Bill Text: CA AB799 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Interagency Council on Homelessness: funding: state programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-19 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 263, Statutes of 2024. [AB799 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB799-Amended.html

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 19, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 799

Introduced by Assembly Members Luz Rivas, Friedman, Quirk-Silva, Ward, and Wilson
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Wendy Carrillo, Gabriel, Garcia, Kalra, Pellerin, and Schiavo)
(Coauthor: Senator Blakespear)(Coauthors: Senators Blakespear and Wahab)

February 13, 2023

An act to amend Sections 50216, 50217, and 50218.5 of, to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 50209) to Part 1 of Division 31 of, and to add Section Sections 50224, 50224.1, 50224.2, 50224.3, 50224.4, and 50224.5 to, and 50224.4 to, the Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 8257.3 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to housing.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 799, as amended, Luz Rivas. Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program: Homelessness Accountability and Results Act.
Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges informed by a best-practices framework focused on moving homeless individuals and families into permanent housing and supporting the efforts of those individuals and families to maintain their permanent housing. Existing law provides for the allocation of funding under the program among continuums of care, cities, and counties in 4 rounds, the first of which is administered by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, and the others are administered by the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
This bill, the Homelessness Accountability and Results Act, would instead specify that the purpose of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program is to provide ongoing grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges informed by best-practices and to solve homelessness using evidence-based or, where no evidence exists, a data-informed and promising framework, as provided. The bill would require the council, in collaboration with eligible applicants continuums of care, counties, and big cities, as defined, and other stakeholders, to establish and update statewide goals based on data needed for solutions to homelessness and what is ambitious and achievable with state investment. regularly update a financing plan to solve homelessness by the year 2035, and to establish and update statewide performance metrics by updating the Statewide Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California, no later than January 1, 2025.
The bill would revise and recast various program requirements for moneys allocated under existing rounds, including that the council additionally maintain and make available to the public on its internet website each application or a summary of the application, a list of awards to subrecipients provided by each applicant receiving funds, and the specific uses of the grant funds, as specified. The bill would also require the council to provide technical support to any applicant who requests assistance in completing an application for funding under the program.
The bill would require the council, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement a 5th round of the program, and would specify additional program requirements for moneys appropriated in the 5th round of funding and for any moneys appropriated to the program thereafter. The bill would require an applicant to provide, among other things, local landscape data and analysis that assesses the current number of people experiencing homelessness and outcome goals that are specific, ambitious, achievable, and quantifiable to prevent and reduce homelessness from the date of the application through 3 years from the grant award. a narrative that includes output goals that include the number of people experiencing homelessness will be able to access permanent housing with the funds requested and a description of specific actions the applicant will take to address racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the applicant’s uses of funding. The bill would require the council to make specified allocations from the moneys appropriated, and would require additional moneys after those allocations to be set aside for awarding performance bonus funds and regional collaboration bonus funds. The bill would require the council to determine whether a recipient of an allocation has met its outcome goals, and if a portion of the goals have not been met, would require the council to place the recipient on a corrective action plan. If, following the one-year corrective action plan, the recipient has not met specified benchmarks, the bill would require the remainder of the recipient’s allocation for that grant cycle to be reallocated to an alternative recipient to provide services in that jurisdiction. funds. The bill would require the council to set minimum output goals and would make a recipient who, within 3 years of a grant agreement, has met a minimum of one-half of its output goals eligible for bonus funding in proportion to the number of goals met. The bill would require all program funds, including bonus funds, to be expended within 5 years of the grant agreement date. The bill would require recipients from the 5th round, and from any round thereafter, to submit a report to the council by January 1 of the year following receipt of the funds and annually thereafter, and would require the council to publicly report that information, as provided.
This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2025, a region, as defined, to submit to the council a regional homeless action plan, as specified, every 5 years and annual refinements and progress reports. The bill would require the council to review the regional homeless action plan and approve, conditionally approve, or deny the plan. If the council denies the regional homeless action plan, the bill would authorize the council to take action, including limiting the eligible uses of specified funding sources for the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan and implementing a corrective action plan that the council develops, containing benchmarks for system improvements for the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan to meet to continue to receive state funding. By imposing new duties on cities and counties with regard to creating a regional homeless action plan, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This Act act shall be known as the Homelessness Accountability and Results Act.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California has the largest number of residents experiencing homelessness, with over 171,000 people experiencing homelessness on a given night, almost 30 percent of the nation’s number, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.
(b) The vast majority of people experiencing homelessness in California are from California or lived in California for years before becoming homeless.
(c) A disproportionate number of Black and Indigenous Californians experience homelessness, and recent homeless data shows rapid rises of homelessness among Latinx Californians. Forty-five percent of Californians experiencing homelessness report a disabling condition.
(d) Homelessness is solvable with sustained investments in proven solutions and accountability in solving homelessness to the people of the State of California.
(e) Accountability in reducing homelessness and the number of Californians living unsheltered must begin with long-term state planning that sets state-level goals, along with collaboration between state, local, and federal entities in achieving those goals.
(f) The federal government has set a goal in their federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, published by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness in December 2022, to reduce homelessness by 25 percent by 2025.
(g) In determining whether recipients are using money effectively, the state must achieve transparency in how recipients are spending state funding and progress toward achieving state goals, through both annual reporting and making data publicly available on state spending and outcomes achieved.
(h) To achieve true accountability, the state and recipients must ensure funding prioritizes evidence-based and data-informed solutions to homelessness, and that all uses of funds promote reductions in the number of Californians experiencing homelessness.
(i) Any recipient that is not achieving progress toward their share of advancing state goals should be given an opportunity to improve their homeless response, or lose their funds to another entity serving that jurisdiction’s homeless population.
(j) Accountability must include ongoing funding for solutions to homelessness at a scale to meet the crisis, as it allows the state to hold local recipients accountable through withholding of future funding, builds capacity of local homeless response systems, and achieves greater efficiencies for both state and local agencies. Ongoing federal investment in rental subsidies and services has reduced homelessness among veterans by 55 percent over the last 12 years.

SEC. 3.

 Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 50209) is added to Part 1 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER  4.5. Regional and State Homeless Action Plans

50209.
 For purposes of this chapter:
(a) “Big city” means a city that has a population of 300,000 or more, as of January 1, 2020, according to data published on the Department of Finance’s internet website.
(b) “City” has the same meaning as the term is defined in Section 50216.
(c) “Continuum of care” means the same as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development at Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) “Council” means the Interagency Council on Homelessness, formerly known as the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council created pursuant to Section 8257 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e) (1) “Region” means the continuum of care, the counties, and the big cities within the geographic boundaries of a single continuum of care, except as identified in paragraph (2).
(2) All continuums of care within the County of Los Angeles shall be considered part of a single region, along with the county and big cities within the county.

