestic violence, child custody, and family law needs.
Below are links to the March 31, 2020 shelter in place orders for the various counties:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/phd/DiseaseInformation/novel-coronavirus/Pages/order-health-officer-033120.aspx (Santa Clara County)
http://www.acphd.org/media/563688/health-officer-order-20-04-shelter-in-place-20200331.pdf (Alameda County)
https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/C19-07-Shelter-in-Place-Health-Order.pdf (City and County of San Francisco)
https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/64727/2020-0331-Health-Officer-Order-COVID19 (Contra Costa County)