Bill Text: CA AB71 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 71 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Homelessness funding: Bring California Home Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - Died on inactive file. [AB71 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB71-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly May 24, 2021

Amended IN Assembly May 04, 2021

Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2021

Amended IN Assembly January 12, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 71

Introduced by Assembly Members Luz Rivas, Bloom, Chiu, and Wicks
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Kalra)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members ~~Carrillo~~ Carrillo, Lorena Gonzalez, and Lee)

December 07, 2020

An act to amend Section 23036.3 of, and to add Sections 17087.7 and 25110.1 to, the Revenue and Taxation Code, and to amend Sections 8255 and 8257 of, to add Sections 8257.1, 8257.2, 8258, and 14133.5 to, and to add Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13050) to Part 3 of Division 9 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to homelessness, ~~and~~ making an appropriation ~~therefor.~~ therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 71, as amended, Luz Rivas. Homelessness funding: Bring California Home Act.

(1) The Personal Income Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally defines gross income as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income. Existing federal law, for purposes of determining a taxpayer’s gross income for federal income taxation, requires that a person who is a United States shareholder of any controlled foreign corporation to include in their gross income the global intangible low-taxed income for that taxable year, as provided.

This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, would include a taxpayer’s global intangible low-taxed income in their gross income for purposes of the Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with the above-described federal provisions. The bill would exempt any regulation, standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established or issued by the Franchise Tax Board to implement its provisions from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Corporation Tax Law, when the income of a taxpayer subject to tax under that law is derived from or attributable to sources both within and without the state, generally requires that the tax be measured by the net income derived from or attributable to sources within this state, as provided. Notwithstanding this requirement, the Corporation Tax Law authorizes a qualified taxpayer, as defined, to elect to determine its income derived from or attributable to sources within this state pursuant to a water’s-edge election, as provided. For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2003, existing law requires that a water’s-edge election be made on an original, timely filed return for the year of the election, as provided, and provides for the continued effect or termination of that election.

This bill, beginning January 1, 2022, would require that a taxpayer that makes a water’s-edge election under these provisions take into account 50% of the global intangible low-taxed income and 40% of the repatriation income of its affiliated corporations, as those terms are defined. The bill would allow a taxpayer, for calendar year 2022 only, the opportunity to revoke a water’s-edge election if the taxpayer includes global intangible low-taxed income pursuant to these provisions. The bill would prohibit the total of all business credits, as defined, and all credits allowed under specified provisions of the Corporation Tax Law, with specified exceptions, from reducing the additional tax liability added by this bill’s provisions by more than $5,000,000, as provided. The bill would exempt any regulation, standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established or issued by the Franchise Tax Board to implement its provisions from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that any revenue resulting from the above-described changes to the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law be used for purposes of the Bring California Home Act, as described below.

(2) Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (council). Existing law specifies the duties of the coordinating council, including creating partnerships among state agencies and departments, local government agencies, and specified federal agencies and private entities, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint up to 19 members of the council, including representatives from specified state agencies and departments, and a formerly homeless person and a formerly homeless youth who both live in California, and requires the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly to each appoint one member to the council from 2 different stakeholder organizations.

This bill would delete the provisions relating to the appointment authority of the Governor and the Legislature, and would instead restructure the council, including requiring the council to be composed of prescribed individuals, including the directors of specified state agencies and departments, such as the State Department of Public Health. The bill would require the council to seek guidance from, and meet with, an advisory committee composed of specified individuals, including a survivor of gender-based violence who formerly experienced homelessness and a formerly homeless person who lives in California.

This bill would require the council, its technical services provider, or an entity with which the council contracts to identify, analyze, and collect various data in regards to homelessness in this state, including identifying state programs that provide housing or housing-based services to persons experiencing homelessness, as provided. The bill would require the council to report on this information to specified committees of the Legislature by July 31, 2022. The bill would require the council to seek technical assistance offered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, if available, for purposes of conducting this statewide needs and gaps analysis. The bill would require a state department or agency with a member on the council to assist in data collection for the analysis by responding to data requests within 180 days, as specified.

The bill would require the council to convene a funder’s workgroup, composed of specified individuals, including staff of the council and staff working for agencies or departments represented on the council, to accomplish prescribed goals, and would authorize that workgroup to invite philanthropic organizations focused on ending homelessness, reducing health disparities, ending domestic violence, or ensuring Californians do not exit foster care or incarceration to homelessness to participate in specific meetings. The bill would require the workgroup to perform specified duties, including collaborating with state agency staff to develop a universal application for service providers and other entities to apply to agencies and departments represented on the council for funding for homeless services and housing, and to coordinate state agencies and departments to reduce the risk of long-term homelessness by developing specific protocols and procedures that accomplish prescribed goals, such as assisting individuals reentering communities from jails and prisons with housing navigation, housing acquisition support, and obtaining permanent housing.

Existing law requires agencies and departments administering state programs to collaborate with the council to adopt guidelines to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First, as provided. Existing law defines “state programs” for these purposes to mean any programs a California state agency or department funds, implements, or administers for the purpose of providing housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, but excludes federally funded programs with inconsistent requirements or programs that fund emergency shelters.

This bill would delete the exclusion for programs that fund emergency shelters from this definition of “state programs,” thereby expanding the scope of programs required to incorporate core components of Housing First, as described above.

(3) Existing law establishes, among various other programs intended to address homelessness in this state, 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 2 rounds, the first of which is administered by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and the second of which is administered by the coordinating council.

This bill would enact the Bring California Home Act, which would establish the Bring California Home Fund in the State Treasury and continuously appropriate moneys in that fund for the purpose of implementing that act. The bill would require the Controller to annually transfer specified amounts, determined as provided by the Franchise Tax Board based on the above-described changes made by this bill to the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, to the Bring California Home Fund. The bill would require that recipients and subrecipients under the program ensure that any expenditure of moneys allocated to them serve the eligible population, unless otherwise expressly provided in the bill. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.

The bill would require the council to administer allocations to counties and continuums of care that apply jointly and to large cities, as provided. The bill would require the council to set aside $200,000,000 for bonus awards, as provided. Of the remaining amount in the fund, the bill would require the council to allocate 60% to counties and continuums of care applying jointly and 40% to large cities, in accordance with a specified formula and subject to certain requirements. The bill would establish eligibility criteria for a county and continuum of care or a large city to receive an allocation under these provisions and specify the eligible uses for those moneys. The bill would authorize a jointly applying county and continuum of care to request that the State Department of Social Services contract with local agencies or nonprofit organizations providing the housing and housing-based services under the program in exchange for a percentage of the allocation to the county and continuum of care for administrative costs, as provided.

The bill would require the council to allocate available funding in 2-year cycles, with the first round allocated no later than March 31, 2023, and to develop a simple application that an eligible entity may use to apply for funding, as well as common standards for recipients to monitor, report, and ensure accountability, provide services, and subsidize housing. The bill would require the council and each recipient to establish performance outcomes for the initial cycle and to establish outcome goals before each subsequent grant cycle, as provided, and require the council to award bonus funding to a recipient, if the recipient has achieved those performance outcomes, or reduce or deny that bonus funding the if the recipient has not achieved those performance outcomes.

The bill, except as otherwise provided, would require each recipient to contractually obligate 100% of the amount allocated to it within 3 years, for the first grant cycle, or 1 year, for each subsequent cycle, and to expend the entirety of that amount within 4 years, for the first grant cycle, or 2 years, for each subsequent cycle. If a recipient fails to comply with these deadlines, uses moneys allocated to it for an unauthorized purpose, or fails to apply for an allocation within the initial award cycle, the bill would require the council to either select an alternative entity to administer the recipient’s allocation in accordance with specified requirements or solely establish performance outcomes and program priorities for that recipient jurisdiction and work with local, regional, or statewide entities to administer the allocation on behalf of the recipient.

The bill would require each recipient to annually report to the council specified information relating to allocations made under these provisions. The bill would require the council to conduct regular monitoring and audits of the activities and outcomes of recipients that are joint county-continuum of care applicants or large cities. No later than January 1, 2024, and every 5th January 1 thereafter, the bill would require the council to evaluate the outcomes of this program and submit a report, containing specified information, to specified committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the council to establish an advisory committee to inform state and local policies, practices, and programs with respect to the experiences of specified demographic groups experiencing homelessness.

(4) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.

By January 1, 2025, this bill would require the department to seek federal approval for a Medi-Cal benefit to fund prescribed services, including housing navigation and housing acquisition support services, for beneficiaries experiencing homelessness, to convene a stakeholder advisory group representing counties, health care consumers, and homeless advocates in developing this plan, to work with counties to determine an effective process for funding the state’s share of the federal medical assistance percentage, and to pursue philanthropic funding to carry out the administrative duties related to these provisions. The bill would authorize the department to use up to 20% of the county-continuum allocation from the Bring California Home Fund, as described above, to pay for the state’s federal medical assistance percentage associated with this benefit.

(5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Section 17087.7 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

17087.7.

(a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to Global intangible low-taxed income, as enacted by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–97), shall apply, except as otherwise provided.

(b) Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to Global intangible low-taxed income, is modified as follows:

(1) If a taxpayer that is not a “C” corporation has income under Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code, which is derived from a corporation that is part of a combined reporting group doing business in this state and has made a water’s-edge election under Section 25110, 50 percent of that income shall be apportioned to this state using the same apportionment factor as is used for the combined reporting group.

(2) Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code shall not apply if either of the following applies:

(A) The taxpayer is not a “C” corporation and the income under Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code is derived from a corporation that is part of a combined reporting group doing business in this state that does not make a water’s-edge election under Section 25110.

(B) The taxpayer is not a “C” corporation and the income under Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code is derived from a corporation that is not part of a combined reporting group doing business in this state.

(c) If a taxpayer has income under Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to global intangible low-taxed income, included in its gross income pursuant to this section, the taxpayer may submit a petition to the Franchise Tax Board for alternative apportionment pursuant to Section 25137, in accordance with the standards and procedures established by the board for submission of a petition for alternative apportionment.

(d) Any regulation, standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established or issued by the Franchise Tax Board to implement this section is hereby exempted from 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).

