Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons. Existing law requires a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. Existing law establishes the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations, to create partnerships with specified entities, including the United States Department of Housing and Urban Developments Continuum of Care Program, and, among other things, to identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. Existing law requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to provide staff for the council.

This bill would require the agency to provide 6 additional full-time staff positions for the council, as specified. The bill would require the council to report to the Legislature recommendations for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homelessness programs in the state, by January 1, 2021. 2022.

GOVERNOR'S VETO

GV Bill Id:AB 1702

Author:(Luz Rivas)

As Enrolled Ver:September 17, 2019

2/3 vote

SUMMARY:

Requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homeless programs in the state, as specified.

The Senate Amendments:

Delete the requirement to add new staffing resources to the HCFC.

Governor's Veto Message:

This bill requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, recommendations for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council is already in the process of developing a State Strategic Action Plan that will provide a blueprint for how state agencies and departments should align and prioritize their programs and resources, and how the state can support and complement regional solutions to homelessness. I fully support exploring opportunities to streamline service delivery and enhance the effectiveness of our state homeless programs, but these ideas should be incorporated into this plan rather than a separate report. Moreover, the development of the report will incur costs to the General Fund that were not included in the Budget Act.

COMMENTS:

Background: California is facing a homelessness and affordable housing crisis. In 2018, on a single night in January, 129,972 people experienced homelessness in California. California has 24% of the people in the nation experiencing homelessness. Nearly half of all unsheltered people in the country are in California. Although the number of people experiencing homelessness decreased slightly since 2017, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness has risen over 5% since 2010.

The homeless crisis is driven by the lack of affordable rental housing for lower income people. In the current market, 2.2 million extremely low-income and very low-income renter households are competing for 664,000 affordable rental units. Of the six million renter households in the state, 1.7 million are paying more than 50% of their income toward rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the state needs an additional 1.5 million housing units affordable to very-low income Californians.

HCFC: In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell), Chapter 847, created the HCFC to coordinate the state's response to homelessness. SB 1380 required all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. In 2017, SB 918 (Wiener), Chapter 841 expanded the role of the HCFC to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the HCFC to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California. The HCFC meets every quarter.

In 2018, the HCFC was tasked with administering the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges. To qualify to receive funds, a city, county or joint powers authority must declare a shelter crisis and a CoC must demonstrate collaboration with the city and county. Funding can be used for emergency housing vouchers, rapid re-housing, and construction of emergency shelters, among other uses.

According to the Author:

According to the author, "From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. In 2018, the city and county of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 (homeless) people. In a recent (report) put out by LA County, there is a 12 percent increase to homeless in LA County, bringing the population to 58,936."

Arguments in Support:

The Provider Alliance to End Homelessness, which represents 70 organizations in Los Angeles that provide housing and services to people experiencing homelessness, writes that "AB 1702 is one of the most consequential bills to be introduced this legislative session on homelessness, because it deals with the mechanism for allocating resources and coordinating policy — namely the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). It is not enough for the Legislature to boost funding for homeless services, as critical as more money will be to address the state's homelessness crisis. We must also strengthen HCFC's capacity to make sure these resources are well spent."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

1. Costs to the BCSH over a two-year period of $153,000 in the first year and $144,000 in the second year for additional personnel to research and develop recommendations for the report and to draft and submit the report. (General Fund)
2. Unknown cost pressure, to implement suggested recommendations produced in the report.

VOTES:

ASM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: 8-0-0

YES: Chiu, Diep, Gabriel, Gloria, Kiley, Limón, Maienschein, Quirk-Silva

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0-2

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Cooley, Eduardo Garcia

SENATE FLOOR: 40-0-0

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0-0

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

UPDATED:

VERSION: September 17, 2019

CONSULTANT: Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN: 0002601

CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 1702

Author:(Luz Rivas)

As Amended Ver:August 30, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homeless programs in the state, as specified.

The Senate Amendments:

Delete the requirement to add new staffing resources to the HCFC.

COMMENTS:

Background: California is facing a homelessness and affordable housing crisis. In 2018, on a single night in January, 129,972 people experienced homelessness in California. California has 24% of the people in the nation experiencing homelessness. Nearly half of all unsheltered people in the country are in California. Although the number of people experiencing homelessness decreased slightly since 2017, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness has risen over five percent since 2010.

The homeless crisis is driven by the lack of affordable rental housing for lower income people. In the current market, 2.2 million extremely low-income and very low-income renter households are competing for 664,000 affordable rental units. Of the six million renter households in the state, 1.7 million are paying more than 50% of their income toward rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the state needs an additional 1.5 million housing units affordable to very-low income Californians.

HCFC: In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell), Chapter 847, created the HCFC to coordinate the state's response to homelessness. SB 1380 required all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. In 2017, SB 918 (Wiener), Chapter 841 expanded the role of the HCFC to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the HCFC to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California. The HCFC meets every quarter.

In 2018, the HCFC was tasked with administering the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges. To qualify to receive funds, a city, county or joint powers authority must declare a shelter crisis and a Continuum of Care (CoC) must demonstrate collaboration with the city and county. Funding can be used for emergency housing vouchers, rapid re-housing, and construction of emergency shelters, among other uses.

According to the Author:

According to the author, "From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. In 2018, the city and county of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 (homeless) people. In a recent (report) put out by LA County, there is a 12 percent increase to homeless in LA County, bringing the population to 58,936."

