BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2256


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          Date of Hearing:  May 18, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          2256 (Maienschein) - As Amended April 28, 2016


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          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;









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             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,  








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            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  








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            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,  








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               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