8257.
(a) The Governor shall create a Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, which shall be under the supervision of the Secretary on Homelessness of the Office to End Homelessness.(b) The council shall have all of the following goals:
(1) To oversee implementation of this chapter.
(2) To identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California.
(3) To create partnerships among state agencies and departments, local government agencies, participants
in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Program, federal agencies, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, nonprofit entities working to end homelessness, homeless services providers, and the private sector, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness.
(4) To promote systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age.
(5) To coordinate existing funding and applications for competitive funding. Any action taken pursuant to this paragraph shall not restructure or change any existing allocations or allocation formulas.
(6) To make policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities.
(7) To identify and seek funding opportunities for state entities that have programs to end homelessness, including, but not limited to, federal and philanthropic funding opportunities, and to facilitate and coordinate those state entities’ efforts to obtain that funding.
(8) To broker agreements between state agencies and departments and between state agencies and departments and local jurisdictions to align and coordinate resources, reduce administrative burdens of accessing existing resources, and foster common applications for services, operating, and capital funding.
(9) To serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California.
(10) To report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and
the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness.
(11) To ensure accountability and results in meeting the strategies and goals of the council.
(12) To identify and implement strategies to fight homelessness in small communities and rural areas.
(13) To create a statewide data system or warehouse, which shall be known as the Homeless Data Integration System, that collects local data through Homeless Management Information Systems, with the ultimate goal of matching data on homelessness to programs impacting homeless recipients of state programs, such as Medi-Cal (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9) and CalWORKs (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9). Upon creation of the Homeless Data Integration System, all Continuums of Care, as defined in Part 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which are currently operating in California, shall provide collected data elements, including, but not limited to, health information, in a manner consistent with federal law, to the Homeless Management Information System.
(A) Council staff shall specify the form and substance of the required data elements.
(B) Council staff may, as required by operational necessity, amend or modify data elements, disclosure formats, or disclosure frequency.
(C) Any health information or personal identifying information provided to, or maintained within, the
Homeless Data Integration System shall not be subject to public inspection or disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(D) For purposes of this paragraph, “health information” includes “protected health information,” as defined in Part 160.103 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and “medical information,” as defined in subdivision (j) of Section 56.05 of the Civil Code.
(14) To set goals to prevent and end homelessness among California’s youth.
(15) To improve the safety, health, and welfare of young people experiencing homelessness in the state.
(16) To increase system integration and coordinating efforts to prevent homelessness among youth who are currently or formerly involved in the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system.
(17) To lead efforts to coordinate a spectrum of funding, policy, and practice efforts related to young people experiencing homelessness.
(18) To identify best practices to ensure homeless minors who may have experienced maltreatment, as described in Section 300, are appropriately referred to, or have the ability to self-refer to, the child welfare system.
(19) To develop and implement a statewide strategic plan on homelessness that shall establish measurable objectives and strategies to enhance state-level
accountability and practices.
(c) (1) The council shall consist of the following members:
(A) The Secretary on Homelessness of the Office to End Homelessness, or the secretary’s designee, who shall serve as chair of the council.
(B) The Director of Transportation.
(C) The Director of Housing and Community Development.
(D) The Director of Social Services.
(E) The Director of the California Housing Finance Agency.
(F) The Director of Health Care Services.
(G) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(H) The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(I) The executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee in the Treasurer’s office.
(J) The Director of Public Health.
(K) A representative of the Victim Services Program within the Division of Grants Management within the Office of Emergency Services, who shall be appointed by the Director of the Office of Emergency Services.
(L) A representative from the State Department of Education, who shall be
appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(M) A representative of the state public higher education system who shall be from one of the following:
(i) The California Community Colleges.
(ii) The University of California.
(iii) The California State University.
(2) The council shall regularly seek guidance from and meet with an advisory committee that shall include the following:
(A) A formerly homeless person who lives in California.
(B) A formerly homeless youth who lives in
California.
(C) Two representatives of local agencies or organizations that participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Program.
(D) State advocates or other members of the public or state agencies, at the Governor’s discretion.
(E) One member to the council from two different stakeholder organizations, one appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and the other appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(3) The council may, at its discretion, invite stakeholders, individuals who have experienced homelessness, members of philanthropic communities, and experts to participate in meetings or provide
information to the council.
(d) The council shall hold public meetings at least once every quarter.
(e) The members of the council shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
(f) Within existing funding, the council may establish working groups, task forces, or other structures from within its membership or with outside members to assist it in its work. Working groups, task forces, or other structures established by the council shall determine their own meeting schedules.
(1) The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) shall not apply to a
meeting of a working group, task force, or other structure within the membership if only a minority of members of the council participate in that working group, task force, or other structure.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (1), the council is subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and all meetings of the council are subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
(g) The members of the council shall serve without compensation, except that members of the council who are, or have been, homeless may receive reimbursement for travel, per diem, or other expenses.
(h) The Office to End Homelessness shall provide staff for the council.
(i) The members of
the council may enter into memoranda of understanding with other members of the council to achieve the goals set forth in this chapter, as necessary, in order to facilitate communication and cooperation between the entities the members of the council represent.
(j) There shall be an executive director of the council under the direction of the Office to End Homelessness.
(k) The council shall be under the direction of the executive director and staffed by employees of the Office to End Homelessness.