Date of Hearing: May 8, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1405

Author:(Gloria) – As Amended Ver:April 29, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to contract for and fund permanent housing for parolees at risk of homelessness. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CDCR to enter into agreements with contractors who provide short-term housing to parolees through an adult day reporting center or CDCR’s Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP) to provide permanent housing for individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness and to parolees experiencing homelessness.
2. Requires CDCR to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to draft and establish guidelines, requests for proposals, amend existing scopes of work or draft new scopes of work for contractors offering permanent housing, and design and implement an independent evaluation of all programs providing short-term or long-term housing to parolees.
3. Requires any subcontractor or contractor to provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services to participants to obtain permanent housing and establish relationships with affordable and supportive housing providers and local homeless continuums of care.
4. Requires the independent evaluation of parolee housing programs to be submitted to the chairs of specified legislative committees of the Senate and Assembly on or before January 1, 2023.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Costs (GF) possibly in the millions of dollars annually for CDCR to enter into and maintain contracts with long-term housing providers for parolees. The January 2019-2020 Budget proposes to allocate $34 million dollars for parolee substance abuse treatment, anger management, faith-based services, and employment and educational services. STOP currently only provides parolees with assistance in obtaining transitional housing for a limited period.
   
2. Costs (GF) of between $374,000 for the first year and $343,000 annually for DHCD to coordinate with CDCR. Costs include increased workload to draft guidelines, issue requests for proposals, amend existing scopes of work or draft new scopes of work for contractors offering permanent housing, and design and implement an independent evaluation of all CDCR programs providing housing to parolees.
   

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

Formerly incarcerated people face barriers to employment and housing upon exiting correctional facilities. Research shows that individuals on parole are ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population.

1. Background. STOP is one of two programs that provide transitional housing for parolees in their first year of release. STOP has a six to 12 month time restriction on stays in transitional housing. Current law does not require STOP centers to offer housing navigation services prior, during or after the 180 days. Additionally, CDCR has little data on the effectiveness of programs funding transitional housing. CDCR reports costs to provide permanent housing to parolees at risk of homelessness may be significant given the need to contract with STOP for housing services. The scope of these increased contracting costs is currently unknown by CDCR but may potentially range in the millions of dollars annually depending on the contracts. In addition, CDCR estimates potentially significant costs in at least the hundreds of thousands of dollars to contract with an independent evaluator for all programs providing short-term or permanent housing to parolees at risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness.

Analysis Prepared by: Kimberly Horiuchi / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

David Chiu, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1405 (

Author:Gloria) – As Amended Ver:March 19, 2019

SUBJECT: Permanent supportive housing for parolees

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to contract for and fund permanent housing for parolees at risk of homelessness. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CDCR, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enter into contracts with contractors who provide short-term housing to parolees through an adult day reporting center or through the department’s Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP) to provide permanent housing for individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness and to parolees experiencing homelessness.
   
2. Defines “at risk of homelessness” to mean an individual who has a history of homelessness and satisfies either of the following criteria:
   
   1. The individual has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence to reside at upon release from prison or upon exit from short-term housing funded by the department; or
   2. The individual’s only identified nighttime residence upon release from prison or upon exit from short-term housing funded by the department includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a publicly or privately owned space that is not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for a human being.
      
3. Requires CDCR to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to draft and establish guidelines, requests for proposals, and amended or new scopes of work for contractors offering the permanent housing.
   
4. Requires CDCR to coordinate with HCD to design and implement an independent evaluation of all programs providing short-term or long-term housing to parolees, as specified.
   
5. Requires that any subcontractor or contractor shall establish relationships with affordable housing providers, supportive housing providers, and local homeless continuums of care in the community in which participants are living, and provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services to participants to obtain permanent housing.
   
6. States that services and housing offered to a participant under this bill shall be offered voluntarily and follow the core components of Housing First.
   