50209.1.
 (a) On or before December 31, 2025, a region shall submit to the council a regional homeless action plan every five years. The region shall submit to the council annual refinements to and progress reports regarding the regional homeless action plan.
(b) The continuum of care, the counties, and the big cities of a region shall collaborate to complete the regional homeless action plan. The region shall conduct a public stakeholder process that meets at least four times before completing the regional homeless action plan. The continuum of care, the counties, and the big cities of the region shall participate in the public stakeholder process and invite all of the following to contribute to the regional homeless action plan:
(1) People with lived experience of homelessness.
(2) Small and medium-sized cities that have a population of 299,999 or less, as of January 1, 2020, according to data published on the Department of Finance’s internet website, desiring to participate.
(3) Homeless service and housing providers working in that region.
(4) Local agency and department leaders and staff that impact and are impacted by homelessness, including child welfare, health care, justice, and education system leaders.
(c) A regional homeless action plan shall include all of the following:
(1) A memorandum of understanding between the continuum of care, the counties, and the big cities of a region regarding specific roles and responsibilities each entity will undertake.
(2) A description of how the region will integrate the voices and leadership of people with lived experience of homelessness in policymaking, planning, implementing, and evaluating the region’s homeless response system.
(3) An action area that includes a broad goal that corresponds to the council’s Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California, as adopted by the council in September of 2022, and annually thereafter.
(4) Performance metrics the region intends to achieve in furtherance of the action area.
(5) Specific action steps the region intends to take to achieve the performance metrics. In naming specific action steps, a region will identify all of the following:
(A) The sources of federal, state, and local funding the region intends to use to achieve the action steps and objectives.
(B) The lead entity and collaborating entities partnering to achieve the specific action step.
(C) A timeframe for action.
(D) The methods of measuring success of the action step and performance metrics.
(6) Specific action areas and performance metrics shall include all of the following:
(A) Strengthening systems to better prevent and end homelessness in the region. For this action area, the region will set performance metrics of all of the following:
(i) Reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness.
(ii) Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in who experiences homelessness.
(iii) Reducing the average length of time people experience homelessness and any racial and ethnic disparities in the average length of time people experience homelessness.
(B) Equitably addressing the health, safety, and service needs of residents experiencing unsheltered homelessness. For this action area, the region shall set performance metrics to increase the number of people with successful placements in permanent housing from outreach and interim settings, and to reduce racial disparities in the number of people with successful placements.
(C) Expanding capacity to provide safe and effective sheltering and interim housing. For this action area, the region shall set performance metrics to reduce the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and any racial and ethnic disparities in the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
(D) Expanding and ensuring equitable access to permanent housing. For this action area, the region shall set specific performance metrics to do all of the following:
(i) Increase the percentage of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing.
(ii) Reduce the number of people who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness into permanent housing.
(iii) Reduce the racial and ethnic disparities of people who access permanent housing.
(E) Preventing residents from experiencing homelessness. For this action area, the region shall set performance metrics to reduce the number of people falling into homelessness for the first time and reduce racial or ethnic disparities in who is falling into homelessness.
(d) (1) The council shall make available to the regions up to 5 percent of funding appropriated on or after January 1, 2024, for the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50216)) for the purposes of drafting, refining, and implementing regional homeless action plans.
(2) For every year that the state invests less than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in funding for the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50216)), a region may delay submission of the regional homeless action plan by one year.

50209.2.
 (a) The council shall review the regional homeless action plan within 90 days of receipt and shall take one of the following actions:
(1) Approve the plan because it meets the requirements of this chapter.
(2) Conditionally approve the plan and notify the region of specific changes the region needs to make to the plan to meet the requirements of this chapter. A region shall accomplish these changes within 180 days of being notified by the council.
(3) Deny the plan based on one of the following:
(A) The region’s failure to submit a timely plan and failure to respond with submission to the council within 30 days of the council’s request to submit.
(B) All of the following circumstances apply:
(i) The regional homeless action plan failed to address core components of this chapter, including identifying performance metrics and specific action steps to reasonably achieve the objectives, or the region failed to make significant progress in specific actions or objectives the region identified.
(ii) The region failed to request technical assistance to complete core components of this chapter.
(iii) The region failed to make needed changes to the plan within 180 days, if the council conditionally approved the plan.
(b) The council shall offer technical assistance to assist the region in completing the regional homeless action plan at the region’s request at any time during the planning process and to assist the region in complying with conditional approval requirements.
(c) If the council denies the regional homeless action plan, the council shall take one or more of the following actions:
(1) Limit the eligible uses of the funding sources identified in subdivision (e) for the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan.
(2) (A) Implement a corrective action plan that the council develops, containing benchmarks for system improvements for the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan to meet to continue to receive state funding.
(B) If, following the one-year corrective action plan, the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan have not met the benchmarks detailed by the council in the corrective action plan, those entities will not be eligible for funding for the next grant cycle.
(C) The council shall develop a requalification eligibility process for the continuum of care, counties, and big cities in the region that submitted the regional homeless action plan that have had funding reallocated. The requalification process shall detail benchmarks for further system improvement for those entities in order to regain eligibility for funding for the next grant cycle.
(d) If, when the region submits a regional homeless action plan subsequent to the initial plan, if the region fails to meet at least 50 percent of the performance metrics in their plan, the council may take any of the following actions:
(1) Restrict eligible uses of Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program funds to ensure homeless spending is better aligned with evidence-based interventions.
(2) Mandate the region to receive technical assistance to improve the region’s homeless response system.
(3) Establish a lead entity in the region to administer and oversee funding under any of the programs identified in subdivision (e), with priority for the continuum of care to be the lead entity.
(4) In determining whether a region has met its performance metrics, the council shall consider factors outside of the region’s control that may curtail the region’s ability to meet and exceed the performance metrics, such as natural disasters or public health emergencies, changes in statewide or local market construction costs, or restrictions imposed by state and federal law.
(e) Funding programs this section impacts include the following:
(1) The Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50216)).
(2) The Encampment Resolution Funding program (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 50250)).
(3) The Family Homelessness Challenge Grants and Technical Assistance program (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 50255)).
(4) The program referred to as Homekey, as described in Section 50675.1.1.
(5) The CalWORKs Housing Support Program (Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 11330) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(6) The Home Safe program (Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(7) The Bringing Families Home Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 16523) of Chapter 5 of Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(8) The Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program (Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 18999) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(9) The Community Care Expansion program (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 18999.97) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(10) The Behavioral Health Bridge Housing program (Provision 17 of Item 4260-101-0001 of the Budget Act of 2022).
(f) The council may use up to 3 percent of funding appropriated on or after January 1, 2024, under the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50216)) to implement this section.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 50216 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50216.
 For purposes of this chapter:
(a) “Agency” means the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency.
(b) “Applicant” means a continuum of care, city, county, or tribe.
(c) “City” means a city or city and county that is legally incorporated to provide local government services to its population. A city can be organized either under the general laws of this state or under a charter adopted by the local voters.
(d) “Continuum of care” means the same as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development at Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(e) “Coordinated entry system” means a centralized or coordinated process developed pursuant to Section 578.7 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 10, 2019, designed to coordinate homelessness program participant intake, assessment, and provision of referrals. In order to satisfy this subdivision, 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.
(f) “Council” means the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, formerly known as the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council created pursuant to Section 8257 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(g) “Emergency shelter” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 50801.
(h) “Harm-reduction” means a set of strategies, policies, and practices aimed at saving lives while improving the physical, mental mental, and social well-being of people served, mitigating the negative social and physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, including, but not limited to, substance use, and not relying on punitive measures to gain program compliance.
(i) “Homeless” has the same meaning as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 10, 2019.
(j) “Homeless Management Information System” means the information system designated by a continuum of care to comply with federal reporting requirements as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The term “Homeless Management Information System” also includes the use of a comparable database by a victim services provider or legal services provider that is permitted by the federal government under Part 576 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(k)  (1)  “Homeless point-in-time count” means the 2019 homeless point-in-time count pursuant to Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations. A jurisdiction may elect to instead use their 2017 point-in-time count if they can demonstrate that a significant methodology change occurred between the 2017 and 2019 point-in-time counts that was based on an attempt to more closely align the count with HUD best practices and undertaken in consultation with HUD representatives. A jurisdiction shall submit documentation of this to the agency by the date by which HUD’s certification of the 2019 homeless point-in-time count is finalized. The agency shall review and approve or deny a request described in the previous sentence along with a jurisdiction’s application for homeless funding.
(2) For purposes of round 4 of the program described in Section 50218.7, “homeless point-in-time count” means the most recent point-in-time count that requires a sheltered and unsheltered count pursuant to Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations completed by all applicants.
(l) “Homeless youth” means an unaccompanied youth between 12 and 24 years of age, inclusive, who is experiencing homelessness, as defined in subsection (2) of Section 725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a(2)). “Homeless youth” includes unaccompanied youth who are pregnant or parenting.
(m) “Housing First” has the same meaning as in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, including all of the core components listed therein.
(n) “Jurisdiction” means a city, city that is also a county, county, continuum of care, or tribe, as defined in this section.
(o) “Navigation center” means a Housing First, low-barrier, service-enriched shelter focused on moving homeless individuals and families into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to income, public benefits, health services, shelter, and housing.
(p) “Program” means the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program established pursuant to this chapter.
(1) “Round 1” of the program means the funding allocated under the program with moneys appropriated during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2019.
(2) “Round 2” of the program means the funding allocated under the program with moneys appropriated during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020.
(3) “Round 3” of the program means the funding allocated under the program with moneys appropriated during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2021.
(4) “Round 4” of the program means the funding allocated under the program with moneys appropriated during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2022.
(5) “Round 5” of the program means the funding allocated under the program with moneys appropriated during the during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2023, and thereafter.
(q) “Program allocation” means the portion of program funds available to expand or develop local capacity to address immediate homelessness challenges.
(r) “Recipient” means a jurisdiction that receives funds from the council for the purposes of the program.
(s) “Tribe” or “tribal applicant” means a federally recognized tribal government pursuant to Section 4103 of Title 25 of the United States Code.