(e) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the revenue, if any, resulting from application of this section in any taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, be used for purposes of the Bring California Home Act (Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13050) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).

SEC. 2.

Section 23036.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read:

23036.3.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (d), for taxpayers not required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers not authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2023, the total of all credits otherwise allowable under any provision of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 23604) including the carryover of any credit under a former provision of that chapter, for the taxable year shall not reduce the “tax,” as defined in Section 23036, by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (d), for taxpayers required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2023, the total of all credits otherwise allowable under any provision of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 23604), including the carryover of any credit under a former provision of that chapter, by all members of the combined report shall not reduce the aggregate amount of “tax,” as defined in Section 23036, of all members of the combined report by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(b) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (d), for taxpayers not required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers not authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, the total of all credits otherwise allowable under any provision of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 23604) including the carryover of any credit under a former provision of that chapter, for the taxable year shall not reduce the additional tax liability added by subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 25110.1 by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (d), for taxpayers required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, the total of all credits otherwise allowable under any provision of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 23604), including the carryover of any credit under a former provision of that chapter, by all members of the combined report shall not reduce the aggregate amount of the additional tax liability of all members of the combined report added by subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 25110.1 by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(c) Any amounts included in an election pursuant to Section 6902.5, relating to an irrevocable election to apply credit amounts under Section 17053.85, 17053.95, 17053.98, 23685, 23695, or 23698 against qualified sales and use tax, as defined in Section 6902.5, are not included in the five million dollar ($5,000,000) limitation set forth in subdivision (a) or (b).

(d) (1) The limitation under subdivision (a) or (b) shall not apply to the credit allowed by Section 23610.5, relating to credit for low-income housing.

(2) The limitation under subdivision (b) shall not apply to the credit allowed by subdivision (e) of Section 25110.1, relating to credit for taxes already paid to this state on repatriated income.

(e) The amount of any credit otherwise allowable for the taxable year under Section 23036 that is not allowed due to the application of this section shall remain a credit carryover amount under this part.

(f) The carryover period for any credit that is not allowed due to the application of this section shall be increased by the number of taxable years the credit or any portion thereof was not allowed.

(g) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to any standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established or issued by the Franchise Tax Board pursuant to this section.

SEC. 3.

Section 25110.1 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

25110.1.

(a) Beginning January 1, 2022, a taxpayer that makes a water’s-edge election shall take into account 50 percent of the global intangible low-taxed income, but not the apportionment factors, of its affiliated corporations.

(b) Beginning January 1, 2022, a taxpayer that makes a water’s-edge election shall take into account 40 percent of the repatriation income, but not the apportionment factors, of its affiliated corporations.

(c) Any taxpayer that includes repatriation income may choose to apportion 14 percent of that income to California or use the apportionment factor otherwise calculated for the combined group for that taxable year, through an election process in the form and manner prescribed by the Franchise Tax Board.

(d) For purposes of calculating dividends to be eliminated from the income of the recipient under Section 25106 or any other law, global intangible low-taxed income included by reason of subdivision (a) shall be treated in the same manner as income included by reason of clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 25110.

(e) Any taxpayer that includes repatriated income under subdivision (b) shall be entitled to a credit for any taxes already paid to this state on the repatriated income by reason of Section 24411 or any other law. The credit allowed by this subdivision shall be calculated by multiplying the final tax liability of the taxpayer for the taxable year in which tax was paid on repatriation income by a fraction not to exceed one, the numerator of which is the repatriation income of that corporation for that taxable year and the denominator of which is the total taxable income of that corporation for that taxable year.

(f) Any taxpayer that has made a water’s-edge election under Section 25113 shall be permitted, for taxable year 2022 only, an opportunity to revoke this election if the taxpayer includes global intangible low-taxed income pursuant to this section.

(g) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, for taxpayers not required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers not authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, the total of all business credits otherwise allowable, under any provision of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 17041) of Part 10, including the carryover of any business credit under a former provision of that chapter, but not including the credit permitted by subdivision (e), for the taxable year shall not reduce the additional tax liability added by subdivision (a), (b), or (c) by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401) to the contrary, for taxpayers required to be included in a combined report under Section 25101 or 25110, or taxpayers authorized to be included in a combined report under Section 25101.15, the total of all business credits otherwise allowable under any provision of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 17041) of Part 10, including the carryover of any business credit under a former provision of that chapter, but not including the credit permitted by subdivision (e), by all members of the combined report shall not reduce the aggregate amount of the additional tax liability of all members of the combined report added by subdivision (a), (b), or (c) by more than five million dollars ($5,000,000).

(3) Any amounts included in an election pursuant to Section 6902.5, relating to an irrevocable election to apply credit amounts under Section 17053.85, 17053.95, 17053.98, 23685, 23695, or 23698 against qualified sales and use tax, as defined in Section 6902.5, shall not be included in the five million dollar ($5,000,000) limitation set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2).

(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this part or Part 10.2 (commencing with Section 18401), the credit amount described in paragraph (3) shall be applied after any business credits, subject to the limitations specified in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, are applied.

(5) The amount of any business credit otherwise allowable for the taxable year that is not allowed due to the application of this subdivision shall remain a credit carryover amount under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 17041) of Part 10.

(6) The carryover period for any business credit that is not allowed due to the application of this subdivision shall be increased by the number of taxable years the credit or any portion thereof was not allowed.

(h) Any regulation, standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established or issued by the Franchise Tax Board to implement this section is hereby exempted from 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).

(i) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:

(1) “Affiliated corporation” means a corporation that is a member of a commonly controlled group, as defined in Section 25105.

(2) “Business credit” means a credit allowable under any provision of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 17041) of Part 10, other than the following credits:

(A) The credit allowed by Section 17052, relating to credit for earned income.

(B) The credit allowed by Section 17052.1, relating to credit for a young child.

(D) The credit allowed by Section 17052.25, relating to credit for adoption costs.

(E) The credit allowed by Section 17053.5, relating to renter’s tax credit.

(F) The credit allowed by Section 17054, relating to credit for personal exemption.

(G) The credit allowed by Section 17054.5, relating to credit for qualified joint custody head of household and a qualified taxpayer with a dependent parent.

(H) The credit allowed by Section 17054.7, relating to credit for qualified senior head of household.

(I) The credit allowed by Section 17058, relating to credit for low-income housing.

(J) The credit allowed by Section 17061, relating to refunds pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Code.

(3) “Global intangible low-taxed income” has the same meaning as defined by Section 951A of the Internal Revenue Code, as enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), relating to global intangible low-taxed income, but not taking into account any subtractions made pursuant to Section 1.951A-2(c)(7) of Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(4) “Repatriation income” means income that was deemed repatriated under Section 965(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), relating to treatment of deferred foreign income as subpart F income, as included in a taxpayer’s federal return by operation of the payment schedule of Section 965(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), relating to election to pay liability in installments.

(j) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

(k) It is the intent of the Legislature that the revenue, if any, resulting from application of this section in any taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, be used for purposes of the Bring California Home Act (Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13050) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).

SEC. 4.

Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

8255.

For purposes of this chapter:

(a) “Coordinating council” means the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council established pursuant to Section 8257.

(b) “Core components of Housing First” means all of the following:

(1) Tenant screening and selection practices that promote accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services.

(2) Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or financial history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal convictions unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack of “housing readiness.”

(3) Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis response systems frequented by vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.

(4) Supportive services that emphasize engagement and problem solving over therapeutic goals and service plans that are highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals.

(5) Participation in services or program compliance is not a condition of permanent housing tenancy.

(6) Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health and Safety, and Government Codes.

(7) The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other lease violations, is not a reason for eviction.

(8) In communities with coordinated assessment and entry systems, incentives for funding promote tenant selection plans for supportive housing that prioritize eligible tenants based on criteria other than “first-come-first-serve,” including, but not limited to, the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early mortality, or high utilization of crisis services. Prioritization may include triage tools, developed through local data, to identify high-cost, high-need homeless residents.

(9) Case managers and service coordinators who are trained in and actively employ evidence-based practices for client engagement, including, but not limited to, motivational interviewing and client-centered counseling.

(10) Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’ lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment if the tenant so chooses.

(11) The project and specific apartment may include special physical features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and promote health and community and independence among tenants.

(c) “Homeless” has the same definition as that term is defined in Section 91.5 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(d) (1) “Housing First” means the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery and that centers on providing or connecting homeless people to permanent housing as quickly as possible. Housing First providers offer services as needed and requested on a voluntary basis and that do not make housing contingent on participation in services.

(2) (A) “Housing First” includes time-limited rental or services assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the recipient in accessing permanent housing and in securing longer-term rental assistance, income assistance, or employment.

(B) For time-limited, supportive services programs serving homeless youth, programs should use a positive youth development model and be culturally competent to serve unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age. Providers should work with the youth to engage in family reunification efforts, where appropriate and when in the best interest of the youth. In the event of an eviction, programs shall make every effort, which shall be documented, to link tenants to other stable, safe, decent housing options. Exit to homelessness should be extremely rare, and only after a tenant refuses assistance with housing search, location, and move-in assistance.

(e) “State programs” means any programs a California state agency or department funds, implements, or administers for the purpose of providing housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, with the exception of federally funded programs with requirements inconsistent with this chapter.

(f) “State-funded institutional setting” includes, but is not limited to, a justice, juvenile justice, child welfare, hospitals, and other health care setting.

SEC. 5.

Section 8257 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

8257.

(a) The Governor shall create a Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.

(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 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 the Medi-Cal program (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).

(14) To set goals to prevent and end homelessness among California’s youth.

(15) To work 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.

(A) The Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing, or the secretary’s designee, who shall serve as chair of the council.

(B) The Director of Transportation.

(D) The Director of Social Services.

(E) The Executive 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 the State Department of Public Health.

(K) A representative of the Victim Services Program within the Division of Grants Management within the Office of Emergency Services. This person shall be appointed by the Director of the Office of Emergency Services.

