AB 722: Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program.
- Session Year: 2025-2026
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2025-04-21
Current Status:
Failed
(2026-02-02: From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.)
Introduced
In Committee
Awaiting First Chamber Vote
Passed First Chamber
In Committee
Awaiting Second Chamber Vote
Passed Second Chamber
Enacted
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program.
This bill would establish the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to take specified actions to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants to applicants, as defined, for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. The bill would require the department to establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants, in accordance with certain guidelines and procedures.
The bill would require the department to score applicants to the program competitively according to specified criteria. The bill would require recipients of funds from the program to use those funds for, among other things, long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, incentives to landlords, and innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent supportive housing. The bill would require the department to distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities for a term of 5 years, subject to automatic renewal.
The bill would require a recipient of the program to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require the department to hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and would require the department to submit that analysis to specified committees of the Legislature.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program.
This bill would establish the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to take specified actions to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants to applicants, as defined, for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. The bill would require the department to establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants, in accordance with certain guidelines and procedures.
The bill would require the department to score applicants to the program competitively according to specified criteria. The bill would require recipients of funds from the program to use those funds for, among other things, long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, incentives to landlords, and innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent supportive housing. The bill would require the department to distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities for a term of 5 years, subject to automatic renewal.
The bill would require a recipient of the program to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require the department to hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and would require the department to submit that analysis to specified committees of the Legislature.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)People on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate when homeless than when housed.
(b)Evidence shows that supportive housing, or housing that is affordable to people on parole living in extreme poverty that does not limit length of stay and offers tenants services promoting housing stability, or access to job training that provides pathways to livable wage employment, reduces recidivism. In fact, data show evidence-based housing decreases recidivism rates by 60 percent, when compared to control groups, and reduces rearrests by 40 percent.
(c)About one-half of people experiencing homelessness report a history of incarceration.
(d)Formerly incarcerated people are 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public. In fact, California data have estimated that one-third to one-half of all people on parole in the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness at any point in time.
(e)African Americans are almost seven times more likely to be homeless than the general population in California, driven by systemic racism that includes disproportionate incarceration and discharges from prisons and jails into homelessness.
(f)Projected population decline in Californias state prisons in the next few years is expected to reduce future cost growth for Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), both through a reduction in inmates and staff, as well as the closure of two state facilities. In the short term, CDCR will avoid spending several hundreds of millions of dollars due to a decrease in prison population, which decreases per person costs for clothing, food, maintenance, and other costs of operating the prison. The closure of state correctional facilities would yield savings in utilities, staffing, and equipment, as well as a reduction in the inmate and ward population, freeing valuable resources that should be repurposed for sustainable criminal justice solutions.
(g)It is the intent of the Legislature to repurpose funding from the closure of state prisons to provide innovative or evidence-based solutions to house people experiencing homelessness with histories of incarceration.
(h)The Department of Housing and Community Development, with its expertise in overseeing grant programs for housing and services, counties and continuums of care, and community-based organizations, which often have experience providing housing and services to people exiting incarceration, is an appropriate entity to administer programs offering innovative or evidence-based housing and services interventions to people on parole experiencing homelessness.
SEC. 2.Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 50480) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:2.6.Reentry Housing And Workforce Development Program50480.For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a)Applicant means a county, a community-based organization, or a continuum of care that has applied to receive funds under the program.
(b)Chronically homeless has the same meaning as in Parts 91 and 578 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1, 2021, except that people who were chronically homeless before entering an institution would continue to be defined as chronically homeless upon discharge, regardless of length of institutional stay.
(c)County shall include a city that is also a county or cities working with counties to apply for grant funds.
(d)Community-based organization means a mission-driven nonprofit organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(e)Continuum of care means a group organized to provide services under this chapter that is composed of representatives of organizations, including nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and homeless and formerly homeless persons to the extent these groups are represented within the geographic area and are available to participate.
(f)Coordinated entry system means a centralized or coordinated process developed pursuant to Section 576.400 or 578.7, as applicable, of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2021, designed to coordinate program participant access, assessment, prioritization, and referrals. For purposes of this chapter, a centralized or coordinated assessment system shall cover the geographic area, be easily accessed by individuals and families seeking housing or services, be well advertised, and include a comprehensive and standardized assessment tool. However, the assessment tool may vary to assess the specific needs of an identified population. The centralized or coordinated assessment system shall also specify how it will address the needs of individuals or families who are fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(g)Department means the Department of Housing and Community Development, unless otherwise identified.
(h)Fair market rent means the rent, including the cost of utilities, as established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, pursuant to Part 888 and Part 982 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1, 2021, for units by number of bedrooms, that must be paid in the market area to rent privately owned, existing, decent, safe, and sanitary rental housing of nonluxury nature with suitable amenities.
(i)Homeless has the same meaning as in Section 91.5 of Subpart A of Part 91 of Subtitle A of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, except that people exiting prison who were homeless when incarcerated and who have no identified residence upon exit, will also be considered homeless or likely to become homeless upon release.
(j)Homeless service provider means an organization that qualifies as an exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that contracts as a community-based organization, or with a participating county, or a continuum of care, for the purpose of providing services to people experiencing homelessness.
(k)Housing First has the same meaning as in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(l)Permanent housing means a structure or set of structures with subsidized or unsubsidized rental housing units subject to applicable landlord-tenant law, with no limit on length of stay and no requirement to participate in supportive services as a condition of access to or continued occupancy in the housing.
(m)Housing navigation means services that assist program participants with locating permanent housing with private market landlords or property managers who are willing to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies for the program participants to assist those program participants in obtaining local, state, or federal assistance or subsidies; completing housing applications for permanent housing or housing subsidies and, when applicable, move-in assistance; and obtaining documentation needed to access permanent housing and rental assistance or subsidies.
(n)Innovative reentry housing means approaches to reentry based on the latest aggregated data to provide housing and workforce development services designed to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety, and provide a pathway for people exiting incarceration to access a livable wage and long-term housing stability. Core components of Housing First, as defined in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall apply to innovative models, with a goal of allowing people to access and maintain permanent housing and employment stability.
(o)Interim interventions means low-barrier housing that does not qualify as permanent housing, as defined under subdivision (l), including, but not limited to, emergency shelters, motel vouchers, recovery-oriented interim interventions, Project Roomkey or Project Homekey, or reentry program sites used as interim housing, recuperative or respite care, or navigation centers as defined under other federal, state, or local programs. All programs providing interim housing funding pursuant to this chapter shall have partnerships or other linkages to homeless services to connect individuals or families to income, public benefits, health services, and permanent housing. Low barrier means the following:
(1)The interim intervention is a Housing First, service-enriched intervention focused on moving people into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing, income, public benefits, and health services. Notwithstanding any other subdivision in this section, for purposes of interim interventions, Housing First shall not require a lease.
(2)The interim intervention utilizes best practices to reduce barriers to entry, including, but not limited to, allowing partners and older minors, unless the interim intervention is a population-specific site; allowing pets, with the exception of population specific sites; allowing storage of possessions; allowing residents to engage in treatment for substance use disorders, including obtaining medications for substance use disorder treatment; offering services that connect participants to workforce development services; providing services that help connect persons to permanent housing; providing privacy; and providing linkage to a coordinated entry system.
