BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Jim Nielsen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1029 Hearing Date: 6/23/15
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|Author: |Frazier |
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|Version: |5/18/15 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Wade Cooper Teasdale |
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Subject: Veterans: service providers.
DESCRIPTION
Summary:
Creates a program to certify organizations that provide
specified services to military veterans and their families.
Existing law:
Provides benefits to veterans in the form of grants to
non-profit agencies to provide housing, mental health, substance
abuse, case management and employment services to deserving
veterans. There are no state standards for these veteran service
providers.
This bill:
1)Posits legislative findings and declarations supporting the
establishment of a process for certifying veteran service
providers.
2)Defines "certified California veteran servicer provider" as an
entity that certified by the California Department of Veterans
Affairs (CalVet) as having an established history of providing
supportive services, as specified and that meets all of
specific requirements:
a) Provides supportive services to veterans and their
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families in at least three of the following areas: (1)
housing assistance, (2) health, (3) mental health, (4)
small business assistance, (5) employment assistance, and
(6) job training.
b) Demonstrates the knowledge, experience, and cultural
competency to provide supportive services to veterans and
their families.
c) Demonstrates through audits and employment history the
fiscal and management capacity to provide these services to
veterans and their families.
d) Is a nonprofit organization that is exempt from federal
income taxation as an organization described in Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
e) Demonstrates through the submission of appropriate
supporting data that the entity has effectively served the
needs of veteran or veteran family clients.
f) Demonstrates that all required filings with the
Secretary of State, the office of the Attorney General, and
the Franchise Tax Board are current.
g) Demonstrates that the entity meets or exceeds the
provisions of California's Charity Solicitation Disclosure
Law and complies with the standards included in the
California Attorney General's Guide for Charities.
3)Requires a "certified California veteran servicer provider" to
provide to CalVet all of the following up-to-date documents
upon application for certification and at any time during the
certification period on request and reasonable notice by
CalVet:
a) Articles of incorporation and all amendments to the
articles of incorporation.
b) IRS Letter of Determination.
c) Taxpayer identification number.
d) Independent audit reports dating back three years.
4)Requires CalVet to maintain a list of certified providers on
its departmental internet web site.
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5)Provides that a certification approved by CalVet is valid for
three years from the date CalVet accepts credentials for
certification unless CalVet decertifies the certified
provider.
6)Clarifies that CalVet may accept current certifications and
licenses from any other state entity, agency, or department as
support for certification of a certified veteran service
provider, as per MVC Section 999, as specified.
7)Specifies that CalVet may accept an organization's status as a
congressionally-chartered veterans service organization as
support for certification of a Certified Veteran Service
Provider, as specified.
8)Mandates that CalVet shall adopt such rules, procedures, and
regulations as necessary to decertify a certified provider
prior to the expiration of a current certification when the
certified provider no longer meets the standards, as
specified.
BACKGROUND
Need for Veterans Benefits
The imminent downsizing of the U.S. armed forces is expected to
increase significantly the number of military veterans
relocating to California during the next few years. These
veterans will range in age from their early twenties, men and
women who have served a single enlistment, to mid-career troops
in their thirties and early forties, whose career and retirement
planning are being upended. Most will join the prospective
workforce in a still-struggling California economy. Many will go
to college. Many will face physical, emotional, and family
challenges directly related to their military service. They will
increase the size of the younger age cohorts in the state's
veteran population, which already has unemployment rates beyond
that of the general population. Accordingly, a large percentage
will need assistance via veterans' benefit programs. Most
veterans' services are provided by the federal government, but
state and local agencies also provide an array of benefits.
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Housing + Supportive Services
According to a federal agency report to the Congress:
1)A veteran is 50 percent more likely to be homeless than a
non-veteran. Although only eight percent of adults in the
United States are veterans, federal surveys suggest that
veterans represent up to 16 percent of America's homeless
population.
2)Rates of homelessness among veterans living in poverty are
particularly high for veterans identifying as Hispanic/Latino
(1:4) or African-American (1:4).
3)Two groups of homeless veterans - women and people between
ages 18 and 30 - are small in number. However, female veterans
and young veterans are at high risk of becoming homeless, and
both groups are growing within the overall veteran population.
4)According to major point-in-time survey, nearly half of
homeless veterans on a given night were located in four
states: California, Florida, Texas, and New York. Only 28
percent of all veterans were located in those same four
states.
(Source: "Veteran Homelessness: A Supplemental Report to
the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress,"
U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development/U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs.)