7. Requires CDCR to coordinate with HCD to design and implement an independent evaluation of all programs providing short-term or permanent housing to individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness or parolees experiencing homelessness. The evaluation shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following information:
   
   1. The total number of parolees receiving short-term housing assistance and their housing status 12 and 24 months after program entry, to the extent that data is available, in each program identified;
      
   2. The total number of parolees receiving housing navigation or permanent housing assistance and their housing status 12 and 24 months after program entry, to the extent that data is available, in each program identified; and,
      
   3. Rates of recidivism to prison or jail among parolees at 12 and 24 months after program entry, including the number of arrests and days incarcerated, to the extent that data is available.
      
8. Requires the evaluation to be submitted to the chairs of specified legislative committees of the Senate and Assembly on or before January 1, 2023.
   
9. Appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the CDCR for purposes of providing the permanent housing for parolees.
   
10. Includes legislative findings that evidence shows that “permanent housing,” or housing that does not limit length of stay and provides rights and responsibilities of tenancy, is the only evidence-based intervention that allows individuals experiencing homelessness to exit it.
    
11. Includes legislative findings that a disproportionate number of individuals on parole experience homelessness and housing instability, and that formerly incarcerated individuals are almost 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than other individuals. At the same time, individuals on parole who are experiencing homelessness are seven times more likely to recidivate than individuals on parole who are living in permanent housing.
    
12. States that it is the intent of the Legislature to strengthen corrections programs to ensure that CDCR promotes evidence-based housing and services interventions for individuals on parole who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness. These evidence-based practices would allow individuals to obtain and maintain housing stability during and after the term of parole, thereby reducing recidivism.
    

EXISTING LAW:

1. Defines “supportive housing” as housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population, and that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing resident in retaining the housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing their ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. Further specifies that supportive housing is decent, safe, and affordable. (Pen. Code, § 2985.1.)
2. Provides that a person is “likely to become homeless upon release” if they have a history of “homelessness,” as defined under federal law, and if both of the following are true:
   
   1. They have not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence for release; and
      
   2. Their only identified nighttime residence for release includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a public or private place not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. (Pen. Code, § 2985.2, subd. (c)(3).)
3. Requires all of the following in order for an inmate to be eligible for the supportive housing program:
   
   1. They have a serious mental disorder, as defined by law, and as identified by CDCR, and they have a history of mental health treatment in the prison’s mental health services delivery system or in a parole outpatient clinic;
      
   2. The inmate or parolee voluntarily chooses to participate; and
      
   3. They have either been assigned a date of release within 60 to 180 days and are likely to become homeless upon release, or are currently a homeless parolee. (Pen. Code, § 2985.2, subd. (c).)
      
4. Requires each provider to offer services, as specified, to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole, to enable the parolee to comply with the terms of parole, and to augment mental health treatment provided to other parolees. The services shall be offered to participants in their home, or be made as easily accessible to participants as possible and shall include specified services including housing location services, and, if needed, move-in cost assistance. (Pen. Code, § 2985.3.)
5. Requires the service provider to facilitate the parolee’s transition into the community by, among other things, assessing a participant’s needs and including in the assessment a plan for permanent housing after parole and helping transition participants from CDCR rental assistance into mainstream rental assistance, such as specified federal programs, if necessary for the parolee to remain in stable housing. (Pen. Code, § 2985.3, subd. (c).
   
6. Requires providers to identify and locate supportive housing and transitional housing for participants before release or as soon as possible upon release. (Pen. Code § 2985.4, subd. (a).)
   