(3)The interim intervention offers a harm reduction approach, except where tenants request an abstinence-based model, or are enrolled in a population-specific reentry program.
(4)The interim intervention has a system for entering information regarding client stays, demographics, income, and exit destination though a local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) or similar system.
(p)Likely to become homeless upon release means the potential participant has a history of experiencing homelessness as that term is used in Section 11302(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code and who meets either of the following:
(1)The person has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence for release.
(2)The person has an identified residence that 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.
(q)Operating subsidy means a subsidy provided to housing projects offering affordable or supportive housing to participants, and that project received local, state, or federal subsidies, and that assist projects in paying for the costs of operating, staffing, and maintaining the project.
(r)Program means the Reentry Housing and Workforce Program.
(s)Reasonable rent means up to two times the fair market rent that is also consistent with market rent in the community in which the rental unit is located.
(t)Rental assistance means a rental subsidy provided to a housing provider, including a developer leasing affordable or supportive housing, to assist a tenant to pay the difference between 30 percent of the tenants income and either fair market rent or reasonable rent as determined by the grant recipient and approved by the department.
(u)Subrecipient means a unit of local government or a private nonprofit organization that the recipient determines is qualified to undertake the eligible activities for which the recipient seeks funds under the program, and that enters into a contract with the recipient to undertake those eligible activities in accordance with the requirements of the program.
(v)Supportive housing means permanent housing with no limit on the length of stay that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing residents in retaining the housing, improving their health status, and maximizing their ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. Permanent supportive housing includes associated facilities if used to provide services to housing residents.
(w)Tenancy acquisition services means staff dedicated to engaging property owners to rent housing units to the eligible population through rental assistance.
(x)Tenancy sustaining services means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
(1)Early identification and intervention of behaviors that may jeopardize housing security.
(2)Education and training on the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord.
(3)Coaching on developing and maintaining key relationships with landlords or property managers.
(4)Assistance in resolving disputes with landlords and neighbors to reduce the risk of eviction.
(5)Advocacy and linkage with community resources to prevent eviction when housing may become jeopardized.
(6)Care coordination and advocacy with health care professionals.
(7)Assistance with a housing recertification process.
(8)Coordinating with the tenant to review and update a housing support and crisis plan.
(9)Training in being a good tenant, and lease compliance.
(10)Benefits advocacy.
(11)Evidence-employment services.
(12)Services connecting individuals to education.
(13)Transportation services.
(14)Any other service that supports individuals and families to promote housing stability, foster community integration and inclusion, develops natural support networks, and that are offered through a trauma-informed, culturally competent approach.
(y)Tenancy transition services means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
(1)Screening and assessing the tenants preferences and barriers to successful tenancy.
(2)Developing an individualized housing support plan that includes motivational interviewing and goal setting.
(3)Assistance with the housing application and search process.
(4)Identifying resources to cover expenses for move-in and furniture costs.
(5)Ensuring that the living environment is safe and ready for move-in.
(6)Assisting and arranging for the details of the move.
(7)Developing a housing support crisis plan that includes prevention and early intervention when housing is jeopardized.
(8)Engagement services.
(9)Any other evidence-based services that an individual tenant may require to move into permanent housing.
(z)Voluntary services means services offered in conjunction with housing where the housing is not contingent on participation in services, tenants are not evicted based on failure to participate in services, the service provider encourages the tenant to participate in services using evidence-based engagement models, and services are flexible and tenant-centered.
(aa)Workforce development means programs and services that provide people on parolees parole or those discharged suffering from incarceration within the past five years with job skill development and placement services in livable wage employment.
50480.1.(a)There is hereby created the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will calculate the annual costs avoided that result from the closure or warm shutdown of prisons and to redirect 80 percent of those costs avoided to the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program within six months.
(b)On or before July 1, 2026, the department shall do all of the following to create the program to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed:
(1)Establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants who volunteer to participate in the program.
(2)Establish protocols in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, at least one community-based organization working to reenter people into communities after discharge, and at least one organization working to provide housing opportunities to people experiencing homelessness, to prevent discharges from prison into homelessness. No person shall be held past their scheduled discharge date from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a result of homelessness.
(3)Issue guidelines establishing the grant program and a notice of funding availability or request for proposals for five-year renewable grants to applicants based on criteria to score applicants for grant funds competitively. Guidelines shall include the following:
(A)Applicants shall meet all of the following criteria:
(i)The applicant has a contract or memorandum of understanding with or administers the homeless continuum of care, or is offering innovative reentry housing, as described in this chapter.
(ii)The applicant has at least two years of experience, or intends to partner with community-based providers with at least this level of experience, or has demonstrated a similar level of organizational ability, to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing and, in the case of providers with two or more years of experience, has achieved a documented housing retention rate in that housing of at least 80 percent.
(iii)The applicant has, or plans to partner with organizations that have, at least two years of experience providing best practice or evidence-based workforce development services.
(iv)The applicant has built a network of agencies that provide services to help people reenter communities from incarceration, particularly people experiencing homelessness or lack of livable wage employment, in the community in which the applicant intends to provide services or housing.
(v)The applicant has a structure for providing outreach and housing navigation.
(vi)The applicant has relationships with the coordinated entry system serving the geographic area in which the applicant is intending to offer housing.
(vii)The applicant has or plans to have all of the following:
(I)Removed barriers to hiring people with lived experience of incarceration who are living stably in the community.
(II)Employed people with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community.
(III)If a community-based organization, at least one individual with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community, on the board of directors.
(B)Applicants shall submit all of the following:
(i)A viable plan to provide permanent housing with services based on evidence-based practices, as described in Section 50480.3, or a plan to provide innovative reentry housing, as described in this chapter.
(ii)Performance metrics and goals the applicants shall achieve through this program.
(iii)A description of experience in successfully administering or overseeing, or the ability to successfully administer or oversee, the activities the recipient plans to fund through the program.
(C)Of the total allocated to the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program, at least 10 percent, but no more than 20 percent, of the funds shall be allocated to community-based organizations providing innovative reentry housing that comply with the following:
(i)Programs that provide a pathway for participants to access livable wage jobs and permanent housing programs.
(ii)Recipients are community-based organizations that meet all of the following criteria:
(I)Are led by people with lived experience of incarceration in executive level positions.
(II)Employ at least 25 percent of staff with lived experience of incarceration who are now stably housed.
(III)Provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
(iii)Offer a voluntary services model.
(iv)Offer participants, either through direct service provision or a subcontract, the following:
(I)An independent, safe, and decent place to live that participants can afford, where participants shall not be required to share a bedroom.
(II)Evidence-based engagement services to promote participation in services.
(III)Best practice or evidence-based workforce development services to help participants access and obtain livable wage jobs.
(IV)Housing navigation and housing acquisition services to access any housing subsidies participants need and assistance in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
(v)Recipients shall not evict a participant for not participating in services or treatment. Recipients shall not end a participants housing or evict a participant unless and until a participant has obtained permanent housing of their choice.