(L) A representative from the State Department of Education. This person 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 reflects racial and gender diversity, and shall include all of the following:

(A) A formerly homeless person who lives in California.

(B) A formerly homeless youth who lives in California.

(D) Representatives of local agencies or organizations that participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Program.

(E) Stakeholders with expertise in solutions to homelessness and best practices from other states.

(F) Representatives of committees on African Americans, youth, and survivors of gender-based violence.

(3) At its discretion, the council may 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) 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.

(f) 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.

(g) The Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency shall provide staff for the council.

(h) 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.

(i) There shall be an executive director of the council under the direction of the Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing.

(j) The council shall be under the direction of the executive director and staffed by employees of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

SEC. 6.

Section 8257.1 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

8257.1.

(a) The coordinating council, the coordinating council’s technical service provider, or an entity the coordinating council contracts with for this purpose, shall do all of the following:

(1) Identify programs in the state that provide housing or housing-based services to persons experiencing homelessness and describe all of the following for each program, to the extent that data is available:

(A) The amount of funding the program receives each year and funding sources for the program.

(B) The number of persons the program serves each year, disaggregated by race, gender, and age range.

(C) Limitations, if any, on the length of stay for housing programs and length of provision of services for service programs.

(D) Limitations, if any, on the length of stay for housing programs and duration of provision of services for service programs.

(E) Specific subpopulations served and limits on eligibility for services.

(F) Referral and prioritization protocols.

(G) If applicable, reasons for the unavailability of data.

(2) Identify the total number and type of subsidized beds or units of permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness statewide.

(3) Analyze the need for supportive housing, rapid rehousing, and affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness.

(4) Analyze the need for services, and the type of services needed, to assist people experiencing homelessness to find housing, move into housing, remain stably housed, and grow income.

(5) Identify the number of and types of interim interventions available to persons experiencing homelessness. The data described in this paragraph shall also include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(A) The number of year-round shelter beds.

(B) The average length of stay in or use of interim interventions.

(6) Analyze the need for additional interim interventions and funding needed to create these interventions, taking into consideration the ideal length of stay set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(7) Identify or estimate the total number of people discharged from state-funded institutional settings who fall into homelessness within 72 hours of discharge, disaggregated by race and gender. If data are unavailable, the entity conducting the analysis may extrapolate from national, local, or statewide estimates on the number or percentage of people discharged from specific institutional settings into homelessness.

(8) Collect data on the numbers and demographics of persons experiencing homelessness, including, but not limited to, a quantification of the racial and ethnic disparities in the homeless population relative to the general population, to the extent data is available, in all of the following circumstances:

(A) As a young adult.

(B) As an unaccompanied minor.

(D) As an adult over 50 years of age.

(E) As a survivor of gender-based violence.

(F) As a veteran.

(G) As a person on parole or probation.

(H) As a member of a family.

(I) As a single adult or family experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness.

(J) As a person living with serious mental illness or a substance use disorder.

(K) As a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community.

(L) As a parenting youth.

(9) Collect data on exits from homelessness to housing, including, but not limited to, the number of people moving into permanent housing and the type of housing being accessed, the type of interventions people exiting homelessness received, if any, and racial and gender characteristics of people accessing each type of housing and receiving each type of intervention.

(10) Assess a sampling of data provided by local jurisdictions regarding the number of people experiencing homelessness who accessed interim interventions, including, but not limited to, shelters, recuperative care, and motels and hotels, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of people who were able to access permanent housing on or before the expiration of interim assistance, disaggregated by race and gender.

(11) Create a financial model that will assess needs for investment in capital, in operating supports in project-based housing, in rental assistance with private-market landlords, and in services costs for purposes of moving persons experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. The financial model shall include an explanation of how these investments will affirmatively reduce and close any racial disparities identified in the homeless population.

(b) (1) To conduct the needs and gaps analysis required by subdivision (a), the coordinating council or other entity conducting the analysis shall evaluate data from agencies and departments with representatives on the council, statewide and local homeless point-in-time counts and housing inventory counts, data from housing exits, data from local gaps and needs analyses from geographically diverse communities, and available statewide information on the number or rate of persons exiting state-funded institutional settings into homelessness.

(2) If specific data are unavailable, the coordinating council or other entity conducting the analysis may calculate estimates based on national or local data. The coordinating council or other entity shall only use data that meets either of the following requirements:

(A) The data is from an evaluation or study from a third-party evaluator or researcher and is consistent with data from evaluations or studies from other third-party evaluators or researchers.

(B) An agency of the federal government cites and refers to the data as evidence-based.

(3) The coordinating council or other entity conducting the analysis may extrapolate data from a geographically diverse sampling of local data analyses to inform the statewide analysis.

(c) The coordinating council shall report on the final needs and gaps analysis by July 31, 2022, to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development, the Assembly Committee on Budget, Senate Committee on Housing, and Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. The report submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall comply with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(d) The coordinating council shall seek technical assistance offered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, if available, for the purpose of conducting the statewide needs and gaps analysis required by this section.

SEC. 7.

Section 8257.2 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

8257.2.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, for purposes of designing, collecting data for, and approving the needs and gaps analysis described in Section 8257.1, a state department or agency that has a member on the coordinating council shall, within 180 days of a request for data pertaining to that state department or agency, provide to the coordinating council, or the entity conducting the analysis, the requested data, including, but not limited to, the number or rate of persons exiting state-funded institutional settings into homelessness.

(b) The state department or agency shall remove any personally identifying information provided pursuant to subdivision (a), if any. For purposes of this subdivision, “personally identifying information” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1798.79.8 of the Civil Code.

SEC. 8.

Section 8258 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

8258.

(a) The council shall convene a funder’s workgroup to accomplish the goals of this chapter. The workgroup shall include staff of the council, staff working for agencies or departments represented on the council, and representatives on the committees created pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 13056. The funder’s workgroup may invite philanthropic organizations focused on ending homelessness, reducing health disparities, ending domestic violence, or ensuring Californians do not exit foster care or incarceration to homelessness to participate in specific meetings.

(b) The funder’s workgroup shall do all of the following:

(1) Align all request for proposals, all-county letters, and notices of funding proposals with standards following evidence-based housing and housing-based service models.

(2) Coordinate, as appropriate, with staff in the Governor’s office to solicit monetary donations or in-kind donations from businesses, nonprofit organizations, or individuals for the purpose of encouraging innovation in ending homelessness and augmenting funding for evidence-based housing and services.

(3) Work collaboratively with county associations, and staff from county and state departments, including the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish discharge protocols and a process for agencies and departments to collectively identify and assist individuals exiting state-funded institutions, including, but not limited to, people leaving prisons, state-funded hospitals or nursing homes, and foster care, who are at risk of homelessness, along with procedures or programs for state agencies and departments to implement to prevent discharges into homelessness.

(4) Collaborate with existing state agency staff to develop a universal application for service providers, local government agencies, and other entities to apply to agencies and departments represented on the council for funding for services and housing for persons experiencing homelessness.

(5) Examine and promote racially equitable and gender-equitable policies for departments and agencies that provide housing and services to individuals experiencing homelessness.

(c) The workgroup shall coordinate relevant state agencies and departments to reduce the risk of long-term homelessness by developing specific protocols and procedures that accomplish all of the following:

(1) (A) Ensure that survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and exploitation experiencing homelessness have access to housing navigation, housing acquisition support, and programs funded under this chapter that are specifically designed to meet their needs.

(B) The services described under subparagraph (A) shall be provided by, or in consultation with, domestic violence counselors, as defined in Section 1037.1 of the Evidence Code, and provided in compliance with all applicable state and federal confidentiality laws.

(2) Assist individuals reentering communities from jails and prisons with housing navigation, housing acquisition support, and obtaining permanent housing.

(3) Assist young adults exiting foster care and former foster youth with housing navigation, obtaining permanent housing, accessing legal assistance, and navigating available public benefits that they may be entitled to receive.

(4) Assist people exiting hospitals, nursing homes, and state hospitals for people with mental illness to obtain permanent housing, or, if an individual needs care and supervision, licensed residential facilities.

(5) Connect older adults to programs and services that assist independent living, including the assisted living waiver program, as described in Section 14132.26, in-home supportive services, as described in Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) services, as described in Chapter 8.75 (commencing with Section 14591) of Part 3 of Division 9, and other wraparound and personal care services.

SEC. 9.

Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13050) is added to Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

CHAPTER 5.2. Bring California Home Act

13050.

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Bring California Home Act.

13051.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Homelessness is solvable, and the state has a role to play in rendering homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. In fact, national and other state experiences show that jurisdictions at every level, including homeless continuums of care, cities, counties, and the state, must collaborate to achieve advances in reducing and ultimately solving homelessness.

(b) In January 2019, an estimated 151,278 people experienced homelessness in California at a single point in time, as reported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is the highest number since 2007, and represented a 17-percent increase since 2018. Experts predict significant increases in homelessness in 2021 resulting from the COVID-19 economic downturn.

(c) African Americans are disproportionately represented among California’s homeless population. While 6.5 percent of Californians identify as Black or African American, almost 40 percent of the state’s homeless population is African American. The rate of homelessness among African Americans is almost twice the rates of poverty among African Americans. Similarly, indigenous populations are over six times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population.

(d) Latinx Californians are least likely to access housing and services available in their communities.

(e) Women have unique precursors and experiences of homelessness. Domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness for women, and women are more likely to experience domestic violence, sexual assault, and exploitation once they become homeless. Domestic violence is also a common experience and cause of homelessness among families, youth, and people who identify as transgender. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and exploitation are typically underserved in our homeless systems.

(f) Research suggests homeless populations are at far greater risk for consequences of COVID-19. Early studies estimated people experiencing homelessness are two to three times as likely to die from COVID-19 than the general population. COVID-19 is putting pressure on local homeless systems to open safe sites for people to shelter, in noncongregant settings, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

(g) Due to the economic impacts of COVID-19, researchers estimate significant increases in homelessness.

(h) COVID-19 has also resulted in increased rates of domestic violence, putting pressure on domestic violence response systems to ensure safe housing for survivors.

