Amended in Assembly June 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 30, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 870


Introduced by Assembly Member Cooley

February 26, 2015


An act to addbegin insert and repealend insert Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 15290)begin delete toend deletebegin insert ofend insert Part 6.6 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 870, as amended, Cooley. Homelessness: rapid rehousing.

Existing federal law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, allocated, until September 30, 2011, $1.5 billion to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Homelessness Prevention Fund, to be used for homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing. Existing law, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act, provides housing supports to individuals if the administering county determines that the individual or his or her family is experiencing homelessness or housing instability that would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well-being and declares that it is the intent of the Legislature that housing supports utilize evidence-based models, including those established in the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.

This bill would establish abegin insert 2-yearend insert pilot program within the Department of Housing and Community Development for awarding grants to counties that operate a rapid rehousing program. The bill would require the department to select 4 counties to receive these grant funds, giving priority to counties with existing programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in providing supporting housing for homeless individuals and veterans. This bill wouldbegin delete continuouslyend delete appropriatebegin delete $1 million each yearend deletebegin insert $2 million for 2 yearsend insert from the General Fund to the department and require the department to distributebegin delete $250,000 ofend delete this moneybegin insert equallyend insert to each of the 4begin delete counties.end deletebegin insert counties, less an amount of up to 5% deducted for administrative purposes. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2018.end insert

Vote: 23. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

2(a) In 2013, the United States Department of Housing and Urban
3Development (HUD) reported that California has nearly 40,000
4chronically homeless persons, which is 36 percent of the total
5chronically homeless population of the United States. This is due
6in large part to an insufficient amount of affordable housing in
7California.

8(b) HUD also reported that there are over 15,000 homeless
9veterans in California.

10(c) Several studies, including one by the Journal of the American
11Medical Association, have demonstrated that it is far more cost
12effective and efficient to provide the homeless with permanent,
13supportive housing through “rapid rehousing” and “housing first”
14initiatives. These measures also reduce the cost to governments
15of funding shelters and emergency services.

16

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 15290) is added
17to Part 6.6 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to
18 read:

19 

20Chapter  1. Rapidbegin delete Re-housingend deletebegin insert Rehousingend insert Pilot Program
21

 

22

15290.  

For the purposes of this chapter, the following
23definitions shall apply:

24(a) “Department” means the Department of Housing and
25Community Development.

P3    1(b) “Homeless” has the same meaning as defined in Section
291.5 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

3(c) “Pilot program” means the program established pursuant to
4this chapter for distributing funds to counties.

5

15290.5.  

(a) There is hereby established abegin insert two-yearend insert pilot
6program in the department for awarding grants to counties that
7operate a rapid rehousing program. The department shall administer
8the pilot program.

9(b) The department shall select four counties to participate in
10the pilot program. The department shall select counties by giving
11priority to those counties with existing rapid rehousing programs
12that have demonstrated effectiveness in providing supportive
13housing and homelessness prevention for individuals and veterans
14of the United States military experiencing homelessness.

15

15291.  

begin deleteNotwithstanding Section 13340, the end deletebegin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertThe end insertsum
16ofbegin delete one million dollars ($1,000,000)end deletebegin insert two million dollars
17($2,000,000)end insert
is herebybegin delete continuously appropriated, without regard
18to fiscal years,end delete
begin insert appropriatedend insert from the General Fundbegin delete each yearend delete to
19the department, exclusively to be distributed to the counties
20selected pursuant to Sectionbegin delete 15290.5. Theend deletebegin insert 15290.5 and for the
21administration of this chapter.end insert

begin insert

22(2) The department shall use not more than one million dollars
23($1,000,000) of the amount appropriated in paragraph (1) in each
24year of the pilot program for the purposes authorized by this
25section.

end insert

26begin insert(b)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insert department shall distributebegin delete two hundred fifty
27thousand dollars ($250,000)end delete
begin insert an equal amountend insert of the money
28received pursuant to this section eachbegin delete yearend deletebegin insert year, less any amount
29deducted for administrative purposes,end insert
to each of the four counties.

begin insert

30(2) The department may use up to 5 percent of the money
31received pursuant to this section for the purpose of administering
32this chapter.

end insert
begin insert
33

begin insert15291.5.end insert  

This chapter shall remain in effect only until January
341, 2018, and as of that date is repealed.

end insert


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