BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1380
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
David Chiu, Chair
SB
1380 (Mitchell) - As Amended June 20, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 29-7
SUBJECT: Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council
SUMMARY: Requires 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 adopt
guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies and
establishes the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council
(Coordinating Council) to oversee implementation of the Housing
First regulations and, among other things, identify resources,
benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end
homelessness in California. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "Housing First" as the evidence-based model that uses
housing as a tool, rather than a reward for recovery. It
connects homeless people to housing as quickly as possible and
does not make housing contingent on participation in services.
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
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employment.
2)Defines "Core Components of Housing First" to mean all of the
following:
a) Tenant screening and selection practices that promote
accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of
substances, completion of treatment, or participation in
services;
b) 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;"
c) Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street
outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis
response systems frequented by vulnerable people
experiencing homelessness;
d) Supportive services that emphasize engagement and
problem-solving over therapeutic goals and service plans
that are highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals;
e) Participation in services or program compliance is not a
condition of permanent housing tenancy;
f) Tenants have a lease and all the rights and
responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in the Civil
Code, Health and Safety Code, and Government codes;
g) The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without
other lease violations, is not grounds for eviction;
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h) In communities with coordinated assessment with 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 frequency 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;
i) Case managers and service coordinators who are trained
in and actively employ evidence-based practices;
j) Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy
that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as part
of tenants' lives, where tenants are engaged in
non-judgmental 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 participating in evidence-based treatment if the
tenant so chooses; and
aa) The project and specific apartment may include special
features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and
promote health and community and independence among
tenants.
1)Creates the Coordinating Council, which shall have the
following goals:
a) Identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services
that can be assessed to prevent and end homelessness in
California;
b) Create partnerships among state agencies and
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departments, local government agencies, participants in the
U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Continuum of Care Program, federal agencies, the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness (US ICH), nonprofit
entities working to end homelessness, and the private
sector, for purposes of arriving at specific strategies to
end homelessness;
c) Promote systems integration to increase efficiency and
effectiveness;
d) Coordinate existing funding and applications for
competitive funding. Any action taken shall not
restructure or change any existing allocations or
allocation formula;
e) Make policy and procedural recommendations to
legislators and other government entities;
f) Identify and seek funding opportunities for state
entities that have programs to end homelessness and
facilitate and coordinate those state entities' efforts to
obtain funding;
g) Broker agreements between state agencies, departments
and local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources,
reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing
resources, and foster common applications to services,
operating, and capital funding;
h) Serve as a statewide homelessness planning and policy
development resource;
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i) Report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the
Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce
homelessness; and
j) Ensure accountability and results in meeting the
strategies and goals of the council.
1)Requires the Governor, within 180 days of enacting this bill,
to appoint up to 15 members to the Coordinating Council as
follows:
a) A representative from the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD);
b) A representative of the Department of Social
Services;
c) A representative of the California Housing Finance
Agency;
d) A representative of the Department of Health Care
Services;
e) A representative of the Department of Veterans
Affairs;
f) A representative of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation;
g) A representative of the Tax Credit Allocation
Committee in the State Treasurer's office;
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h) A homeless person who lives in California to the
extent funding is available to pay for travel;
i) Two representatives of local agencies or
organizations that participate in the HUD Continuum of
Care Program;
j) State advocates or other members of the public or
state agencies, according to the Governor's discretion.
aa) Two representatives from different stakeholder
groups. One selected by the Senate Committee on Rules and
the other by the Speaker of the Assembly; and
bb) The council may, at its discretion, invite
stakeholders, individuals who have experienced
homelessness, members of philanthropic communities, and
experts to participate in meetings or provide information
to the council.
1)Requires HCD to provide staff for the council.
2)Requires agencies and departments administering state programs
created on or after July 1, 2017, to collaborate with the
Coordinating Council to adopt guidelines and regulations to
incorporate core components of Housing First. Additionally,
agencies and departments administering state programs in
existence prior to July 1, 2017, shall collaborate with the
Coordinating Council to adopt guidelines and regulations to
incorporate core components of Housing First by July 1, 2019,
if the existing guidelines and regulations do not already
incorporate the core components of Housing First.
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3)Defines "state programs" as 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 or programs that
fund emergency shelters.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines, in federal statute, the word "homeless" for the
purpose of housing assistance, to mean an individual or family
who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,
as specified.
2)States legislative findings and declarations about
homelessness, the housing shortfall and other related issues.
3)Establishes the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which permits states to implement the
program under a state plan.
4)Establishes in state law the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program to provide cash
assistance and other social services for low-income families
through the TANF program. Under CalWORKs, each county provides
assistance through a combination of state, county and federal
TANF funds.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Committee on
Appropriations:
Coordinating Council : One-time and ongoing costs potentially
in excess of $200,000 (General Fund) to the HCD to staff and
facilitate meetings, as well as collaborate with agencies on
activities as outlined under the listed goals of the council.
The costs for a representative of HCD to participate in
council meetings are estimated to be minor.
Department of Social Services (DSS) : Minor costs to
participate on the council. Potentially significant workload
(General Fund) to review existing housing assistance programs
to ensure compliance with the core components of the Housing
First model.
Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) : Minor costs to
participate on the council. No significant impact to existing
housing programs, as they currently adhere to the core
components of the Housing First model.
CDCR : Potentially significant impacts (General Fund) to the
Division of Adult Parole Operations to the extent specific
components of the Housing First model are inconsistent with
current policy and practices utilized for parolee services.
State Treasurer's Office (STO) : Minor costs of less than
$10,000 (General Fund) to have a representative participate on
the council.
