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AB-1534 Regional Homeless Management Planning Act.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 03/26/2019 09:00 PM
AB1534:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1534

Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks

February 22, 2019

An act to add Chapter 11.7 (commencing with Section 50810) to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing. homelessness.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1534, as amended, Wicks. Housing: homelessness. Regional Homeless Management Planning Act.
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 the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons. Program, homeless youth emergency service pilot projects, and the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, to provide assistance to homeless persons.
This bill would enact the Regional Homeless Management Planning Act, which would require the department, on or before December 31, 2020, to develop standards and definitions for a county to use in developing regional homeless action plans, as specified. The bill would require a county to complete and submit to the department a Regional Homeless Action Plan on or before January 1, 2022, and every 2 years thereafter, as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, this 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.

This bill would state the Legislature’s intent to enact legislation that would establish a regional plan to address the state’s homelessness crisis.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development requires continuums of care to conduct an annual count—known as a point-in-time (PIT) count—of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons.
(b) PIT counts are assisted by cities, counties, and volunteers, and form the basis for most publicly available data on homeless populations in California.
(c) According to 2018 PIT count data, California has 129,972 homeless residents, the most in the United States, and 68.9 percent of California’s homeless residents are unsheltered, the highest percentage in the United States.
(d) Unsheltered homelessness threatens public health and safety. In March 2017, an outbreak of hepatitis A at a San Diego homeless camp infected 592 people and killed 20. In the fall of 2018, a typhus epidemic spread across homeless camps surrounding Los Angeles. Between September and November 2018, homeless encampments in Oakland caught fire on at least four separate occasions.
(e) Data collected from PIT counts are used by cities and counties to plan programs and services for homeless populations, and to communicate information about homelessness to the public.
(f) PIT counts are known to significantly undercount homeless populations, fail to track movement of homeless individuals across California, and provide inconsistent metrics for tracking homelessness across regions within California.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 11.7 (commencing with Section 50810) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER  11.7. Regional Homeless Management Planning Act

50810.
 (a) On or before December 31, 2020, the department shall develop standards and definitions for a county to use in developing regional homeless action plans pursuant to subdivision (b). Those standards and definitions shall include, but are not limited to, a requirement that a regional homeless action plan include all of the following:
(1) The total number of unique individuals who use homeless services within the county each year.
(2) The age, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and veteran status of people experiencing homelessness within the county.
(3) Any residential history of homeless residents within the county, including the duration of their current state of homelessness, the city and county in which they became homeless, and the city and county of their last standard residence.
(4) The primary causes of homelessness, including, but not limited to, loss of employment, eviction, substance abuse, domestic conflict, arrest, or crime.
(5) The total number of accommodation units within the county, by city, including, but not limited to, extremely low-income units, permanent supportive housing units, emergency shelter beds, and the capacity of rapid rehousing programs.
(6) Production pipeline of accommodation units within the county, by city, including, but not limited to, extremely low-income units, permanent supportive housing units, emergency shelter beds, and the capacity of rapid rehousing programs.
(7) The estimated public resources spent providing resources to homeless populations, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Direct medical care, including, but not limited to, emergency room visits, outpatient costs, and private hospital inpatient care.
(B) Behavior health care, including, but not limited to, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and inpatient or outpatient mental health costs.
(C) Criminal justice costs, including, but not limited to, costs associated with probation, custody, mental health, medical care, jail, and court.
(D) Social services, including, but not limited to, food stamps, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, foster care, and general assistance.
(b) On or before January 1, 2022, and every two years thereafter, each county shall complete and submit to the department a Regional Homeless Action Plan that contains all of the information required pursuant to subdivision (a).

SEC. 3.

 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.
SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a regional plan to address the state’s homelessness crisis.