Arguments in Support:

The Provider Alliance to End Homelessness, which represents 70 organizations in Los Angeles that provide housing and services to people experiencing homelessness, writes that "AB 1702 is one of the most consequential bills to be introduced this legislative session on homelessness, because it deals with the mechanism for allocating resources and coordinating policy — namely the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). It is not enough for the Legislature to boost funding for homeless services, as critical as more money will be to address the state's homelessness crisis. We must also strengthen HCFC's capacity to make sure these resources are well spent."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

1. Costs to the BCSH over a two-year period of $153,000 in the first year and $144,000 in the second year for additional personnel to research and develop recommendations for the report and to draft and submit the report. (General Fund)
2. Unknown cost pressure, to implement suggested recommendations produced in the report.

VOTES:

ASM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: 8-0-0

YES: Chiu, Diep, Gabriel, Gloria, Kiley, Limón, Maienschein, Quirk-Silva

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0-2

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Patterson, Petrie‑Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Cooley, Eduardo Garcia

SENATE FLOOR: 40-0-0

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

UPDATED:

VERSION: August 30, 2019

CONSULTANT: Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN: 0002381

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1702

Author: Luz Rivas (D), et al.

Amended: 8/30/19 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 6-0, 6/24/19

AYES: Hurtado, Stone, Beall, Jackson, Pan, Wiener

SENATE HOUSING COMMITTEE: 9-1, 7/2/19

AYES: Wiener, Morrell, Bates, Durazo, McGuire, Roth, Skinner, Umberg, Wieckowski

NOES: Caballero

NO VOTE RECORDED: Moorlach

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bates, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/23/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council) to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homeless programs in the state, as specified.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes the Council, to be chaired by the Secretary of Business Consumer Services and Housing (BCSH), and made up of 14 specified members or their representatives. (WIC 8257 (c))
2. Sets the following goals for the Council:
   1. To identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California;
   2. To create partnerships among state and federal agencies and departments, local government agencies, and nonprofit entities working to end homelessness, homeless services providers, and the private sector, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness;
   3. To promote systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age;
   4. To coordinate existing funding and applications for competitive funding, without restructuring or changing any existing allocations or allocation formulas;
   5. To make policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities;
   6. To identify and seek funding opportunities for state entities that have programs to end homelessness and to facilitate and coordinate those state entities’ efforts to obtain that funding;
   7. To broker agreements between state agencies and departments and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding;
   8. To serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California;
   9. To report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness; and
   10. To ensure accountability and results in meeting the strategies and goals of the Council. (WIC 8257 (b))
3. Requires the BCSH to provide staff for the Council (WIC 8257 (h))
4. Provides for an executive director of the Council under the direction of the Secretary of BCSH (WIC 8257 (j))
5. Requires, after July 1, 2017, agencies and departments that implement funds, or administer a program that provides housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness, with the exception of federally funded programs not consistent with housing first or programs that fund emergency shelters, to work with the Council to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First. (WIC 8256)
6. Requires the Legislative Counsel, in drafting a bill for introduction or an amendment to a bill that would impose a reporting requirement described in subdivision (a), shall include a provision that repeals the reporting requirement, or makes the reporting requirement inoperative, four years after the date on which the requirement becomes operative, unless the person requesting the bill or amendment directs the Legislative Counsel to do otherwise. (GOV 10231.5)
7. Sets for the process for the submission of a statutorily required report to the Legislature by a state or local entity. (GOV 9795)

This bill:

1. Requires the Council to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and enhance the effectiveness of homeless programs in the state, as specified.
2. Sunsets the requirement to submit this report on January 1, 2025, as specified.

Comments

According to the author, “From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. In 2018, the city and county of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 (homeless) people. In a recent (report) put out by LA County, there is a 12 percent increase to homeless in LA County, bringing the population to 58,936.”

Homelessness in California

According to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report produced by HUD (reporting on a single night in 2018), there were 129,972 homeless people in California. Of those, 89,543 were unsheltered. According to this report, California has the nation’s largest homeless population - 24 percent of the nation’s total. Additionally, California accounted for nearly half, 47 percent, of all unsheltered people in the country in 2018.^[1] Preliminary figures estimate between 149,000 and 155,000 homeless Californians in the final 2019 point in time count.

The health, personal, and economic challenges that chronically homeless individuals and families face and the lack of effective, coordinated services to address these problems often lead to a cycle of housing instability and health deterioration. Health conditions of those experiencing long-term homelessness often prevent housing stability, while persistent homelessness impedes access to needed health and employment services. Consequently, people who are chronically homeless cycle through costly emergency-driven public systems – emergency shelters, emergency rooms, detoxification centers, criminal justice facilities – without getting the ongoing care they need to address severe mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or chronic health conditions.

Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness. The Council oversees the implementation of Housing First policies, guidelines, and regulations to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California. The Council's mission is to develop policies, identify resources, benefits, and services to prevent and work toward ending homelessness in California. Last year, the Council was moved from HCD to BCSH and further tasked with administering the newly created Homeless Emergency Assistance Program to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges.

This bill requires the Council to make recommendations to the Legislature for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state. As noted in the analysis prepared by the Senate Housing Committee, this appears to be very closely aligned with the Council’s current goals, which include:

• Creation of partnerships among state agencies and departments, local government agencies, CoCs, federal agencies, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, nonprofit agencies, homeless services providers, and the private sector, to work on specific strategies to end homelessness;
• Promotion of systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness;
• Coordination of existing funding and applications for competitive funding;
• Making policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities;
• Brokering agreements between state agencies and departments, and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions, to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 333 (Wilk, 2019) requires the Council, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the state. The bill also requires the Council, by January 1, 2021, to implement strategic plans to assist HUD Continuum of Care lead agencies in better implementing recommended activities and requirements.

