BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 870
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
870 (Cooley) - As Amended April 30, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill establishes a pilot program within the
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to award
grants to four counties that operate rapid re-housing programs.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires HCD to select four counties to participate in the
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pilot program.
2)Requires HCD, when selecting the counties, to give priority to
those counties with existing rapid re-housing programs that
have demonstrated effectiveness in providing supporting
housing for homeless individuals and veterans experiencing
homelessness.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Continuously appropriates $1 million from the General Fund to
HCD for the pilot program, and requires HCD to distribute
$250,000 each year to each of the four counties selected for
the pilot program.
2)One-time costs of approximately $50,000 (GF) to HCD for
developing regulations and drafting the initial Notice of
Funding Availability (NOFA).
3)Ongoing costs to HCD of approximately $30,000 (GF) for NOFA
development, contract monitoring and administration of the
pilot program.
Staff notes that the bill does not authorize HCD to use a
portion of the $1 million for administrative purposes.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "in 2013 HUD reported that
California had 136,000 homeless persons, accounting for 22% of
the nation's total homeless population. The same HUD report
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estimated there are over 15,000 homeless veterans in
California. Several studies have demonstrated it is more
effective to provide homeless persons with immediate housing
("rapid re-housing"), as opposed to more traditional
approaches (transitional housing, for instance). AB 870
creates a pilot program in four counties to support "rapid
re-housing" principles."
2)Background. The rapid re-housing model has been developed over
several decades and is intended to quickly move people from
homelessness back into housing. As part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, HUD received a one-time
allocation of $1.5 billion for the Homelessness Prevention and
Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), to respond to the increase in
homelessness among families and individuals who traditionally
did not have a history of homelessness, but faced with job
loss, foreclosure, and other financial crises were now
homeless. HPRP provides financial assistance and services to
prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless and
helps those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly
re-housed and stabilized. The program is intended to target
individuals and families who would be homeless but for this
assistance.
In 2009, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was
re-authorized as the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid
Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act which, in addition to other
changes, increased homeless prevention resources. The HEARTH
Act modifies the existing Emergency Shelter Grants and renames
it the Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG). It expands
the homelessness prevention activities possible under ESG to
include homelessness prevention and re-housing activities,
among other services.
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Various counties in the state receive ESG funds and have
expertise providing rapid re-housing and homeless prevention
services and would be equipped to receive state funding were
it made available.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081