BILL NUMBER: AB 1177	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Fong and Hill
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act relating to homelessness.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1177, as introduced, Fong. Homelessness: Interagency Council on
Homelessness.
   Under existing law, several agencies have prescribed
responsibilities relating to homeless persons.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would create the Interagency Council on Homelessness
for the purposes of reducing the duplication of efforts and the
costs of homelessness and redirecting resources to more effective
approaches, developing a more integrated system, and eliminating
fragmentation.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
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) The economic crisis is causing higher rates of homelessness,
particularly among families with children, the fastest-growing
segment of people experiencing homelessness.
   (b) Before the economic crisis, California faced the largest
homeless population and the largest ratio of homeless persons per
resident in the nation.
   (c) There are several costs to the state to manage homelessness,
including, but not limited to, incarceration, shelters, medical
costs, and foster care.
   (d) At least nine state agencies are affected by homelessness,
resulting in a fragmented approach. These agencies are the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the State Department of Health
Care Services, the State Department of Mental Health, the State
Department of Social Services, the Department of Housing and
Community Development, the State Department of Education, the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the State Department of Alcohol and
Drug Programs, and the California Housing Finance Agency.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would create the Interagency Council on Homelessness for the
purposes of reducing the duplication of efforts and the costs of
homelessness and redirecting resources to more effective approaches,
developing a more integrated system, and eliminating fragmentation.