SB 573 (Chang, 2019), upon appropriation, makes funding available to Homeless Emergency Aid program for appropriation to local entities representing jurisdictions with a declared shelter crisis. The bill also requires these funds be used to fund programs and provide other assistance that prioritizes meeting the needs of veterans and homeless youth.

SB 687 (Rubio, 2019) requires the Governor to appoint a representative of the state public higher education system, as specified. The bill is awaiting a vote on the Assembly Floor.

AB 58 (Luz Rivas, 2019) requires the Governor to appoint a representative from the State Department of Education. The bill is awaiting a vote on Senate Floor.

AB 307 (Reyes, 2019) requires the Council to develop and administer a grant program to support young people experiencing homelessness and prevent and end homelessness. The program would be funded by a specified combination of funds, gifts and donations, as specified. The bill was held in Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 816 (Quirk-Silva, 2019) would have established the California Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool Program within HCD for the purpose of making grants available to applicants, defined to include a city, county, city and county, or continuum of care, for eligible activities including, among other things, rental assistance, operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, and specified outreach services. The bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1534 (Wicks, 2019) would have enacted the Regional Homeless Management Planning Act, which would require HCD to develop standards and definitions for a county to use in developing regional homeless action plans. The bill also would have required a county to complete and submit to the department a Regional Homeless Action Plan on or before January 1, 2022, and every two years thereafter. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2017) expanded the role of the Council to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the Council to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth.

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness and requires all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

• Costs to the BCSH over a two-year period of $153,000 in the first year and $144,000 in the second year for additional personnel to research and develop recommendations for the report and to draft and submit the report. (GF)
• Unknown cost pressure, to implement suggested recommendations produced in the report.

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/30/19)

California Coalition for Youth

City of Santa Monica

County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors

Health Officers Association of California

Housing California

Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/30/19)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/23/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Eduardo Garcia

Prepared by: Taryn Smith / HUMAN S. /

9/3/19 11:32:57

**** END ****

1. The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (December 2018) <https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2018-AHAR-Part-1.pdf> (as of March 11, 2019). ↑

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 1702 (Luz Rivas) - Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

Bill Summary:

AB 1702 would require the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six full-time staff positions, as specified, for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council) and would require the Council to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, recommendations for statutory changes to streamline delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on August 30, 2019

Fiscal Impact:

• Costs to the BCSH over a two-year period of $153,000 in the first year and $144,000 in the second year for additional personnel to research and develop recommendations for the report and to draft and submit the report. (GF)
• Unknown cost pressure, to implement suggested recommendations produced in the report.

Author Amendments:

• Strike the six full-time positions.
• Clarify that the report include recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of homelessness programs.
• Delay the submission of the report to January 1, 2022.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 1702 (Luz Rivas) - Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

Bill Summary:

AB 1702 would require the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six full-time staff positions, as specified, for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council) and would require the Council to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, recommendations for statutory changes to streamline delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

Fiscal Impact:

• Ongoing costs to the BCSH ranging from the high hundreds of thousands of dollars to the low millions of dollars to create six new full-time positions. The total cost of the positions would depend on the classifications for the positions that would be created and the total of the corresponding salaries. (GF)
• Costs to the BCSH over a two-year period of $153,000 in the first year and $144,000 in the second year for additional personnel to research and develop recommendations for the report and to draft and submit the report. (GF)
• Unknown cost pressure, to implement suggested recommendations produced in the report.

Background:

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness by to overseeing the implementation of “Housing First” policies, guidelines, and regulations to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California. The Council was originally housed within the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), but later moved to the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) under SB 850 (Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 48, Statutes of 2018). By July 1, 2019, agencies and departments administering state programs relating to homelessness are required to collaborate with the Council to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate core components of Housing First. The Council is also responsible for the administration of $500 million in Homeless Emergency Aid Program block grant funds, which was created to provide one time funding to enable local governments to respond to homelessness.

By July 1, 2019, agencies and departments administering state programs relating to homelessness are required to collaborate with the Council to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate core components of Housing First. The Council adopted a Housing First Checklist to be used by state agencies to assess their homelessness-related programs and make recommendations on any changes required to bring their programs into alignment with Housing First statute. The council has also drafted, but not yet adopted, criteria for Housing First requirements and a proposed 2019 Action Plan is under consideration.

Proposed Law:

This bill would require the BCSH to create six full-time staff positions for the Council by adding three new full-time positions and converting three part-time positions to full-time. This bill would also require the Council to report to the Legislature, by January 1, 2021, recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state. The reporting requirements would sunset on January 1, 2025.

Related Legislation:

SB 333 (Wilk, 2019) would require the Council, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the state. The bill would also require the Council, by January 1, 2021, to implement strategic plans to assist HUD Continuum of Care lead agencies in better implementing recommended activities and requirements. The measure is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 67 (Luz Rivas, 2019) would require the HCD to create a state homeless integrated data warehouse, in coordination with the Council, to develop a composite portrayal of the homeless population in the state and the services provided to this population or to those at risk of becoming homeless. The measure is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2017) expanded the role of the Council to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the Council to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth.

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness and requires all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies.

Staff Comments:

Initially, the Council was provided three permanent staff positions: an executive officer, a research data specialist II, an associate governmental program analyst. An additional two permanent positions were added following the passage of SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2017) to provide focus on homeless youth: one staff services manager II, and one staff services manager I. Three additional one-year limited-term positions were established to implement the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) - one staff services manager III and two staff services managers II.

