BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2033
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Norma Torres, Chair
AB 2033 (Torres) - As Amended: March 18, 2010
SUBJECT : Homelessness: federal funding
SUMMARY : Directs the Department of Housing & Community
Development (HCD) to apply for federal funding for the purpose
of addressing homelessness. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings including the following:
a) California has the largest homeless population of any
state in the nation.
b) Fourteen counties in the state have unclaimed geography
not currently included in a community continuum of care
(CoC) which represents $900,000 in potential federal
funding.
2)Requires HCD to apply for federal funding under the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301) by
establishing a balance of state CoC program on or before
September 1, 2011.
3)Provides a balance of CoC includes all geographic areas of the
state that are not currently receiving McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance funding through a community CoC and geographic
areas of the state that do have their own CoC but choose to
opt into the balance of state CoC.
4)Provides that if HCD fails to apply for the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance funding, the Department must report to the
Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development prior
to September 30, 2011, the reason for not applying for the
funding.
EXISTING LAW
1)Enacted in 1987, the Stuart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance
Act (McKinney-Vento) authorized federal funding for homeless
assistance programs administered by several federal agencies,
including the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban
AB 2033
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Development (HUD), Health and Human Services, Labor, Education
and Veterans Affairs. HUD operates two programs through
McKinney-Vento, the Federal Emergency Shelter Grant and the
Continuum of Care Program.
2)Enacted in May 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and
Rapid Transitional to Housing (Hearth) Act reauthorized and
made changes to McKinney-Vento including increasing the
priority on homeless families with children, increasing
resources to prevent homelessness, authorizing a nationwide
funding level of $2.2 billion, and requiring greater
flexibility to rural grant applicants. HUD is required to
release regulations for the revised program by May of 2010.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Background : California has the largest homeless population of
any state in the country. Over 380,000 people are homeless for
some period of time during the course of each year in
California. Seventy percent of homeless people in California
live unsheltered, the largest percentage in the nation. In 1994,
HUD introduced the CoC planning process, a competitive program
designed to encourage communities to address the problems of
housing and homelessness in a more coordinated and strategic
fashion.
This comprehensive approach encourages communities to identify
and prioritize gaps in housing and services available for people
who are homeless. It also enables communities to develop
long-term strategies and action plans to address these gaps
using McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds and other
federal, state, and local resources. The strategic planning
conducted through this process also forms the basis of a state's
or community's CoC plan and application to HUD for
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds.
The fundamental components of a CoC program include prevention,
outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent
housing, permanent supportive housing, and supportive services.
In order to receive funding through the McKinney-Vento,
communities must develop a CoC. Forty-four counties in the
state participated in a CoC that received an award in 2009.
Based on applications made in 2008, HUD estimates that 13
AB 2033
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counties in California have unclaimed geography that is not
currently included in a CoC.
The unclaimed geography represents $900,000 in federal funding
that California could access to address homelessness in smaller,
rural communities. Many states receive the "balance of state"
CoC funding from HUD for areas that do not have a local CoC but
California has not taken the necessary steps to do so.
On February 9, 2010, this committee held an oversight hearing to
discuss coordinating federal and state resources to address
homelessness. The testimony included a discussion of the best
models for addressing homelessness, opportunities to draw down
additional federal funding and the benefits of a coordinated
state approach to ending homelessness. Witnesses representing
the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness informed the
committee that the state can receive free technical assistance
to develop an application for the balance of state funds.
Technical assistance provided by HUD or entities that contract
with HUD, typically includes developing a strategic assessment
of the state's role in serving as balance of state applicant.
Purpose of the bill : Approximately 30 other states applied for
funding on behalf of smaller, geographic areas, usually rural
areas that do not have the resources to apply to HUD directly
for competitive homeless funding. AB 2033 requires HCD to apply
for funding under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by
developing an application for the balance of state funding
available to counties that are not applying on their own by
September 1, 2011. If HCD does not apply by September 30, 2011
they are required to report back to this committee regarding the
reason for not applying.
Arguments in support : According to the Regional Council of
Rural Counties, the application for McKinney-Vento funds is
extremely labor intensive requiring considerable staff time that
is simply unavailable in small counties. Counties ranging in
population size from 1,200 (Alpine County) to 64,000 (Lake
County) have not applied due to the expense and staff time. AB
2033 would offer these counties an opportunity to participate in
this homeless funding while alleviating the burden of a direct
application.
Technical amendment :
AB 2033
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On page 3, line 1, delete "14" and insert "13"
On page 3, line 21, delete "continuum of care"
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Corporation for Supportive Housing (co-sponsor)
California Coalition for Youth
Housing California (co-sponsor)
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085