SEC. 4.SEC. 5.

 Section 50217 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50217.
 (a) The Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program is hereby established for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with on-going ongoing grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges informed by best-practices best practices and to solve homelessness using evidence-based or, where no evidence exists, a data-informed and promising framework focused on moving homeless individuals and families into permanent housing and supporting the efforts of those individuals and families to maintain their permanent housing.
(b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the council shall distribute the following amounts in accordance with this chapter:
(1) For round 1 of the program, six hundred fifty million dollars ($650,000,000) in the 2019–20 fiscal year.
(2) For round 2 of the program, three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) in the 2020–21 fiscal year.
(3) For round 3 of the program, one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in the 2021–22 fiscal year.
(4) For round 4 of the program, one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in the 2022–23 fiscal year.
(c) The council shall administer the program. The program shall provide grant funds to cities, counties, continuums of care, and tribes.
(d) The council’s decision to approve or deny an application and the determination of the amount of funding to be provided shall be final.
(e) The council shall maintain and make available to the public on its internet website records of the following:
(1) The number of applications for program funding received by the council and each application or summary of each application.
(2) The number of applications for program funding denied by the council.
(3) The name of each recipient of program funds.
(4) A list of awards to subrecipients provided by each applicant receiving funds pursuant to this chapter.
(5) The specific uses of the grant funds and how much money each recipient will dedicate to each specific use.
(6) Annual reports filed by recipients pursuant to Section 50224.5. 50224.4.
(f) In administering this chapter, the council shall not be subject to the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

SEC. 5.SEC. 6.

 Section 50218.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50218.5.
 (a) (1) With respect to the moneys made available pursuant to the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program, it is the intent of the Legislature that:
(A) These moneys build on regional coordination developed through previous rounds of funding of the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 50210)), the program established under this chapter, and COVID-19 funding to reduce homelessness.
(B) These moneys continue to build regional collaboration between continuums of care, counties, and cities in a given region, regardless of population, and ultimately be used to develop a unified regional response to homelessness.
(C) These moneys be paired strategically with other local, state, and federal funds provided to address homelessness in order to achieve maximum impact.
(D) These moneys be deployed with the goal of reducing the number of homeless individuals in a given region through investing in long-term solutions, such as permanent housing, and that the state be an integral partner through the provision of technical assistance, sharing of best practices, and implementing an accountability framework to guide the structure of current and future state investments.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that additional state funds for homelessness, if provided in future budget years, increase permanent housing exits, further evidence-based solutions for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, consider outcomes from prior funding awards in making future allocations, and include strong accountability measures.
(b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) of the funds administered pursuant to this chapter shall be available for implementing round 2 of the program, as follows:
(1) Ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) of the funding available pursuant to this section shall be available for continuums of care. The council shall calculate these allocations to a continuum of care based on each continuum of care’s proportionate share of the state’s total homeless population, based on the 2019 homeless point-in-time count. The council shall award no more than 40 percent of the allocation made pursuant to this section and no less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) to an applicant that is a continuum of care.
(2) One hundred thirty millions dollars ($130,000,000) of the funding available pursuant to this section shall be available to each city, or city that is also a county, that has a population of 300,000 or more, as of January 1, 2020, according to data published on the Department of Finance’s internet website. The council shall calculate the allocation to a city based on the city’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the city is located, based on the 2019 homeless point-in-time count. The agency shall not award more than 45 percent of the program allocation to a city. If more than one recipient within the continuum of care meets the requirements of this paragraph, the proportionate share of funds shall be equally allocated to those jurisdictions.
(3) Eighty million dollars ($80,000,000) of the funding available pursuant to this section shall be available to each county. The council shall calculate the allocation to a county based on the county’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the county is located, based on the 2019 homeless point-in-time count. The agency shall not award more than 40 percent of the allocation made pursuant to this section to a county.
(4) A city, city and county, single continuum of care, or county may apply jointly with a counterpart entity or entities.
(c) Program applicants applying for round 2 grant funds pursuant to this section shall comply with the requirements set forth in Section 50220.5.
(d) Of the amount made available pursuant to subdivision (b), for round 2, 5 percent shall be set aside for the program administration, including state operations expenditures and technical assistance.
(e) A program recipient for round 2 shall not use funding from the program allocated under this section to supplant existing local funds for homeless housing, assistance, or prevention.
(f) A program recipient for round 2 shall use at least 8 percent of the funds allocated under this section for services for homeless youth populations.
(g) Moneys allocated pursuant to this chapter shall be expended in compliance with the core components of Housing First, as identified in Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 8255) of Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

SEC. 6.Section 50224 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.