(i) People living on the streets typically resided in a surrounding neighborhood prior to falling into homelessness. As examples, 70 percent of the people experiencing homelessness in the City and County of San Francisco lived in the city before becoming homeless and only 8 percent came from out of state; about 75 percent of the homeless population of the County of Los Angeles lived in the region before becoming homeless; and 73 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the County of Tehama were living in the county before becoming homeless.

(j) Homelessness often results from institutionalization, and homelessness often also causes a cycle of institutionalization that generates significant public sector costs. Reversing a cycle of institutionalization and homelessness requires collaboration between the state, local governments, and the private sector, including collaboration to prevent discharges from institutional settings into homelessness.

(k) Almost 30 years of studies consistently prove housing affordable to people experiencing homelessness and without limits on length of stay, referred to as permanent housing, allows people to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. Recent experiences with investment in permanent housing for veterans shows we can reduce homelessness significantly with appropriate levels of investment in permanent housing. Evidence further shows people cannot recover from a serious mental illness, a substance use disorder, or a chronic medical condition, or reduce their rate or incidence of incarceration, hospitalization, or institutionalization, unless and until housed.

(l) People who move from homelessness to permanent housing are able to reduce the overall costs of public services. Randomized, control-group studies, including studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show that housing with services allows formerly homeless people with serious mental illness to reduce their Medicaid and justice-system costs, often equivalent to the costs of housing and services. Providing housing to people experiencing homelessness is also shown to reduce local and state jurisdictions’ expenditures on public safety, health care, and sanitation.

(m) By creating a Bring California Home Fund, it is the intent of the Legislature to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurrent. Toward this end, it is the intent of the Legislature to create a subsidy program to fill gaps within state’s response to homelessness, scale evidence-based solutions while promoting innovation to move people quickly into permanent housing, eliminate racial and gender disparities in who becomes homeless and who is able to access housing and housing-based services, establish greater flexibility and a more nimble process in implementing a comprehensive response to homelessness, facilitate critically needed collaboration between different levels of government, align housing and services resources, and standardize the state’s response to homelessness toward a focus on comprehensive evidence-based housing and housing-based services solutions through long-term state and local structural changes.

(n) It is the intent of the Legislature that racial disparities in the homeless population be eliminated by December 31, 2032.

(o) Multinational corporations have been shifting income out of the California corporate tax base for decades. To recapture lost revenue on an ongoing basis, it is the intent of the Legislature to conform to certain provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code governing the taxation of corporations, as provided in the act adding this chapter.

(p) It is the intent of the Legislature that the revenue, if any, resulting from application of Sections 17087.7 and 25110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code in any taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, be used for purposes funding the the Bring California Home Act created through this chapter.

(q) It is further the intent of the Legislature to dedicate a funding source of at least two billion four hundred million dollars ($2,400,000,000) per year to save the lives of people experiencing homelessness and resolve one of the greatest moral crises of our state.

13052.

(a) (1) The Bring California Home Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury.

(2) (A) (i) No later than June 1, 2022, the Franchise Tax Board, in consultation with the Department of Finance, shall estimate the amount of revenue that would have resulted if Sections 17087.7 and 25110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as added by the act adding this chapter, had applied to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2022, and notify the Controller of that amount.

(ii) No later than June 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the Franchise Tax Board, in consultation with the Department of Finance, shall estimate the amount of additional revenue resulting from the application of Sections 17087.7 and 25110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as added by the act adding this chapter, for the taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the estimate is made and before January 1 of the year in which the estimate is made and notify the Controller of that amount.

(iii) Information provided to the Department of Finance and the Controller pursuant to this subparagraph shall be treated as an exception to Section 19542 of the Revenue and Taxation Code under Article 2 (commencing with 19542) of Chapter 7 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(B) Upon receiving the notifications from the Franchise Tax Board pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Controller shall transfer an amount, equal to the amount estimated by the Franchise Tax Board in those notifications, from the General Fund to the Bring California Home Fund.

(3) In addition to the moneys made available pursuant to paragraph (2), moneys in the fund may include, but are not limited to, moneys transferred from other state sources, private or philanthropic donations, and any recoveries or reversions resulting from activities pursuant to this chapter.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council solely for the purpose of implementing and administering this chapter.

(c) (1) The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council shall work collaboratively with other relevant departments pursuant to a memorandum of understanding to carry out the functions and duties of this chapter and to address their respective and shared responsibilities in implementing, overseeing, and evaluating this chapter, including the reporting requirements of the Franchise Tax Board that will be conducted in consultation with the Department of Finance. The council shall leverage the programmatic and administrative expertise of relevant state agencies, as that term is defined in Section 11000 of the Government Code, in implementing the program.

(2) No later than March 31, 2022, the council shall submit a copy of the final memorandum of understanding to the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the Assembly Committee on Budget. The copy of the final memorandum of understanding required to be submitted to committees of the Legislature pursuant to this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(d) In implementing this chapter, the council shall establish a division to implement the auditing, monitoring, technical assistance, administration, and training activities described in this chapter that is separate from the coordinating activities of the council described in Section 8257.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, nonstate moneys appropriated from the fund that are not encumbered or liquidated shall revert to the fund.

13053.

For purposes of this chapter:

(a) “Affordable housing” means multifamily rental housing receiving public subsidy that allows deeply low income households, extremely low income households, and very low income households occupying that housing to pay no more than 30 percent of their household income on rent.

(b) “Agency” means the California Health and Human Services Agency.

(c) “Area median income” means the median family income of a geographic area of this state, determined in accordance with Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.

(d) “Continuum of care” has the same meaning 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 576.400 or 578.7, as applicable, of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2020, designed to coordinate program participant access, assessment, prioritization, and referrals. For purposes of this chapter, 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. However, the assessment tool may vary to assess the specific needs of an identified population. The centralized or coordinated assessment system shall also specify how it will address the needs of individuals or families who are fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

(f) “Council” means the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.

(g) “Diversion” means services to connect individuals and families to alternate housing arrangements, case management services, and financial assistance to divert the household from shelter use and into permanent housing, including, but not limited to, housing arrangements with friends or family.

(h) “Eligible population” means persons experiencing homelessness and persons exiting rapid rehousing, transitional housing, or an institutional setting who are homeless or were homeless before their entry and have no other housing options upon exit without assistance.

(i) “Deeply low income households” means persons and families whose household income does not exceed 20 percent of the area median income, as adjusted for family size and revised annually.

(j) “Extremely low income households” has the same meaning as defined in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code.

(k) “Fund” means the Bring California Home Fund created pursuant to Section 13052.

(l) “Gender-based violence” includes domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and commercial sexual exploitation. The term acknowledges that the majority of victims of gender-based violence are women or female-identified people.

(m) “Holding fees” and “vacancy costs” mean payments to private-market landlords as incentives to hold a housing unit as available to an eligible participant while the participant or landlord are waiting for approval to rent the housing unit.

(n) “Homeless,” “homelessness,” “imminent risk of homelessness,” and “chronically homeless” have the same meanings as those terms are each defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2021, except that a person who was homeless or chronically homeless upon admission to an institutional setting shall continue to be considered homeless or chronically homeless upon discharge, regardless of the length of time the person resided in the institutional setting.

(o) “Homeless Management Information System” or “HMIS” 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, as that section read on January 1, 2021. The term “Homeless Management Information System” or “HMIS” also includes the use of a comparable database by a victim services provider or legal services provider that is permitted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under Part 576 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that part read on January 1, 2021.

(p) “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)).

(q) Subject to paragraph (1) of subdivision (s), “Housing First” means adhering to the core components specified in Section 8255, except that recipients may fund recovery housing if the tenant chooses to live in an abstinence-based setting over a harm reduction setting and the housing otherwise complies with all other core components of Housing First described in Section 8255, including requirements that tenants have leases, that they are not evicted for relapse or failure to participate in services, and that they are provided services to relocate to housing offering a harm reduction model if they choose to live in such housing.

(r) “Housing navigation” means services that assist program participants with locating permanent housing with private market landlords or property managers who are willing to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies for the program participants to assist those program participants in obtaining local, state, or federal assistance or subsidies; completing housing applications for permanent housing or housing subsidies and, when applicable, move-in assistance; and obtaining documentation needed to access permanent housing and rental assistance or subsidies.

(s) “Interim intervention” means a safe place to live that is low barrier but does not qualify as permanent housing and includes, but is not limited to, emergency shelters, navigation centers, motel vouchers, recovery-oriented interim interventions, Project Roomkey or Project Homekey sites used as interim housing, a cabin or similar communities, and recuperative or respite care, as those terms may be defined under any other applicable local, state, or federal program. For purposes of this subdivision, an interim intervention shall be deemed to be “low barrier” if all of the following apply:

(1) The interim intervention is a Housing First, service-enriched intervention focused on moving people into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing, income, public benefits, and health services. Notwithstanding subdivision (q), for purposes of interim interventions “Housing First” shall not require a lease.

(2) The interim intervention utilizes best practices to reduce barriers to entry, including, but not limited to, allowing partners and older minors, unless the interim intervention is a population-specific site; allowing pets; allowing storage of possessions; allowing residents to engage in treatment for substance use disorders including medications for addiction treatment; offering services to connect persons to permanent housing; providing privacy; and providing linkage to a coordinated entry system.

(3) The interim intervention offers a harm reduction approach, except where tenants request an abstinence-based model.

(4) The interim intervention has a system for entering information regarding client stays, demographics, income, and exit destination through a local HMIS or similar system.

(t) “Large city” means a city or city and county, whether general law or chartered, with a population of 300,000 or greater based on the most recent American Community Survey.

(u) “Master leasing” means that a single lease covers multiple properties leased from a landlord or property manager to a recipient or subrecipient that the recipient or subrecipient sublets to program participants. The single lease shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter and be subject to the rights and responsibilities of tenancy under the laws of this state.

(v) “Multifamily rental housing” meansreal estate consisting of one or more buildings that contain five or more residential rental units.

