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<ns0:Id>20250AB__072298AMD</ns0:Id>
<ns0:VersionNum>98</ns0:VersionNum>
<ns0:History>
<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2025-02-14</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>AMENDED_ASSEMBLY</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2025-04-21</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Ávila Farías</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Ávila Farías</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
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<ns0:Title> An act to add Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 50480) to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>housing</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program.</ns0:Subject>
</ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p>Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would establish the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to take specified actions to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants to applicants, as defined, for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. The bill would require the department to establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants, in accordance with certain guidelines and procedures.</html:p>
<html:p>The bill would require the department to score applicants to the program competitively according to specified criteria. The bill would require recipients of funds from the program to use those funds for, among other things, long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, incentives to landlords, and innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent supportive housing. The bill would require the department to distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities for a term of 5 years, subject to automatic renewal.</html:p>
<html:p>The bill would require a recipient of the program to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require the department to hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the
program and would require the department to submit that analysis to specified committees of the Legislature.</html:p>
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<ns0:DigestKey>
<ns0:VoteRequired>MAJORITY</ns0:VoteRequired>
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<ns0:Bill id="bill">
<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_11C64535-0829-4C1C-A883-798F49A67D62">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
People on parole are seven times more likely to recidivate when homeless than when housed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Evidence shows that “supportive housing,” or housing that is affordable to people on parole living in extreme poverty that does not limit length of stay and offers tenants services promoting housing stability, or access to job training that provides pathways to livable wage employment, reduces recidivism. In fact, data show evidence-based housing decreases recidivism rates by 60 percent, when compared to control groups, and reduces
rearrests by 40 percent.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
About one-half of people experiencing homelessness report a history of incarceration.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Formerly incarcerated people are 27 times more likely to be unstably housed or homeless than the general public. In fact, California data have estimated that one-third to one-half of all people on parole in the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness at any point in time.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
African Americans are almost seven times more likely to be homeless than the general population in California, driven by systemic racism that includes disproportionate incarceration and discharges from prisons and jails into homelessness.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Projected population decline in California’s state prisons in the next few years is expected to reduce future cost growth for Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), both through a reduction in inmates and staff, as well as the closure of two state facilities. In the short term, CDCR will avoid spending several hundreds of millions of dollars due to a decrease in prison population, which decreases per person costs for clothing, food, maintenance, and other costs of operating the prison. The closure of state correctional facilities would yield savings in utilities, staffing, and equipment, as well as a reduction in the inmate and ward population, freeing valuable resources that should be repurposed for sustainable criminal justice solutions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
It is the intent of
the Legislature to repurpose funding from the closure of state prisons to provide innovative or evidence-based solutions to house people experiencing homelessness with histories of incarceration.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Department of Housing and Community Development, with its expertise in overseeing grant programs for housing and services, counties and continuums of care, and community-based organizations, which often have experience providing housing and services to people exiting incarceration, is an appropriate entity to administer programs offering innovative or evidence-based housing and services interventions to people on parole experiencing homelessness.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_77EA174E-3EAB-4AE2-8690-854653857C34">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 50480) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the
<ns0:DocName>Health and Safety Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawHeading id="id_2AB7DD6C-3CFC-4B78-BAE2-0D8C6CED8EDC" type="CHAPTER">
<ns0:Num>2.6.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawHeadingVersion id="id_48CDBEB0-B25D-46EF-9F57-DB40A959CC6E">
<ns0:LawHeadingText>Reentry Housing And Workforce Development Program</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_DD5BA17E-9271-4303-97C6-7937D0A8A18C">
<ns0:Num>50480.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:Content>
<html:p>For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Applicant” means a county, a community-based organization, or a continuum of care that has applied to receive funds under the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Chronically homeless” has the same meaning as in Parts 91 and 578 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as those parts read on January 1, 2021, except that people who were chronically homeless before entering an institution would continue to be defined as chronically homeless upon discharge, regardless of length of institutional stay.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“County” shall include a city that is also a county or cities working with counties to apply for grant funds.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Community-based organization” means a mission-driven nonprofit organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Continuum of care” means a group organized to provide services under this chapter that is composed of representatives of organizations, including nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and
homeless and formerly homeless persons to the extent these groups are represented within the geographic area and are available to participate.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“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, 2021, 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.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Department” means the Department of Housing and Community Development, unless otherwise identified.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“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 Part 888 and Part 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.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Homeless” has the same meaning as in Section 91.5 of Subpart A of Part 91 of Subtitle A of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, except that people exiting prison who were homeless when incarcerated and who have no identified residence upon exit, will also be considered “homeless” or “likely to become homeless upon release.”