(a)In collaboration with eligible applicants and other stakeholders, the council shall establish and update, at intervals the council deems appropriate and at least every three years, statewide goals based on data needed for solutions to homelessness and what is ambitious and achievable with state investment. The goals shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)Reducing the number of Californians experiencing homelessness.

(2)Reducing the number of Californians who become homeless for the first time.

(3)Increasing the number of Californians exiting homelessness into permanent housing.

(4)Reducing the length of time Californians remain homeless.

(5)Reducing the number of Californians who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness to permanent housing.

(6)Reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness living unsheltered and increasing the number of successful referrals into permanent housing from street outreach or interim settings.

(7)Eliminating racial, ethnic, nationality, and gender disparities in Californians experiencing homelessness, receiving services, and the outcomes of housing programs, services, or shelters intended to serve Californians experiencing homelessness.

(8)Specific reductions in the number of Californians leaving state-funded settings, including prisons, hospitals, and child welfare settings, to homelessness.

(9)Any other statewide goals the council sets.

(b)In setting outcome goals for grant applicants under this chapter, the council shall align or coordinate statewide goals with applicant goals as directed in Section 50224.2.

(c)The council shall compile and post on its internet website a statewide report that aggregates each applicant’s outcome goals and measures progress toward the statewide set of metrics.

SEC. 7.Section 50224.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.1.

SEC. 7.

 Section 50224 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50224.
 Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the council shall implement round 5, and any future rounds of the program, as follows:
(a) For up to and including the first one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), not more than 70 percent, percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to applicants that are cities, counties, continuums of care, and tribes as follows:
(1) Twenty-eight percent of the funding available pursuant in that round shall be available for continuums of care. The council shall calculate these allocations to a continuum of care based on each continuum of care’s proportionate share of the state’s total homeless population, based on the homeless point-in-time count. The council shall award no less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to an applicant that is a continuum of care under this provision.
(2) Forty-two percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to cities, or a city that is also a county, that has a population of 300,000 or more, according to data published on the Department of Finance’s internet website. The council shall calculate the allocation to a city based on the city’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the city is located, based on the homeless point-in-time count. If more than one recipient within the continuum of care meets the requirements of this paragraph, the proportionate share of funds shall be equally allocated to those jurisdictions.
(3) Twenty-eight percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to each county. The council shall calculate the allocation to a county based on the county’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the county is located, based on the homeless point-in-time count. The council shall award no less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to a single county.
(4) Two percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to all tribal applicants.
(b) For all funding over one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), allocated in any single year as follows:
(1) Twenty-eight percent of the funding available in that round shall be available for continuums of care. The council shall calculate these allocations to a continuum of care based on each continuum of care’s proportionate share of the state’s total homeless population, based on the homeless point-in-time count. The council shall award no less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) to a continuum of care under this provision.
(2) Twenty-eight percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to cities, or a city that is also a county, that has a population of 300,000 or more, as of January 1, 2019, according to data published on the Department of Finance’s internet website. The council shall calculate the allocation to a city based on the city’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the city is located, based on the homeless point-in-time count. If more than one recipient within the continuum of care meets the requirements of this paragraph, the proportionate share of funds shall be equally allocated to those jurisdictions.
(3) Forty-two percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to counties. The council shall calculate the allocation to a county based on the county’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of region served by the continuum of care within which the county is located, based on the homeless point-in-time count. The council shall award no less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) to a single county.
(4) Two percent of the funding available in that round shall be available to tribal applicants in California.

SEC. 8.Section 50224.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.2.

SEC. 8.

 Section 50224.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50224.1.
 (a) (1) Of the amount remaining after funding allocations identified in Section 50224.1, additional allocations shall be set aside for awarding bonus funds pursuant to subdivision (b). Sixty-six percent of bonus funds shall be set aside for awarding performance bonus funds, and 34 percent of bonus funds shall be set aside for awarding regional collaboration bonus funds.
(2) The council shall determine bonus award allocations based on the proportionate share of the homeless population for each continuum of care, city, county, and tribal applicant based on the homeless point-in-time count, of each jurisdiction that is eligible for bonus funding pursuant to subdivision (b) relative to the total homeless population of all jurisdictions eligible for bonus funding, and using other factors necessary, so that the award allocation is equitable and reasonable for the mix of jurisdictions eligible for bonus funding.
(3) The council shall report to the chairs of the relevant fiscal and policy committees of both houses of the Legislature on the methodology used to determine the allocation of bonus funding within 30 days of making a determination on funding allocations. A report required to be submitted pursuant to this subparagraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(4) The council shall set minimum performance output goals for recipients, based on consultation with applicants, informed by Homeless Data Integration System (HDIS) data, and in coordination with the statewide goals identified pursuant to Section 50224. 8257.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Applicants shall identify goals in their applications pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 50224.3 50224.2 that meet or exceed the minimum performance output goals for recipients set by the council.
(5) In determining whether a recipient has met goals, the council shall consider factors outside of the recipient’s control that may curtail the recipient’s ability to meet and exceed performance goals, such as natural disasters or public health emergencies, changes in statewide or local market construction costs, or restrictions imposed by state and federal law.
(b) (1) (A) If, within three years of a grant agreement, a recipient has met a minimum of half of its performance output goals, as approved by the council, in the recipient’s application pursuant to Section 50224.3, 50224.2, that recipient shall be eligible for bonus funding in proportion to the number of goals met.
(B) The council shall determine whether a recipient has met its outcome goals, as approved by the council in the recipient’s application pursuant to Section 50224.3. The council shall award bonus funding pursuant to this section as soon as data becomes available, but no later than three months after the recipient’s deadline.
(C) If a recipient has failed to meet half of its goals following the three-year grant period, the council shall place the recipient on a one-year corrective action plan. may restrict flexibility of eligible uses for the remainder of the program grant.

(D)The corrective action plan shall be developed by the council and shall contain benchmarks for system improvements for a recipient to meet in order to adhere to the terms of the corrective action plan.

(E)If, following the one-year corrective action plan, the recipient has not met the benchmarks detailed by the council in the corrective action plan, the remainder of the recipient’s award for that grant cycle shall be reallocated to an alternative recipient to provide services in that jurisdiction. The alternative recipient shall be an existing recipient which has overlapping jurisdiction with the primary recipient.