(w) “Operating subsidy” means a subsidy that allows an individual or household to occupy a permanent housing or supportive housing project while paying no more than 30 percent of their income on rent for the cost of operating projects, such as security, utilities, staffing, and paying off debt. An “operating subsidy” may include an operating subsidy reserve for at least 17 years.

(x) “Participant” or “tenant” mean a person or household that is a member of the eligible population and receives assistance under this chapter.

(y) “Permanent housing” means a structure or set of structures with no limit on length of stay, even if accompanied by time-limited rental subsidy, that is subject to applicable landlord-tenant law and has no requirement to participate in supportive services as a condition of access to or continued occupancy in the housing.

(z) “Point-in-time count” 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 1, 2021.

(aa) “Populations who face barriers to accessing housing” include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Survivors of gender-based violence.

(2) Persons who are at least 50 years of age and are experiencing homelessness or exiting nursing care with nowhere to go upon exit.

(3) Persons with high-acuity chronic medical or behavioral health conditions experiencing homelessness or who were homeless when admitted to an institutional setting or who have nowhere to live upon discharge from an institutional setting.

(4) Persons exiting justice settings who were homeless when incarcerated or who have a history of homelessness prior to incarceration and have nowhere to live upon discharge.

(ab) “Prevention and problem-solving” and “rapid resolution” mean using targeted person-centered, short-term housing or services approaches to assist households who are at imminent risk of homelessness or have recently fallen into homelessness to maintain their current housing or identify an immediate and safe housing alternative within their social network.

(ac) “Program” means the Bring California Home Program established and implemented in accordance with this chapter.

(ad) (1) “Rare, brief, and nonrecurrent” means strategies to help the state and communities build lasting systems addressing the immediate crisis of homelessness that are able to respond to housing instability and homelessness quickly and efficiently.

(2) Making homelessness “rare” means incorporating strategies for system building, partnerships with mainstream systems, and diversion and prevention strategies.

(3) Making homelessness “brief” means leveraging strategies to support comprehensive outreach, low barrier emergency shelter, coordinated entry systems, and swift connections to permanent housing, with Housing First practices underpinning every element of the response.

(4) Making homelessness “nonrecurring” means people exit to permanent housing stably and successfully and do not return to homelessness, as they are able to use housing as a platform for accessing services that allow them to stabilize and thrive.

(ae) “Reasonable rent” means an amount of rental payments that does not exceed two times the fair market rent and is consistent with the market rent in the community in which the multifamily rental housing is located. For purposes of this subdivision, “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, 2021, 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.

(af) “Recipient” means a large city or a county that applies jointly with a continuum of care and receives funds under the program, as applicable.

(ag) “Recovery housing” means housing geared toward individuals who choose to live in an abstinence-only environment over a harm reduction model, while learning how to sustain long-term recovery from substance use disorders, that allows for medications for addiction treatment, that provides housing navigation services to tenants who wish to leave recovery housing for a harm reduction model, and that otherwise follows the core components of Housing First described in Section 8255 and the provisions of this chapter.

(ah) “Rental assistance” means a tenant-based rental subsidy provided to a landlord or property manager to assist a tenant in paying the difference between 30 percent of the tenant’s household income and the reasonable rent for the multifamily rental housing unit, as determined by the recipient.

(ai) “Severe rent burden” means a condition in which a person or family pays more than 50 percent of their total household income, as reported by the American Community Survey.

(aj) “Shared housing” means a type of permanent housing in which tenants have their own lease, with all of the rights and responsibilities of tenancy under the laws of this state, and may share occupancy of that permanent housing with one or more other tenants, or share use of either or both a kitchen and a bathroom with one or more other tenants, subject to the applicable conditions specified in this chapter.

(ak) “Subrecipient” means a unit of local government or a private nonprofit organization that the recipient determines is qualified to undertake the eligible activities for which the recipient seeks funds under the program, and that enters into a contract with the recipient to undertake those eligible activities in accordance with the requirements of the program.

(al) “Supportive housing” means permanent housing that is occupied by an eligible tenant and that is linked to onsite or offsite tenancy transition services and tenancy sustaining services that assist the supportive housing tenants in retaining housing, improving residents’ health status, and maximizing residents’ ability to live and, when possible, work in the community.

(am) “Tenancy acquisition services” means staff dedicated to engaging property owners to rent housing units to the eligible population through rental assistance.

(an) “Tenancy sustaining services” means, using evidence-based service models, any of the following:

(1) Early identification and intervention of behaviors that may jeopardize housing security.

(2) Education and training on the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord.

(3) Coaching on developing and maintaining key relationships with landlords or property managers.

(4) Assistance in resolving disputes with landlords and neighbors to reduce the risk of eviction.

(5) Advocacy and linkage with community resources to prevent eviction when housing may become jeopardized.

(6) Care coordination and advocacy with health care professionals.

(7) Assistance with a housing recertification process.

(8) Coordinating with the tenant to review and update a housing support and crisis plan.

(9) Training in being a good tenant and lease compliance.

(10) Benefits advocacy.

(11) Evidence-employment services.

(12) Services connecting individuals to education.

(13) Any other service that supports individuals and families to promote housing stability, foster community integration and inclusion, and develop natural support networks and that are offered through a trauma-informed, culturally-competent approach.

(ao) “Tenancy transition services” means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:

(1) Screening and assessing the tenant’s preferences and barriers to successful tenancy.

(2) Developing an individualized housing support plan that includes motivational interviewing and goal setting.

(3) Assistance with the housing application and search process.

(4) Identifying resources to cover expenses for move-in and furniture costs.

(5) Ensuring that the living environment is safe and ready for move-in.

(6) Assisting and arranging for the details of the move.

(7) Developing a housing support crisis plan that includes prevention and early intervention when housing is jeopardized.

(8) Engagement services.

(9) Any other evidence-based services that an individual tenant may require to move into permanent housing.

(ap) “Very low income households” has the same meaning as defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.

13054.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law and to the extent allowable under federal law, assistance, services, or supports received pursuant to this chapter are not income of the participant for purposes of determining eligibility for, or benefits pursuant to, any public assistance program. Participation in other benefits or housing or housing-based services programs shall not disqualify a person or household from being a participant for purposes of housing or services funded pursuant to this chapter.

(b) The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

13055.

(a) The council shall administer allocations from the fund to counties and continuums of care that apply jointly pursuant to Section 13058 and to large cities that apply pursuant to Section 13059. The council shall administer the fund and allocate the moneys in the fund as follows:

(1) The council may expend up to 5 percent of the moneys available in the fund in any calendar year for purposes of administering the program, including for ongoing technical assistance and training to recipients, measuring data and performance, and the costs of the Franchise Tax Board incurred in implementing this chapter.

(2) The council shall set aside two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) for bonus awards to recipients, as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 13056.

(3) (A) The council shall allocate the remaining amount in the fund after the allocations made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) as follows:

(i) Sixty percent of the amount described in this paragraph to counties and continuums of care applying jointly, pursuant to Section 13058.

(ii) Forty percent of the amount described in this paragraph to large cities, pursuant to Section 13059.

(B) The council shall allocate funding to eligible recipients in accordance with this paragraph that apply and meet the applicable threshold requirements under Section 13058 or 13059, as applicable, according to the following formula:

(i) The council shall afford 70 percent weight based on the 2019 homeless point-in-time count conducted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the relevant jurisdiction.

(ii) The council shall afford 30 percent weight based on the number of extremely low income households who are severely rent burdened in the relevant jurisdiction, based on the most recent American Community Survey at the time of the application.

(b) Each recipient and subrecipient shall ensure that any expenditure of moneys allocated to it pursuant to this chapter serves the eligible population, unless otherwise expressly provided in this chapter.

13056.

(a) In allocating moneys under the program, the council shall comply with the following:

(1) No later than September 1, 2022, the council shall develop guidelines and draft notices of funding availability or requests for proposal in accordance with 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).

(2) No later than January 1, 2023, and no later than March 1 of each year thereafter, the council shall issue award notices.

(3) No later than March 31, 2023, and no later than April 1 of every other year thereafter, the council shall allocate all available funding for each two-year cycle.

(4) The council shall issue a notice of funding availability or request for proposal, as applicable, on a consistent basis every two years.

(b) (1) The council shall develop a simple application that an entity eligible to receive an allocation under this chapter may use to apply for that allocation and, consistent with the requirements of this chapter, common standards for recipients to monitor, report, and ensure accountability, provide services, and subsidize housing. The council shall, to the extent feasible and consistent with the requirements of this chapter, ensure that the common standards are the same or similar for each applicant.

(2) To the extent feasible, the council shall work with the agency to connect services available under other programs, including, but not limited to, services provided under the Medi-Cal Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000)), to housing opportunities through the fund.

(c) The council shall issue applications for allocations to counties and continuums of care, pursuant to Section 13058, and to large cities, pursuant to Section 13059, on the same date and subject to the same deadlines. The council shall require that recipients under Sections 13058 and 13059, as applicable, provide the following information in their applications:

(1) The expected outcomes, numeric goals, and performance measures established through consultation between the applicant and council staff pursuant to subdivision (g), as well as a description of policy changes the applicant will take to ensure racial and gender equity in service delivery, housing placements, and housing retention and changes to procurement or other means of affirming racial and ethnic groups that are overrepresented among residents experiencing homelessness have equitable access to housing and services.

(2) A description of the specific actions, including funding allocations, that will be taken to affirmatively eliminate gender disparities in accessing homeless systems.

(3) Evidence that the applicant will adhere to Housing First in housing and housing-based services programs.

(4) Specific roles and responsibilities for each local agency, continuum of care, and providers, including roles and responsibilities in implementing systems improvements.

(5) A description of how the applicant will prevent returns to homelessness among the eligible population.

(6) Goals for cross-agency collaboration, including demonstration of collaboration between large cities, counties, and continuums of care, to foster evidence-based solutions to homelessness.

(7) An identification of the agency or agencies that will administer the funding, ensuring agencies have relevant experience.

(8) In the case of a joint application by a county and a continuum of care pursuant to Section 13058, a description of how the recipient will align and leverage state funding with existing resources to create a flexible pool of funds.

