Senate Bill No. 866

Introduced by Senator Roth

January 11, 2016

An act to amend Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code, relating to veterans.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 866, as introduced, Roth. Veterans housing.

Existing law, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000 for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (the departments) to provide multifamily housing and services to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014. Existing law requires the departments to establish and implement programs pursuant to those purposes.

This bill would authorize a housing developer or service provider that receives bond moneys pursuant to those provisions to provide housing or services to veterans and their children in women-only facilities or men-only facilities in limited instances, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known and may be cited as the
“Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2016:
Proposition 41 Expenditures: Military Sexual Trauma.”

SEC. 2.  

Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code is
amended to read:

987.005.  

(a) The departments shall establish and implement
programs pursuant to the purposes of this article that focus on
veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or
chronic homelessness. To the extent feasible, the departments shall
establish and implement programs that, among other things, do
the following:

(1) Leverage public (federal, state, and local), private, and
nonprofit program and fiscal resources.

(2) Prioritize projects that combine housing and supportive
services, including, but not limited to, job training, mental health
and drug treatment, case management, care coordination, or
physical rehabilitation.

(3) Promote public and private partnerships.

(4) Foster innovative financing opportunities.

(5) Ensure program guidelines and terms provide threshold
requirements or scoring criteria, or both, to advance applicants
with experience in combining permanent or transitional housing,
or both, with supportive services for veterans, or for partnering
with housing developers or service providers with experience
offering housing or services to veterans.

(b) The departments shall ensure at least 50 percent of funds
awarded for capital development under this article provide housing
to veteran households with extremely low incomes, as defined in
Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code.

(1) In determining whether a potential tenant is eligible for
supportive, affordable, or transitional housing targeted to extremely
low income households under this provision, eligibility shall take
into consideration all of a household’s income sources upon initial
tenancy.

(2) At least 60 percent of units funded targeting extremely low
income households shall be supportive housing.

(3) This section shall not deter the departments from funding
projects serving mixed-income populations.

(c) The departments may review, adopt, amend, and repeal
guidelines or terms, or both, to implement this article. Any
guidelines or terms adopted to implement this article shall not be
subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part
1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(d) Nothing in this article permits the departments or the board
to purchase, operate, or manage properties except in the event of
a foreclosure on a borrower or grantee.

begin insert

(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a housing developer or
service provider that receives bond moneys pursuant to this article
may provide housing or services to male or female veterans and
their children in men-only or women-only facilities, respectively,
in limited instances in which (1) a male or female veteran has
suffered any form of sexual abuse, trauma, or intimidation or
harassment while on active duty and is seeking treatment for that
sexual abuse, trauma, or intimidation or harassment, or (2) is
seeking the housing or services as a result of being a victim of
sexual abuse or domestic violence.

end insert begin insert

(2) A housing developer or service provider that provides
housing or services to male or female veterans in men-only
facilities or women-only facilities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
ensure that the housing or services shall provide supportive
housing or services with a focus on, among others, treating the
effects of male or female military sexual abuse, trauma, or
intimidation.

end insert begin insert

(3) For purposes of this subdivision:

end insert begin insert

(A) “Men-only facilities” means the facilities may house and
provide services to male veterans only and their children, and
shall not house or provide services to any adult who is not a
dependent of a male veteran.

end insert begin insert

(B) “Women-only facilities” means the facilities may house and
provide services to female veterans only and their children, and
shall not house or provide services to any adult who is not a
dependent of a female veteran.

end insert

SEC. 3.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the changes
made by this act to Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans
Code are necessary in order to provide a safe environment to male
and female veterans who have been subject to, among others,
sexual abuse, harassment, or domestic violence. Providing a
gender-specific treatment and housing community to address the
needs of at-risk veterans who have been sexually abused or
physically while in service or thereafter is necessary for purposes
of treatment and recovery. It is, therefore, necessary that these
facilities be focused on “men-only” or “women-only” treatment
and services with a focus on treatment related to sexual abuse,
harassment, or domestic violence, which may be distinct from
other treatment or services that other veterans may be seeking
under similar provisions, such as for PTSD or job placement.

(b) In that respect, the Legislature finds and declares that
providing gender-specific treatment and housing pursuant to this
act serves a compelling state interest, which interest is providing
the best possible treatment to our veterans who have served our
country and who now face additional hurdles that
disproportionately affect some veterans over others. The
Legislature further finds and declares that providing separate
facilities distinct from the norm of multifamily housing is
substantially related to the achievement of those objectives.