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Homeless service provider” means an organization that qualifies as an exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that contracts as a community-based organization, or with a participating county, or a continuum of care, for the purpose of providing services to people experiencing homelessness.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(k)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Housing First” has the same meaning as in Section 8255 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(l)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Permanent housing” means a structure or set of structures with subsidized or unsubsidized rental housing units subject to applicable landlord-tenant law, with no limit on length of stay and no requirement to participate in supportive services as a condition of access to or continued occupancy in the housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(m)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“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.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(n)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Innovative reentry housing” means approaches to reentry based on the latest aggregated data to provide housing and workforce development services designed to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety, and provide a pathway for people exiting incarceration to access a livable wage and long-term housing
stability. Core components of Housing First, as defined in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall apply to innovative models, with a goal of allowing people to access and maintain permanent housing and employment stability.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(o)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Interim interventions” means low-barrier housing that does not qualify as permanent housing, as defined under subdivision (l), including, but not limited to, emergency shelters, motel vouchers, recovery-oriented interim interventions, Project Roomkey or Project Homekey, or reentry program sites used as interim housing, recuperative or respite care, or navigation centers as defined under other federal, state, or local programs. All programs providing interim housing funding pursuant to this chapter shall have partnerships or other linkages to homeless services to connect individuals
or families to income, public benefits, health services, and permanent housing. “Low barrier” means the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
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 any other subdivision in this section, for purposes of interim interventions, “Housing First” shall not require a lease.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
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, with
the exception of population specific sites; allowing storage of possessions; allowing residents to engage in treatment for substance use disorders, including obtaining medications for substance use disorder treatment; offering services that connect participants to workforce development services; providing services that help connect persons to permanent housing; providing privacy; and providing linkage to a coordinated entry system.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The interim intervention offers a harm reduction approach, except where tenants request an abstinence-based model, or are enrolled in a population-specific reentry program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The interim intervention has a system for entering information regarding client stays, demographics, income, and exit destination though a local Homeless Management
Information System (HMIS) or similar system.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(p)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Likely to become homeless upon release” means the potential participant has a history of experiencing “homelessness” as that term is used in Section 11302(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code and who meets either of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The person has not identified a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence for release.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The person has an identified residence that includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a public or private place not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(q)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Operating subsidy” means a subsidy provided to housing projects offering affordable or supportive housing to participants, and that project received local, state, or federal subsidies, and that assist projects in paying for the costs of operating, staffing, and maintaining the project.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(r)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Program” means the Reentry Housing and Workforce
Program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(s)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Reasonable rent” means up to two times the fair market rent that is also consistent with market rent in the community in which the rental unit is located.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(t)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Rental assistance” means a rental subsidy provided to a housing provider, including a developer leasing affordable or supportive housing, to assist a tenant to pay the difference between 30 percent of the tenant’s income and either fair market rent or reasonable rent as determined by the grant recipient and approved by the department.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(u)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“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.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(v)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Supportive housing” means permanent housing with no limit on the length of stay that is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the supportive housing residents in retaining the housing, improving their health status, and maximizing their ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. “Permanent supportive housing” includes associated facilities if used to provide services to housing residents.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(w)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Tenancy acquisition services” means staff dedicated to engaging property owners to rent housing units to the eligible population through rental assistance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(x)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Tenancy sustaining services” means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Early identification and intervention of behaviors that may jeopardize housing security.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Education and training on the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Coaching on developing and maintaining key relationships with landlords or property managers.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assistance in resolving disputes with landlords and neighbors to reduce the risk of eviction.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Advocacy and linkage with community resources to prevent eviction
when housing may become jeopardized.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Care coordination and advocacy with health care professionals.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assistance with a housing recertification process.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Coordinating with the tenant to review and update a housing support and crisis plan.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Training in being a good tenant, and lease compliance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(10)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Benefits advocacy.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(11)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Evidence-employment services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(12)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Services connecting individuals to education.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(13)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Transportation services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(14)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any other service that supports individuals and families to promote housing stability, foster community integration and inclusion, develops natural support networks, and that are offered through a trauma-informed, culturally competent approach.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(y)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Tenancy transition services” means using evidence-based service models to provide any of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Screening and assessing the tenant’s preferences and barriers to successful tenancy.