(F)The council shall develop a requalification eligibility process for recipients that have had funding reallocated. The requalification process shall detail benchmarks for further system improvement for a recipient to meet in order to regain eligibility for funding for the next grant cycle.

(G)The recipient must meet benchmarks of the requalification process over a two-year span to regain eligibility for funding in a subsequent cycle. If a recipient fails to meet these benchmarks, funding shall continue to be allocated to alternative recipients that provide services within the same jurisdiction.

(2)The council may provide exceptions to the requirement to meet performance goals pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) if the recipient demonstrates hardship by a disaster for which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(c) (1) Thirty-four percent of bonus funds shall be awarded as regional collaboration bonus funds, available to recipients that demonstrate plans for strong collaboration with other regional implementation of program funds among recipients with overlapping jurisdictions.
(2) (A) The council shall develop a methodology for determining differing levels of regional collaboration, and award regional collaboration bonus funding in proportion to the level of collaboration demonstrated.
(B) Types of regional collaboration may include, but are not limited to, agreements between cities and counties detailing clear and complementary roles for different recipients to provide capital funding, services, and rental assistance funding at individual sites, joint collaborative efforts to increase pay, benefits, and other efforts to strengthen the homeless services workforce, and other forms of collaboration, as specified by the council.
(3) Regional collaboration bonus funding shall be made available to recipients the council deems eligible at the beginning of the three-year grant agreement at the same time of the initial award.
(4) Any portion of regional collaboration bonus funding that is not awarded in the beginning of the grant period shall be reallocated to the pot of performance bonus funding.
(d) All program funds, including bonus funds, shall be expended within five years of the grant agreement date.

SEC. 9.Section 50224.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.3.

SEC. 9.

 Section 50224.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50224.2.
 (a) (1) To receive a program allocation, an applicant shall submit an application to the council every three years. The council shall make an application for allocations for round 5 and future round program allocations available no later than December 31 of each application year.
(2) If an eligible applicant fails to apply for available grant funds during the first year of a grant cycle, it may apply by September 30 of the following year and be awarded a smaller amount of funds, so long as the applicant meets the requirements of this and subsequent sections.
(3) Applications shall be due to the council no later than 60 days from the date the council makes applications available pursuant to paragraph (1).
(4) Within 30 days of receiving an application pursuant to paragraph (3), the council shall either approve the application or return it to the applicant with written, detailed comments and request one or more of the following specific amendments to the application:
(A) Greater detail on any aspect of the application so that the council can ensure fidelity with the applicant’s proposed use of funds and stated performance goals. uses of the funds.
(B) Modifications or provision of additional information on the applicant’s proposed funding plan to ensure alignment with evidence-based solutions to reduce homelessness.
(C) Any other modifications or provision of information that would allow the council to better monitor and evaluate the applicant’s ability to meet objective performance standards use funds in accordance with Section 50224.5. 502244.4.
(5) (A) An applicant whose application has been returned pursuant to paragraph (4) shall respond to the council’s requested amendments and submit a revised application within 30 days. Where the revised application differs from the council’s requests, the applicant shall include an explanation of the differences and the rationale for departing from the council’s requested amendments.
(B) The council shall have 30 days within which to approve the application if, as amended, it addressed the council’s concerns, or to provide the recipient with additional guidance and a deadline for further amending to fully address the council’s concerns.
(b) A complete application submitted pursuant to this section shall provide the following information, in the form and manner prescribed by the council:

(1)A plan that includes the following:

(A)Local landscape data and analysis that assesses the current number of people experiencing homelessness, using any relevant and available data from the Homeless Data Integration System, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s homeless point-in-time count, continuum of care housing inventory count, longitudinal systems analysis, and Stella tools, as well as any recently conducted local needs assessments.

(B)Demographic subpopulations that are underserved relative to their proportion of individuals experiencing homelessness in the jurisdiction, consistent with data submitted in reports required under Section 50224.5.

(C)(i)New outcome goals that are specific, ambitious, achievable, and quantifiable to prevent and reduce homelessness from the date of the application through three years from the grant award, informed by the findings from the local landscape analysis described in subparagraph (A) and how the applicant’s goals contribute to the state goals identified in Section 50224 of this chapter. The outcome goals shall be based on the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s System Performance Measures plus metrics on reducing racial and ethnic disparities, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(I)Reducing the number of persons experiencing homelessness.

(II)Reducing the number of persons who become homeless for the first time.

(III)Increasing the number of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing.

(IV)Reducing the length of time persons remain homeless.

(V)Reducing the number of persons who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness to permanent housing.

(VI)Reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness living unsheltered and increasing the number of successful referrals into permanent housing from street outreach and interim housing.

(VII)Eliminating racial, ethnic, nationality, and gender disparities in Californians experiencing homelessness, receiving services, and the outcomes of housing, services, or shelter intended to serve Californians experiencing homelessness.

(VIII)Reducing racial disparities among the number of persons who become homeless for the first time.

(IX)Reducing racial disparities among the number of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing.

(X)Reducing racial disparities among length of time people remain homeless.

(XI)Reducing racial disparities among the returns to homelessness of people who have exited homelessness to permanent housing.

(XII)Reducing racial disparities among the number of successful permanent housing placements from street outreach.

(ii)A plan to use Homeless Management Information System trackable data goals related to the outcome goals listed above as they apply to underserved populations and populations disproportionately impacted by homelessness.

(iii)Each applicant shall determine its outcome goals that build upon prior allocation goals in consultation with the council, and shall not submit its final outcome goals before consulting with the council.

(iv)The council shall assess outcome goals in the application based on the information provided in the plan to use program funds, and the applicant’s baseline data on the performance metrics described in this paragraph and determine whether the outcome goals adequately further the objectives of reducing and preventing homelessness pursuant to this paragraph and the state goals developed pursuant to Section 50224. The council may request additional documentation, information, or revisions to the outcome goals.

(v)Initial outcome goals should be met no later than three years after the grant award, and outcome goals shall be updated regularly, as funding continues.

(2)

(1) A narrative that includes all of the following:
(A) An outline of proposed uses of funds requested and an explanation of how the proposed use of funds will complement existing local, state, and federal funds and equitably allow people to exit homelessness as quickly as possible. advance the performance metrics, objectives, and action steps in the regional homeless action plan, described in Section 50209.1.
(B) Output goals that include the number of people experiencing homelessness who will be able to access permanent housing with the funds requested.

(B)

(C) A description of specific actions the applicant will take to address racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the applicant’s local homeless response system uses of funding and meet outcome goals related to racial equity, including, but not limited to:
(i) Specific actions to eliminate disparities in service delivery, housing referrals and placements, and housing retention outcomes.
(ii) Planned changes to procurement, contracting, or local administrative procedures to ensure subgrantees with cultural competency in serving racial and ethnic groups that are overrepresented among residents experiencing homelessness have equitable access to funding opportunities.

