BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 689 Hearing Date: 4/28/2015
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|Author: |Huff |
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|Version: |4/15/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Alison Dinmore |
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SUBJECT: Veterans: housing
DIGEST: This bill requires state agencies to prioritize
projects under the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act
of 2014 that, for the purposes of providing mental health and
drug services, either: 1) accept only residents that are
prequalified to receive services from the US Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), or 2) if they accept residents who
receive services from agencies other than the VA, employ on
staff or contract for a qualified mental health professional
with at least two years' full-time relevant experience providing
services to veterans.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
In November 2014, voters approved the Veterans Housing and
Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (VHHP), also known as
Proposition 41, which authorized the issuance of $600 million in
general obligation bonds to provide multifamily housing to
veterans pursuant to the VHHP. The VHHP required the California
Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), California Department of
Housing and Community Development (HCD), and California
Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA) to establish and implement
a program that focuses on veterans at risk of homelessness or
experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. This program
will fund the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and
preservation of affordable multifamily supportive housing,
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affordable transitional housing, affordable rental housing, or
related facilities for veterans and their families to allow
veterans to access and maintain housing stability.
The act requires the program to:
1)Leverage public, private, and nonprofit funding sources
2)Prioritize projects that combine housing and supportive
services, including but not limited to: job training, mental
health, drug treatment, case management, care coordination, or
physical rehabilitation
3)Ensure that program guidelines and terms provide requirements
or scoring criteria to advance applicants with that combine
permanent or transitional housing, or both, with supportive
services for veterans, or for partnering with housing
developers or service providers that offer housing or services
to veterans
Existing law defines "supportive housing" as housing occupied by
the target population and that is linked to on- or off-site
services that assist the resident in retaining the housing,
improving his or her health status, and maximizing his or her
ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. The
intent is to enable residents to maintain stable lives and
places no limit on the length of stay.
Existing law defines "transitional housing" and "transitional
housing development" as a rental housing development that
operates under program requirements that call for the
termination of assistance and recirculation of the assisted unit
to another eligible program recipient at a predetermined future
point in time, but not less than six months.
This bill requires CalHFA, HCD, and CDVA to prioritize projects
under the VHHP that provide drug and mental health treatment
services that meet one of the following standards:
1)If the project accepts only residents who are prequalified to
receive mental health and drug treatment services from the VA,
the project shall be located near or accessible to those
services.
2)If a project accepts residents who receive mental health and
drug treatment services from agencies or providers other than
the VA, the project shall ensure that it also provides a
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qualified mental health professional on staff or by
contracting for the services of a qualified mental health
professional. A qualified mental health professional shall
have the equivalent of at least two years' experience working
with veterans and must be a licensed psychologist, clinical
counselor, social worker, marriage and family therapist, or
psychiatrist.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the bill. According to the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, there are more than 12,000
homeless veterans in California, many of whom are in need of
mental health services. According to the author, since
projects receiving funds from Proposition 41 bonds will be
capturing some of California's homeless veteran population by
providing them with housing, the state can and should provide
them with the opportunity to also obtain mental health
services.
The author states that the statute is vague on awarding
Proposition 41 funds to projects as it relates to mental
health. While it mentions there is prioritization for
projects including mental health services, it does not provide
a clear definition of those services. This bill helps guide
CDVA, HCD, and CalHFA in giving priority to projects with bona
fide mental health treatment intentions including the use of
certified, credentialed professionals to meet the special
needs of veterans.
2)Access to VA services. Due to unique circumstances that
veterans experience upon returning home from deployment,
veterans require unique services to help them integrate back
into society, receive benefits and job training, and maintain
mental and physical stability. The VA offers services and
benefits that are tailored specifically for veterans, and for
this reason, access to these services is important. While the
VA has health-care facilities across the country, some
facilities are difficult for veterans in rural areas to
access. A recent change in federal law permits veterans, in
certain circumstances, to receive non-federal VA health care
rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA
facility.
The author accepted amendments in the Veterans Affairs
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Committee, and these amendments prioritize projects with a
mental health and drug treatment component to either: 1) be
located near and provide access to VA facilities, or 2) to
employ on staff or contract for a qualified mental health
professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist, with at
least two years' full-time relevant experience providing
services to veterans.
