BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                      CONSENT 


          Bill No:  AB 388
          Author:   Chang (R), et al.
          Amended:  7/1/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE:  11-0, 7/7/15
           AYES:  Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,  
            McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/28/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Housing:  veterans:  supportive and transitional  
                     housing:  reports


          SOURCE:    Author


          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  








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            pursuant to the VHHP. 
           
          2)  Requires the California Housing Finance Agency, 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  
            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:









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                     How many tenants left assisted units;

                     The length of tenancy in assisted units;

                     The reason those tenants 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  
          require sponsors of veterans' housing established through  
          Proposition 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  








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          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 requires 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.  


          Related Legislation

          AB 639 (Perez, Chapter 727, Statutes of 2013) created the  
          Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 and allowed  
          for $600 million in bonds to be used for housing homeless and  
          low-income veterans.
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/17/15)


          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








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          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:   (Verified8/17/15)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/28/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla,  
            Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,  
            Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,  
            Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,  
            Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,  
            O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark  
            Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,  
            Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bloom, Dodd, Grove, Holden


          Prepared by:Alison Dinmore / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
          8/18/15 17:03:28


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