BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2256 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 18, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2256 (Maienschein) - As Amended April 28, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill requires a homeless service provider to submit an annual report to the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) containing specified data regarding persons experiencing homelessness. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires a homeless services provider to submit a report to CHHSA before January 1, 2018, and on or before January 1 each year, that contains the following data regarding homeless children, youth, and adults for the previous calendar year: a) The number of ambulance rides; AB 2256 Page 2 b) The number of hospital stays and length of each stay; c) The number of emergency room visits; d) The number of arrests and length of each incarceration; e) The number of homeless children or youth and homeless persons using services provided by the homeless services provider; and f) The latest estimate by a local agency in the area in which services are provided on the total number of homeless persons in that area, if available. 1)Requires the report to be submitted in an open format that meets certain requirements, as specified. 2)Requires the data provided to CHHSA be published on the California Health and Human Services Open Data Portal. 3)Provides that these requirements only apply to homeless service providers that have access to the required data listed in (1) above. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Unknown costs beginning in 2017-18 and ongoing, likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (GF), to CHHSA to review and de-identify the reports to ensure privacy and confidentiality, AB 2256 Page 3 and to standardize and aggregate the data. Actual costs will depend on the number of reports received from providers by CHHSA. 2)Costs to CHHSA to post the reports are minor and absorbable. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author's office, "The purpose of asking homeless services providers to submit the information required by this act is to develop a statewide database of information regarding homeless children or youth and homeless persons and the public services being used. The data will enable state and local governments to develop better programs to target the needs of these individuals and utilize funding and other resources in the most efficient manner. The formatting called for in the report is consistent with the passage of AB 169 (Maienschein), Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015, and will ensure broad public access to the information." 2)Background. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data indicate that California accounted for 21% of the nation's homeless population in 2015, with 115,738 people identified as homeless. Between 2014 and 2015, California saw an increase in homelessness cases with an additional 1,786 identified as homeless; however between the years of 2007 and 2015, homelessness rates in California actually declined with 23,248 fewer people experiencing homelessness in 2015 than in 2007. California also has the largest number of veterans experiencing homelessness at 11,311 cases, representing 24% of AB 2256 Page 4 the national homeless veteran population. 3)Project 25: In April 2015, the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University released a study entitled "Project 25: Housing the Most Frequent Users of Public Services among the Homeless." Project 25 consisted of 28 individuals and was designed to determine if the provision of permanent housing with intensive individualized support, coupled with an identified "Medical Home" could significantly reduce the use and cost of various public programs by their most frequent homeless users in the San Diego metropolitan area. The report concluded that in the base year of 2010, the expenses of all public services used by the 28 individuals totaled approximately $3.5 million. Hospitalization accounted for over three-fifths of the total at $2.2 million. In the first full year of participation in the program, (2012) these costs were reduced to $1.5 million. In 2013, there was a further reduction of 25% to $1.1 million. Overall, the program showed a 67% reduction in total costs comparing the base year of 2010 to 2013. The average expense per person fell from over $124,000 in 2010 to about $41,000 in 2013. 4)Prior Legislation. a) AB 1403 (Maienschein), Chapter 188, Statutes of 2015, allows one or more private, non-profit 501(c) (3) corporations that provide services to homeless persons for the prevention of homelessness to form a joint powers agency, or enter into a joint powers agreement, with one or more public agencies. b) AB 169 (Maienschein), Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015, AB 2256 Page 5 requires local agencies to use specified open data standards if they choose to post public records online that are prescribed as "open." Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081