(D)Scoring criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i)Need, which includes consideration of the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, people on parole, and people with recent histories of incarceration, to the extent data are available, in the community in which applicants will be serving eligible participants.
(ii)Experience providing or demonstrated ability to provide evidence-based tenancy acquisition and housing navigation, tenancy transition, and tenancy sustaining services, evidence-based employment services, and services to people reentering communities from jail or prison.
(iii)The extent of coordination and collaboration between the county, the homeless continuum of care covering the geographic area, and community-based organizations with a history of serving people reentering communities from incarceration.
(iv)Experience using Housing First core components to address the needs of the eligible population.
(v)Partnerships and contractual agreements demonstrating an ability of the applicant or proposed subrecipients to administer or partner to administer funding for rental assistance and evidence-based services interventions.
(vi)The applicants documented partnerships with affordable and supportive housing providers and housing navigator providers in the jurisdiction.
(vii)Demonstrated commitment to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and recent incarceration through existing programs or programs planned to be implemented within 12 months.
(viii)Proposed use of funds and the extent to which the proposed use will lead to overall reductions in homelessness and recidivism.
(ix)For county applicants, the extent to which an applicant demonstrates housing authorities or other county-run housing authorities have eliminated or plan to eliminate restrictions against people with arrests or criminal convictions to access publicly funded housing subsidies, notwithstanding restrictions mandated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(c)(1)Individuals and household members in families are eligible for participation in a program funded pursuant to a grant through this chapter if they meet all of the following conditions:
(A)Individuals or families voluntarily choose to participate.
(B)One of the following applies:
(i)Individuals who have been assigned a date of release from prison within 60 to 180 days and they are likely to become homeless upon release.
(ii)Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness as a person on parole or postrelease community supervision after discharge from prison.
(iii)Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness and were incarcerated in state prison within the last five years.
(2)A participant shall continue to receive housing and services funded under the program after discharge from parole, so long as the participant needs this assistance.
(3)Recipients shall ensure participants have choice in where to live and the services that they would like to receive, unless enrolled in a population-specific program, and to the extent allowable under conditions of parole or probation.
50480.2.(a)A recipient in the program shall use program funds for the following eligible activities based on the needs of the participants:
(1)Long-term rental assistance in permanent housing in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the housing is located.
(2)Interim interventions.
(3)Operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the project is located. Operating subsidies may include capitalized operating subsidy reserves.
(4)Incentives to landlords, including, but not limited to, security deposits, holding fees, and incentives for landlords to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies.
(5)Innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent housing, including supportive housing, and to promote stability in housing, including services identified in subdivision (c).
(6)If necessary, and upon demonstrated need, operating support for interim interventions with services to meet the specific needs of the eligible population.
(b)Recipients shall ensure service providers offer evidence-based voluntary services in conjunction with housing to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole and after discharge from parole, for as long as the participant needs the services or until the grant period ends.
(c)Once a participant is released or for participants living in the community, the services shall be offered to participants in their home, or be made as easily accessible to participants as possible. These services shall include the following:
(1)In-reach services to assist eligible participants at least 90 days prior to release from prison, to include any of the other services in this subdivision.
(2)Parole discharge planning.
(3)Housing navigation and tenancy acquisition services.
(4)Tenancy transition services.
(5)Tenancy supportive services.
(6)Food security services.
(7)For housed participants or participants once they are housed, innovative or evidence-based employment services that assist participants to obtain meaningful employment and a liveable wage.
(8)Linkage to other services, including education and childcare services, as needed.
(9)Benefit entitlement application and appeal assistance, as needed.
(10)Transportation assistance to obtain services and health care, as needed.
(11)Assistance obtaining appropriate identification, as needed.
(12)Teaching people to navigate disabilities.
(13)As necessary, assistance in performance activities of daily living and other personal care services.
(14)Wrap-around services, including linkage to Medi-Cal funded mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and medical treatment, as medically necessary.
(d)For participants identified prior to release from prison, upon the providers receipt of referral and in collaboration with the parole agent and, if appropriate, staff, the intake coordinator or case manager of the provider shall:
(1)Receive all prerelease assessments and discharge plans.
(2)Partner with providers working in the geographic area where a participant is incarcerated, when participants are incarcerated outside of the recipients geographic reach.
(3)Draft a plan for the participants transition into interim interventions, and then affordable or supportive housing.
(4)Engage the participant to actively participate in services upon release on a voluntary basis.
(5)Assist in obtaining identification for the participant, if necessary.
(6)Assist in applying for any benefits for which the participant is eligible.
50480.3.(a)Recipients and providers shall adhere to the core components of Housing First.
(b)Providers shall identify and locate housing opportunities for participants prior to release from state prison or as quickly upon release from state prison as possible.
(c)Housing identified pursuant to subdivision (b) shall satisfy all of the following:
(1)The housing is located in an apartment building, townhouse, or single-family home, including rent-subsidized apartments leased in the open market or set aside within privately owned buildings, or affordable or supportive housing receiving a publicly funded subsidy.
(2)The housing is not subject to community care licensing requirements or is exempt from licensing under Section 1504.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
50480.4.(a)The department shall distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities that shall be for a term of five years, subject to automatic renewal. After a contract has expired pursuant to this subdivision, any funds not expended for eligible activities shall revert to the department for use for the program.
(b)A recipient shall submit to the department an annual report on a form issued by the department, pertaining to the recipients program or project selection process, contract expenditures, and progress toward meeting state and local goals, as demonstrated by the performance measures set forth in the application. Recipients shall, along with any other data as required by the department, report all of the following on an annual basis:
(1)The number of participants served.
(2)The types of services that were provided to program participants.
(3)Whether the recipient met performance metrics identified in their application.
(4)The outcomes for participants, including the number who remain permanently housed, the number who ceased to participate in the program and the reason why, the number who participated in workforce development programs, including the number of participants placed in livable wage employment, employment and the number of those participants who retained employment for at least six months following placement, the number who returned to state prison or were incarcerated in county jail, the number of arrests among participants, and the number of days in jail or prison among participants, to the extent data are available.
(c)As part of the annual report required pursuant to subdivision (b), the recipient shall report to the department on the expenditures and activities of any subrecipients for each year of the term of the contract with the department until all funds awarded to a subrecipient have been expended.
(d)The department shall design an evaluation and hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program, which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)The total number of parolees served and the type of interventions provided.
(2)The housing status of participants at 12, 24, and 36 months after entering the program, to the extent data are available, including how many participants remain in permanent housing.
(3)Recidivism among participants, including the number of arrests, days incarcerated, and incarceration in jail or prison.
(4)The total number of participants who accessed an innovative reentry housing program. For participants in these programs, the evaluator shall assess both of the following:
(A)The number of placements in livable wage employment.
(B)The number of placements who transitioned into permanent housing, and whether the participants require housing subsidies to afford that housing.
(e)The department may monitor the expenditures and activities of the recipient, as the department deems necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements.
