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.begin insert Existing federal law, known as the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, provides grants to states, local governments, and private nonprofit organizations, as specified, for specified housing assistance activities.end insert 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 a 2-yearbegin delete pilotend deletebegin insert enhancementend insert program within the Department of Housing and Community Development for awarding grants to countiesbegin insert and end insertbegin insertprivate nonprofit organizationsend insert that operate a rapid rehousing program. The bill would require the department tobegin insert
develop guidelines toend insert select 4 countiesbegin insert and end insertbegin insertprivate nonprofit organizationsend insert to receive these grantbegin delete funds, givingend deletebegin insert funds and require that eligible counties and private nonprofit organizations include those that are eligible to receive funds from the state pursuant to the Emergency Solutions Grants Program with a demonstrated high funding need. The bill would require the department to giveend insert priority to counties with existing programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in providingbegin delete supporting housingend deletebegin insert
rapid rehousingend insert for homeless individuals and veterans. This bill would appropriate $2 million for 2 years from the General Fund to the department and require the department to distribute this money equally to each of thebegin delete 4 counties,end deletebegin insert selected counties and private nonprofit organizations,end insert less an amount of up to 5% deducted for administrative purposes. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2018.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
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”
P3 1initiatives. These measures also reduce the cost to governments
2of funding shelters and emergency services.
Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 15290) is added
4to Part 6.6 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to
5
read:
6
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
10definitions shall apply:
11(a) “Department” means the Department of Housing and
12Community Development.
13(b) “Homeless” has the same meaning as defined in Section
14begin delete 91.5end deletebegin insert 576.2end insert of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
15(c) begin delete“Pilot end deletebegin insert“Enhancement
end insertprogram” means the program
16established pursuant to this chapter for distributing funds to
17begin delete counties.end deletebegin insert counties and private nonprofit organizationsend insertbegin insert.end insert
18(d) “Private nonprofit organization” has the same meaning as
19defined in Section 11371 of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(a) There is hereby established a two-yearbegin delete pilotend delete
21begin insert enhancementend insert program in the department for awarding grants to
22countiesbegin insert and private nonprofit organizationsend insert that operate a rapid
23rehousing program. The department shall administer thebegin delete pilotend delete
24begin insert enhancementend insert program.
25(b) The department shallbegin insert develop guidelines toend insert select four
26countiesbegin insert or private nonprofit organizationsend insert to participate in the
27begin delete pilotend deletebegin insert
enhancementend insert program.begin insert Eligible counties and private nonprofit
28organizations shall include counties and private nonprofit
29organizations eligible to receive funds from the state pursuant to
30the federal Emergency Solutions Grants Program (42 U.S.C. Sec.
3111371 et seq.) with a demonstrated high funding need.end insert The
32department shall select countiesbegin insert and end insertbegin insertprivate nonprofit
33organizationsend insert by giving priority to those countiesbegin insert or end insertbegin insertprivate
34nonprofit organizationsend insert
with existing rapid rehousing programs
35that have demonstrated effectiveness in providingbegin delete supportive begin insert rapid rehousingend insert for
36housing and homelessness preventionend delete
37individuals and veterans of the United States military experiencing
38homelessness.
39(c) Counties and private nonprofit organizations selected to
40receive funds pursuant to this section shall comply with the
P4 1reporting requirements as required by the department under state
2and federal regulations implementing the Emergency Solutions
3Grants Program (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11371 et seq.).
(a) (1) The sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000)
5is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the department,
6exclusively to be distributed to the countiesbegin insert and private nonprofit
7organizationsend insert selected pursuant to Section 15290.5 and for the
8administration of this chapter.
9(2) The department shall use not more than one million dollars
10($1,000,000) of the amount appropriated in paragraph (1) in each
11year of thebegin delete pilotend deletebegin insert enhancementend insert program for the purposes authorized
12by this section.
13(b) (1) The department shall distribute an equal
amount of the
14money received pursuant to this section each year, less any amount
15deducted for administrative purposes, to each of thebegin delete four counties.end delete
16begin insert selected counties and private nonprofit organizationsend insertbegin insert.end insert
17(2) The department may use up to 5 percent of the money
18received pursuant to this section for the purpose of administering
19this chapter.
This chapter shall remain in effect only until January
211, 2018, and as of that date is repealed.
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