The 2019 Budget included $981,000 for the following six additional positions for the Council:

• 1 CEA Deputy Secretary
• 1 Staff Services Manager I
• 1 Office Technician
• 1 2-year Limited Term Staff Services Manager III
• 1 2-year Limited Term Staff Services Manager II
• 1 2-year Limited Term Associate Governmental Program Analyst

This bill does not specify what classifications of positions it would create. Therefore, it is unclear if the positions described above that are included in the 2019-20 budget are duplicative of what the author intends. Additionally, personnel decisions are typically made through the budget process rather than the policy process. The author may wish to consider removing the staffing provisions from this bill since they are duplicative of the budget.

Proposed Author Amendments:

The author proposes the following amendments:

• Remove the proposed six full-time positions.
• Delay the required report submission to January 1, 2022.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING

Senator Scott Wiener, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 1702 Hearing Date: 7/2/2019

SUBJECT: Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

DIGEST: This bill requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create additional staff positions at the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) and requires the HCFC to make recommendations to the Legislature on streamlining homeless programs and service delivery.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes the HCFC in BCSH, with the purpose of coordinating the state’s response to homelessness by utilizing Housing First practices.
2. Defines “Housing First” to mean the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery and that centers on providing or connecting homeless people to permanent housing as quickly as possible. Housing First providers offer services as needed and requested on a voluntary basis and that do not make housing contingent on participation in services.
3. Requires BCSH to provide staff for the HCFC.
4. Requires the Governor to appoint up to 17 members to the HCFC. These include the Secretary of BCSH, or their designee, who shall serve as HCFC chair, and representatives of the following:
   1. The state Department of Transportation.
   2. The state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
   3. The state Department of Social Services.
   4. The California Housing Finance Agency.
   5. The state Department of Health Care Services.
   6. The state Department of Veterans Affairs.
   7. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
   8. The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
   9. The Victim Services Program in the Office of Emergency Services.
   10. A formerly homeless person who lives in California.
   11. A formerly homeless youth who lives in California.
   12. Two representatives of local agencies or organizations that participate in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program.
   13. State advocates or other members of the public or state agencies, at the Governor’s discretion.
   14. Two different stakeholder organizations, appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and the Assembly Speaker.

This bill:

1. Requires BCSH, commencing with the 2020-21 fiscal year, to create three new full-time staff positions for the HCFC and to convert three existing part-time staff positions to full-time, for a total of six new full-time positions.
2. Requires the HCFC, by January 1, 2021, to report to the Legislature its recommendations for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

COMMENTS

1. Purpose of the bill. The author states that according to a recent report by Los Angeles County, homelessness in LA County has increased by 12%, bringing the county’s homeless population to 58,936. San Fernando Valley had a 4% increase, bring its total homeless population to 8,047. It is important to note that a significant portion of homeless individuals are children. LA County increased its efforts to combat homelessness and housed more than 21,000 people last year through various systems and interventions. While the county is housing people at a rapid rate, it is unable to keep pace with the amount of people becoming homeless. The homeless crisis has proven to be overwhelming. This bill gives the HCFC the resources it needs to operate and carry out its legislatively mandated duty to address the state’s homeless crisis.
2. Homelessness in California. According to the HUD 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, in January 2018 California had 24% of the nation’s homeless population (about 129,972 individuals). California also contains 47% of the nation’s unsheltered homeless population (89,543), including people living in vehicles, abandoned buildings, parks, or on the street. Los Angeles contains the highest number of homeless people in the state, at 49,955, where 75% of those are unsheltered. People experiencing homelessness face a variety of challenges including food and income insecurity, as well as health problems; the homeless population faces a higher risk of exposure to communicable diseases such as influenza, strep throat, sexually transmitted diseases, Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, among others.
3. The HCFC. SB 1380 (Mitchell, 2016) created the HCFC to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness with HCD. The HCFC is tasked with collaborating with all state agencies to ensure they revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First, if they do not already do so. Last year, the HCFC was further tasked with administering the newly created Homeless Emergency Assistance Program to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges.
4. Staffing. While the HCFC was originally established within HCD, last year’s budget moved it to BCSH and provided for the allocation of several staff to the HCFC. This bill would provide six additional full-time staff positions at the HCFC by adding three new full-time positions and converting three part-time positions to full-time. Personnel decisions, however, are typically made through the budget process rather than the policy process, and in fact, the six positions are accounted for in the 2019-20 budget. Moving forward, the author may wish to consider removing the staffing provisions from this bill since they are duplicative of the budget.
5. Streamlining programs. This bill requires the HCFC to make recommendations to the Legislature for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state. This provision appears to be duplicative of what HCFC is already doing. Specifically, the HCFC was created with a number of goals, including, among others:
6. Creation of partnerships among state agencies and departments, local government agencies, CoCs, federal agencies, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, nonprofit agencies, homeless services providers, and the private sector, to work on specific strategies to end homelessness;
7. Promotion of systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness;
8. Coordination of existing funding and applications for competitive funding;
9. Making policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities;
10. Brokering agreements between state agencies and departments, and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions, to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding.

Because this bill appears to be duplicative of the HCFC’s existing mission, the author may wish to consider not moving it forward.

1. Double-referral. This bill was also referred to the Human Services Committee, which approved it on a 6-0 vote on June 24th.

Related Legislation:

SB 687 (Rubio, 2019) — increases the number of HCFC members appointed by the Governor from 17 to 20 by requiring the Governor to additionally appoint a formerly homeless college student, a formerly homeless veteran, and a formerly homeless parent. This bill is in the Assembly Housing Committee.