(f)The department may, as it deems appropriate or necessary, request the repayment of funds from an administrative entity or pursue any other remedies available to it by law for failure to comply with program requirements.
(g)The department shall submit, on or before February 1, 2029, the analysis prepared pursuant to subdivision (d) to the chairs of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety, the Senate Committee on Housing, and the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)People on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate when homeless than when housed.
(b)Evidence shows that supportive housing, or housing that is affordable to people on parole living in extreme poverty that does not limit length of stay and offers tenants services promoting housing stability, or access to job training that provides pathways to livable wage employment, reduces recidivism. In fact, data show evidence-based housing decreases recidivism rates by 60 percent, when compared to control groups, and reduces rearrests by 40 percent.
(c)About one-half of people experiencing homelessness report a history of incarceration.
(d)Formerly incarcerated people are 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public. In fact, California data have estimated that one-third to one-half of all people on parole in the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness at any point in time.
(e)African Americans are almost seven times more likely to be homeless than the general population in California, driven by systemic racism that includes disproportionate incarceration and discharges from prisons and jails into homelessness.
(f)Projected population decline in Californias state prisons in the next few years is expected to reduce future cost growth for Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), both through a reduction in inmates and staff, as well as the closure of two state facilities. In the short term, CDCR will avoid spending several hundreds of millions of dollars due to a decrease in prison population, which decreases per person costs for clothing, food, maintenance, and other costs of operating the prison. The closure of state correctional facilities would yield savings in utilities, staffing, and equipment, as well as a reduction in the inmate and ward population, freeing valuable resources that should be repurposed for sustainable criminal justice solutions.
(g)It is the intent of the Legislature to repurpose funding from the closure of state prisons to provide innovative or evidence-based solutions to house people experiencing homelessness with histories of incarceration.
(h)The Department of Housing and Community Development, with its expertise in overseeing grant programs for housing and services, counties and continuums of care, and community-based organizations, which often have experience providing housing and services to people exiting incarceration, is an appropriate entity to administer programs offering innovative or evidence-based housing and services interventions to people on parole experiencing homelessness.
SEC. 2.Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 50480) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:2.6.Reentry Housing And Workforce Development Program50480.For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a)Applicant means a county, a community-based organization, or a continuum of care that has applied to receive funds under the program.
(b)Chronically homeless has the same meaning as in Parts 91 and 578 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1, 2021, except that people who were chronically homeless before entering an institution would continue to be defined as chronically homeless upon discharge, regardless of length of institutional stay.
(c)County shall include a city that is also a county or cities working with counties to apply for grant funds.
(d)Community-based organization means a mission-driven nonprofit organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(e)Continuum of care means a group organized to provide services under this chapter that is composed of representatives of organizations, including nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and homeless and formerly homeless persons to the extent these groups are represented within the geographic area and are available to participate.
(f)Coordinated entry system means a centralized or coordinated process developed pursuant to Section 576.400 or 578.7, as applicable, of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2021, designed to coordinate program participant access, assessment, prioritization, and referrals. For purposes of this chapter, a centralized or coordinated assessment system shall cover the geographic area, be easily accessed by individuals and families seeking housing or services, be well advertised, and include a comprehensive and standardized assessment tool. However, the assessment tool may vary to assess the specific needs of an identified population. The centralized or coordinated assessment system shall also specify how it will address the needs of individuals or families who are fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(g)Department means the Department of Housing and Community Development, unless otherwise identified.
(h)Fair market rent means the rent, including the cost of utilities, as established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, pursuant to Part 888 and Part 982 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1, 2021, for units by number of bedrooms, that must be paid in the market area to rent privately owned, existing, decent, safe, and sanitary rental housing of nonluxury nature with suitable amenities.
(i)Homeless has the same meaning as in Section 91.5 of Subpart A of Part 91 of Subtitle A of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, except that people exiting prison who were homeless when incarcerated and who have no identified residence upon exit, will also be considered homeless or likely to become homeless upon release.
(j)Homeless service provider means an organization that qualifies as an exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that contracts as a community-based organization, or with a participating county, or a continuum of care, for the purpose of providing services to people experiencing homelessness.
(k)Housing First has the same meaning as in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(l)Permanent housing means a structure or set of structures with subsidized or unsubsidized rental housing units subject to applicable landlord-tenant law, with no limit on length of stay and no requirement to participate in supportive services as a condition of access to or continued occupancy in the housing.
(m)Housing navigation means services that assist program participants with locating permanent housing with private market landlords or property managers who are willing to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies for the program participants to assist those program participants in obtaining local, state, or federal assistance or subsidies; completing housing applications for permanent housing or housing subsidies and, when applicable, move-in assistance; and obtaining documentation needed to access permanent housing and rental assistance or subsidies.
(n)Innovative reentry housing means approaches to reentry based on the latest aggregated data to provide housing and workforce development services designed to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety, and provide a pathway for people exiting incarceration to access a livable wage and long-term housing stability. Core components of Housing First, as defined in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall apply to innovative models, with a goal of allowing people to access and maintain permanent housing and employment stability.
(o)Interim interventions means low-barrier housing that does not qualify as permanent housing, as defined under subdivision (l), including, but not limited to, emergency shelters, motel vouchers, recovery-oriented interim interventions, Project Roomkey or Project Homekey, or reentry program sites used as interim housing, recuperative or respite care, or navigation centers as defined under other federal, state, or local programs. All programs providing interim housing funding pursuant to this chapter shall have partnerships or other linkages to homeless services to connect individuals or families to income, public benefits, health services, and permanent housing. Low barrier means the following:
(1)The interim intervention is a Housing First, service-enriched intervention focused on moving people into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing, income, public benefits, and health services. Notwithstanding any other subdivision in this section, for purposes of interim interventions, Housing First shall not require a lease.
(2)The interim intervention utilizes best practices to reduce barriers to entry, including, but not limited to, allowing partners and older minors, unless the interim intervention is a population-specific site; allowing pets, with the exception of population specific sites; allowing storage of possessions; allowing residents to engage in treatment for substance use disorders, including obtaining medications for substance use disorder treatment; offering services that connect participants to workforce development services; providing services that help connect persons to permanent housing; providing privacy; and providing linkage to a coordinated entry system.
(3)The interim intervention offers a harm reduction approach, except where tenants request an abstinence-based model, or are enrolled in a population-specific reentry program.
(4)The interim intervention has a system for entering information regarding client stays, demographics, income, and exit destination though a local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) or similar system.
(p)Likely to become homeless upon release means the potential participant has a history of experiencing homelessness as that term is used in Section 11302(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code and who meets either of the following:
(1)The person has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence for release.
(2)The person has an identified residence that 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.
(q)Operating subsidy means a subsidy provided to housing projects offering affordable or supportive housing to participants, and that project received local, state, or federal subsidies, and that assist projects in paying for the costs of operating, staffing, and maintaining the project.
(r)Program means the Reentry Housing and Workforce Program.
(s)Reasonable rent means up to two times the fair market rent that is also consistent with market rent in the community in which the rental unit is located.
