BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 702 (Maienschein) - CalWORKs: temporary shelter assistance
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|Version: February 25, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 5 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: July 6, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 702 would revise and expand eligibility for both
temporary shelter and permanent housing assistance payments
under the CalWORKs Homeless Assistance Program, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Potential increase in costs for temporary shelter
assistance of about $4.7 million (General Fund) annually,
assuming approximately 35 percent of families would return
for additional assistance as allowable under the provisions
of this bill. Over 31,350 requests for temporary shelter
were approved in the last year, with an average of 10 days
of assistance provided at an average daily cost of $72.
These costs would be offset to some extent by reduced
payments to families who choose to retain a portion of the
16-day benefit for future use but do not subsequently use it
or no longer qualify.
Potentially significant costs in the hundreds of thousands
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to low millions of dollars (General Fund) for additional
payments of permanent homeless assistance for cases
previously ineligible and/or denied these payments due to
existing statute prohibiting payments to families in
previous receipt of any amount of temporary shelter
assistance. The average permanent housing assistance payment
was $900 over the past year, with 1,734 denied requests for
assistance in one 12-month period alone. If half of the
denials would have been impacted by this bill, costs to
provide payments would be nearly $800,000. It is unknown how
many requests have been denied over the life of the Homeless
Assistance Program due to a family's previous receipt of
temporary shelter assistance payments of less than the
maximum 16 days, but it is likely significant. Additionally,
it is unknown how many more requests have not been submitted
due to recognition of the existing restriction on
eligibility.
Unknown, potentially significant costs for automation
modifications required to enable the tracking of this
information.
Ongoing state-reimbursable local costs in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (General Fund) for county agencies to
re-evaluate eligibility for temporary and permanent housing
assistance payments.
Background: Existing law, with certain exceptions, provides eligible
families with a once-in-a-lifetime payment for homeless
assistance, including temporary housing assistance for one
period of up to 16 consecutive calendar days and one payment of
permanent housing assistance. A homeless assistance payment may
be granted for either, or both, temporary shelter or permanent
housing.
Existing law provides temporary shelter assistance in the amount
of $65 per day for a family of up to four people, with an
additional $15 per day provided for each additional family
member, subject to an overall maximum amount of $125 per day per
family. Assistance can only be used to pay for housing provided
in a commercial establishment, a shelter, or an established
rental property. In addition to families receiving CalWORKs, the
temporary shelter payment is also available to homeless
applicants who are technically eligible, but not actually
enrolled, in the CalWORKs program.
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Existing law provides that any otherwise eligible Assistance
Unit (AU) that includes a parent or nonparent caretaker relative
living in the home who has previously received temporary shelter
assistance or permanent homeless assistance at any time on
behalf of an eligible child is not eligible for further homeless
assistance.
The exceptions to the once-in-a-lifetime availability of
temporary and permanent housing assistance are as follows:
A family that becomes homeless as a direct and primary
result of a state or federally declared natural disaster.
When homelessness is a direct result of domestic violence
by a spouse, partner, or roommate; physical or mental
illness, as specified; or the uninhabitability of the former
residence caused by sudden and unusual circumstances beyond
the control of the family including natural catastrophe,
fire, or condemnation.
Homeless assistance payments based on the circumstances above
are limited to not more often than once in any 12-month period.
If the domestic violence is verified by a sworn statement by the
victim, the homeless assistance payments are limited to two
periods of not more than 16 consecutive calendar days of
temporary assistance and two payments of permanent assistance.
Any AU applying for homeless assistance is required to be
informed that these benefits are limited to once-in-a-lifetime,
with exceptions. Additionally, any person who applies for
homeless assistance benefits must be informed that the temporary
shelter benefit of up to 16 consecutive days is available only
once in a lifetime, with certain exceptions, and that a break in
the consecutive use of the benefit constitutes permanent
exhaustion of the temporary benefit. (Welfare and Institutions
Code §11450 (f)(2)(E)(i).)
Proposed Law:
This bill would expand the provision of temporary shelter and
permanent housing assistance to CalWORKs-eligible families, as
follows:
Eliminates the requirement that the temporary shelter
assistance be provided during one period of 16 consecutive
days, and instead would limit the temporary shelter
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assistance to a maximum of 16 calendar days in a lifetime.
Expands temporary shelter assistance to any family that
includes a parent or nonparent caretaker relative living in
the home who has not previously received the maximum
allowable temporary shelter assistance (instead of just a
portion of the total 16 days) or permanent homeless
assistance at any time on behalf of an eligible child.
In cases of domestic violence, deletes the requirement
that homeless assistance be provided no more than twice, in
two periods not to exceed 16 consecutive days, and instead
permits homeless assistance be provided to eligible
families for a total of 32 calendar days in a lifetime.
This bill would require the DSS to implement the provisions of
the bill through an all-county letter or similar instructions no
later than April 1, 2016, and would require the DSS to adopt
regulations no later than July 1, 2017.
Prior
Legislation: AB 264 (Maienschein) 2014 was nearly identical to
this measure. This bill was held on the Suspense File of this
Committee.
AB 1452 (Stone) 2014 would have increased the daily maximum
homeless allowance for a family of four from $65 to $75 per day,
and increase the maximum daily assistance for larger families
from $125 to $135. This bill was held on the Suspense File of
this Committee.
Staff
Comments: By eliminating the requirement that temporary shelter
assistance be limited to only one period of up to 16 consecutive
days, and instead providing temporary shelter assistance for a
maximum of 16 calendar days in a lifetime, this bill could
result in significant ongoing costs for additional temporary
shelter assistance payments of about $5 million (General Fund)
per year, assuming additional temporary shelter assistance is
provided to about 35 percent of families estimated to utilize
the additional periods of assistance. Based on data from the CA
237HA (CalWORKs Homeless Assistance Program - Monthly
Statistical Report) for May 2014 to April 2015, 31,365 requests
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for temporary shelter were approved. The average number of days
of temporary shelter assistance was 10.3 days at an average
daily cost of about $72. These costs would be partially offset
by reduced payments to families who choose to retain a portion
of the 16-day benefit for future use but do not subsequently use
it or no longer qualify.
This bill could also result in significant additional costs for
increased permanent homeless assistance payments for cases
previously ineligible and/or denied these payments due to
existing statute prohibiting payments to families in previous
receipt of any amount of temporary shelter assistance. According
to CA 237HA data for May 2014 to April 2015 the average
permanent housing assistance payment was over $900, with over
1,734 denied requests for permanent homeless assistance in one
12-month period alone. It is unknown how many requests have been
denied over the life of the Homeless Assistance Program due to a
family's previous receipt of temporary shelter assistance
payments of less than the maximum of 16 days, but it is
estimated to be significant. Additionally, it is unknown how
many more requests have not been submitted due to recognition of
the existing restriction on eligibility.
To the extent automation modifications are required to
effectuate the changes specified in this measure, the DSS could
incur one-time costs of an unknown amount. Additionally, this
bill would result in ongoing state-reimbursable local costs
(General Fund) for county agencies to re-evaluate eligibility
for temporary and permanent housing assistance payments.
Staff notes the Budget Act of 2015 includes $35 million General
Fund to be available for housing supports for CalWORKs families
for whom homelessness or housing instability is a barrier to
self-sufficiency or child well-being. It is unclear at this time
how these funds interact with the existing CalWORKs Homeless
Assistance Program addressed in this measure or if the
appropriation is to provide supplemental funding for these
purposes.
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