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Developing an individualized housing support plan that includes motivational interviewing and goal setting.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assistance with the housing application and search process.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Identifying resources to cover expenses for move-in and furniture costs.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Ensuring that the living environment is safe and ready for move-in.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assisting and arranging for the details of the move.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Developing a housing support crisis plan that includes prevention and early intervention when housing is jeopardized.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Engagement services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any other evidence-based services that an individual tenant may require to move into permanent housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(z)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Voluntary services” means services offered in conjunction with housing where the housing is not contingent on participation in services, tenants are not evicted based on failure to participate in services, the service provider encourages the tenant to participate in services using evidence-based engagement models, and services are flexible and tenant-centered.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(aa)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Workforce development” means programs and services that provide people on parole or those discharged suffering from incarceration within the past five years with job skill development and placement services in livable wage
employment.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
</ns0:LawSection>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_52A59F07-3A2F-40ED-8C85-36BE1BB898D3">
<ns0:Num>50480.1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_9EF07058-CA05-4030-9176-E586D76CEDD1">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
There is hereby created the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
On or before July 1, 2026, the department shall do all of the following to create the program to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants for innovative or
evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants who volunteer to participate in the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Establish protocols in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, at least one community-based organization working to reenter people into communities after discharge, and at least one organization working to provide housing opportunities to people experiencing homelessness, to prevent discharges from prison into homelessness. No person shall be held past
their scheduled discharge date from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a result of homelessness.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Issue guidelines establishing the grant program and a notice of funding availability or request for proposals for five-year renewable grants to applicants based on criteria to score applicants for grant funds competitively. Guidelines shall include the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Applicants shall meet all of the following criteria:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has a contract or memorandum of understanding with or administers the homeless continuum of care, or is offering “innovative reentry housing,” as described in this chapter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has at least two years of
experience, or intends to partner with community-based providers with at least this level of experience, or has demonstrated a similar level of organizational ability, to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing and, in the case of providers with two or more years of experience, has achieved a documented housing retention rate in that housing of at least 80 percent.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has, or plans to partner with organizations that have, at least two years of experience providing best practice or evidence-based workforce development services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iv)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has built a network of agencies that provide services to help people reenter communities from incarceration, particularly people experiencing homelessness or lack of livable wage employment, in the community
in which the applicant intends to provide services or housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(v)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has a structure for providing outreach and housing navigation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(vi)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has relationships with the coordinated entry system serving the geographic area in which the applicant is intending to offer housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(vii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant has or plans to have all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(I)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removed barriers to hiring people with lived experience of incarceration who are living stably in the community.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(II)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Employed people with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(III)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If a community-based organization, at least one individual with lived experience of incarceration and homelessness who are living stably in the community, on the board of directors.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Applicants shall submit all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A viable plan to provide permanent housing with services based on evidence-based practices, as described in Section 50480.3, or a plan to provide innovative reentry housing, as described in this chapter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Performance metrics and goals the applicants shall achieve through this program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A description of experience in successfully administering or
overseeing, or the ability to successfully administer or oversee, the activities the recipient plans to fund through the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Of the total allocated to the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program, at least 10 percent, but no more than 20 percent, of the funds shall be allocated to community-based organizations providing innovative reentry housing that comply with the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Programs that provide a pathway for participants to access livable wage jobs and permanent housing programs.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recipients are community-based organizations that meet all of the following criteria:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(I)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Are led by people with lived experience of incarceration in executive
level positions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(II)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Employ at least 25 percent of staff with lived experience of incarceration who are now stably housed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(III)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Provide or subcontract to provide housing navigation services in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Offer a voluntary services model.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iv)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Offer participants, either through direct service provision or a subcontract, the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(I)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
An independent, safe, and decent place to live that participants can afford, where participants shall not be required to share a bedroom.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(II)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Evidence-based engagement services to promote participation in services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(III)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Best practice or evidence-based workforce development services to help participants access and obtain livable wage jobs.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(IV)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Housing navigation and housing acquisition services to access any housing subsidies participants need and assistance in locating and moving into affordable permanent housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(v)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recipients shall not evict a participant for not participating in services or treatment. Recipients shall not end a participant’s housing or evict a participant unless and until a participant has obtained permanent housing of their choice.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(D)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Scoring criteria shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Need, which includes consideration of the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, people on parole, and people with recent histories of incarceration, to the extent data are available, in the community in which applicants will be serving eligible participants.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Experience providing or demonstrated ability to provide evidence-based tenancy acquisition and housing navigation, tenancy transition, and tenancy sustaining services, evidence-based employment services, and services to people reentering communities from jail or prison.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The extent of coordination and collaboration between the county, the homeless continuum of care covering the geographic area,
