BILL NUMBER: AB 2591 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Weber
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Skinner)
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act relating to public social services.
to add Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 13710) to Part 3 of
Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public
social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2591, as amended, Weber. Homeless youth: basic material needs
assistance.
Existing law establishes various public social services programs
to provide for protection, care, and assistance to the people of the
state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and
services to the needy and distressed, including CalWORKs and
CalFresh. Existing law establishes homeless youth emergency service
pilot projects in the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa
Clara, and San Francisco.
This bill would create the Homeless Youth Basic Materials Needs
Assistance Program and would require that moneys appropriated by the
Legislature for the purposes of the program be allocated
proportionally to counties by the State Department of Social Services
based on the number of homeless youth in the county. The bill would
require a county that elects to establish a program to solicit
proposals from and contract with nonprofit organizations for the
purpose of providing basic materials needs assistance to homeless
youth in the county as directed by the county and would require
contracted nonprofit organizations to consult with the county's
children and family commission, as specified, if the county elects to
include homeless youth from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, in
its program. The bill would require the department to retain the
moneys allocated to a county and act in the place of a county if a
county elects not to establish a program or requests the department
to administer its program. The bill would enact other related
provisions.
Existing law establishes various public social services programs
to provide for protection, care, and assistance to the people of the
state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and
services to the needy and distressed, including CalWORKs and
CalFresh. Existing law establishes homeless youth emergency service
pilot projects in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa
Clara, and San Francisco.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would provide basic materials needs assistance for
homeless youth identified in public schools.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.1 (commen cing
with Section 13710) is added to Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
CHAPTER 6.1. HOMELESS YOUTH BASIC MATERIAL NEEDS ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM
13710. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs Assistance Program.
13712. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Basic material needs assistance" means school supplies,
dental supplies and other hygienic products, shoes, clothes,
blankets, and other basic material needs.
(b) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(c) "Homeless" has the same meaning as that term is defined in
Section 11302 of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(d) "Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit corporation
qualified to do business in California and qualified under Section
501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
(e) "Program" means the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs
Assistance Program.
13714. From moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the
purpose of this chapter, the department shall allocate a proportional
amount to each county based on that county's respective number of
homeless youth. The moneys allocated to the county shall be used to
establish a Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs Assistance Program
for the county.
13716. (a) Each county that elects to establish a program shall
solicit proposals from nonprofit organizations for the purpose of
providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth in the
manner directed by the county, subject to any requirements imposed by
this chapter.
(b) The county shall contract with one or more nonprofit
organizations to participate in the program based on the proposals
solicited under subdivision (a). Selection shall be based on the
nonprofit organization's demonstrated ability to meet the goals of
the program, including, but not limited to an ability to form
partnerships with local education agencies (LEAs).
(c) The county shall require each contracted nonprofit
organization to do all of the following:
(1) Assist homeless youth through partnerships with LEAs, which
shall be formed to provide basic material needs assistance to
homeless youth.
(2) Give priority to providing school supplies and dental supplies
and other hygienic products to homeless youth.
(3) Consult with the county's children and family commission to
determine how to best provide basic material needs assistance to
homeless youth from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, if the county
elects to include homeless youth of that age in its program.
(d) The county shall encourage each contracted nonprofit
organization to do both of the following:
(1) Provide at least a 20-percent match for all moneys received
from the county.
(2) Work with the homeless liaison or liaisons of each LEA
pursuant to the federal Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.), or his, her, or their LEA-employed
designee.
(e) If a county elects not to establish a program or a county
requests the department to administer its program, the department
shall retain the moneys allocated to the county pursuant to Section
13714 and shall directly administer a program for homeless youth in
that county and perform the tasks assigned to the county under this
section.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would create the Basic Materials Needs for
Homeless Youth Act and would do all of the following:
(a) Enable the state to provide basic materials needs assistance
for homeless youth identified in public schools.
(b) Define the term "homeless" to have the same meaning provided
in the federal Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 11301 et seq.).
(c) Define the term "basic materials needs assistance" to mean
school supplies, dental supplies and other hygienic products, shoes,
clothes, blankets, and other basic needs materials.
(d) Give priority to providing school supplies, dental supplies,
and other hygienic products to homeless youth.