(iii)Planned changes to hiring practices for frontline, administrative, middle management, and senior management staff at both recipient and subrecipient organizations to ensure that the homeless services workforce is reflective of the population it is serving, and skills and experience such as lived experience of homelessness is adequately valued and compensated in hiring for key positions.

(iv)Planned changes for recipient and subrecipient organizations to conduct pay equity audits to determine pay equity by race, gender, ethnicity, and other factors.

(v)Efforts to evaluate assessment tools such as the Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance (VI-SPDAT) or other tools to replace the VI-SPDAT.

(vi)

(iii) Planned changes to center people with lived experience of homelessness in policymaking, program design, design and implementation, with description of how these individuals are compensated for their efforts, and how recipients ensure work with these individuals is conducted in a trauma-informed manner.

(C)A demonstration of how the jurisdiction has coordinated, and will continue to coordinate, with other jurisdictions, including the specific role of each applicant in relation to other applicants in the region. Applicants seeking regional collaboration bonus funding shall demonstrate ways in which the applicants intend to seek additional collaboration during the upcoming grant period.

(D) An explanation of how people will receive referrals to housing or interim housing through the local homeless coordinated entry system.
(E) An agreement to participate in a statewide Homeless Data Integration System, and to enter individuals served by this funding into the local Homeless Management Information System, in accordance with local protocols.
(F) A demonstration of the applicant’s partnership with, or plans to use funding to increase partnership with with, people with lived experiences of homelessness, and how people with lived experience of homelessness are incorporated into policymaking, program design, and program implementation.

(G)A demonstration of how the applicant received public input on its expenditure plans to meet its performance goals, and how input was solicited from people with lived experience of homelessness, homeless services providers, advocates, community-based organizations that work with people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, and other members of the public.

(H)A description of how the applicant will make progress in preventing exits to homelessness from institutional settings, including plans to leverage funding from mainstream systems for evidence-based housing and housing-based solutions to homelessness.

(I)Specific and quantifiable system improvements that the applicant will take to improve the delivery of housing and services to people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness, including the following:

(i)Capacity building and workforce development for service providers within the jurisdiction, including removing barriers to contracting with culturally specific service providers, removing hiring barriers for people with lived experience and criminal record barriers to employment, conducting pay equity audits to ensure equitable compensation across race and gender, and training and technical assistance for provider staff to provide services that are trauma-informed and culturally specific.

(ii)Strengthening the data quality of the recipient’s Homeless Management Information System.

(iii)Increasing capacity for pooling and aligning housing and services funding from existing, mainstream, and new funding.

(iv)Improving homeless point-in-time counts.

(v)Improving coordinated entry systems to eliminate racial bias or to create youth-specific or justice-system coordinated entry systems.

(J)Strategies to meet outcome goals.

(3)

