BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2547
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2547 (Blumenfield)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 5-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Beall, Ammiano, Grove, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Hall, Portantino | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Ammiano, Hill, |
| | | |Lara, Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the Statewide Office of the Homeless Youth
Advocate (OHYA) to coordinate state programs, services and
information for homeless youth. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the OHYA within the California Health and Human
Services Agency (HHS) and requires the OHYA to:
a) Provide information, coordination assistance, and
technical assistance to reduce unnecessary expenditures
associated with duplicated services and to help improve the
quality of services to homeless youth;
b) Identify procedural and substantive barriers and
obstacles that inhibit the provision of services to
homeless youth and make recommendations to the entities
listed in the bill necessary to remove obstacles to
services for homeless youth;
c) Make available on its Internet Web site information that
is relevant and beneficial to homeless youth;
d) Update information received on available funding sources
to assist homeless youth;
e) Work with entities to identify, facilitate and resolve
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issues that may inhibit the sharing of information
beneficial to helping homeless youth; and,
f) Provide a biennial report to the Governor and the
Legislature on the activities of the OHYA.
g) Reduce unnecessary costs associated with the overlapping
of services to homeless youth.
2)Encourages the OHYA to work with other state and federal
agencies and departments to meet the goals of the bill,
including HHS, the California Department of Education (CDE),
the Administrative Office of the Courts, nonprofit
organizations, appropriate federal departments and other key
stakeholders.
EXISTING LAW requires numerous state agencies and departments to
administer programs and offer services to homeless children and
adults.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs of approximately $250,000 General Fund for the
workload associated with the OHYA. It may be that the OHYA will
be able to access some federal funding and grants to help offset
the cost of the office.
COMMENTS : According to the California Research Bureau's (CRB)
Homeless Youth Project (HYP), based upon national survey
estimates and California's youth population, it is estimated
that there are 200,000 youth under the age of 18 and potentially
thousands of persons aged 18 - 24 who are homeless.
Although this is an approximation of the number of homeless
youth in California, the number is likely to be greater given
the difficult challenges involved with the identification of
homeless youth. For purpose of this population, homeless youth
is typically considered to be minors age 17 and under, and 18 -
24-year-olds who are economically and/or emotionally detached
from their families and have an unstable and inadequate living
environment, or are periodically homeless or homeless.
The causes of youth homelessness are varied and complex. They
range from runaway youth to emancipated youth who have fallen
through the child welfare system, to disengaged youth due to the
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lack of an adult figure in their life or a lack of access to
appropriate services. Due to their unique circumstances,
research has shown that homeless youth are at a greater risk of
physical and sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, alcohol and drug
abuse, mental health disabilities, and death. Additionally, the
social, emotional, medical, economic and personal challenges
homeless youth face, when coupled with the lack of effective,
coordinated services to help them find and keep stable housing
as well as reach self-sufficiency, can lead to ongoing and
chronic cycles of homelessness throughout their lifetime.
Although it seems that it should be reasonably easy to count the
number of state agencies and departments that administer a
program or service for homeless youth, it can vary annually
depending on the availability of funding, grants and other
resources to administer or implement a program. However, it is
generally estimated that there are 10 to 12 state agencies and
departments currently operating some level of homeless service.
It is unclear how many of them specifically target or help to
facilitate services for homeless youth; however, in a 2010
survey of local, state and federal programs, the HYP was able to
identify 53 programs that offer just over 1,000 beds for
homeless youth throughout the state. Given that the current
estimate of homeless youth amounts to more than 200,000
individuals, this demonstrates a significant gap between the
size of California's homeless youth population and the number of
programs and services available to meet their needs.
According to the author, this bill is modeled after the Colorado
Office of Homeless Youth Services, which was created in 2002.
The purpose of this office is to break down barriers that make
it difficult for homeless youth to access services, provide
better collaboration and effective services among multiple
local, state and federal programs, and to institute a proactive
and productive environment to better identify gaps and work in a
more integrated fashion to improve and expand services to a
highly at-risk population.
The author argues that this bill "takes the first step in
addressing this issue (youth homelessness) by creating the OHYA.
This office will be responsible for identifying and breaking
down barriers to those services currently available,
facilitating interagency collaboration, and serving as a
resource for homeless youth - disseminating information about
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their rights, the services available, and how to get in touch
with local non-profits who help homeless youth."
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0003967