SB 333 (Wilk, 2019) — requires the HCFC, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the state. Also requires the HCFC, by January 1, 2021, to implement strategic plans to assist Continuums of Care to better implement US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recommended activities and/or to better meet federal HUD requirements. This bill is in the Assembly Housing Committee.

AB 67 (Luz Rivas, 2019) — requires HCD, in coordination with the HCFC, to create a state homeless integrated data warehouse, as specified. This bill will be heard in this committee today.

AB 307 (Reyes, 2019) — requires the HCFC to develop a grant program to support homeless youth and to prevent and end homelessness among California’s youth, as specified. This bill will be heard in this committee today.

SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2018) — established the Homeless Youth Act of 2018 to better serve the state’s homeless youth population and requires the HCFC to take on additional related responsibilities that are focused on addressing the needs of youth experiencing homelessness.

SB 850 (Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 48, Statutes of 2018) — provided for over $600 million in funding to various projects aimed at reducing homelessness. Also moved the HCFC from HCD to BCSH, authorized the creation of an HCFC Executive Director, and provided for the allocation of several staff members to HCFC.

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) — established the HCFC to oversee implementation of the Housing First regulations and, among other things, identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. It also required state agencies or departments that fund, implement, or administer state housing or housing-related services programs to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,

June 26, 2019.)

SUPPORT:

California Coalition For Youth
Health Officers Association Of California
Housing California

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Santa Monica; City Of

OPPOSITION:

None received.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Senator Hurtado, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Subject: Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

SUMMARY

This bill requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six additional full-time positions for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council) by adding three new full-time positions and converting three existing part-time positions to full-time. It also requires the Council to provide the Legislature with recommendations for statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

ABSTRACT

Existing Law:

1. Establishes the BCSH, to include the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Real Estate, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Department of Business Oversight, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board, the California Horse Racing Board, and the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission (GOV 12804)
2. Establishes the Council, to be chaired by the Secretary of BCSH, and made up of the following members or their representatives:
3. A representative from the Department of Transportation;
4. A representative from the Department of Housing and Community Development;
5. A representative of the State Department of Social Services;
6. A representative of the California Housing Finance Agency;
7. A representative of the State Department of Health Care Services;
8. A representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs;
9. A representative of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;
10. A representative from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee in the Treasurer’s office;
11. A representative of the Victim Services Program within the Division of Grants Management within the Office of Emergency Services;
12. A formerly homeless person who lives in California;
13. A formerly homeless youth who lives in California;
14. Two representatives of local agencies or organizations that participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s CoC Program;
15. State advocates or other members of the public or state agencies, at the Governor’s discretion; and
16. An appointee of the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly. (WIC 8257 (c))
17. Sets the following goals for the Council:
18. To identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California;
19. To create partnerships among state and federal agencies and departments, local government agencies, and nonprofit entities working to end homelessness, homeless services providers, and the private sector, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness;
20. To promote systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age;
21. To coordinate existing funding and applications for competitive funding, without restructuring or changing any existing allocations or allocation formulas;
22. To make policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities;
23. To identify and seek funding opportunities for state entities that have programs to end homelessness and to facilitate and coordinate those state entities’ efforts to obtain that funding;
24. To broker agreements between state agencies and departments and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding;
25. To serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California;
26. To report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness; and
27. To ensure accountability and results in meeting the strategies and goals of the HCFC. (WIC 8257 (b))
28. Requires the BCSH to provide staff for the Council (WIC 8257 (h))
29. Provides for an executive director of the Council under the direction of the Secretary of BCSH (WIC 8257 (j))
30. Requires, after July 1, 2017, agencies and departments that implement funds, or administer a program that provides housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness, with the exception of federally funded programs not consistent with housing first or programs that fund emergency shelters, to work with the Council to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First. (WIC 8256)
31. Requires the Legislative Counsel, in drafting a bill for introduction or an amendment to a bill that would impose a reporting requirement described in subdivision (a), shall include a provision that repeals the reporting requirement, or makes the reporting requirement inoperative, four years after the date on which the requirement becomes operative, unless the person requesting the bill or amendment directs the Legislative Counsel to do otherwise. (GOV 10231.5)
32. Sets for the process for the submission of a statutorily required report to the Legislature by a state or local entity. (GOV 9795)

This Bill:

1. Requires the BCSH to create six full-time staff positions for the Council by adding three new full-time positions and converting three part-time positions to full-time.
2. Requires the Council to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021 recommendations for the statutory changes to streamline the delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state, as specified.
3. Sunsets the requirement to submit this report on January 1, 2025, as specified.

FISCAL IMPACT

The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimates ongoing costs of $1 million General Fund annually for the described positions.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

Purpose of the Bill:

According to the author, “From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. In 2018, the city and county of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 (homeless) people. In a recent (report) put out by LA County, there is a 12 percent increase to homeless in LA County, bringing the population to 58,936. The author continues, “We are hearing from the council that they are currently short staffed in order to carry out their (legislatively) mandated duties. While last year’s budget bill, SB 850, did provide three permanent staff to the council, given the critical nature of our state’s growing homelessness populations, we must invest more in the entity that is responsible for ending it.”

Homelessness in California

According to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report produced by HUD (reporting on a single night in 2018), there were 129,972 homeless people in California. Of those, 89,543 were unsheltered. According to this report, California has the nation’s largest homeless population - 24 percent of the nation’s total. Additionally, California accounted for nearly half, 47 percent, of all unsheltered people in the country in 2018.^[1] Preliminary figures estimate between 149,000 and 155,000 homeless Californians in the final 2019 point in time count.