(t)Rental assistance means a rental subsidy provided to a housing provider, including a developer leasing affordable or supportive housing, to assist a tenant to pay the difference between 30 percent of the tenants income and either fair market rent or reasonable rent as determined by the grant recipient and approved by the department.
(u)Subrecipient means a unit of local government or a private nonprofit organization that the recipient determines is qualified to undertake the eligible activities for which the recipient seeks funds under the program, and that enters into a contract with the recipient to undertake those eligible activities in accordance with the requirements of the program.
(v)Supportive housing means permanent housing with no limit on the length of stay that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing residents in retaining the housing, improving their health status, and maximizing their ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. Permanent supportive housing includes associated facilities if used to provide services to housing residents.
(w)Tenancy acquisition services means staff dedicated to engaging property owners to rent housing units to the eligible population through rental assistance.
(x)Tenancy sustaining services means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
(1)Early identification and intervention of behaviors that may jeopardize housing security.
(2)Education and training on the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord.
(3)Coaching on developing and maintaining key relationships with landlords or property managers.
(4)Assistance in resolving disputes with landlords and neighbors to reduce the risk of eviction.
(5)Advocacy and linkage with community resources to prevent eviction when housing may become jeopardized.
(6)Care coordination and advocacy with health care professionals.
(7)Assistance with a housing recertification process.
(8)Coordinating with the tenant to review and update a housing support and crisis plan.
(9)Training in being a good tenant, and lease compliance.
(10)Benefits advocacy.
(11)Evidence-employment services.
(12)Services connecting individuals to education.
(13)Transportation services.
(14)Any other service that supports individuals and families to promote housing stability, foster community integration and inclusion, develops natural support networks, and that are offered through a trauma-informed, culturally competent approach.
(y)Tenancy transition services means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
(1)Screening and assessing the tenants preferences and barriers to successful tenancy.
(2)Developing an individualized housing support plan that includes motivational interviewing and goal setting.
(3)Assistance with the housing application and search process.
(4)Identifying resources to cover expenses for move-in and furniture costs.
(5)Ensuring that the living environment is safe and ready for move-in.
(6)Assisting and arranging for the details of the move.
(7)Developing a housing support crisis plan that includes prevention and early intervention when housing is jeopardized.
(8)Engagement services.
(9)Any other evidence-based services that an individual tenant may require to move into permanent housing.
(z)Voluntary services means services offered in conjunction with housing where the housing is not contingent on participation in services, tenants are not evicted based on failure to participate in services, the service provider encourages the tenant to participate in services using evidence-based engagement models, and services are flexible and tenant-centered.
(aa)Workforce development means programs and services that provide people on parolees or those discharged suffering from incarceration within the past five years with job skill development and placement services in livable wage employment.
50480.1.(a)There is hereby created the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will calculate the annual costs avoided that result from the closure or warm shutdown of prisons and to redirect 80 percent of those costs avoided to the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program within six months.
(b)On or before July 1, 2026, the department shall do all of the following to create the program to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed:
(1)Establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants who volunteer to participate in the program.
(2)Establish protocols in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, at least one community-based organization working to reenter people into communities after discharge, and at least one organization working to provide housing opportunities to people experiencing homelessness, to prevent discharges from prison into homelessness. No person shall be held past their scheduled discharge date from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a result of homelessness.
(3)Issue guidelines establishing the grant program and a notice of funding availability or request for proposals for five-year renewable grants to applicants based on criteria to score applicants for grant funds competitively. Guidelines shall include the following:
(A)Applicants shall meet all of the following criteria:
(i)The applicant has a contract or memorandum of understanding with or administers the homeless continuum of care, or is offering innovative reentry housing, as described in this chapter.
(ii)The applicant has at least two years of experience, or intends to partner with community-based providers with at least this level of experience, or has demonstrated a similar level of organizational ability, to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing and, in the case of providers with two or more years of experience, has achieved a documented housing retention rate in that housing of at least 80 percent.
(iii)The applicant has, or plans to partner with organizations that have, at least two years of experience providing best practice or evidence-based workforce development services.
(iv)The applicant has built a network of agencies that provide services to help people reenter communities from incarceration, particularly people experiencing homelessness or lack of livable wage employment, in the community in which the applicant intends to provide services or housing.
(v)The applicant has a structure for providing outreach and housing navigation.
(vi)The applicant has relationships with the coordinated entry system serving the geographic area in which the applicant is intending to offer housing.
(vii)The applicant has or plans to have all of the following:
(I)Removed barriers to hiring people with lived experience of incarceration who are living stably in the community.
(II)Employed people with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community.
(III)If a community-based organization, at least one individual with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community, on the board of directors.
(B)Applicants shall submit all of the following:
(i)A viable plan to provide permanent housing with services based on evidence-based practices, as described in Section 50480.3, or a plan to provide innovative reentry housing, as described in this chapter.
(ii)Performance metrics and goals the applicants shall achieve through this program.
(iii)A description of experience in successfully administering or overseeing, or the ability to successfully administer or oversee, the activities the recipient plans to fund through the program.
(C)Of the total allocated to the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program, at least 10 percent, but no more than 20 percent, of the funds shall be allocated to community-based organizations providing innovative reentry housing that comply with the following:
(i)Programs that provide a pathway for participants to access livable wage jobs and permanent housing programs.
(ii)Recipients are community-based organizations that meet all of the following criteria:
(I)Are led by people with lived experience of incarceration in executive level positions.
(II)Employ at least 25 percent of staff with lived experience of incarceration who are now stably housed.
(III)Provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
(iii)Offer a voluntary services model.
(iv)Offer participants, either through direct service provision or a subcontract, the following:
(I)An independent, safe, and decent place to live that participants can afford, where participants shall not be required to share a bedroom.
(II)Evidence-based engagement services to promote participation in services.
(III)Best practice or evidence-based workforce development services to help participants access and obtain livable wage jobs.
(IV)Housing navigation and housing acquisition services to access any housing subsidies participants need and assistance in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
(v)Recipients shall not evict a participant for not participating in services or treatment. Recipients shall not end a participants housing or evict a participant unless and until a participant has obtained permanent housing of their choice.
(D)Scoring criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i)Need, which includes consideration of the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, people on parole, and people with recent histories of incarceration, to the extent data are available, in the community in which applicants will be serving eligible participants.
(ii)Experience providing or demonstrated ability to provide evidence-based tenancy acquisition and housing navigation, tenancy transition, and tenancy sustaining services, evidence-based employment services, and services to people reentering communities from jail or prison.
(iii)The extent of coordination and collaboration between the county, the homeless continuum of care covering the geographic area, and community-based organizations with a history of serving people reentering communities from incarceration.
(iv)Experience using Housing First core components to address the needs of the eligible population.
(v)Partnerships and contractual agreements demonstrating an ability of the applicant or proposed subrecipients to administer or partner to administer funding for rental assistance and evidence-based services interventions.
(vi)The applicants documented partnerships with affordable and supportive housing providers and housing navigator providers in the jurisdiction.
(vii)Demonstrated commitment to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and recent incarceration through existing programs or programs planned to be implemented within 12 months.
