AB 873, as amended, Chau. Housing: emergency housing and assistance funding.
Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons at as low a cost and as quickly as possible, without compromising the health and safety of shelter occupants, to encourage the move of homeless persons from shelters to a self-supporting environment as soon as possible, to encourage provision of services for as many persons at risk of homelessness as possible, to encourage compatible and effective funding of homeless services, and to encourage coordination among public agencies that fund or provide services to homeless individuals, as well as agencies that discharge people from their institutions.
Existing law requires the department to distribute funds appropriated for activities providing for capital development programs, including acquisition, leasing, construction, and rehabilitation of sites for emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless persons, as grants in the form of forgivable deferred loans, as prescribed. Existing law requires the department to make funding available to each project as a loan with a term of 5 years for rehabilitation, 7 years for substantial rehabilitation, or 10 years for acquisition and rehabilitation or new construction.
This bill would authorize the department to also make funding available as a loan with a term of 20 years for conversion to permanent supportive housing for homeless families and individuals.
Existing law requires that grants awarded by the department pursuant to these provisions be used by a grant recipient to defray costs of eligible activities defined in department regulations.
This bill would provide that these grants may also be awarded pursuant to departmentbegin delete guidelinesend deletebegin insert requirementsend insert and would authorize the department tobegin delete adopt guidelinesend deletebegin insert develop requirementsend insert that are not subject to review by the Office of Administrative Law, as specified. The bill would also expand eligible activities to include capital development loans for the conversion of emergency shelter or transitional housing to permanent supportive housing for homeless families or individuals, and the provision of effective
approaches to rapidly rehouse homeless clients, including homeless system assessments, street outreach and housing and services engagement efforts, coordinated care services, housing location and stabilization services, and rental assistance costs, including deposits and costs necessary for occupancy. The bill would require the department to give priority for capital development funds to applicants proposing capital development loans for the conversion of emergency shelter or transitional housing to permanent supportive housing for homeless families or individuals and to give priority for noncapital development funds to applicants that propose effective approaches to rapidly rehouse homeless clients and that leverage additional funding sources or focus on high-cost users of more than one system of care.
The bill would require that the department, no later than June 30, 2015, transfer any unobligated Proposition 46 and Proposition 1C bond funds derived from bonds remaining in the Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund to the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, less any funds needed for state operations to support outstanding awards as determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to be expended for the Multifamily Housing Program for supportive housing for a specified target population.
By authorizing the use of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, this bill would make an appropriation.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 50802 of the Health and Safety Code is
2amended to read:
(a) The department shall ensure that not less than 20
4percent of the moneys in the Emergency Housing and Assistance
5Fund shall be allocated to nonurban counties during any given
6fiscal year. If the funds designated for facilities operation that are
7allocated to nonurban counties are not awarded by the end of that
8fiscal year, then those unencumbered funds shall be allocated in
9the next fiscal year to urban counties. Funds for capital
10development that are not awarded by the end of the second fiscal
11year shall be awarded in the subsequent fiscal year to urban
12counties.
13(b) The amount of funds that the department allocates from the
14Emergency Housing
and Assistance Fund to each region, excluding
15funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (a), shall be based upon a
16formula that accords at least 20 percent weight to each of the
17following factors:
18(1) The relative number of persons in the region below the
19poverty line according to the most recent federal census, updated,
20if possible, with an estimate by the Department of Finance,
21compared to the total of the urban counties.
22(2) The relative number of persons unemployed within each
23region, based on the most recent one-year period for which data
24is available, compared to the total of the urban counties.
25(c) Grant funds shall be disbursed as expeditiously as possible
26by the department.
P4 1(d) The department shall use not more than 5 percent of the
2amount available for funds pursuant to this chapter to defray the
3department’s administrative costs pursuant to this chapter.
4(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
5department shall distribute funds appropriated for purposes of the
6activities specified in paragraphs (2) and (7) of subdivision (a) of
7Section 50803 as grants in the form of forgivable deferred loans,
8subject to all of the following:
9(1) Funding shall be made available to each project as a loan
10with a term of five years for rehabilitation, seven years for
11substantial rehabilitation, 10 years for acquisition and rehabilitation
12or new construction, or 20 years for conversion to permanent
13
supportive housing for homeless families and individuals. Each
14deferred loan shall be secured by a deed of trust and promissory
15note. Repayment of the loan shall be deferred as long as the project
16is used as an emergency shelter or transitional housing. At the
17completion of the specified year term, the loan shall be forgiven.
