Bill Text: CA AB2821 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Housing for a Healthy California Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2016-09-27 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2821 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2821-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2821 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 16, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Chiu and Santiago
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Atkins)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Part 14.2 (commencing with Section 53590) to
Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2821, Chiu. Housing for a Healthy California Program.
Existing law establishes various housing programs directed by the
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), including
special housing programs to provide housing assistance for persons
with developmental and physical disabilities and persons with mental
health disorders. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program,
which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS), under which qualified low-income individuals receive health
care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded
by federal Medicaid program provisions.
This bill would require HCD to, on or before October 1, 2017,
establish the Housing for a Healthy California Program and on or
before April 1, 2018, and every year thereafter, subject to
appropriation by the Legislature, award grants on a competitive basis
to eligible grant applicants based on guidelines that HCD would
draft, as prescribed, and other requirements. The bill would provide
that an applicant is eligible for a grant under the program if the
applicant meets specified requirements, including that the applicant
identify a source of funding, as specified, agree to contribute
funding for interim and long-term rental assistance, and agree to
collect and report data, as specified.
The bill would require an applicant awarded a grant to use the
funds for specified purposes, including long-term rental assistance
and interim housing. The bill would provide that a county resident is
eligible to receive assistance pursuant to a grant awarded under the
program if he or she meets specified requirements, including that
the person is homeless, is a Medi-Cal beneficiary, is eligible for
Supplemental Security Income, is eligible to receive certain
services, and is likely to improve his or her health with supportive
services. The bill would provide that the program shall be funded
upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would also authorize
HCD, for purposes of implementing these provisions, to enter into
exclusive or nonexclusive contracts on a bid or negotiated basis,
exempt from specified small business procurement, personal service,
and public contracting provisions, and exempt from the review or
approval of any division of the Department of General Services. The
bill would exempt the program guidelines created by the department
from requirements prescribed for administrative regulations. The bill
would require HCD to analyze data collected pursuant to the program,
as specified, and by October 1, 2019, and subsequently as the
program may be funded, to report program data to certain legislative
committees, as specified. The bill would condition implementation of
these provisions upon an appropriation provided for this purpose.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Homeless beneficiaries incur disproportionate Medi-Cal costs,
particularly people experiencing chronic homelessness and people who
cycle between homelessness, emergency departments, inpatient care,
and nursing home stays. Supportive housing, which is affordable
housing with intensive services, allows people experiencing
significant barriers to housing stability to improve their health and
decrease their Medicaid costs. National studies comparing formerly
homeless Medicaid beneficiaries living in supportive housing with
homeless beneficiaries receiving usual care demonstrate Medicaid cost
savings of almost $9,000 per year after the costs of services.
(b) In most communities in California, a lack of housing
affordable to people experiencing homelessness is one of the greatest
barriers to exiting homelessness. Housing resources would equip
Whole Person Care counties choosing to target homeless people with
the resources to achieve the goals of the Whole Person Care Waiver
provisions, during the course of the pilot and after the pilot ends.
"Whole Person Care pilot" has the meaning as described in the
Medi-Cal 2020 Waiver Special Terms and Conditions (STCs), Sections
110-126, as approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services on December 30, 2015, or in any subsequent amendment to the
STCs.
SEC. 2. Part 14.2 (commencing with Section 53590) is added to
Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
PART 14.2. Housing for a Healthy California Program
53590. For purposes of this part, all of the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Applicant" means a county or a city collaborating with a
county to secure services funding.
(b) "DHCS" means the State Department of Health Care Services.
(c) "Fair market rent" means the rent, including the cost of
utilities, as established by the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development pursuant to Parts 888 and 982 of Title 24 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1,
2017, for units by number of bedrooms, that must be paid in the
market area to rent privately owned, existing, decent, safe, and
sanitary rental housing of nonluxury nature with suitable amenities.
(d) "HCD" means the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
(e) "Homeless" has the same meaning as in Section 578.3 of Title
24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on
January 1, 2017.
(f) "Interim housing" means a safe place for a participant to live
temporarily while the participant is waiting to move into a
permanent apartment affordable to the participant with rental
assistance, and where the participant is not required to pay more
than 30 percent of his or her income toward the cost of the interim
housing. "Interim housing" may include recuperative or respite care
and shall not be funded for longer than a period of nine months.
(g) "Long-term rental assistance" means a rental subsidy provided
to a housing provider, including a landlord renting in the private
market or a developer leasing affordable housing, to assist a tenant
to pay the difference between 30 percent of the tenant's income and
fair market rent or reasonable market rent as determined by HCD.
(h) "Permanent housing" means a housing unit where the landlord
does not limit length of stay in the housing unit, the landlord does
not restrict the movements of the tenant, and the tenant has a lease
and is subject to the rights and responsibilities of tenancy,
pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1940) of Title 5 of
Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code.
(i) "Program" means the Housing for a Healthy California Program
created by this part.
(j) "Supportive housing" has the same meaning as in Section
50675.14.
53591. HCD shall do all of the following:
(a) On or before October 1, 2017, establish the Housing for a
Healthy California Program.
