BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2631
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2631 (Santiago) - As Amended April 5, 2016
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|Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill removes the once-in-a-lifetime limit on CalWORKs
homeless assistance benefits and extends to 30 days, per year,
the permissible length of time for receipt of temporary shelter
assistance.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Major ongoing costs for temporary shelter assistance in the
range of $22 million to $45 million (GF) for increasing the
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number of days of temporary assistance from 16 consecutive
days to 30 calendar days. Over 30,250 requests for temporary
shelter were approved in the last year, with an average of 10
days of assistance at an average daily cost of about $72.
These costs would be offset to some extent by reduced payments
to families who choose to retain a portion of the 16-day
benefit for future use but do not subsequently use it or no
longer qualify.
2)Potentially significant ongoing costs in the range of $5.5
million (GF) for allowing the use of benefits once a year
instead of the current law limitation of once in a lifetime.
3)Potentially significant costs in the hundreds of thousands to
low millions of dollars (GF) for additional payments of
permanent homeless assistance for cases previously ineligible
and/or denied due to existing statute prohibiting payments to
families in previous receipt of any amount of temporary
shelter assistance. The average permanent housing assistance
payment was $850 in 2013-14, with over 1,625 denied requests
for assistance in one 12-month period alone. If half of the
denials would have been impacted by this bill, costs to
provide payments would be nearly $700,000. It is unknown how
many requests have been denied over the life of the Homeless
Assistance Program due to a family's previous receipt of
temporary shelter assistance payments of less than the maximum
16 days, but it is likely significant. Additionally, it is
unknown how many more requests have not been submitted due to
recognition of the existing restriction on eligibility.
4)Unknown costs, but likely less than $1 million, for automation
modifications required to enable the tracking of this
information.
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5)Ongoing state-reimbursable local costs (GF) for county
agencies to re-evaluate eligibility for temporary and
permanent housing assistance payments.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "Combating homelessness
requires strategies to reduce the number of families and
individuals who become homeless. Unfortunately, many
Californians are struggling to make ends meet and are one
paycheck from becoming homeless. Increasing the Homeless
Assistance Program to 30 days and once a year will give
families slightly more time to become stable and
self-sufficient."
2)CalWORKs homeless assistance. Temporary shelter assistance
for up to 16 consecutive days is provided to homeless families
under the CalWORKs program. Temporary shelter assistance for a
family of up to four people is $65 per day, plus $15 for each
additional family member, up to a maximum of $125 per day. The
assistance can only be used to pay for housing provided in a
commercial establishment, a shelter, or an established rental
property. Additionally, CalWORKs recipients must provide
proof to the county that they are searching for permanent
housing while they are receiving this benefit and proof that
the shelter assistance was used to pay for allowable housing.
Any break in the use of the assistance, including one night
spent with a friend or relative, automatically terminates a
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family's ability to receive shelter assistance for any days
remaining within the 16 consecutive day limit.
The 16 consecutive day limit is a lifetime limit for temporary
shelter assistance, provided that a family doesn't meet
criteria for an exception. Exceptions include if the family's
homelessness is the direct result of domestic violence, a
medically verified physical or mental illness, excluding
diagnoses that include substance abuse, or a fire or other
natural catastrophe beyond the family's control. Still, a
family cannot receive the 16 consecutive days of homeless
assistance more than once in a 12-month period, and families
can only receive shelter assistance for domestic violence
twice in a lifetime.
In California each month, county CalWORKs offices receive an
average of 4,300 requests for homeless assistance. According
to DSS, recipient families us an average of 10 days of
temporary shelter assistance.
3)Prior Legislation. AB 264 (Maienschein), 2014, would have
deleted the requirement that CalWORKs temporary shelter
assistance be provided consecutively to a limit of 16 days and
instead allowed a family to receive temporary shelter
assistance for a total of 16 calendar days to be used at any
time they were both homeless and receiving CalWORKs aid. It
was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081