Amended in Senate March 28, 2016

Senate Bill No. 1380

Introduced by Senator Mitchell

(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Hertzberg, Liu, and Wieckowski)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Campos and Thurmond)

February 19, 2016

An act begin insert to add Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8260) to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, end insert relating to begin delete homelessness. end delete begin insert homelessness, and making an appropriation therefor. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1380, as amended, Mitchell. begin delete Homelessness: coordinating council. end delete begin insert Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. end insert

Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons.

This bill would begin delete declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish a coordinating council on homelessness. end delete begin insert require a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, except as specified, to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. The bill would also establish the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations and, among other things, to identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. The bill would establish the Homeless Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, to receive specified grant moneys and fund the administrative costs of the council, as specified. end insert

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By authorizing the deposit of moneys into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California leads the nation in the number of homeless
residents with 115,738 people experiencing homelessness at some
point, which is 21 percent of the nation’s total. California also
leads the nation in the number and ratio of chronically homeless
residents with 29,178 chronically homeless residents at any point
in time, which is 31 percent of the nation’s total.

(b) Homelessness is expensive to the state and local
governments. A homeless person receiving general assistance in
Los Angeles County, for example, incurs $2,897 per month in
crisis response services.

begin insert

(c) A chronically homeless Californian moving into “supportive
housing” is able to reduce costs he or she incurs by almost 80
percent. Moving an individual or family experiencing chronic
homelessness to housing stability costs less than the resulting
savings in public expenditures.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Following the example of other states, as well as jurisdictions
within California, it is the intent of the Legislature to adopt a
begin delete housing first end delete begin insert “Housing First” end insert model for all state programs funding
housing for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of
homelessness.

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(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  Housing begin delete first end delete begin insert First end insert is an evidence-based model of ending all
types of homelessness and is the most effective approach to ending
chronic homelessness. begin delete Housing first offers individuals and families
experiencing homelessness access to permanent affordable or
supportive housing with a low-threshold for entry, as it does not
impose clinical prerequisites like completion of a course of
treatment or evidence of sobriety. end delete The federal government
recognizes that begin delete housing first end delete begin insert Housing First end insert yields high-housing
retention rates, low returns to homelessness, and significant
reductions in crisis or institutional care.

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  Homelessness affects multiple systems in California. Though
almost every state with significant homeless populations has
established a council to coordinate a begin delete housing first oriented end delete begin insert Housing
First-oriented end insert response to homelessness, California does not have
begin delete an end delete begin insert any end insert entity to manage the state’s begin delete response. end delete begin insert response to
homelessness. end insert

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  California participated in a begin delete federally funded policy academy end delete
begin insert federally funded Policy Academy end insert to reduce chronic homelessness.
That begin delete policy academy end delete begin insert Policy Academy end insert succeeded in revising
programs begin delete administered by the end delete begin insert California’s end insert Department of Housing
and Community begin delete Development, end delete begin insert Development (HCD) administers, end insert
and in attracting federal funding opportunities requiring
collaboration between the begin delete Department of Housing and Community
Development end delete begin insert HCD end insert and the State Department of Health Care
Services. To implement additional successes, it is essential that
California begin delete has end delete begin insert have end insert a coordinating council on homelessness.

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(g) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
to establish a coordinating council on homelessness.

end delete

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8260) is added
to Division 8 of the end insert begin insert Welfare and Institutions Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 7. end insert Housing First and Coordinating Council

 

begin insert 8260. end insert   

For purposes of this chapter:

(a) “Coordinating Council” means the Homeless Coordinating
and Financing Council established pursuant to Section 8262.

(b) “Core components of Housing First” means all of the
following:

(1) Tenant screening and selection practices that promote
accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of
substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services.

(2) Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or
financial history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal
convictions unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack
of “housing readiness.”

(3) Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street
outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis response
systems frequented by vulnerable people experiencing
homelessness.

(4) Supportive services that emphasize engagement and
problem-solving over therapeutic goals and service plans that are
highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals.

(5) Participation in services or program compliance is not a
condition of permanent housing tenancy.

(6) Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities
of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health and Safety,
and Government codes.

(7) The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other
lease violations, is not a reason for eviction.