(viii)Proposed use of funds and the extent to which the proposed use will lead to overall reductions in homelessness and recidivism.
(ix)For county applicants, the extent to which an applicant demonstrates housing authorities or other county-run housing authorities have eliminated or plan to eliminate restrictions against people with arrests or criminal convictions to access publicly funded housing subsidies, notwithstanding restrictions mandated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(c)(1)Individuals and household members in families are eligible for participation in a program funded pursuant to a grant through this chapter if they meet all of the following conditions:
(A)Individuals or families voluntarily choose to participate.
(B)One of the following applies:
(i)Individuals who have been assigned a date of release from prison within 60 to 180 days and they are likely to become homeless upon release.
(ii)Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness as a person on parole or postrelease community supervision after discharge from prison.
(iii)Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness and were incarcerated in state prison within the last five years.
(2)A participant shall continue to receive housing and services funded under the program after discharge from parole, so long as the participant needs this assistance.
(3)Recipients shall ensure participants have choice in where to live and the services that they would like to receive, unless enrolled in a population-specific program, and to the extent allowable under conditions of parole or probation.
50480.2.(a)A recipient in the program shall use program funds for the following eligible activities based on the needs of the participants:
(1)Long-term rental assistance in permanent housing in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the housing is located.
(2)Interim interventions.
(3)Operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the project is located. Operating subsidies may include capitalized operating subsidy reserves.
(4)Incentives to landlords, including, but not limited to, security deposits, holding fees, and incentives for landlords to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies.
(5)Innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent housing, including supportive housing, and to promote stability in housing, including services identified in subdivision (c).
(6)If necessary, and upon demonstrated need, operating support for interim interventions with services to meet the specific needs of the eligible population.
(b)Recipients shall ensure service providers offer evidence-based voluntary services in conjunction with housing to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole and after discharge from parole, for as long as the participant needs the services or until the grant period ends.
(c)Once a participant is released or for participants living in the community, the services shall be offered to participants in their home, or be made as easily accessible to participants as possible. These services shall include the following:
(1)In-reach services to assist eligible participants at least 90 days prior to release from prison, to include any of the other services in this subdivision.
(2)Parole discharge planning.
(3)Housing navigation and tenancy acquisition services.
(4)Tenancy transition services.
(5)Tenancy supportive services.
(6)Food security services.
(7)For housed participants or participants once they are housed, innovative or evidence-based employment services that assist participants to obtain meaningful employment and a liveable wage.
(8)Linkage to other services, including education and childcare services, as needed.
(9)Benefit entitlement application and appeal assistance, as needed.
(10)Transportation assistance to obtain services and health care, as needed.
(11)Assistance obtaining appropriate identification, as needed.
(12)Teaching people to navigate disabilities.
(13)As necessary, assistance in performance activities of daily living and other personal care services.
(14)Wrap-around services, including linkage to Medi-Cal funded mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and medical treatment, as medically necessary.
(d)For participants identified prior to release from prison, upon the providers receipt of referral and in collaboration with the parole agent and, if appropriate, staff, the intake coordinator or case manager of the provider shall:
(1)Receive all prerelease assessments and discharge plans.
(2)Partner with providers working in the geographic area where a participant is incarcerated, when participants are incarcerated outside of the recipients geographic reach.
(3)Draft a plan for the participants transition into interim interventions, and then affordable or supportive housing.
(4)Engage the participant to actively participate in services upon release on a voluntary basis.
(5)Assist in obtaining identification for the participant, if necessary.
(6)Assist in applying for any benefits for which the participant is eligible.
50480.3.(a)Recipients and providers shall adhere to the core components of Housing First.
(b)Providers shall identify and locate housing opportunities for participants prior to release from state prison or as quickly upon release from state prison as possible.
(c)Housing identified pursuant to subdivision (b) shall satisfy all of the following:
(1)The housing is located in an apartment building, townhouse, or single-family home, including rent-subsidized apartments leased in the open market or set aside within privately owned buildings, or affordable or supportive housing receiving a publicly funded subsidy.
(2)The housing is not subject to community care licensing requirements or is exempt from licensing under Section 1504.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
50480.4.(a)The department shall distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities that shall be for a term of five years, subject to automatic renewal. After a contract has expired pursuant to this subdivision, any funds not expended for eligible activities shall revert to the department for use for the program.
(b)A recipient shall submit to the department an annual report on a form issued by the department, pertaining to the recipients program or project selection process, contract expenditures, and progress toward meeting state and local goals, as demonstrated by the performance measures set forth in the application. Recipients shall, along with any other data as required by the department, report all of the following on an annual basis:
(1)The number of participants served.
(2)The types of services that were provided to program participants.
(3)Whether the recipient met performance metrics identified in their application.
(4)The outcomes for participants, including the number who remain permanently housed, the number who ceased to participate in the program and the reason why, the number who participated in workforce development programs, including the number of participants placed in livable wage employment, the number who returned to state prison or were incarcerated in county jail, the number of arrests among participants, and the number of days in jail or prison among participants, to the extent data are available.
(c)As part of the annual report required pursuant to subdivision (b), the recipient shall report to the department on the expenditures and activities of any subrecipients for each year of the term of the contract with the department until all funds awarded to a subrecipient have been expended.
(d)The department shall design an evaluation and hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program, which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)The total number of parolees served and the type of interventions provided.
(2)The housing status of participants at 12, 24, and 36 months after entering the program, to the extent data are available, including how many participants remain in permanent housing.
(3)Recidivism among participants, including the number of arrests, days incarcerated, and incarceration in jail or prison.
(4)The total number of participants who accessed an innovative reentry housing program. For participants in these programs, the evaluator shall assess both of the following:
(A)The number of placements in livable wage employment.
(B)The number of placements who transitioned into permanent housing, and whether the participants require housing subsidies to afford that housing.
(e)The department may monitor the expenditures and activities of the recipient, as the department deems necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements.
(f)The department may, as it deems appropriate or necessary, request the repayment of funds from an administrative entity or pursue any other remedies available to it by law for failure to comply with program requirements.
(g)The department shall submit, on or before February 1, 2029, the analysis prepared pursuant to subdivision (d) to the chairs of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety, the Senate Committee on Housing, and the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.