18If a transfer or conveyance of the project property, however, occurs
19prior to that time that results in the property no longer being used
20as an emergency shelter or transitional housing, the department
21shall terminate the grant and require the repayment of the deferred
22loan in full.
23(2) Applications for funding shall be made pursuant to
24department-issued statewide “Notices of Funding Availability”
25without the need for additional regulations.
26(3) The department shall set forth the criteria for evaluating
27applications in the “Notices of Funding Availability” and shall
28make deferred loans based on those applications that best meet the
29criteria.
30(4) The department shall specify in the “Notice of Funding
31Availability” both maximum and minimum grant amounts that
32may be varied for urban and nonurban counties.
33(5) Contracts for projects that have not begun construction
34within the initial 12-month period shall be terminated and funds
35reallocated. The department, however, may extend this period by
36a period not to exceed 12 months.
Section 50803 of the Health and Safety Code is
38amended to read:
(a) Grants awarded by the department pursuant to this
40chapter shall be used by a grant recipient to defray costs of eligible
P5 1activities defined in department regulations or guidelines,
2including, but not limited to, any of the following activities:
3(1) Operating facilities, including, but not limited to, operations
4staff salaries, maintenance, repair, utilities, equipment, and debt
5reduction.
6(2) Providing for capital development programs, such as
7
acquisition, leasing, construction, and rehabilitation of sites for
8emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless persons.
9(3) Administrative costs.
10(4) Operating expenses relating to supervising and counseling
11clients.
12(5) Providing residential rental assistance.
13(6) Leasing or renting rooms for provision of temporary shelter.
14(7) Capital development loans for the conversion of emergency
15shelter or transitional housing to permanent supportive housing
16for homeless families or individuals. The department shall establish
17the maximum loan limits for the loans in the notice of funding
18availability.
19(8) Providing effective approaches to rapidly rehouse homeless
20clients. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, homeless
21system assessments, street outreach and housing and services
22engagement efforts, coordinated care services, housing location
23and stabilization services, and rental assistance costs, including
24deposits and costs necessary for occupancy.
25(b) Funds allocated to a nonurban county pursuant to subdivision
26(a) of Section 50802 may be used to pay the cost of leasing or
27renting individual units, hotel rooms, or motel rooms for use as
28emergency shelters. No more than 15 percent of the funds allocated
29to a region other than a nonurban county shall be expended for
30this purpose.
31(c) By regulation,
the department shall establish a level, not to
32exceed 5 percent of a grant award, which any eligible recipient
33may use to defray administrative costs.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 11.5
35(commencing with Section 50800) of Part 2 of Division 31 of the
36Health and Safety Code, the Department of Housing and
37Community Development shall do all of the following with respect
38to notices of funding availability issued on or after the effective
39date of this act and prior to July 1, 2015:
40(1) Make funding available on a competitive basis statewide.
P6 1(2) Give priority for capital development funds to applicants
2proposing activities described in paragraph (7) of subdivision (a)
3of Section 50803 of the Health and
Safety Code.
4(3) Give priority for noncapital development funds to applicants
5that propose activities described in paragraph (8) of subdivision
6(a) of Section 50803 and that leverage additional funding sources
7or focus on high-cost users of more than one system of care.
8(4) Accept applications from eligible organizations, public
9housing authorities, tribal governments, and continuum of care
10entities.
11(b) The Department of Housing and Community Development
12may award funds under the notices of funding available described
13in subdivision (a) pursuant tobegin delete adopted guidelinesend deletebegin insert requirements
14
developed by the department and included in the notices of funding
15availableend insert that are not subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5
16(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Title 2 of the
17Government Code.
18(c) No later than June 30, 2015, the Department of Housing and
19Community Development shall transfer any unobligated
20Proposition 46 and Proposition 1C bond funds remaining in the
21Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund to the Housing
22Rehabilitation Loan Fund, less any funds needed for state
23operations to support outstanding awards as determined by the
24Department of Housing and Community Development, to be
25expended for the Multifamily Housing Program authorized by
26Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 50675) of Part 2 of Division
2731 of the Health and Safety Code, to be used for supportive housing
28for the target
population identified in Section 50675.14.
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