According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the HUD report shows a 16 percent increase of people experiencing homelessness in the City of Los Angeles and a 12 percent increase in the County of Los Angeles. Although veteran homelessness declined slightly (by 12 people) in the county; homelessness among families increased 6.4 percent, people experiencing chronic homelessness increased 17 percent, youth homelessness increased 24 percent, and senior homelessness increased eight percent.

The health, personal, and economic challenges that chronically homeless individuals and families face and the lack of effective, coordinated services to address these problems often lead to a cycle of housing instability and health deterioration. Health conditions of those experiencing long-term homelessness often prevent housing stability, while persistent homelessness impedes access to needed health and employment services. Consequently, people who are chronically homeless cycle through costly emergency-driven public systems – emergency shelters, emergency rooms, detoxification centers, criminal justice facilities – without getting the ongoing care they need to address severe mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or chronic health conditions.

Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council)

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness. The Council oversees the implementation of Housing First policies, guidelines, and regulations to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California. The Council's mission is to develop policies, identify resources, benefits, and services to prevent and work toward ending homelessness in California.

The Council was initially housed within the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). SB 850 (Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 48, Statues of 2018) moved the Council from HCD to BCSH and authorized the creation of an Executive Director to oversee the Council, as well as the allocation of several staff members.

The Council was created in part to oversee the state’s implementation of “Housing First.” By July 1, 2019, agencies and departments administering state programs relating to homelessness are required to collaborate with the Council to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate core components of Housing First. To that end, the Council had adopted a Housing First Checklist to be used by state agencies to assess their homelessness-related programs and make recommendations on any changes required to bring their programs into alignment with Housing First statute. The council has also drafted, but not yet adopted, criteria for Housing First requirements and a proposed 2019 Action Plan is under consideration. The Council’s next meeting is July 17, 2019.

The Council is also responsible for the administration of $500 million in Homeless Emergency Aid Program block grant funds, which was created to provide one-time funding to enable local governments to respond to homelessness. Those funds have been awarded to 43 continuum of care entities (CoCs) and 11 large cities.

Related/Prior Legislation:

SB 333 (Wilk, 2019) would require the Council, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the state. The bill would also require the Council, by January 1, 2021, to implement strategic plans to assist HUD Continuum of Care lead agencies in better implementing recommended activities and requirements. This bill is waiting for hearing in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

SB 573 (Chang, 2019) would, upon appropriation, make funding available to Homeless Emergency Aid program for appropriation to local entities representing jurisdictions with a declared shelter crisis. The bill would also require these funds be used to fund programs and provide other assistance that prioritizes meeting the needs of veterans and homeless youth. This bill is waiting for hearing in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

SB 687 (Rubio, 2019) would require the Governor to appoint up to 20 members of the council, rather than 17, and would require the additional three appointments be a formerly homeless college student, a formerly homeless veteran, and a formerly homeless parent, who live in California. This bill is waiting for hearing in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

AB 58 (Luz Rivas, 2019) would increase the number of Council members appointed by the governor from 17 to 18 by adding a representative from the California Department of Aging. This bill is waiting to be heard in the Senate Housing Committee.

AB 67 (Luz Rivas, 2019) requires the HCD to create a state homeless integrated data warehouse, in coordination with the Council, to develop a composite portrayal of the homeless population in the state and the services provided to this population or to those at risk of becoming homeless. This bill is waiting to be heard in the Senate Housing Committee.

AB 307 (Reyes, 2019) requires the Council to develop and administer a grant program to support young people experiencing homelessness and prevent and end homelessness. The program would be funded by a specified combination of funds, gifts and donations, as specified. This bill has been double-referred to the Senate Human Services Committee and the Senate Housing Committee.

AB 816 (Quirk-Silva, 2019) would have established the California Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool Program within HCD for the purpose of making grants available to applicants, defined to include a city, county, city and county, or continuum of care, for eligible activities including, among other things, rental assistance, operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, and specified outreach services. This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1534 (Wicks, 2019) would have enacted the Regional Homeless Management Planning Act, which would require HCD to develop standards and definitions for a county to use in developing regional homeless action plans. The bill also would have required a county to complete and submit to the department a Regional Homeless Action Plan on or before January 1, 2022, and every 2 years thereafter. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2017) expanded the role of the Council to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the Council to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth.

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) created the Council to coordinate the state’s response to homelessness and requires all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies.

COMMENTS

Both the Administration and Legislature have put forth multiple proposals to address the homeless crisis in California. In his inaugural address, Governor Newsom promised to “launch a Marshall Plan for affordable housing and lift up the fight against homelessness from a local matter to a state-wide mission.” The 2019-20 state budget includes substantial new resources - $2.5 billion in housing and homelessness investments, $650 million of which is targeted to address homelessness. Multiple bills have been introduced in the Legislature designed to improve collaboration, focus, and resources dedicated to solving the homeless problem.

Initially, the Council was provided three permanent staff positions: an executive officer, a research data specialist II, an associate governmental program analyst. An additional two permanent positions were added following the passage of SB 918 (Wiener, Chapter 841, Statutes of 2017) to provide focus on homeless youth: one staff services manager II, and one staff services manager I. Three additional one-year limited-term positions were established to implement the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) - one staff services manager III and two staff services managers II.

The proposed state budget for Fiscal Year includes the following additional positions:

• Deputy Secretary, Homelessness.
• Staff Services Manager I
• Office Technician
• Staff Services Manager III (two-year limited-term)
• Staff Services Manager II (two-year limited-term)
• Associate Governmental Program Analyst (two-year limited-term)

This bill does not specify what classifications of positions it would create. Therefore, it is unclear if the positions described above and included in the 2019-20 budget are duplicative of what the author intends.