7. Specifies that the “core components of Housing First” means all of the following (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 8255.):
   1. Tenant screening and selection practices that promote accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services;
   2. Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or financial history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal convictions unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack of “housing readiness;”
   3. Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis response systems frequented by vulnerable people experiencing homelessness;
   4. Supportive services that emphasize engagement and problem solving over therapeutic goals and service plans that are highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals;
      
   5. Participation in services or program compliance is not a condition of permanent housing tenancy;
   6. Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health and Safety, and Government codes;
   7. The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other lease violations, is not a reason for eviction;
   8. In communities with coordinated assessment and entry systems, incentives for funding promote tenant selection plans for supportive housing that prioritize eligible tenants based on criteria other than “first-come-first-serve,” including, but not limited to, the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early mortality, or high utilization of crisis services. Prioritization may include triage tools, developed through local data, to identify high-cost, high-need homeless residents;
   9. Case managers and service coordinators who are trained in and actively employ evidence-based practices for client engagement, including, but not limited to, motivational interviewing and client-centered counseling;
   10. Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’ lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment if the tenant so chooses; and,
       
   11. The project and specific apartment may include special physical features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and promote health and community and independence among tenants.

EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:

1. Defines “homeless” as follows: an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, as specified; an individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence, as specified; an unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, as specified; and any individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence, has no other residence, and, lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing. (Housing and Urban Development, 24 C.F.R. § 91.5.):

FISCAL EFFECT:

Unknown

COMMENTS:

Purpose of this bill: According to the author, “Formerly incarcerated people face barriers to employment and housing upon exiting correctional facilities. Research shows that individuals on parole are ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, individuals on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate than individuals on parole who are living in permanent housing. Undoubtedly, stable housing is the foundation of successful reentry from prison. This bill conforms existing law with evidence-based, best practices for decreasing homelessness and recidivism by requiring CDCR to prioritize providing permanent supportive housing for individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness and to parolees experiencing homelessness.”

Background: Secure housing is essential to any person reintegrating into society after leaving prison. The Prison Policy Initiative, a research and advocacy group, looked at homelessness rates among the five million formerly incarcerated people living in the United States and found that formerly incarcerated people are close to ten times more likely to be homeless than the general public. National research suggests that up to 15% of incarcerated people experience homelessness in the year before admission to prison. And a lack of access to housing can create a “revolving door” for formerly incarcerated persons to end up back in custody, for offenses like sleeping in public spaces, panhandling, and public urination.

CDCR currently funds programs that provide services for Californians exiting prison who are at risk of recidivating. However, contractors of these programs cannot use funds to provide permanent supportive housing and are limited only to short-term housing. The provision of transitional housing, or short term housing, under CDCR is limited to 180 days (with the potential for an extension) and does not currently follow the core components of California's “Housing First” model. Housing First is the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery. It connects people experiencing homelessness to housing as quickly as possible and does not make housing contingent on participation in services. Housing First includes time-limited rental or services assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the recipient in accessing permanent housing and in securing longer-term rental assistance, income assistance, or employment. In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell) Chapter 847, required that all state programs that provide housing to adopt a housing first model by July 1, 2019.

Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP): STOP is one of two programs that provide transitional housing for parolees in their first year of release. STOP has a six to 12 month time restriction on stays in transitional housing. Current law does not require STOP centers to offer housing navigation services prior, during, or after the 180 days. Additionally, CDCR has little data on the effectiveness of programs funding transitional housing.

CDCR’s Division of Rehabilitative Programs states that it provides “comprehensive post-release rehabilitative programs and services located in communities throughout the State of California. These programs are delivered through residential, outpatient, and drop-in centers.” CDCR states that its long term Transitional Housing Program (THP) provides services for up to 180 days with the possibility of an additional 185 days, based on assessed need. THP only serves four counties in the state: Alameda, Los Angeles (four locations), San Diego, and San Francisco.