In reviewing AB 639 (J. Pérez, 2013), the Assembly Committee on
Housing and Development observed:
Despite California's high number of homeless veterans, the
state does not have any programs that are directly targeted
at serving this population, or at serving lower-income
veterans who are at risk of homelessness. HCD offers
various programs that support the development of
multifamily rental housing for low income Californians,
including supportive and transitional housing, but none are
veteran-specific.
AB 639 (J. Pérez, 2013) became Proposition 41 on the June 2014
statewide ballot and received voter approval. In enacting the
VHHP, the measure authorizes issuance of $600 million in general
obligation bonds to fund the acquisition, construction,
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rehabilitation, and preservation of multifamily supportive
housing, affordable transitional housing, affordable rental
housing, and related facilities for veterans and their families.
The law requires CalVet, the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD), and California Housing Finance Agency (CHFA)
to jointly design the program, which then will be implemented by
HCD. Affordable housing developers then partner with veterans
service providers to build affordable housing dwellings,
including supportive housing, which will provide housing and
services to veterans who are homeless or who have extremely low
income to assist the veterans to achieve housing stability and
improve self-sufficiency. In February 2015, HCD adopted its
initial program guidelines and issued a notice of funds
available.
Examples: Governmental Certification in Veteran Programs
Under federal law, the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs (USDVA) certifies and accredits veteran service officers
(VSO). VSOs are trained, accredited professionals, who can
legally represent veterans in the federal benefits claims
process, and also help connect veterans with state- and
locally-provided benefits.
Under state law, the Department of General Services certifies
disabled veteran business enterprise contractors,
subcontractors, and suppliers for participation in the
California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) state
contracting program.
Under federal and state law, the California State Approving
Agency for Veterans Education (CSAAVE) certifies veterans'
education and training programs to determine if they provide
sufficient quality and benefit to veteran students that the
students should be able to expend their GI Bill resources on the
programs. CSAAVE operates under contract with USDVA and acts as
a state proxy for the federal government.
COMMENT
1)Author's Statement :
"The state provides resources to veterans in the form of grants
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to non-profit agencies that provide housing, mental health,
substance abuse, case management and employment services;
(however) . . . an increasing number of organizations . . .
receive the small amount of grant dollars available.
"These scarce grant dollars are often going to organizations
with excellent grant writers, however, the actual organizations
have no background or experience to address the unique needs of
veterans; often times, they have no actual base of clients to
serve.
"As a result, qualified veteran service organizations (with long
and proven histories of effectively serving veterans) receive
reduced funding and are forced to cut services to veterans and
lay off qualified staff.
"The criteria established by CalVet would help ensure that state
funding for veteran services grants would flow to agencies that
have a proven track record of excellence in providing services
to our veterans. In addition to improved targeting of limited
veteran resources, this bill will also help address a long-term
problem of con-artists who solicit contributions from
well-meaning but unaware Californians who make donations to
veteran organizations. Such organizations drain grant resources
without providing the necessary services to veterans."
2)Related Legislation
SB 112 (Roth, pending Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs,
2015) establishes a California Veterans' Bill of Rights, which
specifies that veterans possess the rights to housing,
education, job training, and physical and mental health
services, as prescribed.
SB 130 (Roth, pending Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs, 2015)
requires specified state departments to establish and implement
a grant process that will fund supportive services, as defined,
for veterans, who reside in housing provided by the State via
the VHHP Act.
SB 384 (Leyva, pending Senate Committee on Transportation and
Housing, 2015): To help meet the specific housing needs of
underserved veterans, sets aside a percentage of any state funds
being used to acquire, construct, rehabilitate or preserve
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multifamily housing units for veterans, in general.
SB 689 (Huff, pending Senate Committee on Transportation and
Housing, 2015): regarding the VHHP Act, requires prioritization
given to applications for proposed housing projects that would
maintain a qualified mental health professional, as defined, on
staff or on contract for services.
AB 639 (J. Pérez, Ch. 727, Stats. 2013) establishes the Veterans
Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014, which
authorizes issuance of $600 million in general obligation (GO)
bonds to fund the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and
preservation of multifamily supportive housing, affordable
transitional housing, affordable rental housing, and related
facilities for veterans and their families, if approved by the
voters at the June, 2014, statewide election. (As Proposition
41, the measure was approved by the voters 65.4% to 34.6%.)
POSITIONS
Sponsor: California Association of Veteran Service Agencies
Support: None received (except Sponsor)
Oppose: None received
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