TABLE 3—

Comparison of Mean Performance Measures of 24 Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs), by Assembly AB136 (AB136) Status: California, 2000 and 2002.

	AB136 Approved Programs		AB136 Unapproved Programs
	2000, Mean	2002, Mean	2000, Mean	2002, Mean
Paid staff	3.5	4.4	2.5	2.4
Volunteers	16.0	20.9	3.2	7.7
Days open per week	3.9	4.4	4.5	4.7
Hours open per week	18.9	23.5	14.7	29.7
Client contacts	8 184	7 096	5 439	7 088
Syringes exchanged	333 973	387 246	275 981	276 645
Budget for SEPa	136 357	260 593	100 210	89 180

Note. Beginning in January 2000, Assembly AB136 protected operators of SEPs authorized by local jurisdictions (city or county) from criminal prosecution for distributing syringes and needles.

^aExcludes 1 approved program for which complete budget information was not available.