This bill has been double-referred and, should it move out of this committee, it will be referred to the Senate Housing Committee.

PRIOR VOTES

POSITIONS

Support:

California Coalition for Youth

City Of Santa Monica

County Of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors

Health Officers Association of California

Housing California

Oppose:

None received

-- END --

1. The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (December 2018) <https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2018-AHAR-Part-1.pdf> (as of March 11, 2019). ↑

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1702

Author:(Luz Rivas)

As Amended Ver:April 22, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires additional staffing resources for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) and adds new reporting requirements to the HCFC.

Major Provisions

1. Requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six full-time staff positions for the HCFC by adding three new full-time staff positions and converting three part-time staff positions to full-time positions.
2. Requires the HCFC to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021 recommendations for statutory changes to streamline delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

COMMENTS:

Background: California is facing a homelessness and affordable housing crisis. In 2018, on a single night in January, 129,972 people experienced homelessness in California. California has 24% of the people in the nation experiencing homelessness. Nearly half of all unsheltered people in the country are in California. Although the number of people experiencing homelessness decreased slightly since 2017, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness has risen over five percent since 2010.

The homeless crisis is driven by the lack of affordable rental housing for lower income people. In the current market, 2.2 million extremely low-income and very low-income renter households are competing for 664,000 affordable rental units. Of the six million renter households in the state, 1.7 million are paying more than 50% of their income toward rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the state needs an additional 1.5 million housing units affordable to very-low income Californians.

HCFC: In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell), Chapter 847, created the HCFC to coordinate the state's response to homelessness. SB 1380 required all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. In 2017, SB 918 (Wiener), Chapter 841 expanded the role of the HCFC to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the HCFC to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California. The HCFC meets every quarter.

In 2018, the HCFC was tasked with administering the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges. To qualify to receive funds, a city, county or joint powers authority must declare a shelter crisis and a Continuum of Care must demonstrate collaboration with the city and county. Funding can be used for emergency housing vouchers, rapid re-housing, and construction of emergency shelters, among other uses.

According to the Author:

According to the author, "From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. The City and County of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 people.

At a recent Assembly Joint Hearing on Housing and Community Development and Human Services, the Council provided the committees with its current and future priorities 'Action Plan' that includes: 1) Distributing $500 million for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program, 2) Developing and implementing a state-level homeless integrated data system, 3) Developing a data-driven, evidence-based high-level strategic plan to stop the growth, shelter the unsheltered and significantly reduce the overall numbers of homeless individuals and families in California, 4) Continuing efforts to support state agencies and departments as they implement Housing First in their housing and housing-related services programs, 5) Setting goals and developing a work plan to implement SB 918, the Homeless Youth Act of 2018, 6) Creating new federal and state partnerships, and 7) Developing and implementing a statewide public awareness campaign to change the narrative around homelessness, in coordination with local and philanthropic campaigns.

While last year's budget bill, SB 850, did provide three permanent staff to the Council, given the critical nature of our state's growing homelessness populations, we must invest more in the entity that is responsible for ending it."

Arguments in Support:

The Provider Alliance to End Homelessness, which represents 70 organizations in Los Angeles that provide housing and services to people experiencing homelessness, writes that "AB 1702 is one of the most consequential bills to be introduced this legislative session on homelessness, because it deals with the mechanism for allocating resources and coordinating policy — namely the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). It is not enough for the Legislature to boost funding for homeless services, as critical as more money will be to address the state's homelessness crisis. We must also strengthen HCFC's capacity to make sure these resources are well spent."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, estimated ongoing costs of $1 million (General Fund) annually for three new full-time staff and the conversion of three limited-term staff for a total of six new positions.

VOTES:

ASM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: 8-0-0

YES: Chiu, Diep, Gabriel, Gloria, Kiley, Limón, Maienschein, Quirk-Silva

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

UPDATED:

VERSION: April 22, 2019

CONSULTANT: Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN: 0000734

Date of Hearing: May 8, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1702

Author:(Luz Rivas) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2019

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

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six fulltime staff positions for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) by adding three new full-time staff positions and converting three part-time staff positions to full-time positions. The bill also requires the HCFC to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, recommendations for statutory changes to streamline delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Estimated ongoing costs of $1 million (GF) annually for three new full-time staff and the conversion of three limited-term staff for a total of six new positions.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. The City and County of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 people.

While last year’s budget bill, SB 850, did provide three permanent staff to the Council, given the critical nature of our state’s growing homelessness populations, we must invest more in the entity that is responsible for ending it.

1. Background. In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell), Chapter 847, created the HCFC to coordinate the state's response to homelessness. SB 1380 required all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. In 2017, SB 918 (Wiener), Chapter 841, expanded the role of the HCFC to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the HCFC to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California. The HCFC meets every quarter.

HCFC administers the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP). Under this program, the Homeless Emergency Aid Block Grants provide $500 million in one-time funding to enable local governments to respond to homelessness. To qualify to receive funds, a city, county or joint powers authority must declare a shelter crisis and a CoC must demonstrate collaboration with the city, county or both. Funding can be used for emergency housing vouchers, rapid re-housing and construction of emergency shelters, among other uses.

