BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2591 (Weber) - Homeless youth: basic material needs
assistance.
Amended: May 23, 2014 Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2591 would create the Homeless Youth Basic
Material Needs Assistance Program, which would require the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to allocate moneys
appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the program,
to counties electing to establish a program, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Ongoing costs potentially in excess of $100,000 (General
Fund) to the DSS to review proposals and allocate funds to
participating counties, to the extent monies are
appropriated for this program.
Major future cost pressure (General Fund) in the millions
of dollars to establish and administer programs in
participating counties. While the extent of potential costs
would be at the discretion of the Legislature to
appropriate, in order to provide even 25 percent of the
270,000 homeless K-12 youth (67,500) with less than $20 per
month over the school year to assist with basic material
needs would cost over $12 million (General Fund).
Background: Existing federal law under the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act, defines a homeless child or youth as
one who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
including:
Children and youths who are sharing the housing of
other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship,
or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels,
trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of
alternative adequate accommodations; are living in
emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in
hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.
Children and youths who have a primary nighttime
residence that is a public or private place not designed
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for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping
accommodation for human beings.
Children and youths who are living in cars, parks,
public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
Migratory children living in the circumstances
described above.
(42 U.S.C. � 11434a.)
According to data provided by the Department of Education (CDE),
there were nearly 270,000 homeless school children in the
2012-13 educational year, with nearly a quarter of them living
in Los Angeles County.
Under existing law, the Personal Income Tax Law authorizes an
individual to contribute amounts in excess of his or her tax
liability for the support of specified funds, including the
School Supplies for Homeless Children (SSHC) Fund. Existing law
requires the moneys deposited in the SSHC Fund to be allocated,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the CDE for the sole
purpose of assisting pupils in California pursuant to the
federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by providing
school supplies and health-related products to homeless children
through competitive grant programs. The SSHC Fund was originally
authorized by SB 1571 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 459/2012 to help
provide essential school supplies to homeless children. In 2013,
the SSHC Fund received $367,868 in valid contributions, and has
received $276,891 in contributions this year.
This bill seeks to provide similar services to homeless youth
through a direct appropriation rather than through voluntary tax
contributions.
Proposed Law: This bill would create the Homeless Youth Basic
Material Needs Assistance Program, which would require the DSS
to allocate moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the
purposes of the program, to counties electing to establish a
program, as follows:
Defines an administering entity as a county that elects
to establish a program or counties that elect to establish
a program jointly.
Defines "homeless youth" as the having the same meaning
as the term defined in federal law under the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act.
Defines "basic material needs assistance" as school
supplies, dental supplies, and other hygienic products,
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shoes, clothes, blankets, and other basic material needs.
From moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the
program, requires DSS to allocate a proportional amount to
each participating county based on the county's respective
number of homeless youth.
Provides that moneys allocated to the county shall be
used to establish and operate a Homeless Youth Basic
Material Needs Assistance Program for the county.
Requires each program established to do all the
following:
o Solicit proposals from nonprofit organizations
for the purpose of providing basic material needs
assistance to homeless youth in the manner directed by
the administering entity, subject to requirements of
this measure.
o Contract with one or more nonprofit
organizations to participate in the program based on
the proposals solicited. Selection to be based on the
nonprofit organization's demonstrated ability to meet
the goals of the program, including but not limited to
an ability to form partnerships with LEAs.
o Requires each nonprofit organization
contracted to do all of the following:
� Assist homeless youth through LEA
partnerships.
� Give priority to providing school
supplies and dental supplies and other hygienic
products to homeless youth.
� Consult with the children and family
commission of the counties served by the program
to determine how best to provide basic material
needs assistance to homeless youth from birth to
age 5 years, if the county elects to include
homeless youth of that age in its program.
o Encourages each nonprofit organization
contracted to do the following:
� Provide at least a 20 percent match
for all moneys received from the administering
entity.
� Work with the homeless liaison of
each LEA pursuant to federal law, or his or her
LEA-employed designee.
Related Legislation: SB 761 (DeSaulnier) 2014 requires funds
appropriated by the Legislature from the School Supplies for
Homeless Children Fund to be allocated to the DSS instead of CDE
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for distribution to a tax-exempt nonprofit organization to
provide school supplies and health-related products to
partnering LEAs for distribution to homeless children. This bill
requires a minimum 100 percent match for all funds received.
This bill is pending hearing in the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
Staff Comments: To the extent monies are appropriated by the
Legislature, the DSS would incur one-time and ongoing costs
potentially in excess of $100,000 (General Fund) to review
proposals and allocate a proportional amount of funds to
participating counties based on each county's respective number
of homeless youth.
This bill does not mandate an appropriation by the Legislature,
but to the extent the Legislature appropriates funds for the
purposes of this program in any one year, costs could
potentially be in the millions of dollars to establish and
administer programs in participating counties. While the extent
of potential costs would be at the discretion of the Legislature
to appropriate, in order to provide even 25 percent of the
270,000 homeless K-12 youth (67,500) with less than $20 per
month over the school year to assist with "basic material needs"
would cost over $12 million (General Fund).
The bill defines "basic material needs assistance" as school
supplies, dental supplies, other hygienic products, shoes,
clothes, blankets, and other basic material needs," To the
extent "other basic material needs" could be interpreted broadly
to include housing assistance, tutoring, counseling,
electronics, or transportation (vouchers/transit passes) to be
provided by a county operating a program would likely cost in
the tens of millions of dollars to serve a small number of
homeless youth.