BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 2547 (Blumenfield) - Statewide Office of the Homeless Youth
Advocate.
Amended: May 25, 2012 Policy Vote: GO 9-3
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2547 would establish the Statewide Office of
the Homeless Youth Advocate (OHYA) within the California Health
and Human Services Agency (HHS) to coordinate services,
facilitate interagency collaboration to remove barriers and
improve access to, and share, information related to homeless
youth. The OHYA would be required to submit a biennial report to
the Governor and Legislature regarding the activities and
performance of the OHYA, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time and ongoing costs potentially in the range of
$340,000 to in excess of $500,000 (General Fund) to establish
the OHYA and conduct the activities required under the
provisions of this bill.
Ongoing potential future cost pressure on designated
agencies to the extent the collaboration efforts result in
additional workload and/or data reporting obligations.
Ongoing minor direct costs of approximately $20,000 (General
Fund) to the HHS related to oversight activities.
Background: Under existing law, several state agencies have
responsibilities relating to programs and funding that may
benefit the homeless youth population. The California Emergency
Management Agency (CalEMA) administers the Homeless Youth and
Exploitation Program which is designed to assist homeless youth
exist street life, as well as administers the Emergency Youth
Telephone Referral Project and is currently partnering with the
California Coalition of Youth who staff and maintain a hotline
designed to connect homeless and runaway youth with services and
resources.
AB 2547 (Blumenfield)
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The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is
designated as the liaison to the United States Interagency
Council on Homelessness (USICH). In this role, the HCD confers
with state agencies and departments with operational
responsibilities for homeless-related programs in preparing to
meet with the federal council. HCD's role includes the referral
of USICH requests to the appropriate state agency and
coordination of the responses to the federal council
Proposed Law: This bill would establish the OHYA within the HHS
to report directly to the Secretary of the HHS. Specifically,
the OHYA shall seek to do the following:
Coordinate current services, and facilitate interagency
collaboration to identify gaps in, remove barriers and
improve access to, and share, information related to
homeless youth.
Identify and remove obstacles to the provision of
services to homeless youth.
Improve the quality of services that are provided to
homeless youth.
Reduce needless expenditures that are caused by the
provision of overlapping services.
Identify housing and supportive services funding
resources that are available to entities serving homeless
youth.
This bill strongly encourages the OHYA to work with other
departments within the HHS, the Department of Education (CDE),
the Administrative Office of the Courts, nonprofit
organizations, the federal government, and other key
stakeholders. This bill specifies the OHYA shall have various
responsibilities, including but not limited to the following:
Provide information, coordination assistance, and
technical assistance as necessary to reduce needless
expenditures that are associated with the provision of
overlapping services and improve the quality of services
provided to homeless youth.
Identify procedural and substantive obstacles to the
provision of services to homeless youth and make
recommendations relating to the changes necessary to remove
obstacles to the provision of services to homeless youth.
Update information received from service providers
relating to services that are known to be available to the
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homeless youth population in the state and post the
information on its website.
Make available on its website information that is
relevant to the homeless youth population, including but
not limited to information relating to the legal,
educational, and other rights of homeless youth, and a list
of legal, educational, and victim's rights organizations
that serve the homeless youth population.
Obtain information relating to funding sources that are
known to be available to assist the homeless youth
population in the state.
Work with entities to identify issues relating to the
sharing of information when providing services to homeless
youth and facilitate resolution of information-sharing
issues.
Prepare and submit a biennial report to the Governor and
Legislature regarding the activities and performance of the
OHYA. The report shall also include data that CDE compiles
on homeless youth enrolled in public schools and data the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes
on the homeless population.
Prior Legislation: AB 1167 (Fong) 2011 would create the
California Interagency Council on Homelessness consisting of
representatives from multiple jurisdictions to coordinate a
statewide approach in responding to homelessness and to identify
and apply for federal funding. This bill is currently on the
Suspense File of this Committee.
AB 1177 (Fong) 2010 was similar to AB 1167 and was held on the
Suspense File of this Committee.
SB 123 (Liu) 2011 would have required the CalEMA, subject to the
availability of adequate resources, to develop a statewide plan
for runaway, homeless, and exploited youth in collaboration with
the Senate Office of Research and various stakeholders. This
bill was held on the Suspense File of this Committee.
Staff Comments: The low range cost reflected for the creation
and operation of the OHYA is for one full-time director, one
analyst, and one administrative position. To the extent the
provisions of this bill require additional staff positions for
development and maintenance of the OHYA website, research and
policy analysis, as well as community education and awareness to
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conduct the work involved with preparing the biennial report,
coordinating current services, and facilitating interagency
collaboration to share information related to homeless youth
could result in additional state costs in excess of $500,000
annually. Although serving a larger population, for comparison
purposes staff notes the Office of the Patient Advocate, which
was transferred from the Department of Managed Health Care and
established as an independent entity under the HHS Agency
effective July 1, 2012, includes 12 positions and a budget of
$2.2 million for 2012-13.
The HHS Agency has indicated minor ongoing direct costs of less
than $20,000 related to oversight activities associated with the
establishment of the OHYA.
To the extent that this bill results in greater interagency
collaboration and the provision of innovative and effective
services to reduce homelessness, there could be significant
future cost savings to local governments and law enforcement
agencies, as well as improved outcomes for homeless youth.
Depending on the nature of these services, there may also be
significant savings to the state in costs associated with crime
and social services in the future.