Compliance with Housing First components : Unknown,
potentially significant costs to DSS and CDCR to bring
existing housing and housing-related assistance programs into
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compliance with the Housing First core components including
but not limited to the component specifying case managers and
service coordinators who are trained in and actively employ
evidence-based practices
COMMENTS:
California is home to 21% of the nation's homeless population.
On average on any given night, 115,738 people experience
homelessness. California leads the nation in the number of
chronic homeless with 29,178 chronically homeless residents at
any given point in time which is 31% of the nation's total.
California also has 28% of the nation's homeless youth
population. The state has a variety of programs to address
homelessness operated by multiple agencies and departments,
including the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Program,
the CalWorks Housing Program, the Mental Health Services Act,
the and Multi-family Housing Program with Supportive Services.
In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched his Chronic
Homeless Initiative which included the creation of an
Interagency Council comprised of the leaders of eleven agencies
and departments with responsibility for housing and services for
citizens who are at risk of or already chronically homeless. The
Interagency Council initiated the process of a collaboratively
developed Ten Year Chronic Homelessness Action Plan and created
a Vision Statement and Guiding Principles. The plan was not
formally adopted until 2010 and has not been the guiding policy
document envisioned at the time. The interagency council was not
created by statute leaving no formal process for state agencies
and departments to coordinate efforts to address homelessness.
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In 2013, HCD participated in a federally funded Policy Academy
to reduce the rate of chronic homelessness in participating
states through a cross-agency federal effort to provide
intensive, targeted technical assistance to state teams. The
Policy Academy succeeded in revising HCD's programs and in
developing greater collaboration with the State Department of
Health Care Services.
According to the Corporation for Supportive Housing, over 20
other states have interagency councils on homelessness. This
bill proposes to create an interagency council to coordinate
state resources to address homelessness. HCD would provide staff
to the interagency council.
Coordination of local, state and federal resources : HUD and
other planners and policymakers use aggregate Homelessness
Management Information Systems (HMIS) data to better inform
homeless policy and decision making at the federal, state, and
local levels. HMIS enables HUD to collect national-level data
on the extent and nature of homelessness over time.
Specifically, an HMIS can be used to produce an unduplicated
count of homeless persons, understand patterns of service use,
and measure the effectiveness of homeless programs. Data on
homeless persons is collected and maintained at the local level.
This data would be useful at the state level to coordinate
programs across agencies that serve homeless clients including
CalWORKS and Medi- Cal. The committee may wish to consider
setting as a goal of the Interagency Council the creation of a
statewide data system or warehouse that collects local data
through HMIS, with the ultimate goal of matching data on
homelessness to programs impacting homeless recipients of state
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programs, such as Medi-Cal and CalWORKS.
Housing First Approach : Housing First is an evidence-based
housing model that centers on
providing people experiencing homelessness with housing as
quickly as possible and then
providing services as needed. A core component of Housing First
includes a tenant screening
process that promotes accepting applicants regardless of their
sobriety or use of substances,
completion of treatment, or participation in services. This
model recognizes that an individual
experiencing homelessness should be provided shelter and
stability before underlying issues can
be successfully tackled. The housing first model is contrasted
with a model known as "housing
readiness," which is exhibited in some transitional housing
models. This model requires
homeless people to earn their way into transitional housing and
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make progress on certain goals;
when they are deemed well enough; they earn their spot in
permanent housing. The Federal government through the
leadership of the US Interagency Council of Homelessness has
successfully integrated the housing first approach into programs
at the federal level.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, "Homelessness
affects multiple systems in California, and a state as large,
diverse, and complex as California requires a coordinating body
that would allow our State agencies to maximize federal funding,
leverage local dollars, and ensure programs touching homeless
Californians are as effective as possible. California has
several programs designed to fund housing for our homeless
residents, but has no coordinated plan or program to address
homelessness systematically. In fact, our programs promote
policies at odds with each other, some funding evidence-based
housing programs while others fund programs not effectively
addressing homelessness. While almost every state with a large
homeless population has an interagency council on homelessness,
California does not have any coordinating body that fosters
collaboration among the state agencies homelessness impacts, or
with local governments dealing with homelessness on the ground.
SB 1380 would require programs funding housing for homeless
residents to use evidence-based practices recognized and adopted
throughout all federal agencies by July 1, 2019. "Housing First"
is the only evidence-based model proven to reduce homelessness,
prevent returns to homelessness, and decrease public
expenditures. While allowing for transitional housing for
populations for whom transitional housing makes sense, the
Housing First provisions of SB 1380 promote practices that
work."
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Committee amendments :
On page 7, strike out lines 3 and 4 and insert, "A formerly
homeless person who lives in California."
On page 6, after line 30, insert the following: "To create a
statewide data system or warehouse that collects local data
through Homeless Management Information Systems, with the
ultimate goal of matching data on homelessness to programs
impacting homeless recipients of state programs, such as
Medi-Cal and CalWORKS."
Related legislation:
AB 2821 (Chiu) would create the Medi-Cal Housing Program to fund
rental assistance for homeless Medi-Cal recipients receiving
services through the Whole Person Care Pilot program authorized
by the 2016 1115 Medi-Cal Waiver. This bill is pending in Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee.
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AB 998 (Fong, 2013) - would have created the California
Interagency Council on Homelessness and required various state
agencies to meet quarterly to coordinate efforts on
homelessness. This bill died on suspense in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 1167 (Fong, 2011) - would have created a state Interagency
Council on Homelessness, with specified membership and duties.
This bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1875 (Fong, 2009) - would have created a state Interagency
Council on Homelessness, with specified membership and duties.
This bill died in the Assembly Business, Professions and
Consumer Protections Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
California Coalition for Youth
CaliforniaHealth+ Advocates
City of Riverside
Corporation for Supportive Housing
County Health Executives Association of California
Health Officers Association of California
Rural County Representatives of California
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085