BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 388 Hearing Date: 7/7/2015
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|Author: |Chang |
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|Version: |7/1/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Alison Dinmore |
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SUBJECT: Housing: homeless veterans: reports
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD), in collaboration with the
Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA) to include specified
information in an annual report relating to the effectiveness of
the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention (VHHP) program.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the VHHP program, also known as Proposition 41,
which authorized the issuance of $600 million in general
obligation bonds to provide multifamily housing to veterans
pursuant to the VHHP.
2) Requires the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA),
HCD, and CDVA to establish and implement a program that
focuses on veterans at risk of homelessness or experiencing
temporary or chronic homelessness. This program will fund the
acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of
affordable multifamily supportive housing, affordable
transitional housing, affordable rental housing, or related
facilities for veterans and their families to allow veterans
to access and maintain housing stability.
3) Requires HCD to submit an annual report to the Governor and
both houses of the Legislature on the operations and
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accomplishments, during the previous year, of the housing
programs administered by HCD.
4) Requires HCD's annual report to include, among other things,
an evaluation, in collaboration with CDVA, of any program
established by HCD pursuant to the VHHP Act.
This bill requires HCD, in collaboration with CDVA, to include
an evaluation of the VHHP in an annual report to the Governor
and the Legislature, including information relating to the
effectiveness of assisted projects in helping veterans occupying
any supportive housing or transitional housing development that
was issued funds pursuant to the VHHP. The evaluation shall
include, but is not limited to the following:
1)Performance outcome data including, but not limited to,
housing stability, housing exit information, and tenant
satisfaction, which may be measured by a survey; and changes
in income, benefits, and education.
a) "Housing stability" includes, but is not limited to, how
many tenants exit transitional housing to permanent housing
or maintain permanent housing, and the length of time those
tenants spent in assisted units.
b) "Housing exit information" includes, but is not limited
to, the following:
How many tenants left assisted units;
The length of tenancy in assisted units;
The reason those tenant left assisted units, when
such information is readily obtainable;
The housing status of a tenant exiting an assisted
unit upon exit when such information is readily
obtainable.
1)Client data, which may include, but is not limited to,
demographic characteristics of the veteran and his or her
family, educational and employment status of the veteran, and
veteran-specific information including, but not limited to,
disability ratings, type of discharge, branch, era of service,
and Veterans Affairs (VA) health care eligibility.
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, this bill will
AB 388 (Chang) Page 3 of ?
require sponsors of veterans' housing established through Prop
41 funds to report on specific data to demonstrate the level of
effectiveness for their programs. This bill specifically
requires information currently suggested in the VHHP guidelines
and expands on that information. The current content of those
reports is permissive, and therefore leaves room for these
reports to leave out information measuring the success level of
these programs.
VHHP Program. The VHHP requires HCD to administer the new
funding program in collaboration with CDVA and restricts the use
of bond proceeds to housing units designated for veterans and
their families. The program focuses on housing for veterans who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness and in need of service
such as mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, job
training, and physical therapy to address injuries.
On February 18, 2015, HCD adopted its initial program
guidelines, which, among other things: 1) prioritize projects
that combine housing and supportive services, and 2) establish
application selection criteria that integrate prioritization
criteria expressed through preference-point weighting.
VHHP evaluation. The guidelines require recipients of funding
that provide supportive housing and traditional housing to
report annually on the sources of tenant referrals for the
project and submit both client data and performance outcome data
to HCD and CDVA. Client data may include demographic
characteristics of the veteran and their family, educational and
employment status, and veteran-specific information such as
disability ratings, type of discharge, branch and era of
service, and VA health care eligibility. Performance outcome
data may include information on housing stability, housing exit
information, tenant satisfaction as measured in a survey, and
changes in income, benefits and education.
While performance outcome and client data are mandatory, there
are no required criteria for what this data might include. This
bill would require an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
VHHP through specific information in HCD's annual report, which
may be measured by a survey and changes in income, benefits, and
education.
Assembly Votes:
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Floor: 76-0
Appr: 15-0
VA: 9-0
H&CD: 7-0
Related Legislation:
AB 639 (Perez, Chapter 727, Statutes of 2013) - created the
Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 and allows
for $600 million in bonds to be used for housing homeless and
low-income veterans.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
July 1, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veteran Service Officers
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
League of California Cities
Mental Health America of California
Military Officers Association - California Council of Chapters
Steinberg Institute
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America -California State Council
OPPOSITION:
None received
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