(2) For city, county, and continuum of care applicants, an application pursuant to this subdivision shall be placed on the agenda at a regular meeting by the governing body, including receiving public comment, before being submitted to the council.
(c) The council may request additional documentation and information from the applicant during consultation.
(d) (1) Within 30 days of receiving the final applications pursuant to subdivision (b), the council shall either approve the application and issue the notice of award to disburse 50 percent of an applicant’s funding or return it to the applicant with written, detailed comments and request one or more of the following specific amendments to the application:
(A) Greater detail on any aspect of the application so that the council can ensure fidelity with the applicant’s proposed use of funds and agreed ­upon measurable outcome goals. funds.
(B) Modifications or provision of additional information on the applicant’s proposed funding plan to ensure alignment with the applicant’s stated measurable outcome goals and with evidence-based solutions to reduce homelessness.
(C) Any other modifications or provision of information that would allow the council to better monitor and evaluate the applicant’s ability to meet objective outcome standards. output goals.
(2) Upon approval of an application pursuant to this section, the council shall disburse 50 percent of an eligible city’s, county’s, continuum of care’s, or tribal applicant’s total allocation.
(e) A recipient of funding shall expend funds on the following evidence-based solutions that solve and prevent homelessness:
(1) Permanent housing, to include any of the following:
(A) Rental subsidies.
(B) Landlord incentives, such as security deposits, holding fees, funding for needed repairs, and recruitment and relationship management costs.
(C) Move-in expenses.
(D) Operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units serving people experiencing homelessness. Operating subsidies may include operating reserves.
(E) Homelessness prevention through rental assistance, rapid-rehousing, rapid rehousing, and other programs, so long as they prioritize households with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area median income, who pay more than 50 percent of their income in housing costs, and who meet criteria for being at highest risk of homelessness through data-informed criteria adopted by the council.
(F) Problem-solving and diversion support programs that prevent people at risk of or recently experiencing homelessness from entering unsheltered or sheltered homelessness.
(G) Services for people in permanent housing, so long as the services are trauma-informed and practice harm reduction, to include intensive case management services, assertive community treatment services, critical time intervention services, other tenancy support services, evidence-based employment services, coordinating mental health, substance use, and primary care treatment, or other evidence-based supportive services to increase housing retention.
(H) Capital for permanent housing that serves people experiencing homelessness, including conversion of underutilized buildings or existing interim or transitional housing into permanent housing.
(2) Interim housing or navigation centers that are low barrier, as defined in Sections 65660 and 65662 of the Government Code, to include any of the following:
(A) Operating expenses in existing congregate shelter sites.
(B) Operating expenses in new or existing noncongregate shelter sites and transitional housing for youth.
(C) Motel or hotel vouchers.
(D) Services provided to people in interim housing, to include trauma-informed and evidence-based intensive case management services, housing navigation, connecting people to substance use or mental health treatment, public benefits advocacy, and other supportive services to promote stability and referral into permanent housing.
(E) Capital funding to build new noncongregate shelter sites, including for construction, rehabilitation, and capital improvements to convert existing congregate sites into noncongregate sites.
(F) Capital funding for clinically enhanced congregate or noncongregate shelter sites.
(G) Youth-focused services in transitional housing.
(3) Services for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, including street outreach and evidence-based engagement services, intensive case management services, assertive community treatment, housing navigation, harm reduction services, coordination with street-based health care services, and hygiene services for people living in encampments and unsheltered individuals.
(4) Systems support for activities necessary to create regional partnerships and build capacity in local homeless services and housing delivery systems, including all of the following:
(A) Building and fostering regional partnerships among cities, counties, continuums of care, and tribal governments.
(B) Creating partnerships and collaborative protocols with health care, behavioral health, criminal justice, child welfare, and social service systems to prevent people from exiting those systems into homelessness.
(C) Developing and maintaining the Homelessness Management Information System and coordinated entry system infrastructure, including integration efforts with other complementary public information systems and efforts to address racial equity gaps in assessments and housing referrals in coordinated entry systems.
(D) Conducting reviews of service provider contracts to evaluate existing payment rates and determine full costs of service provision.
(E) Training and capacity-building capacity building for service providers and partner agencies.
(F) Growing and retaining the homeless services sector workforce, including pay increases, retention and hiring bonuses, employee benefits, professional development training, sectoral workforce planning, and establishment of career pathways to promote employment in homeless response workforce, including strategies specific to support people with lived experience of homelessness.
(G) Resources to advance racial equity in local homeless response systems, including, but not limited to, training and technical assistance to conduct and implement racial equity impact assessments of current programs, policies, and procedures, payment to people with lived expertise experience of homelessness to advise on system policies and program design, and changes to procurement and contracting to ensure inclusion of culturally responsive neighborhood-based organizations that are led by and serve people from the demographic groups most impacted by homelessness.
(f) (1) In funding interventions eligible under subdivision (e), a grant recipient must match any funding for interim housing beds the number of interim housing interventions with funding for permanent housing interventions, ensuring that the recipient is creating at least three permanent housing interventions for each one interim housing intervention funded under this chapter.
(2) The council shall ensure all applicants use program funds to create three permanent housing interventions for every interim intervention. A recipient may show locally generated funding dedicated to eligible permanent housing interventions to meet all or a portion of the permanent housing slots necessary to meet the ratio of three permanent housing interventions for each one interim housing intervention. Any locally generated funding dedicated to eligible permanent housing interventions that is being utilized to meet the ratio must be allocated to a permanent housing intervention in that calendar year and must be specific to meeting the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
(3) Recipients applying as a region, as defined in Section 50209, or in collaboration may meet the requirements of paragraph (1) regionally or across collaborating recipients.
(g) (1) The applicant shall not use more than 10 percent of program allocation for administrative costs incurred by the city, county, continuum of care, or tribal recipient to administer its program allocation. For purposes of this subdivision, “administrative costs” does not include staff or other costs directly related to implementing activities funded by the program allocation and does not include administrative costs incurred by subrecipients.
(2) The council shall provide guidance to recipients on adequate administrative and program support for subrecipients.
(3) A region working to create a regional homeless action plan, as described in Section 50209.1, may use up to an additional 5 percent of their funds on planning and implementation activities of their plans.
(h) Notwithstanding Section 27011 of the Government Code, or any other statute governing the deposit of funds in the county treasury, a county may accept or deposit into the county treasury, funds from any source for the purpose of administering a project, proposal, or program under this chapter.
(i) For purposes of Section 1090 of the Government Code, a representative of a county serving on a board, committee, or body with the primary purpose of administering funds or making funding recommendations for applications pursuant to this chapter shall have no financial interest in any contract, program, or project voted on by the board, committee, or body on the basis of the receipt of compensation for holding public office or public employment as a representative of the county.
(j) The council shall post submitted final, approved applications on its internet website within 30 days of disbursal to applicants.
(k) (1) A recipient shall contractually obligate at least 75 percent, and shall expend at least 50 percent, of the initial program allocations no later than three years from the date of the grant award letter.
(2) Upon a recipient city’s, county’s, continuum of care’s, or tribal recipient’s demonstration that it has complied with contractually obligating and expending initial program allocations, pursuant to paragraph (1), the council shall disburse to that recipient the remaining 50 percent of its total allocation, pursuant to Section 50224.2. 50224.1.
(3) If a recipient has obligated less than 75 percent of a recipient’s initial program allocation, or has expended less than 50 percent of that amount within the time period pursuant to paragraph (1), the recipient shall not contractually obligate or expend any remaining portion of its initial program allocations, and the council shall not allocate to the recipient the remaining 50 percent of its total allocation, unless both of the following occur:
(A) On or before the deadline in paragraph (1), the recipient submits an alternative disbursement plan that includes an explanation for the delay.
(B) The council approves the alternative disbursement plan submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(4) On or before four years following the date of the grant award letter, a recipient shall return to the council any funds that have not been expended pursuant to an alternative disbursement plan approved pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3), to be allocated as bonus awards by the council to eligible recipients in accordance with Section 50224.2. 50224.1.
(5) Recipients that do not meet the requirements of paragraph (1) shall not be eligible for performance bonus funding awarded pursuant to Section 50224.2. 50224.1.
(l) (1) No later than three years after the grant award letter, recipients shall demonstrate whether they have successfully met their outcome output goals.
(2) Jurisdictions that meet their outcome output goals shall be eligible for performance bonus funding, as provided in Section 50224.2. 50224.1.
(3) Jurisdictions that have not met 50 percent of their outcome output goals shall not be eligible for performance bonus funding and shall accept technical assistance from council staff. Additionally, jurisdictions that have not met their outcome goals may also be required to limit the allowable uses of these program funds, as determined by the council.
(m) The council may request additional information from applicants, as needed, to meet other applicable reporting or audit requirements.
(n) In addition to requirements in Section 50224.5, 50224.4, the council may monitor the expenditures and programmatic activities of an applicant, as the council deems necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements and adequate progress towards meeting outcome goals.
(o) The council may, as it deems appropriate or necessary, request the repayment of program funds from a grant recipient, or pursue any other remedies available to it by law, for failure to comply with program requirements.
(p) Any remaining amounts of program allocation funds, including bonus funds, not expended within five years of the grant award letter shall revert to, and be paid and deposited in, the bonus fund.
(q) (1) A city or cities, city and county, single or multiple continuums of care, county or multiple counties, or tribal applicant may apply jointly with a counterpart entity or entities across a region and may be eligible for regional collaboration bonus funding, pursuant to Section 50224.2. 50224.1.
(2) A joint application submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall include, at minimum, evidence of collaboration between the jointly applying applicants and an explanation of how the jointly applying applicants will administer the funds allocated to them pursuant to this section, and meet the joint outcome goals stated in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

SEC. 10.Section 50224.4 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.4.

SEC. 10.

 Section 50224.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50224.3.
 The council shall provide technical assistance to any applicant who requests assistance in completing an application. Technical assistance should include the following, upon informal request by an applicant:
(a) Assisting applicants with coordination with other potential applicants.
(b) Completing any portion of the application.
(c) Capacity building and workforce development for service providers within the jurisdiction.
(d) Using funding to reform housing models to Housing First programs and evidence-based services for people experiencing homelessness.
(e) Advancing racial equity through changes to hiring practices, contracting, coordination between entities that interact with people that are at risk of or experiencing homelessness, or other changes.

SEC. 11.Section 50224.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50224.5.

SEC. 11.

 Section 50224.4 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50224.4.
 (a) After receiving program funds from rounds 5 and thereafter, a recipient, by January 1 of the year following receipt of the funds and annually on that date thereafter until all funds have been expended, shall submit a report to the council in a form and manner provided by the council, through a data collection, reporting, performance monitoring, and accountability framework, as established by the council, that includes all of the following, as well as any additional information the council deems appropriate and necessary:
(1) Information regarding individuals and families served, including demographic information.
(2) Specific expenditures for each eligible use the recipient funded and the number of people or households receiving each funded eligible activity.
(3) Outcome data, to the extent it is available, among participants by each of the eligible uses funded through this chapter by race and ethnicity, including all both of the following:
(A) The number of participants who returned to homelessness.

