BILL NUMBER: SB 866 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 535
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 16, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 14, 2016
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, 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 provides housing or services pursuant to those provisions to
provide housing or services to veterans and their children in
women-only facilities in limited instances, as specified.
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.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a housing developer or
service provider that provides housing or services pursuant to this
article may provide housing or services to female veterans and their
children in women-only facilities in limited instances in which a
female veteran (A) has suffered any form of sexual abuse, trauma, or
intimidation or harassment while serving in the military and is
seeking treatment for that sexual abuse, trauma, or intimidation or
harassment, or (B) is seeking the housing or services as a result of
being a victim of sexual abuse or domestic violence.
(2) A housing developer or service provider that provides housing
or services to female veterans in 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 military sexual abuse, trauma, or
intimidation in a gender-specific manner.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, "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.
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 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
"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 nonmilitary sexual
trauma related post-traumatic stress disorder (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 female veterans who have served our
country and who now face additional hurdles that disproportionately
affect female veterans over male veterans. The Legislature finds and
declares that providing separate facilities distinct from the norm of
multifamily housing is substantially related to the achievement of
those objectives.
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) There are over 200,000 active duty women in the United States
Armed Forces making up approximately 15 percent of active duty
personnel. With most military occupations now open to women, it is
expected their ranks will continue to grow.
(2) With approximately two million female veterans nationwide,
women veterans make up only about 10 percent of the over 21 million
veterans nationwide.
(3) California has the second highest female veteran population in
the country, with over 164,000 female veterans calling California
home.
(4) The United States Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA)
national screening program has reported that about one in four women
respond they have experienced Military Sexual Trauma (MST) when
screened by their VA provider, and the National Center on Family
Homelessness has found that female veterans experience sexual assault
after their military service at 12 times the rate of the general
civilian female population.
(5) Women who are assaulted, raped, or sexually harassed during
their military service suffer mental effects of their MST for years
after leaving the military, are at a higher risk of developing PTSD
than those who are not assaulted, and are disproportionately at risk
of becoming homeless after separating from military service.
(6) Ensuring that there is adequate housing for MST victims should
be a primary goal of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the
Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California
Housing Finance Agency as they administer the Veterans Housing and
Homelessness Prevention Program enacted by Proposition 41.
Effectively housing and treating this population will require
acknowledging that victims of MST have unique needs that cannot be
adequately treated through the traditionally male-centric housing and
services that are available.
(7) Female veterans with PTSD have reported that women-centered
treatment is the most important factor contributing to their comfort
with VA services. Due to the great majority of veterans being male,
most veteran-only housing is occupied by male veterans and most
services are utilized by male veterans. This situation deters many
MST victims from seeking veteran-only housing because the male
dominated living environment triggers the experience of being in the
male dominated military where the rape, assault, or harassment
occurred. As such, female veterans who are victims of MST do not, as
a practical matter, have equal access to veteran-only housing and
services that treat MST.
(8) PTSD is a serious condition and classified as a disability
under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to
the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, PTSD
can also be recognized as a disability under the federal Fair Housing
Act. As California's Fair Employment and Housing Act is intended to
conform to federal law, victims of MST-related PTSD have a disability
and should be afforded a reasonable accommodation that allows them
to enjoy veteran-only housing under this act. Access to women's only
housing and supportive services for victims of MST shall be
considered a reasonable accommodation under this act and is critical
in this narrow circumstance to address the needs of this small and
vulnerable population.