Integrated Services for Homeless and Mentally Ill Parolees: The Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, Senate Bill 1021 in 2012, which included direction to CDCR to provide a supportive housing program for people on parole experiencing mental illness and homelessness. The program was intended to use funds budgeted for the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program to provide supportive housing, in accordance with Senate Bill 1021, Statutes of 2011-2012. However, these funds apparently have not been used for their legislatively intended purposes to create supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness while on parole. (See Legislative Findings, SB 282 (Beall) of the 2018-2019 Legislative Session.) In 2017, the University of California, Los Angeles, completed an evaluation of the ISMIP program and found that there were not significant reductions in recidivism among ISMIP participants, as compared to other persons who did not participate in the ISMIP program. (Id.) This bill intends to ensure that funding for permanent housing for parolees is a priority for CDCR, and requires the use of evidence-based housing solutions that will be more effective than current programs.

Appropriation of $5 Million in Funding: This bill seeks $5 million in appropriated funds to allow CDCR to provide long term housing to parolees. This bill would require CDCR to reimburse the Department of Housing and Community Development for the reasonable costs of coordinating with the department to design and establish guidelines, requests for proposals, and scopes of work as specified, and for coordinating with the department to design and implement the evaluation required.

Committee amendment:

• Delete the $5 million appropriation in the bill.

Related Legislation: SB 282 (Beall), would repeal the “Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees Program” (ISMIP) and would instead enact the Supportive Housing Program for Persons on Parole to be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. SB 282 is pending in the Senate Health Committee.

Previous Legislation:

SB 1021 (Comm. on Budget) 2012, Chapter 41, Statutes of 2012, established the ISMIP program, a supportive housing program for people on parole experiencing mental illness and homelessness.

SB 1013 (Beall), of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session, would have required service providers in the ISMIP program to provide parolee participants with adequate housing and related assistance, including a path to permanent housing and independent living, as part of the Supportive Housing Program for Mentally Ill Prisoners. SB 1013 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

SB 1010 (Beall, 2018), of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session, would have established a supportive housing pilot program for mentally ill parolees who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, using existing funding. SB 1010 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Double referred: This bill is double referred. It was heard in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety and passed out on a vote of 7-0 on April 9, 2019.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Corporation for supportive Housing

Housing California

California Public Defenders Association

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085

Date of Hearing: April 9, 2019

Counsel: Nikki Moore

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY

Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1405

Author:(Gloria) – As Amended Ver:March 19, 2019

SUMMARY:

Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to contract for and fund permanent housing for parolees at risk of homelessness. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CDCR, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enter into contracts with contractors who provide short-term housing to parolees through an adult day reporting center or through the department’s Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP) to provide permanent housing for individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness and to parolees experiencing homelessness.
   
2. Defines “at risk of homelessness” to mean an individual who has a history of homelessness and satisfies either of the following criteria:
   
   1. The individual has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence to reside at upon release from prison or upon exit from short-term housing funded by the department; or
   2. The individual’s only identified nighttime residence upon release from prison or upon exit from short-term housing funded by the department includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a publicly or privately owned space that is not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for a human being.
      
3. Requires CDCR to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Community Development to draft and establish guidelines, requests for proposals, and amended or new scopes of work for contractors offering the permanent housing.
   
4. Requires CDCR to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Community Development to design and implement an independent evaluation of all programs providing short-term or long-term housing to parolees, as specified.
   
5. Requires that any subcontractor or contractor shall establish relationships with affordable housing providers, supportive housing providers, and local homeless continuums of care in the community in which participants are living, and provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services to participants to obtain permanent housing.
   
6. States that services and housing offered to a participant under this bill shall be offered voluntarily and follow the core components of Housing First.
   
7. Requires CDCR to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Community Development to design and implement an independent evaluation of all programs providing short-term or permanent housing to individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness or parolees experiencing homelessness. The evaluation shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following information:
   
   1. The total number of parolees receiving short-term housing assistance and their housing status 12 and 24 months after program entry, to the extent that data is available, in each program identified;
      
   2. The total number of parolees receiving housing navigation or permanent housing assistance and their housing status 12 and 24 months after program entry, to the extent that data is available, in each program identified; and,
      
   3. Rates of recidivism to prison or jail among parolees at 12 and 24 months after program entry, including the number of arrests and days incarcerated, to the extent that data is available.
      
