BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 870
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
870 (Cooley)
As Amended June 2, 2015
2/3 vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Housing |5-1 |Chau, Steinorth, |Beth Gaines |
| | |Burke, Chiu, Lopez | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |12-5 |Gomez, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Eggman, |Wagner |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes a two year pilot program within the
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to award
grants to four counties that operate rapid re-housing programs.
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Specifically, this bill:
1)Includes legislative findings.
2)Defines "chronically homeless" to mean a homeless individual,
with a condition limiting his or her activities of daily living,
who has been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has
had at least two episodes of homelessness in the past three
years.
3)Defines "homeless" as the same meaning under 24 Code of Federal
Regulations Section 91.5.
4)Defines "pilot program" to mean the program established pursuant
to this chapter for distributing funds to counties.
5)Requires HCD to select four counties to participate in the pilot
program.
6)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.
7)Appropriates $2 million from the General Fund for the pilot
program.
8)Requires HCD to allocate no more than $1 million each year of
the two-year pilot program to counties for rapid re-housing
programs.
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9)Requires HCD to distribute an equal amount of money each year to
each of the four counties selected for the pilot program.
10)Allows HCD to use up to 5% of the money appropriated for the
program for administrative purposes.
11)Includes a sunset date of January 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time appropriation of $2 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)Allows HCD to use up to 5% of the funds for administrative
purposes.
COMMENTS:
Rapid re-housing model: 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
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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. HPRP
funds can be used for short-term or medium-term rental assistance
and housing relocation and stabilization services, including such
activities as mediation, credit counseling, security or utility
deposits, utility payments, moving cost assistance, and case
management. Unlike the supportive housing model which is intended
to provide chronically homeless individuals with services and
housing assistance, without a limit on the duration of a person's
stay, rapid re-housing limits the term of assistance provided to
an individual.
In 2009, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was amended
and 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, short or medium
term housing assistance, housing relocation or stabilization
services, housing search, mediation or outreach to property
owners, legal services, credit repair, security or utility
deposits, utility payments, and assistance with moving costs for
people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
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.
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Purpose of this bill: 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 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). This bill creates a pilot
program in four counties to support "rapid re-housing" principles.
The counties are to be selected by HCD who shall prioritize
counties that have demonstrated success in utilizing rapid
re-housing to serve homeless persons and homeless veterans. HCD
shall allocate and equal amount to each of the four selected
counties for this pilot program."
Analysis Prepared by:
Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN:
0000836