(9) In the case of a joint application by a county and a continuum of care pursuant to Section 13058, a description of how the applicant will prevent exits to homelessness from institutional settings, including plans to scale funding from mainstream systems for evidence-based housing and housing-based solutions to homelessness.

(10) Ways in which the applicant will include people with lived expertise of homelessness in planning and decisionmaking.

(11) Processes to include youth and adults with lived expertise of homelessness in decisionmaking, which may include, but is not be limited to, planning and program delivery, advisory boards, and technical assistance.

(d) (1) Based on the statewide needs and gaps analysis conducted pursuant to Section 8257.1, the council shall establish performance outcomes to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring, and develop guidelines, with stakeholder input, to include criteria in setting state and recipient performance outcome goals, informed by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development system performance measures.

(2) The council shall consult with applicants to identify ambitious and achievable performance outcomes that are measurable and consistent with United States Department of Housing and Urban Development performance standards. The council shall work with applicants to achieve more challenging outcomes for each progressive grant cycle.

(3) Applicants shall demonstrate an intent to apply before engaging in consultation with the council pursuant to paragraph (2), and may submit an application once the council approves the applicant’s performance outcomes.

(4) Based on criteria in guidelines and data of needs in the recipient’s jurisdiction, the council and each recipient shall establish the performance outcomes for the initial cycle within the first year of award. These performance outcomes may include systems changes to help the recipient meet subsequent performance outcomes and reductions in the number of people living in unsheltered settings.

(5) The council and each recipient shall establish outcome goals before each subsequent grant cycle, as follows:

(A) Performance outcomes in subsequent cycles shall include, at minimum, the following:

(i) A specified reduction in the number of people experiencing homelessness.

(ii) Specific outcomes for more equitably serving populations overrepresented among the eligible population.

(iii) Specified reductions in racial and gender disparities among people experiencing homelessness in subsequent grant cycles.

(B) Other performance outcomes may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) A minimum number of people experiencing homelessness who are diverted from a homeless shelter or who have successfully accessed permanent housing during the relevant period.

(ii) Minimum reductions in people becoming homeless, including targeted homelessness prevention and reductions in returns to homelessness.

(iii) A minimum number of people exiting homelessness during the relevant period.

(iv) Commitments of funding to solve homelessness from existing resources used to address mental illness, substance use, medical care, the justice system, and child welfare involvement within the jurisdiction.

(v) Meaningful commitments of local housing and homeless services funding toward solving homelessness.

(vi) Memoranda of understanding for interjurisdictional collaboration, with specific agreements to meet performance standards.

(e) The council shall establish a process and guidelines for awarding bonus funding to recipients under Sections 13058 and 13059, from the moneys described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 13055, in accordance with the following:

(1) (A) The council shall award bonus funding to each recipient in the first two-year cycle of the recipient’s award.

(B) A recipient shall use bonus funding awarded pursuant to this paragraph for the following purposes:

(i) Conducting or working with a technical assistance provider to conduct or update a countywide homeless gaps and needs analysis.

(ii) Capacity building and workforce development for the jurisdiction’s administering staff and providers.

(iii) Funding gaps in existing evidence-based programs serving people experiencing homelessness.

(iv) Investing in data systems to meet reporting requirements or strengthen the recipient’s HMIS.

(v) Creating a mechanism for pooling and aligning housing and services funding from existing, mainstream, and new funding.

(vi) Strengthening existing interim interventions to ensure those systems operate safely in the wake of COVID-19 and other public health crises.

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

(viii) Improving coordinated entry systems or creating a youth-specific coordinated entry system.

(ix) Funding operating subsidy reserves in capital projects, if the jurisdiction does not require the above systems improvements.

(2) (A) If, after the first or a subsequent grant cycle, as applicable, a recipient has achieved the performance outcomes approved by the council pursuant to subdivision (d) for that cycle, the council shall award bonus funding in the next award cycle.

(B) A recipient may use bonus funding awarded pursuant to this paragraph for any purpose, consistent with the following requirements:

(i) The recipient shall use the bonus funding awarded pursuant to this paragraph to serve the eligible population or people at imminent risk of homelessness, as defined in this chapter.

(ii) The recipient shall report to the council on the use of bonus funding awarded pursuant to this paragraph and request approval from the council for that use.

(iii) The recipient may only use bonus funding for the purpose reported pursuant to clause (ii) if the council approves that use of funding. The council shall approve a requested use of funding if, in the council’s judgment, the recipient’s proposed use would further the purposes of this chapter.

(3) If, by a date determined by the council at the end of the first or a subsequent grant cycle, as applicable, a recipient has failed to achieve the outcomes approved by the council pursuant to subdivision (d) for that cycle, the council shall reduce or deny bonus funding to that recipient in the next award cycle. Any moneys dedicated for bonus funding pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 13055 that is not awarded to a recipient in any award cycle for failure to achieve outcomes, as provided in this paragraph, shall revert to the fund and the council shall allocate those moneys as bonus funds to other recipients that have met their approved outcomes in accordance with this subdivision.

(f) The council shall work closely with recipients under Sections 13058 and 13059 to provide technical assistance to those recipients and their subrecipients in complying with the requirements of this chapter and achieving the performance standards approved by the council pursuant to subdivision (d). Technical assistance under this subdivision shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Using data to develop a systems model that identifies investments needed for evidence-based interventions to impact system flow and exits to permanent housing, based on a gaps and needs analysis.

(2) Working regionally to scale up housing and services interventions.

(3) Adopting Housing First core components.

(4) Reducing racial disparities in homelessness and racial and gender disparities in access to housing and services.

(5) Creating a flexible subsidy pool or other mechanism that aligns housing and services funding, including funding under this chapter, as well as existing funding under mainstream programs.

(6) Meeting United States Department of Housing and Urban Development performance metrics and standards for reductions in homelessness.

(g) The council shall develop quality standards with which each recipient shall comply. These quality standards shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) (A) (i) Except as otherwise provided in clause (ii), each housing unit shall include a bathroom and an easily accessible kitchen or kitchenette.

(ii) If the tenant resides in a single-room occupancy setting, each housing unit shall be equipped with either a bathroom within the unit or a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen that is easily accessible to tenants. Jurisdictions shall give preference to units with bathrooms and sinks within the unit.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the council shall develop standards for a kitchen or kitchenette to be deemed easily accessible consistent with the requirements of this chapter.

(2) Shared housing units funded under the program shall be subject to the following restrictions:

(A) Before referring a tenant to shared housing, the referring entity shall consider the following:

(i) Any functional limitations of the tenant.

(ii) Whether the proposed housing configuration may put the tenant at risk of gender-based violence, consistent with training on gender-based violence.

(B) Referrals to shared housing shall be consistent with tenant choice in whether to participate in shared housing and with whom the tenant will reside in that shared housing.

(C) A provider of shared housing shall offer services appropriate to meet the needs of tenants living in that shared housing, including services in mitigating conflicts between tenants and services helping tenants move to other housing options, according to tenant choice.

(D) For all shared housing units, each participant, other than a participant who is a minor accompanied by an adult or two adult participants who constitute a single household, shall be offered their own bedroom with a door that has a functioning lock and be required to sign a separate lease agreement.

(3) Supportive housing funded under the program shall comply with the following requirements:

(A) A majority of the services shall be provided onsite, and any offsite services shall be easily accessible to tenants through transportation.

(B) Each tenant shall have a tenancy support specialist that the tenant knows, with a specialist-to-tenant ratio that is consistent with best practices for the population served.

(h) (1) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B), each recipient shall expend moneys allocated to it under the program according to the following schedule:

(i) For the first award cycle, the recipient shall contractually obligate 100 percent of the amount allocated to it pursuant to this chapter within three years, and expend the entirety of that amount within four years, of entering into the initial grant agreement.

(ii) For each award cycle after the first award cycle, each recipient shall contractually obligate 100 percent of the amount allocated to it pursuant to this chapter within one year, and expend the entirety of that amount within two years.

(B) Notwithstanding the time periods specified in subparagraph (A), moneys used to provide an operating subsidy reserve for permanent housing shall be expended over a period of at least 17 years.

(2) (A) If a recipient fails to obligate or expend moneys allocated to it, uses grant moneys allocated to it under this chapter for a purpose not authorized under the program, or fails to apply for an allocation of grant funds within the initial award cycle under the program, the council shall do either of the following:

(i) Select an alternative entity to administer that recipient’s allocation through a competitive application process, in accordance with the requirements of subparagraph (C).

(ii) Solely establish the performance outcomes and program priorities for the recipient jurisdiction, consistent with the requirements and purposes of this chapter, and work with local, regional, or statewide public entities to administer the recipient’s allocation on behalf of the recipient.

(B) If the council determines that there is no alternative entity that can effectively administer a recipient’s allocation, any moneys previously allocated to that recipient and not expended shall revert to the fund for further allocation to other recipients in accordance with this chapter.

(C) An alternative entity selected pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph (A) shall be a public entity or a nonprofit entity with relevant experience.

(D) (i) An alternative entity selected pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph (A) shall administer a recipient’s allocation pursuant to this paragraph for a minimum of two grant cycles after entering into a grant agreement.

(ii) After the second grant cycle administered by an alternative entity, the council may reinstate the original recipient to administer moneys allocated in subsequent grant cycles if, in the council’s judgment, the recipient has demonstrated the capability to effectively administer those moneys consistent with the purposes of this chapter. The council shall develop a process by which a recipient may seek reinstatement pursuant to this clause.

(i) The council shall establish a process for awarding recipients under Sections 13058 and 13059 grants in subsequent years in accordance with the following:

(1) To the extent feasible, each recipient under Sections 13058 and 13059 shall continue to receive annual allocations on a consistent date selected by the council that aligns favorably with other, similar allocations of state moneys, including, but not limited to, allocations of tax credits by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.

(2) If a city that is not a large city at the time of the initial allocation subsequently becomes a large city and meets the threshold criteria under the program after the first year of allocations pursuant to this chapter, the council shall revise the amount of annual allocations to recipients under Section 13059 at least 180 days, but no more than one year, after the date on which the city establishes eligibility under this chapter. Consistent with the requirements of this chapter, the council may establish a revised formula that minimizes the impact on existing recipients.

