Bill Text: CA AB2033 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Homelessness: federal funding.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-12 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2033 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB2033-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 2033	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 19, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Torres
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Gilmore   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2010

   An act to add Section 50505.5 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to homelessness.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2033, as amended, Torres. Homelessness: federal funding.
   Under existing law, the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
administers various programs relating to homelessness, including the
continuum of care program, which is a competitive award program
created to address the problems of homelessness in a comprehensive
manner. The program authorizes a state to apply for program funding
as a balance of state continuum of care that covers geographic areas
of the state not included within a community level continuum of care.

   This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community
Development to apply for  McKinney-vento  
McKinney-Vento  Homeless Assistance Act funding by establishing
a balance of state continuum of care program, as described, on or
before September 1, 2011. The bill would also require, in the event
that the department fails to apply for the federal funding, that the
department report the reasons that it failed to apply for the funding
prior to September 30, 2011. The bill would make this reporting
requirement inoperative on September 30, 2015.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) California has the largest homeless population of any state in
the country.
   (b) Over 380,000 people in California are homeless for some period
of time during the course of each year.
   (c) Seventy percent of homeless people in California live
unsheltered, which is the largest percentage in the nation.
   (d) In 1994, the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) introduced the continuum of care planning process,
a competitive program designed to encourage communities to address
the problems of housing and homelessness in a more coordinated and
strategic fashion.
   (e) The comprehensive continuum of care approach encourages
communities to identify and prioritize gaps in housing and services
available for people who are homeless. It also enables communities to
develop long-term strategies and action plans to address these gaps
using McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301)
funds and other federal, state, and local resources. The strategic
planning conducted through this program also forms the basis of a
state's or community's continuum of care plan and application to HUD
for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds.
   (f) The fundamental components of a continuum of care program
include prevention, outreach, emergency shelter, transitional
housing, permanent housing, permanent supportive housing, and
supportive services.
   (g) In order to receive funding through the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act, a state or community must develop a
continuum of care.
   (h) Forty-four counties in the state participated in a continuum
of care that received a funding award in 2009.
   (i) According to HUD estimates,  14   13
 counties in the state have unclaimed geography not currently
included in a community continuum of care. The unclaimed geography
represents  $900,000   nine hundred thousand
dollars ($900,000)  in federal funding that the state could
access to address homelessness in smaller, rural communities.
   (j) Most states receive funding from HUD using a balance of state
continuum of care for areas that are not included in a local
community continuum of care. But this state has not taken the
necessary steps to establish a balance of state continuum of care to
receive the federal funding for areas in this state not included in a
local community continuum of care.
   (k) It is the Legislature's intent that the state should access
all federal funding that is available to address homelessness by
submitting an application to receive funding under a balance of state
continuum of care.
  SEC. 2.  Section 50505.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   50505.5.  (a) The department shall apply for funding pursuant to
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301) by
establishing a balance of state  continuum of care 
continuum of care program on or before September 1, 2011.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a balance of state continuum of
care includes all geographic areas of the state that are not
currently receiving McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funding
through a community continuum of care and geographic areas of the
state that do receive federal funds through a community continuum of
care that choose to apply for its funding as part of the balance of
state continuum of care.
   (c) (1) If the department fails to apply for McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance funding pursuant to this section, the department
shall report to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community
Development, prior to September 30, 2011, the reasons for its failure
to apply for the funding.
   (2) The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this
subdivision is inoperative on September 30, 2015, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.