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Date
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Status
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|---|---|
| Feb 2, 2026 | From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| Jan 31, 2026 | Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. |
| May 23, 2025 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| May 14, 2025 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. |
| May 1, 2025 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 22, 2025 | Re-referred to Com. on H. & C.D. |
| Apr 21, 2025 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on H. & C.D. Read second time and amended. |
| Mar 3, 2025 | Referred to Com. on H. & C.D. |
| Feb 15, 2025 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 17. |
| Feb 14, 2025 | Read first time. To print. |
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Date
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Description
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Location
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Votes
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 2025 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Community Development |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| A New PATH | ** Support | |
| A New Way of Life Reentry Project | ** Support | |
| Bend the Arc: Jewish Action California | ** Support | |
| Black Women For Wellness Action Project | ** Support | |
| Bridges of Hope CA | ** Support | |
| Budget 2 Save Lives | ** Support | |
| California Housing Partnership | ** Support | |
| Californians United for a Responsible Budget | ** Support | |
| Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice | ** Support | |
| Corporation For Supportive Housing | ** Support | |
| Ella Baker Center For Human Rights | ** Support | |
| Empowering Women Impacted by Incarceration | ** Support | |
| Fair Chance Project | ** Support | |
| Felony Murder Elimination Project | ** Support | |
| Grace Institute - End Child Poverty in Ca | ** Support | |
| Housing California | ** Support | |
| Human Impact Partners | ** Support | |
| Initiate Justice | ** Support | |
| Initiate Justice Action | ** Support | |
| Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity | ** Support | |
| Justice2jobs Coalition | ** Support | |
| LA Defensa | ** Support | |
| Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | ** Support | |
| Prison Policy Initiative | ** Support | |
| Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition | ** Support | |
| The Translatin@ Coalition | ** Support |
Date of Hearing: May 14, 2025
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Buffy Wicks, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 722
Author:(Ávila Farías) – As Amended Ver:April 21, 2025
Policy Committee: | Housing and Community Development | Vote: | 9 - 0 |
|
| ||
|
|
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program (the Program) within the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to provide stable housing and workforce training for recently incarcerated individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Specifically, this bill:
- Requires HCD, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Program to provide five-year renewable grants to counties, community-based organizations (CBOs), and continuums of care (CoCs) to fund innovative and evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed.
- Requires HCD, by July 1, 2026, to (a) establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and relevant counties, for referral of participants, (b) establish protocols, in collaboration with CDCR and others, to prevent discharges from prison into homelessness, and (c) issue guidelines for applicants with specified criteria and a notice of funding availability or request for proposals for five-year renewable grants, among other requirements.
- Specifies activities eligible for funding, including long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing, landlord incentives including security deposits and holding fees, among others.
- Specifies the services that must be provided to participants identified prior to prison release and for participants upon release or who are living in the community.
- Requires recipients and providers to adhere to the core components of Housing First.
- Requires grant recipients to report specified data and information annually to HCD.
- Requires HCD to design an evaluation and hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and to submit the analysis to the Legislature by February 1, 2029.
FISCAL EFFECT:
- General Fund cost pressures of an unknown amount, at least in the tens of millions annually, to provide grant funding for the Program. The HCD and CDCR administrative costs noted below would be incurred only to the extent that funds are appropriated for the Program.
- HCD estimates General Fund (GF) costs of $1.85 million for six staff positions in the first year, and $1.98 million in the second year and annually thereafter for nine staff positions to develop the Program, monitor annual reporting, develop program guidelines, and approve and administer contracts, among other duties. In addition, HCD estimates a one-time consulting cost of $500,000 (GF) for an independent evaluator to measure and evaluate program outcomes.
- CDCR estimates:
- Ongoing GF costs of an unknown amount, but likely in the low millions of dollars, to collaborate with HCD and others to establish a referral process for participants, design and implement protocols to prevent the discharge from prison into homelessness, and make necessary administrative and systems changes. Actual costs will depend on the design of the referral system, the number of program participants and the number of CDCR staff with technical expertise related to parole necessary to implement the bill’s provisions.
- Ongoing GF costs in the mid-hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for additional staff to implement and support the referral process for participants identified prior to release from prison who must receive a referral from a homeless service provider and the participant’s parole agent. CDCR notes this process is unclear and actual costs will depend on how collaboration with service providers impacts CDCR parole agents.
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author:
[This bill] provides an evidence based approach to address homelessness and recidivism rates by establishing the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. This program provides grants for housing assistance and specified services for individuals who are scheduled for release from prison and for recently incarcerated individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This program will not only address homelessness here in our state, but will improve public safety and save California tax payers money.
- Background. Recent studies indicate formerly incarcerated people are 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public. Data shows one-third to one-half of all people on parole in San Francisco and Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness at any point in time. In addition, about half of the people experiencing homelessness statewide report a history of incarceration. People on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate when homeless than when housed.
Recent data indicates CDCR spends nearly $100,000 per inmate per year to incarcerate an individual in a California prison. A chronically homeless person living unsheltered costs taxpayers an average of $36,000 per year. Supportive housing, affordable housing coupled with services, costs an average of $20,000 per person per year and reduces the risk of recidivism sevenfold.
Advocates assert this bill will not only help address homelessness, but will also save the state money by supporting the less-costly endeavor of providing permanent supportive housing for released inmates at risk of homelessness.
- Related Legislation. AB 1229 (Schultz), of this legislative session, moves the administration of the Adult Reentry Grant Program from the Board of State and Community Corrections to HCD and makes specified changes to the program. AB 1229 is pending in this committee.
- Prior Legislation. AB 745 (Bryan), of the 2023-24 Legislative Session, and AB 1816 (Bryan), of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, were both substantially similar to this bill. AB 745 was held on this committee’s suspense file, and AB 1816 died on the Inactive File in the Senate.
Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2025
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Matt Haney, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 722 (
Author:Ávila Farías) – As Amended Ver:April 21, 2025
SUBJECT: Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program
SUMMARY: Establishes the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program (the Program) at the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Specifically, this bill:
- Establishes the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program to provide five-year renewable grants to counties, community-based organizations, and continuums of care (CoCs) to fund evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed.
- Requires HCD, upon appropriation from the Legislature, to do all of the following by July 1, 2026:
- Establish a referral process for eligible participants, in collaboration with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and local counties;
- Work with CDCR, at least one reentry-focused community based organization (CBO), and one housing-focused organization to establish protocols to prevent discharges from prison into homelessness;
- Issue guidelines, a Notice of Funding Availability, or request for proposals for five-year renewable grants; and
- Establish scoring criteria for applicants that includes the following:
- Need, which includes data on the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, people on parole, and people with recent histories of incarceration;
- Extent of coordination and collaboration between counties, CoCs, and homeless services providers;
- Experience providing housing navigation, tenancy services, and employment support;
- Documented partnerships with affordable and supportive housing providers;
- Demonstrated commitment through existing or planned programs;
- Proposed use of funds and expected impact on homelessness and recidivism; and
- Extent to which counties that oversee housing authorities have eliminated or plan to eliminate restrictions against people with arrests or criminal convictions accessing publicly funded housing subsidies.
- Requires that no less than 10% and no more than 20% of total program funds be allocated to CBOs that meet all of the following criteria:
- Are led by individuals with lived experience of incarceration in executive leadership positions;
- Employ at least 25% of staff who have lived experience of incarceration and are now stably housed;
- Provide voluntary services and housing navigation to participants;
- Offer access to livable wage employment opportunities and permanent housing options; and
- Do not evict or terminate a participant’s housing unless and until the participant has secured permanent housing of their choice.