(j) If deemed appropriate or necessary, the council shall request the repayment of funds from a recipient or pursue any other remedies available by law for failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(k) The council shall establish an advisory committee to inform state and local policies, practices, and programs, which shall include individuals with relevant lived experiences, with respect to the following:

(1) The experiences of African Americans and other overrepresented racial and ethnic groups experiencing homelessness.

(2) The experiences of women and female-identified persons experiencing homelessness.

(3) The experiences of youth experiencing homelessness, including a youth advisory board.

(l) A county and continuum of care applying jointly pursuant to Section 13058 may elect in the grant agreement to request that the State Department of Social Services contract with local agencies or nonprofit organizations providing the housing and housing-based services described in this chapter in exchange for a percentage of the allocation to the county and continuum of care for administrative costs under Section 13058, as determined by the State Department of Social Services.

(m) Any housing or interim intervention receiving a subsidy under this chapter shall comply with all applicable state laws governing building safety and habitability.

(n) Each recipient and subrecipient shall comply with the core components of Housing First described in subdivision (b) of Section 8255.

(o) The council shall not require recipients to submit invoices for payment, and shall fund the entire grant awarded under Sections 13058 or 13059, as applicable, within 60 days of notice of award.

13057.

(a) Each recipient shall annually report to the council, in the form and manner prescribed by the council, on the data reported to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and, in addition, the following information:

(1) The amount of fund moneys expended on each eligible activity under Section 13058 or 13059, as applicable, and the number of people served under the program.

(2) Steps taken to advance racial and gender equity within the recipient’s programs and services.

(3) Steps taken to improve systems serving the eligible population.

(b) The council shall seek philanthropic funding to augment funding for evaluations under this chapter.

(c) The council shall conduct regular monitoring and audits of the activities and outcomes of recipients under Sections 13058 and 13059. In complying with the requirements of this subdivision, the council shall develop a process for monitoring how recipients are spending allocations and compliance with this chapter and whether each recipient’s activities are resulting in pathways to permanent housing, permanent housing placements, and permanent housing retention.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, no later than January 1, 2024, and every fifth January 1 thereafter, the council shall evaluate the outcomes of the program and submit a report documenting that evaluation to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development and the Senate Committee on Housing in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Data reported by recipients pursuant to this section, including data on the number of people served and the number of participants accessing permanent housing.

(2) The status of coordinated entry systems and training or capacity building programs across a sample of geographically diverse communities.

(3) Innovations developed to reduce exits from institutional settings to homelessness and the outcomes of these innovations.

(4) The progress of recipient coordination and collaboration and housing stability outcomes.

(5) Any agreements reached and coordination brokered between jointly applying counties and continuums of care and cities to use funds in a consistent manner, to prioritize specific populations jointly, to scale up interventions by working across regions, and to offer housing and housing-based services.

(6) The extent to which racial and ethnic demographic groups of persons overrepresented in the homeless population are served under the program, including housing opportunities, housing placements, and housing retention.

(7) The extent to which women and female-identified people are served under the program, including access to housing opportunities, housing placements, and housing retention.

(8) To the extent feasible, impacts on other state programs, including, but not limited to, the utilization of acute care or skilled nursing facilities funded through the Medi-Cal Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000)), recidivism to prison, and avoidance of foster care placements, as well as reductions or avoidance of other institutional settings, including hospitals, among the eligible population.

13058.

(a) A county and continuum of care that submit a joint application and meet the requirements of this section shall be eligible to receive an allocation of moneys from the fund.

(b) A county and continuum of care that jointly receive an allocation pursuant to this chapter may use up to 10 percent of the amount of that allocation for the costs of administering the allocation. For purposes of this subdivision, “costs of administering” do not include costs associated with staffing to provide services, data collection, or reporting or costs to subrecipients to provide housing or services to the eligible population. Recipients shall pay a reasonable administrative rate to all subrecipients.

(c) (1) A county and continuum of care applying jointly for an allocation shall provide the following evidence of collaboration to the council:

(A) Either of the following:

(i) Evidence that the board of supervisors of the county and the governing body of the continuum of care each approved the joint funding plan before the submission of the application.

(ii) A memorandum of understanding between the chief executive officer, or equivalent officer, of the county and of the continuum of care that establishes the allocation plan for the use of the moneys allocated under this chapter.

(B) Evidence of collaborative planning between the county and the continuum of care, which may include, but is not limited to, meeting agenda or minutes of the board of supervisors of the county and the governing body of the continuum of care.

(2) If the geographic area of a continuum of care covers territory located in more than one county, each of those counties shall submit a single application that includes a plan outlining the roles, functions, identified uses, and processes for cross-jurisdictional housing referrals between each county.

(d) Recipients under this section shall use the allocation of moneys provided under this chapter for one or more of the following eligible activities:

(1) Rental assistance and master leasing for permanent housing.

(2) Operating subsidies for funding building security, utilities, janitorial costs, and similar costs in existing affordable and supportive housing projects.

(3) Operating costs of transitional housing projects serving persons under 25 years of age that comply with the core components of Housing First described in subdivision (b) of Section 8255.

(4) Incentives to landlords to provide permanent housing, including, but not limited to, payment of security deposits, holding fees, signing bonuses, repairs made in advance of occupancy to ensure compliance with habitability standards, and contractors to assist the landlord in making repairs.

(5) Move-in assistance, including, but not limited to, security deposits, utility assistance, furniture, and other household goods.

(6) Housing navigation, housing acquisition support, housing transition, and tenancy support services to help participants move into housing and remain stably housed, housing-based employment services, and linkages to education.

(7) For persons at imminent risk of homelessness, homelessness prevention, problem solving, and other rapid resolution programs to assist these persons in becoming or remaining stably housed, so long as these interventions are targeted to people likely to become homeless, based on data.

(8) Systems improvements, including, but not limited to, strengthening coordinated entry systems and assessment systems, collaboration between city and county agencies to coordinate resources and prevent discharges from institutional settings into homelessness, and HMIS system and data matching advances.

(9) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), payment of an amount equal to the nonmedical out-of-home care rate for individuals without incomes and the enhanced services rates for those with or without incomes in licensed residential facilities for eligible participants who require care and supervision due to high vulnerability and complex needs. Moneys expended for the purposes described in this paragraph may be used to pay for the costs of board and care of eligible participants.

(B) (i) Funding for the activities described in subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 20 percent of the recipient’s allocation.

(ii) Eligible participants shall only be referred to licensed residential facilities in the following instances:

(I) If a licensed health care professional refers the eligible participant as requiring care and supervision.

(II) If an existing supportive housing tenant’s care needs can no longer be met in supportive housing, as determined by a licensed health care professional.

(iii) The council shall ensure recipients have developed a local process to ensure participant referrals to licensed residential facilities are to the least restrictive, most integrated setting possible, provide tenants, to the extent possible, with choice in where to live and with whom to share housing, monitor quality to ensure that facilities offer high-quality and dignified care and services, and that individuals are not referred to facilities that do not meet their needs due to a lack of other housing options, or as the only option for people experiencing homelessness to access long-term stability. Monitoring of quality is not intended to replace or duplicate the responsibilities of the Community Care Licensing Division of the State Department of Social Services.

(iv) The council shall review data as it becomes available and report to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development and Senate Committee on Housing on publicly released, independent research and data on the need of people experiencing homelessness for care and supervision or alternatives for referral of people with high vulnerability and complex needs to access less restrictive options. A report required to be submitted pursuant to this clause shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(10) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), one or more of the following:

(i) Shelter diversion and operating support for interim interventions.

(ii) Safe parking programs, including safe parking programs for college students experiencing homelessness.

(iii) Moving persons from congregate shelters or sites to noncongregate shelter for the purposes of complying with public health guidance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and other future public health emergencies where public health officials recommend social distancing to mitigate disease spread.

(B) (i) Except as otherwise provided in clause (ii), the recipient shall use no more than 50 percent of its allocation in the first grant cycle, and no more than 30 percent of each subsequent grant cycle, for the activities described in this paragraph.

(ii) The council may waive or increase the limitation specified in this subparagraph with respect to the activities described in clause (i) of subparagraph (A) if the recipient demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the council, that the recipient is funding a similar ratio of permanent housing to interim housing, consistent with data and reflected in the intent of this section and the council’s guidelines.

(e) During the term of any allocation provided to a county and continuum of care that apply jointly pursuant to this section, the recipient shall do all of the following:

(1) Offer robust services in supportive housing, as well as housing navigation, housing acquisition support, and housing transition services, through a standardized contract that the county and the continuum of care develop in collaboration with homeless service providers, using evidence-based standards.

(2) Funnel resources through a mechanism or develop a mechanism within 180 days of entering into a grant agreement to combine moneys allocated under this chapter with local private and existing local, state, and federal public moneys across the continuum of care, the county, or a multicounty region toward common standards for funding permanent housing, services, and, if necessary, interim interventions.

(3) Allocate funding for rental assistance and operating subsidies through an agency with experience administering housing subsidies and recruiting landlords. The agency may be a housing authority formed pursuant to the Housing Authorities Law (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 34200) of Part 2 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code), a nonprofit organization, or another public entity that administers other moneys for purposes similar to those described in this chapter.

(4) Adopt, and require any subrecipients to adopt, the core components of Housing First described in subdivision (b) of Section 8255 for purposes of administering moneys allocated pursuant to this chapter and implement low-barrier policies for interim interventions funded under this chapter.

(5) Utilize a process for referral of participants to housing through a coordinated entry system, or an alternative process that ensures that persons and areas with the greatest vulnerabilities receive priority for supportive housing, or, in the absence of an established process, develop a plan for funding systems improvements to create a system in compliance with this paragraph within one year of receiving the allocation, subject to the following:

(A) If the recipient uses funding to pay for operating or services costs of housing converted from existing hotels, motels, or apartments, the recipient may continue to house residents of the existing property, even if not referred through a coordinated entry or similar system.