Of the six million renter households in the state, 1.7 million are paying more than 50% of their income toward rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the state needs an additional 1.5 million housing units affordable to very-low income Californians.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

David Chiu, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1702 (

Author:Luz Rivas) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2019

SUBJECT: Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council

SUMMARY: Requires additional staffing resources for the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) and adds new reporting requirements to the HCFC. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to create six full-time staff positions for the HCFC by adding three new full-time staff positions and converting three part-time staff positions to full-time positions.
2. Requires the HCFC to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021 recommendations for statutory changes to streamline delivery of services and effectiveness of homeless programs in the state.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the HCFC to be chaired by the Secretary of BCSH and made up of the following members or their representatives:
2. A representative from the Department of Transportation;
3. A representative from the Department of Housing and Community Development;
4. A representative of the State Department of Social Services;
5. A representative of the California Housing Finance Agency;
6. A representative of the State Department of Health Care Services;
7. A representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs;
8. A representative of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;
9. A representative from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee in the Treasurer’s office;
10. A representative of the Victim Services Program within the Division of Grants Management within the Office of Emergency Services;
11. A formerly homeless person who lives in California;
12. A formerly homeless youth who lives in California;
13. Two representatives of local agencies or organizations that participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s CoC Program;
14. State advocates or other members of the public or state agencies, at the Governor’s discretion; and
15. An appointee of the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly.
16. Sets the following goals for the HCFC:
17. To identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California;
18. To create partnerships among state and federal agencies and departments, local government agencies, and nonprofit entities working to end homelessness, homeless services providers, and the private sector, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness;
19. To promote systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age;
20. To coordinate existing funding and applications for competitive funding, without restructuring or changing any existing allocations or allocation formulas;
21. To make policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities;
22. To identify and seek funding opportunities for state entities that have programs to end homelessness and to facilitate and coordinate those state entities’ efforts to obtain that funding;
23. To broker agreements between state agencies and departments and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding;
24. To serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California;
25. To report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness; and
26. To ensure accountability and results in meeting the strategies and goals of the HCFC.
27. Requires, after July 1, 2017, agencies and departments that implement funds, or administer a program that provides housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness, with the exception of federally funded programs not consistent with housing first or programs that fund emergency shelters, to work with the state HCFC to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Purpose of this bill: According to the author, “From 2016 to 2017, California experienced the largest increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness nationwide – over 16,000 individuals. Nearly one of every four people experiencing homelessness did so in New York City or Los Angeles. The City and County of Los Angeles have the highest number of homeless people in the state with 55,188 people.

At a recent Assembly Joint Hearing on Housing and Community Development and Human Services, the Council provided the committees with its current and future priorities ‘Action Plan’ that includes: 1) Distributing $500 million for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program, 2) Developing and implementing a state-level homeless integrated data system, 3) Developing a data-driven, evidence-based high-level strategic plan to stop the growth, shelter the unsheltered and significantly reduce the overall numbers of homeless individuals and families in California, 4) Continuing efforts to support state agencies and departments as they implement Housing First in their housing and housing-related services programs, 5) Setting goals and developing a work plan to implement SB 918, the Homeless Youth Act of 2018, 6) Creating new federal and state partnerships, and 7) Developing and implementing a statewide public awareness campaign to change the narrative around homelessness, in coordination with local and philanthropic campaigns.

While last year’s budget bill, SB 850, did provide three permanent staff to the Council, given the critical nature of our state’s growing homelessness populations, we must invest more in the entity that is responsible for ending it.”

Background: California is facing a homelessness and affordable housing crisis. In 2018, on a single night in January, 129,972 people experienced homelessness in California. California has 24 percent of the people in the nation experiencing homelessness. Nearly half of all unsheltered people in the country are in California. Although the number of people experiencing homelessness decreased slightly since 2017, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness has risen over five percent since 2010.

The homeless crisis is driven by the lack of affordable rental housing for lower income people. In the current market, 2.2 million extremely low-income and very low-income renter households are competing for 664,000 affordable rental units. Of the six million renter households in the state, 1.7 million are paying more than 50% of their income toward rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the state needs an additional 1.5 million housing units affordable to very-low income Californians.

HCFC: In 2016, SB 1380 (Mitchell), Chapter 847, created the HCFC to coordinate the state's response to homelessness. SB 1380 required all state agencies or departments that operate programs that provide housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. In 2017, SB 918 (Wiener), Chapter 841 expanded the role of the HCFC to add a focus on homeless youth by requiring the HCFC to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California. The HCFC meets every quarter.

In 2018, the HCFC was tasked with administering the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) to provide localities with flexible block grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges. To qualify to receive funds, a city, county or joint powers authority must declare a shelter crisis and a CoC must demonstrate collaboration with the city and county. Funding can be used for emergency housing vouchers, rapid re-housing, and construction of emergency shelters, among other uses.

The Homeless Emergency Aid Block Grants provide $500 million in one-time funding to enable local governments to respond to homelessness. Allocations are as follows:

• $250 million to CoCs based on 2017 homeless Point-in-Time count;
• $150 million direct allocation to a city or city that is also a county with a population of 330,000 or more as of January 1, 2018; and
• $100 million to CoCs based on their percentage of the statewide 2017 homeless population.

Arguments in support: The Provider Alliance to End Homelessness, which represents 70 organizations in Los Angeles that provide housing and services to people experiencing homelessness, writes that “AB 1702 is one of the most consequential bills to be introduced this legislative session on homelessness, because it deals with the mechanism for allocating resources and coordinating policy — namely the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). It is not enough for the Legislature to boost funding for homeless services, as critical as more money will be to address the state's homelessness crisis. We must also strengthen HCFC's capacity to make sure these resources are well spent.”

Staff comments: This bill proposes to make staffing changes to the HCFC. Typically, personnel changes are made through the budget process.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Corporation for Supportive Housing

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Provider Alliance to End Homelessness

Opposition

None on file

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