- Specifies the following eligible activities for Program funding:
- Long-term rental assistance in permanent housing;
- Interim interventions;
- Operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units;
- Incentives to landlords, including security deposits, holding fees, and incentives for landlords to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies;
- Innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent housing, including supportive housing, and to promote stability in housing;
- Operating support for interim interventions with services to meet the specific needs of the eligible population;
- Evidence-based voluntary services in conjunction with housing to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole and after discharge from parole, for as long as the participant needs the services or until the grant period ends;
- In-reach services to assist eligible participants at least 90 days before release from prison, to include any of the other services in this subdivision;
- Parole discharge planning;
- Housing navigation and tenancy acquisition services;
- Tenancy transition services;
- Tenancy supportive services;
- Food security services;
- For housed participants or participants once they are housed, innovative or evidence-based employment services that assist participants to obtain meaningful employment and a livable wage;
- Linkage to other services, including education and childcare services, as needed;
- Benefit entitlement application and appeal assistance, as needed;
- Transportation assistance to obtain services and health care, as needed;
- Assistance obtaining appropriate identification, as needed;
- Teaching people to navigate disabilities;
- As necessary, assistance in performance activities of daily living and other personal care services; and
- Wraparound services, including linkage to Medi-Cal funded mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and medical treatment, as medically necessary.
- Specifies the following services must be provided to participants in their home or made as easily accessible as possible:
- Case management services;
- Parole discharge planning;
- Linkage to other services including education and employment services;
- Benefit entitlement application and appeal assistance;
- Transportation assistance to obtain services and health care;
- Assistance obtaining appropriate identification; and
- Linkage to Medi-Cal funded mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and medical treatment.
- Provides that for participants identified prior to release from prison, an intake coordinator or case manager shall:
- Receive all pre-release assessment and discharge plans;
- Draft a plan for the participant’s transition into affordable or supportive housing;
- Engage the participant to actively participate in services upon release on a voluntary basis;
- Assist in obtaining identification for the participant; and
- Assist in applying for any benefits for which the participant is eligible.
- Requires recipients and providers to adhere to the core components of Housing First.
- Requires grant recipients to report annually to HCD the following data:
- Number of participants served;
- The types of services that were provide to program participants;
- Whether the recipient met performance metrics identified in their application; and
- Outcomes for participants, including the number who remain permanently housed, the number who ceased to participate in the program and the reason why, the number who returned to state prison or were incarcerated in county jail, the number of arrests among participants, and the number of days in jail or prison among participants, to the extent data are available.
- Requires HCD to design an evaluation and hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and requires a final evaluation report to be submitted to the Legislature by February 1, 2029.
EXISTING LAW:
- Proposition 57 moves up parole consideration of nonviolent offenders who have served the full-term of the sentence for their primary offense and who demonstrate that their release to the community would not pose an unreasonable risk of violence to the community.
- Allows a judge discretion to strike a prior serious felony conviction, in furtherance of justice, to avoid the imposition of the five-year prison enhancement when the defendant has been convicted of a serious felony. (Penal Code Section 667)
- Requires that state and local homelessness programs follow the core components of the Housing First model, which prioritizes low-barrier access to permanent housing and does not condition housing on participation in services. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 8255)
- Authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to administer housing programs and issue grants to support housing services and infrastructure through various state and federal funding streams.
- Defines individuals as homeless or at risk of homelessness under federal regulations, and allows for the prioritization of housing and services for people exiting institutions who are likely to become homeless upon release. (24 C.F.R. § 91.5)
- Provides for coordinated entry systems to assess and prioritize access to housing and services for people experiencing homelessness, including those with criminal justice histories. (24 C.F.R. § 578.7)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Author’s Statement: According to the author, “Recently incarcerated individuals often have little savings, familiar support, or stable housing upon reentering our communities following their sentence. Not to mention, face harsh barriers of entry and stigma when applying for employment and a place to call home. It is unfortunately no surprise that this vulnerable population is 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public.
AB 722 provides an evidence based approach to address homelessness and recidivism rates by establishing the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. This program provides grants for housing assistance and specified services for individuals who are scheduled for release from prison and for recently incarcerated individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This program will not only address homelessness here in our state, but will improve public safety and save California tax payers money.”
Background: Formerly incarcerated people are 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public. In fact, one-third to one-half of all people on parole in San Francisco and Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness at any point in time. In addition, about half of people experiencing homelessness statewide report a history of incarceration. People on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate when homeless than when housed. African Americans are almost seven times more likely to be homeless than the general population in California, driven by systemic racism that includes disproportionate incarceration, and discharges from prisons and jails into homelessness.
Cost Savings of Supportive Housing: CDCR spends close to $100,000 each year to incarcerate someone in a California prison. A chronically homeless person living unsheltered costs taxpayers an average of $35,578 per year. With 60% of incarcerated people likely to recidivate, and with an average sentence length of 4.5 years, the state can spend millions of dollars on a single person who lacks a stable environment to return to upon their release. Supportive housing, affordable housing coupled with services, costs an average of $20,000 per year and reduces the risk of recidivism sevenfold.
Reentry Housing Program: This bill would create the Reentry Housing Program to provide five-year renewable grants to counties to fund evidence-based housing interventions and employment services to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness, remain stably housed, and become successfully employed. Counties could apply to HCD for funding and use funds for rental assistance, operating costs, and services to help people experiencing homelessness remain stably housed. Ninety days prior to their release, grantees will provide inmates with services including housing navigation and tenancy acquisition services. Grant recipients will be required to report on the outcomes for program participants including how many people stayed permanently housed and the incidence of recidivism. Like all housing programs serving people experiencing homelessness funded or operated by the state, the Reentry Housing Program would require counties to implement a Housing First model that provides housing without limit on stay and without pre-conditions.
Arguments in Support: According to supporters, AB 722 promotes permanent supportive housing as a proven and cost-effective strategy that pairs affordable housing with voluntary services—such as healthcare, substance use treatment, and employment support—to meet the complex needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. The average annual cost of providing these services is approximately $20,000 per person. Supporters argue that AB 722 will not only help reduce homelessness but also enhance public safety and generate long-term savings for California taxpayers.
Arguments in Opposition: None.
Related Legislation:
AB 1229 (Schultz) of the current legislative session would move the Adult Reentry Grant Program from the Board of State and Community Corrections to HCD to administer and makes specified changes to the program. This bill is pending a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 745 (Bryan) of 2023 sought to expand reentry housing and services for formerly incarcerated individuals. This bill died on the Inactive File in the Senate.
AB 1816 (Bryan) of 2021 was largely identical to this bill and sought to create the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program (Program) under HCD to help recently incarcerated people exit homelessness and remain stably housed. This bill died on the Inactive File in the Senate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Housing Partnership
Housing California
A New PATH
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action California
Black Women for Wellness Action Project
Bridges of Hope CA
Budget 2 Save Lives
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ)
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Empowering Women Impacted by Incarceration
Fair Chance Project
Felony Murder Elimination Project
GRACE Institute – End Child Poverty in CA
Human Impact Partners
Initiate Justice
Initiate Justice Action
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Justice2Jobs Coalition
La Defensa
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Prison Policy Initiative
Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition
The TransLatin@ Coalition
Individuals - 5
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Leila Romero and Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085
Discussed in Hearing
7MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Community Development
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):