(b) On or before October 1, 2017, draft guidelines for stakeholder
comment to fund competitive grants to pay for interim and long-term
rental assistance under the program. The guidelines shall detail
competitive scoring criteria that includes, but is not limited to,
scoring that awards points based upon all of the following:
(1) Need, which includes consideration of the number of
individuals experiencing homelessness and the impact of housing costs
in the applicant's geographic area.
(2) Ability of the applicant to administer a program offering
interim and long-term rental assistance to people experiencing
homelessness.
(3) The applicant's documented partnerships with affordable and
supportive housing providers in the applicant's geographic area.
(4) A comprehensive plan to connect interim housing, long-term
rental assistance, and project-based supportive housing resources.
(5) Coordination with (A) community-based housing and homeless
service providers, (B) behavioral health providers, and (C), safety
net providers, including community health centers.
(c) On or before April 1, 2018, and every year thereafter, subject
to appropriation by the Legislature, award grants on a competitive
basis to eligible grant applicants. If appropriations are made
available in future years, applicants shall compete for each round of
five-year grants.
(d) Midyear and annually, collect data from the program grantees.
(e) No later than April 1, 2018, contract with an independent
evaluator or work with an evaluator who is contracted with DHCS to
analyze data collected pursuant to Section 53573 to determine changes
in health care costs associated with services provided under the
program. HCD shall provide, on a regular basis as needed, collected
data to the evaluator.
(f) (1) On or before October 1, 2019, for grants awarded in 2018,
and in subsequent years thereafter in which the program is allocated
additional funds, report data collected to the Assembly Committee on
Budget, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the
Assembly and Senate committees on health, the Assembly Committee on
Housing and Community Development, and the Senate Committee on
Transportation and Housing.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(g) HCD is encouraged to consult with DHCS where appropriate to
carry out the intent of this section.
53592. An applicant shall be eligible for a program grant if the
applicant meets the requirements of this section. Eligibility does
not create an entitlement to grant funds and is subject to
availability of funds. The applicant shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(a) Identify a source of funding for Housing Transition Services
and Tenancy Sustaining Services, as defined in the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services' Informational Bulletin regarding
Housing-Related Activities and Services for People with Disabilities,
issued June 26, 2015. Funding for these services may include, but
are not limited to, one or more of the following:
(1) County general funds.
(2) Whole Person Care pilot program funds.
(3) The Health Home Program.
(4) Other county-controlled funding to provide these services to
eligible participants.
(b) Agree to contribute funding for interim and long-term rental
assistance through an identified source.
(c) Has designated a process for administering grant funds through
agencies administering housing programs.
(d) Agree to collect and report data, as described in Section
53593, to HCD.
53593. (a) HCD shall coordinate with DHCS to match program
participant data, consistent with state and federal privacy law, to
Medi-Cal data to identify outcomes among participants as well as
changes in health care costs associated with housing and services
provided under the program to the extent that information is
available, up to 12 months prior to each participant's move into
permanent housing, as well as changes in costs after each participant'
s move into permanent housing.
(b) An applicant awarded grant funds shall, at annual and midyear
intervals, report all of the following data to HCD:
(1) Data specified by HCD necessary to measure the costs and
outcomes of the program.
(2) The number of participants and the type of interventions
offered through grant funds.
(3) The number of participants living in supportive housing or
other permanent housing.
53594. An applicant shall use grants awarded pursuant to this
part for one or more of the following, which may be administered
through a housing pool:
(a) Long-term rental assistance for periods of up to five years.
(b) A capitalized operating reserve for up to 15 years to pay for
operating costs of an apartment or apartments within a development
receiving public funding to provide supportive housing to people
experiencing homelessness.
(c) Interim housing.
(d) A county's administrative costs for up to 3 percent of the
total grant awarded.
53595. A county resident is eligible to receive assistance
pursuant to a grant awarded under the program if he or she meets all
of the following requirements:
(a) Is homeless upon initial eligibility.
(b) Is a Medi-Cal beneficiary.
(c) Is eligible for Supplemental Security Income.
(d) Is eligible to receive services under a program providing
services promoting housing stability, including, but not limited to,
the following:
(1) The Whole Person Care pilot program.
(2) Health Home Program.
(3) A locally controlled services program funding or providing
services in supportive housing.
(e) Is likely to improve his or her health conditions with
supportive housing.
53596. The program shall be funded upon appropriation by the
Legislature. The Legislature shall consider the impact that housing
and supportive services have had in changing utilization and health
care costs, as identified in the evaluation described in Section
53591, of moving eligible participants into supportive housing.
53597. HCD shall reimburse DHCS for the costs of collaborating in
matching and providing relevant data. HCD shall use no more than 5
percent of the funds appropriated for the program for purposes of
administering the program.
53598. (a) For purposes of implementing this part, HCD may enter
into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts on a bid or negotiated
basis. Contracts entered into or amended pursuant to this subdivision
shall be exempt from Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 14825) of
Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, Section
19130 of the Government Code, and Part 2 (commencing with Section
10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code and shall be exempt
from the review or approval of any division of the Department of
General Services.
(b) Any guidelines that are adopted, amended, or repealed to
implement this chapter shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
53599. Implementation of this part shall be contingent on an
appropriation provided for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or
other measure.