(B)The number of participants admitted to institutional settings.

(C)

(B) The number of participants who exited homelessness to permanent housing.

(D)The number of participants who died after participating.

(4) Progress in regional collaboration among recipients.
(5) Progress in meeting specific metrics or outcomes, including all of the following:
(A) The number of individual exits to permanent housing, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, from unsheltered environments and interim housing resulting from this funding.
(B) Racial equity outcomes the council and recipients identified in their applications.
(C) Changes made to local policy, procedures, or technical assistance offered to enhance equity and capacity of the local homeless response system, including data reporting the number of subrecipients that are led by people with lived experience at the executive level and the number of subrecipients for whom at least 25 percent of their workforce are people with lived experience.

(D)Any other metrics the council deems appropriate.

(b)If the recipient has not made sufficient progress toward meeting 50 percent of their outcome goals, the recipient shall do all of the following:

(1)Submit in the report a description of barriers and possible solutions to those barriers.

(2)Collaborate with the council to receive technical assistance to address the barriers to meeting the outcome goals.

(3)Accept limitations in the types of eligible uses for program funds, as the council deems appropriate.

(4)Report on progress on their outcome goals in their reports.

(c)

(b) Recipients shall submit to the council an annual fiscal report of program funds expended and obligated in each allowable budget category approved in their application for program funds.

(d)

(c) Data collection and reporting requirements shall support the efficient and effective administration of the program and enable the monitoring of jurisdiction performance and program outcomes.

(e)

(d) The council shall report publicly to the Senate Budget Committee, Assembly Budget Committee, Senate Housing Committee, Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, and other appropriate Committees on performance goals that have been set at the beginning of the grant period, as well as at the conclusion of three years, and provide information on which recipients have met their performance goals, and which recipients have been placed in corrective action plans. At the conclusion of the year following the three-year cycle, the council shall report to these committees and publicly on their internet website on which recipients successfully completed their corrective action plans and which recipients’ funding is being reallocated. committees on outcomes in terms of the number of people housed as a result of the program.

(f)

(e) No later than six years after the award grant for recipients of round 5 and later rounds, each recipient or regional joint recipients shall submit to the council a final report in a format provided by the council, and detailed uses of all program funds.

(g)

(f) The council shall post reported annual information on its internet website within 30 days of receipt and provide notice to the Senate Budget Committee, Assembly Budget Committee, Senate Housing Committee, Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, and other appropriate Committees. committees.

(h)

(g) Data collection and data sharing pursuant to this chapter shall be conducted and maintained in accordance with all applicable state and federal privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations.

(i)

(h) The client information and records of services provided pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to the requirements of Section 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and shall be exempt from inspection under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(j)

(i) Notwithstanding any other law, recipients shall capture data through Homeless Management Information System data standards set forth by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and by any other means specified by the council, and may be shared with other programs to maximize the efficient and effective provision of public benefits and services, and to evaluate this chapter or its impact on other public benefit and services programs.

SEC. 12.

 Section 8257.3 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

8257.3.
 (a) In collaboration with continuums of care, counties, big cities, as defined in Section 50209 of the Health and Safety Code, and other stakeholders, including people with lived experience of homelessness, the council, through the State Funding and Programs Working Group and Racial Equity Working Group, shall establish and regularly update a financing plan to solve homelessness by the year 2035, to include funding necessary to create enough housing to meet the unmet housing needs of people experiencing or expected to experience homelessness. The plan shall include anticipated state and local investments.
(b) No later than January 1, 2025, in collaboration with continuums of care, counties, big cities, as defined in Section 50209 of the Health and Safety Code, and other stakeholders, the council shall establish and update statewide performance metrics by updating the Statewide Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California. The council shall establish these statewide performance metrics based on data on unmet housing need of people experiencing homelessness, need for services for people experiencing homelessness, and need for additional interim housing, taking into consideration what is ambitious and achievable with current and expected state investment. The goals shall include all of the following:
(1) Reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness and racial and ethnic disparities in who experiences homelessness.
(2) Reducing the average length of time people experience homelessness and any racial and ethnic disparities in the average length of time people experience homelessness.
(3) Increasing the number of people with successful placements in permanent housing from outreach and interim settings, and reducing racial disparities in the number of people with successful placements.
(4) Reducing the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and any racial and ethnic disparities in the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
(5) Increasing the percentage of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing and reducing racial and ethnic disparities of people who access permanent housing.
(6) Reducing the number of people who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness into permanent housing and racial and ethnic disparities of people who return to homelessness.
(7) Reducing the number of people who become homeless for the first time and reducing racial and ethnic disparities among who is becoming homeless for the first time.
(c) The council shall work with the regions, as defined in Section 50209, to set performance metrics in regional homeless action plans under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 50209) of Part 1 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, that align with the statewide performance metrics, as directed in subdivision (c) of Section 50209.1.
(d) The council shall compile and post on its internet website a statewide report that aggregates each region’s performance measures and measures progress toward the statewide set of performance metrics.
(e) The council shall create a unified funding application aligning the timeline and application requirements for the state funding described in subdivision (e) of Section 50209.2 of the Health and Safety Code allocated to local governments, no later than January 1, 2026, through leadership from the State Funding and Programs Working Group. The application may be used by other state homelessness prevention programs. The council shall report to the Assembly Committees on Housing and Community Development and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Housing and Human Services on any statutory changes needed to enact the unified funding application, no later than December 31, 2024.

SEC. 12.SEC. 13.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would dedicate ongoing funding to pay for the costs of meeting state goals identified in this act.

SEC. 14.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

SEC. 13.SEC. 15.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Section 11 of this act, which adds Section 50224.5 50244.4 to the Health and Safety Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
In order to protect the privacy of individuals’ information, it is necessary to hold any data elements collected in reporting requirements pursuant to Section 50224.5 50224.4 of the Health and Safety Code confidential.

LegiScan Search

View Top 50 Searches

Select area of search.
Find an exact bill number.
Search bill text and data. [help]
Reset

LegiScan Trends

View Top 50 National

CA AB846 Housing programs: rent increases.
OH SB323 Designate September 28 as Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Day
MI HB5598 Property: recording; penalties for knowingly drafting or submitting false...
MI HB5393 Juveniles: other; maximum time for a juvenile to complete the terms of...
TX SB495 Relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Insurance to adopt...
OH SR460 In memory of Darrell W. Opfer.
US HB10194 To prohibit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from finalizing,...
DE SB169 An Act To Amend Title 10 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Wrongful Conviction...
NJ S3747 Requires written notification of advanced placement courses to parents...
NJ A4544 Expands eligibility requirements of State's child care assistance program...
feedback