8. Requires the evaluation to be submitted to the chairs of specified legislative committees of the Senate and Assembly on or before January 1, 2023.
   
9. Appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the CDCR for purposes of providing the permanent housing for parolees.
   
10. Includes legislative findings that evidence shows that “permanent housing,” or housing that does not limit length of stay and provides rights and responsibilities of tenancy, is the only evidence-based intervention that allows individuals experiencing homelessness to exit it.
    
11. Includes legislative findings that a disproportionate number of individuals on parole experience homelessness and housing instability, and that formerly incarcerated individuals are almost 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than other individuals. At the same time, individuals on parole who are experiencing homelessness are seven times more likely to recidivate than individuals on parole who are living in permanent housing.
    
12. States that it is the intent of the Legislature to strengthen corrections programs to ensure that CDCR promotes evidence-based housing and services interventions for individuals on parole who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness. These evidence-based practices would allow individuals to obtain and maintain housing stability during and after the term of parole, thereby reducing recidivism.
    

EXISTING LAW:

1. Defines “supportive housing” as housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population, and that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing resident in retaining the housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing his or her ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. Further specifies that supportive housing is decent, safe, and affordable. (Pen. Code, § 2985.1.)
2. Provides that a person is “likely to become homeless upon release” if he or she has a history of “homelessness,” as defined under federal law, and if both of the following are true:
   
   1. He or she has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence for release; and
      
   2. His or her only identified nighttime residence for release includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a public or private place not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. (Pen. Code, § 2985.2, subd. (c)(3).)
3. Requires all of the following in order for an inmate to be eligible for the supportive housing program:
   
   1. He or she has a serious mental disorder, as defined by law, and as identified by CDCR, and he or she has a history of mental health treatment in the prison’s mental health services delivery system or in a parole outpatient clinic;
      
   2. The inmate or parolee voluntarily chooses to participate; and
      
   3. He or she has either been assigned a date of release within 60 to 180 days and is likely to become homeless upon release, or he or she is currently a homeless parolee. (Pen. Code, § 2985.2, subd. (c).)
      
4. Requires each provider to offer services, as specified, to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole, to enable the parolee to comply with the terms of parole, and to augment mental health treatment provided to other parolees. The services shall be offered to participants in their home, or be made as easily accessible to participants as possible and shall include specified services including housing location services, and, if needed, move-in cost assistance. (Pen. Code, § 2985.3.)
5. Requires the service provider to do the following to facilitate the parolee’s transition into the community to among other things, assess a participant’s needs and include in the assessment a plan for permanent housing after parole and help transition participants from CDCR rental assistance into mainstream rental assistance, such as specified federal programs, if necessary for the parolee to remain in stable housing. (Pen. Code, § 2985.3, subd. (c).
   
6. Requires providers to identify and locate supportive housing and transitional housing for participants before release or as soon as possible upon release. (Pen. Code § 2985.4, subd. (a).)
   
7. Specifies that the “core components of Housing First” means all of the following (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 8255.):
   1. Tenant screening and selection practices that promote accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services;
   2. Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or financial history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal convictions unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack of “housing readiness;”
   3. Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis response systems frequented by vulnerable people experiencing homelessness;
   4. Supportive services that emphasize engagement and problem solving over therapeutic goals and service plans that are highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals;
      
   5. Participation in services or program compliance is not a condition of permanent housing tenancy;
   6. Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health and Safety, and Government codes;
   7. The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other lease violations, is not a reason for eviction;
   8. In communities with coordinated assessment and entry systems, incentives for funding promote tenant selection plans for supportive housing that prioritize eligible tenants based on criteria other than “first-come-first-serve,” including, but not limited to, the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early mortality, or high utilization of crisis services. Prioritization may include triage tools, developed through local data, to identify high-cost, high-need homeless residents;
   9. Case managers and service coordinators who are trained in and actively employ evidence-based practices for client engagement, including, but not limited to, motivational interviewing and client-centered counseling;
   10. Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’ lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment if the tenant so chooses; and,
       
   11. The project and specific apartment may include special physical features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and promote health and community and independence among tenants.

EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:

1. Defines “homeless” as follows: an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, as specified; an individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence, as specified; an unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, as specified; and any individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence, has no other residence, and, lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing. (Housing and Urban Development, 24 C.F.R. § 91.5.):

FISCAL EFFECT:

Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author's Statement: According to the author, “Formerly incarcerated people face barriers to employment and housing upon exiting correctional facilities. Research shows that individuals on parole are ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, individuals on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate than individuals on parole who are living in permanent housing. Undoubtedly, stable housing is the foundation of successful reentry from prison. This bill conforms existing law with evidence-based, best practices for decreasing homelessness and recidivism by requiring CDCR to prioritize providing permanent supportive housing for individuals exiting prison who are at risk of homelessness and to parolees experiencing homelessness.”
2. Need for this Bill: Having secure housing is essential to any person reintegrating into society after leaving prison. Yet the transition from prison is difficult. The Prison Policy Initiative, a research and advocacy group, looked at homelessness rates among the five million formerly incarcerated people living in the United States. (See Lucius Couloute, Nowhere to Go: Homelessness Among Formerly Incarcerated People, Prison Policy Initiative, August 2018, Available at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/housing.html.) It found that formerly incarcerated people are close to 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public. (Id.) Put another way, “National research suggests that up to 15% of incarcerated people experience homelessness in the year before admission to prison.” (Id.) And a lack of access to housing can create a “revolving door” for formerly incarcerated persons to end up back in custody, for offenses like sleeping in public spaces, panhandling, and public urination. (Id.)
   
   According to the author, CDCR currently funds programs that provide services for Californians exiting prison who are at risk of recidivating. However, contractors of these programs cannot use funds to provide permanent supportive housing and are limited—only to short-term housing. The provision of transitional housing, or short term housing, under CDCR is limited to 180 days (with the potential for an extension) and does not currently follow the core components of California's “Housing First” model. Housing First is the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery. It connects homeless people to housing as quickly as possible and does not make housing contingent on participation in services. Housing First includes time-limited rental or services assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the recipient in accessing permanent housing and in securing longer-term rental assistance, income assistance, or employment.

Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP) is one of two programs that provide transitional housing for parolees in their first year of release. STOP has a six to 12 month time restriction on stays in transitional housing. Current law does not require STOP centers to offer housing navigation services prior, during, or after the 180 days. Additionally, CDCR has little data on the effectiveness of programs funding transitional housing.

CDCR’s Division of Rehabilitative Programs states that it provides “comprehensive post-release rehabilitative programs and services located in communities throughout the State of California. These programs are delivered through residential, outpatient, and drop-in centers.” The Department lists its reentry services at https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Adult_Operations/FOPS/reentry-services.html. CDCR states that its long term Transitional Housing Program (THP) provides services for up to 180 days with the possibility of an additional 185 days, based on assessed need. THP only serves four counties in the state: Alameda, Los Angeles (four locations), San Diego, and San Francisco.

1. Integrated Services for Homeless and Mentally Ill Parolees: The Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, Senate Bill 1021 in 2012, which included direction to CDCR to provide a supportive housing program for people on parole experiencing mental illness and homelessness. The program was intended to use funds budgeted for the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program to provide supportive housing, in accordance with Senate Bill 1021, Statutes of 2011-2012. However, these funds apparently have not been used for their legislatively intended purposes to create supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness while on parole. (See Legislative Findings, SB 282 (Beall) of the 2018-2019 Legislative Session.) In 2017, the University of California, Los Angeles, completed an evaluation of the ISMIP program and found that there were not significant reductions in recidivism among ISMIP participants, as compared to other persons who did not participate in the ISMIP program. (Id.) This bill intends to ensure that funding for permanent housing for parolees is a priority for CDCR, and requires the use of evidence-based housing solutions that will be more effective than current programs.
   