(8) In communities with coordinated assessment and entry
systems, incentives for funding promote tenant selection plans for
supportive housing that prioritize eligible tenants based on criteria
other than “first-come-first-serve,” including, but not limited to,
the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early
mortality, or high utilization of crisis services. Prioritization may
include triage tools, developed through local data, to identify
high-cost, high-need homeless residents.

(9) Case managers and service coordinators who are trained
in and actively employ evidence-based practices for client
engagement, including, but not limited to, motivational interviewing
and client-centered counseling.

(10) Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that
recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’
lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication
regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered
education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in
safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment
if the tenant so chooses.

(11) The project and specific apartment may include special
physical features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and
promote health and community and independence among tenants.

(c) “Homeless” has the same definition as that term is defined
in Section 91.5 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(d) (1) “Housing First” means the evidence-based model that
uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery and that
centers on providing or connecting homeless people to permanent
housing as quickly as possible. Housing First providers offer
services as needed and requested on a voluntary basis and that
does not make housing contingent on participation in services.

(2) “Housing First” includes time-limited rental or services
assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the
recipient in accessing permanent housing and in securing
longer-term rental assistance, income assistance, or employment.

(e) “State programs” means any programs a California state
agency or department funds, implements, or administers for the
purpose of providing housing or housing-based services to people
experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, with the
exception of federally funded programs with requirements
inconsistent with this chapter.

begin insert 8261. end insert   

(a) Agencies and departments administering state
programs created on or after July 1, 2017, shall collaborate with
the Coordinating Council to adopt guidelines and regulations to
incorporate core components of Housing First.

(b) By July 1, 2019, agencies and departments administering
state programs in existence prior to July 1, 2017, shall collaborate
with the Coordinating Council to revise or adopt guidelines and
regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First.

begin insert 8262. end insert   

(a) Within 180 days of the effective date of the measure
adding this chapter, the Governor shall create a Homeless
Coordinating and Financing Council.

(b) The Coordinating Council shall have the following goals:

(1) To oversee implementation of this chapter.

(2) To identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services
that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in
California.

(3) To create partnerships among state agencies and
departments, local government agencies, participants in the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
Continuum of Care Program, federal agencies, the United States
Interagency Council on Homelessness, nonprofit entities working
to end homelessness, and the private sector, for the purpose of
arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness.

(4) To promote systems integration to increase efficiency and
effectiveness.

(5) To coordinate existing funding and applications for
competitive funding.

(6) To make policy and procedural recommendations to
legislators and other government entities.

(7) To identify and seek money to end homelessness, including,
but not limited to, federal and philanthropic funding opportunities.

(8) To broker agreements between state agencies and
departments and between state agencies and departments and
local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources, reduce
administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster
common applications for services, operating, and capital funding.

(9) To serve as the single statewide homelessness planning and
policy development resource.

(10) To report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and
the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness.

(11) To ensure accountability and results in meeting the
strategies and goals of the council.

(c) The Governor shall appoint up to 15 members of the
Coordinating Council as follows:

(1) A representative of the Governor’s office.

(2) A representative of the Department of Social Services.

(3) A representative of the California Housing Finance Agency.

(4) A representative of the Department of Health Care Services.

(5) A representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

(6) A representative of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.

(7) People who are, or have been, homeless in California, to
the extent funding is available to pay for travel costs and stipends.

(8) Representatives of local agencies or organizations that
participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s Continuum of Care Program.

(9) State advocates and other members of the public or state
agencies, according to the Governor’s discretion.

(d) The members of the council shall serve at the pleasure of
the Governor. The Governor shall appoint a chairperson, who
may rotate among members at terms set by the Governor.

(e) The members shall serve without compensation, except that
members who are, or have been, homeless may receive
reimbursement for travel, per diem, or other expenses.

(f) The Assistant Director for Homeless and Housing Policy
within the Department of Housing and Community Development
shall provide staff for the council.

begin insert 8263. end insert   

There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
Homeless Trust Fund. Moneys in the fund shall consist of funds
awarded to the state through philanthropic, federal, or other grants
the Coordinating Council, or departments within the Coordinating
Council, receive that are not otherwise designated to be
administered by another agency and that are expressly restricted
for use only for the purposes set forth in this chapter. Moneys in
the fund are hereby continuously appropriated as follows:

(a) For the purposes of the grant.

(b) For the administrative costs of the Coordinating Council,
when appropriate and available.

end insert