BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1380
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1380
(Mitchell) - As Amended June 30, 2016
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|Policy |Housing and Community |Vote:|5 - 2 |
|Committee: |Development | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill 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 to adopt guidelines and
regulations to include Housing First policies. It also
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
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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
employment.
2)Creates the Coordinating Council and specifies its goals
including identifying resources, creating partnerships,
promoting systems integration, making recommendations to
legislators, and ensuring accountability, among other goals.
Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) to provide staff for the council.
3)Requires the Governor, within 180 days of enacting this bill,
to appoint up to 15 members to the Coordinating Council,
including representatives from specified state agencies,
advocates, stakeholders, and a homeless person, among others.
4)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, must 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.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Coordinating Council: One-time and ongoing costs potentially
in excess of $200,000 (GF) 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.
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2)Department of Social Services (DSS): Minor costs to
participate on the council. Potentially significant workload
(GF) to review existing housing assistance programs to ensure
compliance with the core components of the Housing First
model.
3)Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet): 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.
4)Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR):
Potentially significant impacts (GF) 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.
5)State Treasurer's Office (STO): Minor costs of less than
$10,000 (GF) to have a representative participate on the
council.
6)Compliance with Housing First components: Unknown,
potentially significant costs to DSS and CDCR to bring
existing housing and housing-related assistance programs into
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.
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COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. 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."
2)Background. 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
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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, and 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. 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
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staff to the interagency council.
3)Related Legislation. AB 2821 (Chiu), pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, creates 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.
4)Prior Legislation.
a) 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. That bill was held on this Committee's
Suspense File.
b) AB 1167 (Fong, 2011) would have created a state
Interagency Council on Homelessness, with specified
membership and duties. That bill was held on the Senate
Appropriations Suspense File
c) AB 1177 (Fong, 2010) was substantially similar to AB
1167 noted above. That bill was held on the Senate
Appropriations Suspense File.
d) AB 1875 (Fong, 2009) would have created a state
Interagency Council on Homelessness, with specified
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membership and duties. That bill stalled in the Assembly
Committee on Business, Professions, and Consumer
Protection.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081