BILL NUMBER: AB 483 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 275
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 1, 2011
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to amend Section 50675.14 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 483, Torres. Housing finance.
Existing law establishes the Multifamily Housing Program under the
administration of the Department of Housing and Community
Development to provide a standardized set of program rules and
features applicable to all housing types based on the department's
California Housing Rehabilitation Program. Under the Housing and
Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002, $195,000,000 is to be
expended for supportive housing projects under the Multifamily
Housing Program. Existing law establishes priority criteria for
housing projects and requires that a borrower of program funds
include specified data in an annual report to the department.
Existing law authorizes the department take specified action to
provide and maintain rents that are affordable to the target
population, as defined.
This bill would modify the definition of the term "target
population" and make several changes to the information a borrower
may include in his or her annual report. The bill would also impose
new requirements with respect to the populations served by the
supportive housing program.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Over 133,000 Californians sleep on the streets or in shelters
on any given night; over 390,000 Californians, or over one in 95
Californians, are homeless during the course of a year.
(b) Due to California's increased unemployment, poverty, and
foreclosure rates, as well as continuing high rental housing cost
burdens, homelessness is increasing in California, particularly in
the number of Californians experiencing chronic homelessness. Based
on counts of homeless people in communities across California,
California's homeless population grew by 3.4 percent between 2008 and
2009. During this period, California's population of chronically
homeless individuals increased by 10.8 percent, while the number of
chronically homeless people nationwide increased by less than 1
percent.
(c) Chronically homeless people face significant barriers to
housing stability, and often ricochet through expensive public
systems, including overburdened corrections systems, overcrowded
hospital emergency rooms, mental health programs, substance abuse
treatment and detox facilities, shelters, and emergency housing. As a
result, people experiencing chronic homelessness or other
significant barriers to housing stability use a disproportionate
share of state and local services.
(d) Almost 20 years of data demonstrate that chronically homeless
people, including those with severe substance abuse disorders, can
live stable lives if supplied with housing and the services they need
to stabilize their health and housing status. The evidence shows
that making these services available works to end homelessness and
that, for people experiencing long-term homelessness with substance
abuse and mental health or chronic medical conditions, these service
provisions are virtually cost-neutral.
(e) People who are homeless for long periods often cycle through
institutional systems, shelters, and the streets, and may not meet
the strict definition of chronic homelessness as a result. Data
suggests these individuals will face significant barriers to
accessing and maintaining stable housing. In fact, people exiting
institutional systems have high rates of homelessness. Forty-three
percent of people arrested who experience mental disorders were
homeless when committing the crime for which they were arrested.
(f) Homeless transition-age youth may not be able to meet the
definition of chronic homelessness because of their age but still
face barriers to housing stability and require supportive services.
Evidence demonstrates that this population is highly vulnerable to
chronic homelessness.
(g) Targeting newly created supportive housing to people facing
significant barriers to housing stability, such as chronic
homelessness, has decreased the number of people experiencing chronic
homelessness in communities across California and the country.
(h) While supportive housing is beneficial to many people at risk
of homelessness and to people experiencing short-term homelessness,
research indicates housing affordable to people at risk is sufficient
to prevent or end homelessness.
SEC. 2. Section 50675.14 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
50675.14. (a) This section shall apply only to projects funded
with funds appropriated for supportive housing projects.
(b) For purposes of this section the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "May restrict occupancy to persons with veteran status" means
that the sponsor may limit occupancy to persons meeting the criteria
of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (h) with respect to either
of the following:
(A) Any unit in the development that has not been previously
occupied.
(B) Any unit in the development that subsequently becomes vacant,
for a period of not more than 120 days following the vacancy.
(2) "Supportive housing" means housing with no limit on length of
stay, that is occupied by the target population, and that is linked
to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing
resident in retaining the housing, improving his or her health
status, and maximizing his or her ability to live and, when possible,
work in the community.
(3) (A) "Target population" means persons, including persons with
disabilities, and families who are "homeless," as that term is
defined by Section 11302 of Title 42 of the United States Code, or
who are "homeless youth," as that term is defined by paragraph (2) of
subdivision (e) of Section 11139.3 of the Government Code.
(B) Individuals and families currently residing in supportive
housing meet the definition of "target population" if the individual
or family was "homeless," as that term is defined by Section 11302 of
Title 42 of the United States Code, when approved for tenancy in the
supportive housing project in which they currently reside.
(c) (1) The department shall ensure that at least 40 percent of
the units in each development funded under the supportive housing
program are targeted to one or more of the following populations:
(A) Individuals or families experiencing "chronic homelessness,"
as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Super Notice of Funding Availability for Continuum of
Care or Collaborative Applicant Program.
(B) "Homeless youth," as that term is defined by paragraph (2) of
subdivision (e) of Section 11139.3 of the Government Code.
(C) Individuals exiting institutional settings, including, but not
limited to, jails, hospitals, prisons, and institutes of mental
disease, who were homeless when entering the institutional setting,
who have a disability, and who resided in that setting for a period
of not less than 15 days.
(2) The department may decrease the number of units required to
meet the criteria identified in paragraph (1) if the department
determines that the program is undersubscribed after issuing at least
one Notice of Funding Availability.
(3) Individuals and families currently residing in supportive
housing meet the qualifications under this subdivision if the
individual or family met any of the criteria specified in
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) when approved for
tenancy in the supportive housing project in which they currently
reside.
(d) Supportive housing projects shall provide or demonstrate
collaboration with programs that provide services that meet the needs
of the supportive housing residents.
(e) The criteria, established by the department, for selecting
supportive housing projects shall give priority to supportive housing
projects that include a focus on measurable outcomes and a plan for
evaluation, which evaluation shall be submitted by the borrowers,
annually, to the department.
(f) The department may provide higher per-unit loan limits as
reasonably necessary to provide and maintain rents that are
affordable to the target population.
(g) In an evaluation or ranking of a borrower's development and
ownership experience, the department shall consider experience
acquired in the prior 10 years.
(h) (1) A borrower shall, beginning the second year after
supportive housing project occupancy, include the following data in
his or her annual report to the department. However, a borrower who
submits an annual evaluation pursuant to subdivision (c) may,
instead, include this information in the evaluation:
(A) The length of occupancy by each supportive housing resident
for the period covered by the report and, if the resident has moved,
the reason for the move and the type of housing to which the resident
moved, if known.
(B) Changes in each supportive housing resident's employment
status during the previous year.
(C) Changes in each supportive housing resident's source and
amount of income during the previous year.
(D) The tenant's housing status prior to occupancy, including the
term of the tenant's homelessness.
(2) The department shall include aggregate data with respect to
the supportive housing projects described in this section in the
report that it submits to the Legislature pursuant to Section
50675.12.
(i) The department shall consider, commencing in the second year
of the funding, the feasibility and appropriateness of modifying its
regulations to increase the use of funds by small projects. In doing
this, the department shall consider its operational needs and prior
history of funding supportive housing facilities.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the sponsor of a
supportive housing development may restrict occupancy to persons with
veteran status if all the following conditions apply:
(1) The veterans possess significant barriers to social
reintegration and employment that require specialized treatment and
services that are due to a physical or mental disability, substance
abuse, or the effects of long-term homelessness.
(2) The veterans are otherwise eligible to reside in an assisted
unit.
(3) The sponsor also provides, or assists in providing, the
specialized treatment and services.
SEC. 3. The changes made by this act shall apply only to Notices
of Funding Availability issued on or after January 1, 2012.