2. Appropriation of $5 Million in Funding: This bill seeks $5 million in appropriated funds to allow CDCR to provide long term housing to parolees. This bill would require CDCR to reimburse the Department of Housing and Community Development for the reasonable costs of coordinating with the department to design and establish guidelines, requests for proposals, and scopes of work as specified, and for coordinating with the department to design and implement the evaluation required. Should such a request be addressed through the budget process?
   
3. Argument in Support: According to the Housing California and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, “Stable housing is the foundation for successful reentry. We can and should do better for Californians being released from prison, as their stability reduces recidivism, strengthens our communities, and promotes equity.
   
   “Homelessness and incarceration are linked:

• Up to one-half of parolees have experienced homelessness in San Francisco and Los Angeles;
• Parolees who are homeless are seven times more likely to recidivate than those who are housed;
• Formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public; and
• About half of people experiencing homelessness report a history of incarceration.

“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) currently funds programs providing services for Californians exiting prison at risk of recidivating. Contractors cannot use these funds to provide permanent housing—housing that does not limit length of stay, allows people to live independently, and requires a lease. Two existing programs offer only short-term housing: Day Reporting Centers ($15.323 million per year) and Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming ($68.179 million per year), which both allow contractors to use funding for transitional housing for 180 days, with one 185-day extension based on need.

“People who have experienced homelessness often return to the streets once short-term housing programs end, unless they are connected to permanent housing upon exit. Data indicate that almost 40% of people exiting short-term housing become homeless within six months. For parolees, return homelessness increases risk of recidivism and high costs to public systems.

“Existing CDCR programs funding any kind of housing options for parolees at risk of or experiencing homelessness should be allowed to provide permanent housing, rather than adhering to arbitrary six- to 12-month time restrictions. Though transitional housing is not an evidence-based solution to ending homelessness, interim and transitional housing can provide a safe place for participants to access reentry services while seeking a permanent, affordable place to live, so long as the housing is coupled with services and options for parolees to exit to permanent housing.

“AB 1405 will allocate a small amount of additional funds to existing contractors to provide voluntary housing navigation services to help people transition into permanent housing as quickly as feasible. Augmented funding will also help contractors establish relationships with county and community-based housing programs to enable them to begin the work of connecting participants to permanent housing options as soon as their program participation begins. To foster inter-agency collaboration and ensure State funds are promoting consistent, evidence-based policies that move people to housing stability, CDCR would work with the Department of Housing and Community Development.

“AB 1405 would bring existing CDCR programs into compliance with the Housing First approach the state has adopted, along with evidence-based housing interventions known to solve homelessness and housing instability among people on parole.”

1. Related Legislation: SB 282 (Beall), would repeal the “Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees Program” (ISMIP) and would instead enact the Supportive Housing Program for Persons on Parole to be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. SB 282 is pending in the Senate Health Committee.
   
2. Prior Legislation:
   
   1. SB 1021 (Comm. on Budget) 2012, Chapter 41, Statutes of 2012, established the ISMIP program, a supportive housing program for people on parole experiencing mental illness and homelessness.
      
   2. SB 1013 (Beall), of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session, would have required service providers in the ISMIP program to provide parolee participants with adequate housing and related assistance, including a path to permanent housing and independent living, as part of the Supportive Housing Program for Mentally Ill Prisoners. SB 1013 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense file.
      
   3. SB 1010 (Beall, 2018), of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session, would have established a supportive housing pilot program for mentally ill parolees who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, using existing funding. SB 1010 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Public Defenders Association
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Housing California

Opposition

None

Analysis Prepared by:

Nikki Moore / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744