(B) The recipient may use funding to house participants outside of the boundaries of the county or continuum of care, if housing is available, the referral is based on participant choice, and the referring county or continuum of care funds the housing and any necessary services, or the receiving county or continuum of care notifies the referring agency within two weeks of intent to fund the costs of housing and any necessary services.

(C) To the extent feasible, referrals to housing should take into account participant choice, and services should include efforts to assist people to move into communities in which they are residing, if consistent with participant choice, and where the participant has access to services and community amenities.

(6) Use HMIS data for all outcomes reporting.

(7) Establish or use an existing process for training services and property management staff in evidence-based and best practices.

(8) Ensure that survivors of gender-based violence are able to access housing and housing-based services.

(9) Prioritize a portion of resources to populations experiencing homelessness who face barriers to accessing housing or who make up a disproportionate number of people experiencing homelessness, based on data from a needs and gaps analysis or an amendment updating an existing needs and gaps analysis, consistent with the following:

(A) Prioritizing specific populations for resources under this paragraph shall not exclude serving other populations.

(B) The recipient shall ensure that prioritization pursuant to this paragraph does not result in a disproportionate impact on African American or indigenous populations or other persons of color.

(10) Ensure that at least 10 percent of the amount of allocation it receives under this chapter serves participants who are youth experiencing homelessness, in accordance with the following requirements:

(A) The continuum of care applying jointly with the county shall ensure that the coordinated entry system used to assess and refer youth to housing created with funding provided under the program includes a youth-specific coordinated entry access point and uses screening and assessment tools that contemplate the specific needs of youth experiencing homelessness.

(B) Recipients and subrecipients shall offer supportive services designed to meet the unique needs of youth experiencing homelessness, which may include, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) Problem-solving services to maintain existing housing.

(ii) Housing navigation and housing acquisition support.

(iii) Substance use disorder education, prevention, or treatment services, including group supports.

(iv) Access to education and employment assistance, including, but not limited to, literacy and graduation equivalent diploma programs, vocational training, and supports to enroll and participate in institutions providing secondary or postsecondary education, including supports to applying for financial aid.

(v) Independent living skill development, economic stability, and mobility services.

(vi) Counseling, tenancy support, and case management services.

(vii) Screening, assessment, and treatment or referral of behavioral and physical health care services.

(viii) Services for pregnant and parenting youth.

(ix) Services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

(x) Family support, including family reunification, when safe and appropriate, and engagement and intervention, when appropriate.

(xi) Family finding services to identify appropriate family members.

(xii) Outreach to youth who are experiencing homelessness.

(xiii) Legal representation and connection to public benefits for which the unaccompanied homeless youth are eligible or entitled to receive, including foster care.

(C) Providers with which a recipient contracts to provide services to youth in accordance with this paragraph shall proactively engage youth experiencing homelessness to determine which supportive services meet the needs of each participant and, if appropriate, the participant’s family.

(D) Providers with whom recipients contract to provide services to youth shall work with colleges and universities to market programs to students experiencing homelessness.

(f) (1) Upon the request of a large city located within a recipient county, and pursuant to a memorandum of understanding, the county shall allocate a portion of the moneys allocated to it under this chapter for support services and operating subsidies for new supportive housing units in the city, provided that the county recipient obligates and uses the moneys allocated to it within the time periods specified in subdivision (h) of Section 13056. The amount provided to a large city pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed 40 percent of the large city’s proportionate share of the county’s most recent homeless point-in-time count, unless the recipient county, in its discretion, determines that greater amount is appropriate.

(2) The recipient county’s obligation to fund support services and operating subsidies pursuant to this subdivision shall be proportionate to the share of funding for new housing used for those purposes from the total amount allocated to the recipient under this chapter.

(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require a county or continuum of care to allocate moneys provided under this chapter to a large city to fund services provided at any interim intervention that the city funded.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in committing operating subsidies to a supportive housing project funded by a large city pursuant to this subdivision, a recipient may commit an operating subsidy reserve that includes at least 17 years for those operating subsidies.

(g) Each jointly applying county and continuum of care shall ensure that funding received and allocations made pursuant to this chapter are used consistent with data on geographic need.

13059.

(a) A large city that submits an application and meets the requirements of this section shall be eligible to receive an allocation from the fund.

(b) A large city that receives an allocation pursuant to this chapter may use up to 10 percent of the amount of that allocation for the costs of administering the allocation. For purposes of this subdivision, “costs of administering” do not include costs associated with staffing to provide services, data collection, or reporting or costs to subrecipients to provide housing or services to the eligible populations. Recipients shall pay a reasonable administrative rate to all subrecipients.

(c) Recipients under this section shall use the allocation of moneys provided under this chapter for one or more of the following eligible activities:

(1) Operating subsidy reserves, capitalized over at least 17 years, for affordable housing projects that serve the eligible population.

(2) Flexible funding to help the eligible population move into permanent housing and, for persons under 25 years of age, into transitional housing that follows the core components of Housing First, consistent with the individual’s choice.

(3) Prevention and problem-solving.

(4) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), one or more of the following:

(i) Interim interventions based on an annual needs assessment and taking into consideration commitments made over the five years prior to the date of the recipient’s application to shelter beds that have not yet been constructed or created.

(ii) Activities to move persons from congregate sites to noncongregate shelters for the purposes of complying with public health guidance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health emergencies where social distancing is recommended to mitigate disease spread.

(iii) Outreach, engagement, and other services to assist persons in connecting to permanent housing.

(iv) Health interventions, including, but not limited to, hygiene centers.

(v) Storage of belongings.

(vi) Safe parking and overnight, warm places where persons can sleep, including safe parking sites for college students experiencing homelessness.

(B) (i) Except as otherwise provided in clause (ii), the recipient shall use no more than 50 percent of its allocation in the first grant cycle, and no more than 35 percent of each subsequent grant cycle, for the activities described in this paragraph.

(d) During the term of any allocation provided to a large city that applies pursuant to this section, the recipient shall do all of the following:

(1) (A) Refer tenants to supportive housing units through a coordinated entry system, or an alternative process that ensures that persons with the greatest vulnerabilities receive priority. To the extent feasible, referrals shall take into account participant choice, and referral services shall include efforts to refer persons in a community in which they choose to reside and have access to community-based services and natural supports.

(B) If a recipient uses funding to pay for operating or services costs of housing converted from existing hotels, motels, or apartments, the recipient may continue to house residents of the existing property, even if not referred through a coordinated entry or similar system.

(C) A recipient may use funding to house participants outside of the boundaries of the city, provided that housing is available, referral is based on participant choice, and the referring city funds the housing and any necessary services, or the receiving city or county, if within an unincorporated area, notifies the referring agency within two weeks of intent to fund the costs of housing and any necessary services.

(D) To the extent feasible, referrals to housing should take into account participant choice, and services should include efforts to assist people to move into communities in which they are residing, if consistent with participant choice, and where the participant has access to services and community amenities.

(2) Allocate funding through a local competitive application process.

(3) Use either or both of the following:

(A) HMIS data for all outcomes reporting.

(B) A coordinated entry system to enter and share data across the homelessness system.

(4) Prioritize a portion of resources to populations experiencing homelessness who face barriers to accessing housing or who make up a disproportionate number of people experiencing homelessness, based on data from a needs and gaps analysis or an amendment updating an existing needs and gaps analysis, consistent with the following:

(A) Prioritizing specific populations for resources under this paragraph shall not exclude serving other populations.

(B) The recipient shall ensure that prioritization pursuant to this paragraph does not result in a disproportionate impact on African American or indigenous populations or other persons of color.

(5) Ensure that at least 10 percent of the amount of allocation it receives under this chapter serves participants who are youth experiencing homelessness, in accordance with the following requirements:

(A) The large city shall ensure that the coordinated entry system used to assess and refer youth to housing created with funding provided under the program includes a youth-specific coordinated entry access point and uses screening and assessment tools that contemplate the specific needs of youth experiencing homelessness.

(B) Recipients and subrecipients shall offer supportive services designed to meet the unique needs of youth experiencing homelessness, which may include, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) Problem-solving services to maintain existing housing.

(ii) Housing navigation and housing acquisition support.

(iii) Substance use disorder education, prevention, or treatment services, including group supports.

(v) Independent living skill development, economic stability, and mobility services.

(vi) Counseling, tenancy support, and case management services.

(vii) Screening, assessment, and treatment or referral of behavioral and physical health care services.

(viii) Services for pregnant and parenting youth.

(ix) Services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

(x) Family support, including family reunification, when safe and appropriate, and engagement and intervention, when appropriate.

(xi) Family finding services to identify appropriate family members.

(xii) Outreach to youth who are experiencing homelessness.

(xiii) Legal representation and connection to public benefits for which the unaccompanied homeless youth are eligible or entitled to, including foster care.

(D) Providers with whom recipients contract to provide services to youth shall work with colleges and universities to market programs to students experiencing homelessness.

SEC. 10.

Section 14133.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, immediately following Section 14133.45, to read:

14133.5.

(a) By January 1, 2025, the State Department of Health Care Services shall seek federal approval for a Medi-Cal benefit to fund all of the following services for beneficiaries experiencing homelessness:

(1) Housing navigation and housing acquisition support services.

(2) Tenancy transition services.

(3) Tenancy sustaining services.

(4) Housing-based employment services.

(b) The department shall convene a stakeholder advisory group representing counties, health care consumers, and homeless advocates in developing the plan.

(c) The department shall work with counties to determine an effective process for funding the state’s share of the federal medical assistance percentage. Pursuant to an agreement with organizations representing California counties, the department may use up to 20 percent of the county-continuum allocation, as set forth under Section 13058, to pay for the state’s federal medical assistance percentage associated with the benefit identified in subdivision (a) for Medi-Cal beneficiaries experiencing homelessness.

(d) The department shall pursue philanthropic funding to carry out the administrative duties of this section. The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council may allocate a portion of the administrative funds, pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 13055, to create and pursue the plan in this section, and that portion shall equal no more than 1 percent of the Bring California Home Fund.

SEC. 11.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to address California’s growing homelessness crisis as soon as possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.

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