3)VHHP guidance about mental health services. On February 18,
2015, HCD adopted its initial program guidelines, which, among
other things: 1) prioritize projects that combine housing and
supportive services, and 2) establish application selection
criteria that integrate prioritization criteria expressed
through preference-point weighting. Under these guidelines,
applications are rated with a maximum total score of 133
points for projects including supportive housing or
transitional housing, or both, and 105 points for other
projects.
Among other things, to be eligible for funding, projects must:
a. "Utilize a Lead Service Provider with at least four
years' experience providing services to homeless people
that includes comprehensive case management" for projects
providing supportive housing or transitional housing, and
b. "Involve a development site that is reasonably
accessible to services and amenities appropriate for the
proposed tenant population ?"
Projects that have supportive housing or transitional housing,
or both, must comply with the following relevant requirements:
a. Provide case management services on-site. At least one
member of the case management staff shall have a master's
degree in appropriate disciplines.
b. Provide appropriate transportation so residents can
access off-site services.
c. Provide the following minimum services, either directly
or through commitment letters or formal agreements with
other agencies:
Intensive case management to engage with each
veteran and jointly develop an individual service plan
Benefits counseling and advocacy, including
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assistance in enrolling in Medi-Cal and obtaining other
mainstream services, as well as VA system navigation and
assistance in obtaining discharge upgrade and veterans
benefits
Mental health care, such as assessment, crisis
counseling, individual and group therapy, and support
groups
Substance use services, such as treatment, relapse
prevention, and support groups
1)Is there a problem to solve? The current statute and
guidelines pursuant to that statute require a project with
supportive services or transitional housing to: 1) utilize a
Lead Service Provider with at least four years' experience
providing services to homeless people, 2) provide at least one
on-site case manager with a master's degree in the appropriate
disciplines, 3) provide transportation to off-site services,
4) provide mental health services, and 5) provide benefits
counseling, including connecting veterans with the VA.
This bill would further require that if a project accepts
residents who receive mental health and drug treatment
services from agencies or providers other than the VA, the
project shall ensure that it also provides a qualified mental
health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist,
on staff or by contracting for those services. Given that the
guidelines already require at least one case manager on staff
with a master's degree, require transportation to off-site
services, and require benefits counseling including connecting
veterans with the VA, the committee may wish to consider
whether there is a need for this bill.
5) Too soon? The VHHP program guidelines, which establish
terms, conditions and procedures for funds awarded under the
VHHP, were released on February 18, 2015. These guidelines
were drafted following a public process in which the
departments received input from veterans and housing
stakeholders across the state. The Notice of Funding
Availability for the first $75 million of the bond money was
released shortly thereafter, and requires applicants to submit
applications by April 27, 2015. The awards for the first
round of funding will be made sometime this summer.
Generally, with new programs such as this, it takes applicants
one or two funding rounds to fully understand the requirements
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that a state agency puts in place. Some projects that applied
for funding this first round may not fully understand the
guidelines and will need to make changes in their application
for the next round. Others may choose to wait to apply until
the second round to fully understand the program requirements.
In fact, given the novelty of the program, the application
deadline was moved back a week from the original April 20,
2015 deadline. Making changes to the statute will likely
require the departments make changes to the guidelines and
undergo the public review process, which could lead to
uncertainty for those seeking funding and further delay the
awarding of funding. Given that the first round of funding
applications are due the day before this bill is heard in
committee, the committee may wish to consider holding this
bill and revisiting the statutory requirements after one or
two funding rounds have been completed and after the
departments and the legislature have had a chance to evaluate
the program.
Related Legislation:
SB 384 (Leyva) - would require a percentage of all funds for
multifamily housing units for veterans acquired, constructed,
rehabilitated, or preserved on or after January 1, 2016, to be
reserved for underserved veterans. Senator Leyva decided to
make this a 2-year bill; she wants to see what kinds of projects
are awarded funds this year and wait to make changes to the
statute until after the legislature has had time to evaluate the
program.
AB 639 (Perez, Chapter 727, Statutes of 2013) - created the
Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 and allows
for $600 million in bonds to be used for housing homeless and
low-income veterans.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 22, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
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American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California Council of Chapters
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Care Possible
College Hospital Costa Mesa
Military Officers Association of America
Mental Health America of California
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Share Our Selves
VFW - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
43 Individuals
OPPOSITION:
None received
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