and community-based organizations with a history of serving people reentering communities from incarceration.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iv)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Experience using Housing First core components to address the needs of the eligible population.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(v)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Partnerships and contractual agreements demonstrating an ability of the applicant or proposed subrecipients to administer or partner to administer funding for rental assistance and evidence-based services interventions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(vi)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The applicant’s documented partnerships with affordable and supportive housing providers and housing navigator providers in the jurisdiction.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(vii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Demonstrated commitment to address the needs of people experiencing
homelessness and recent incarceration through existing programs or programs planned to be implemented within 12 months.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(viii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Proposed use of funds and the extent to which the proposed use will lead to overall reductions in homelessness and recidivism.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ix)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For county applicants, the extent to which an applicant demonstrates housing authorities or other county-run housing authorities have eliminated or plan to eliminate restrictions against people with arrests or criminal convictions to access publicly funded housing subsidies, notwithstanding restrictions mandated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Individuals and household members in families are eligible
for participation in a program funded pursuant to a grant through this chapter if they meet all of the following conditions:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Individuals or families voluntarily choose to participate.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
One of the following applies:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Individuals who have been assigned a date of release from prison within 60 to 180 days and they are likely to become homeless upon release.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness as a person on parole or postrelease community supervision after discharge from prison.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Individuals are currently experiencing homelessness and were incarcerated in state prison within the
last five years.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A participant shall continue to receive housing and services funded under the program after discharge from parole, so long as the participant needs this assistance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recipients shall ensure participants have choice in where to live and the services that they would like to receive, unless enrolled in a population-specific program, and to the extent allowable under conditions of parole or probation.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
</ns0:LawSection>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_E5B577D2-BB96-46F0-BFB0-FC37648A2E28">
<ns0:Num>50480.2.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_D92D456F-06F4-4389-985A-B31C0DCC6965">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A recipient in the program shall use program funds for the following eligible activities based on the needs of the participants:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Long-term rental assistance in permanent housing in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the housing is located.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Interim interventions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, in an amount the applicant identifies, but no more than reasonable rent for the community in which the project is located.
Operating subsidies may include capitalized operating subsidy reserves.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Incentives to landlords, including, but not limited to, security deposits, holding fees, and incentives for landlords to accept rental assistance or operating subsidies.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent housing, including supportive housing, and to promote stability in housing, including services identified in subdivision (c).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If necessary, and upon demonstrated need, operating support for interim interventions with services to meet the specific needs of the eligible population.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recipients shall ensure service
providers offer evidence-based voluntary services in conjunction with housing to obtain and maintain health and housing stability while participants are on parole and after discharge from parole, for as long as the participant needs the services or until the grant period ends.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Once a participant is released or for participants living in the community, the services shall be offered to participants in their home, or be made as easily accessible to participants as possible. These services shall include the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In-reach services to assist eligible participants at least 90 days prior to release from prison, to include any of the other services in this subdivision.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Parole discharge planning.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Housing navigation and tenancy acquisition services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Tenancy transition services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Tenancy supportive services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Food security services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For housed participants or participants once they are housed, innovative or evidence-based employment services that assist participants to obtain meaningful employment and a liveable wage.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Linkage to other services, including education and childcare services, as needed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Benefit entitlement application and appeal assistance, as
needed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(10)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Transportation assistance to obtain services and health care, as needed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(11)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assistance obtaining appropriate identification, as needed.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(12)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Teaching people to navigate disabilities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(13)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
As necessary, assistance in performance activities of daily living and other personal care services.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(14)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Wrap-around services, including linkage to Medi-Cal funded mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and medical treatment, as medically necessary.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For participants identified prior to release from prison, upon the
provider’s receipt of referral and in collaboration with the parole agent and, if appropriate, staff, the intake coordinator or case manager of the provider shall:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Receive all prerelease assessments and discharge plans.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Partner with providers working in the geographic area where a participant is incarcerated, when participants are incarcerated outside of the recipient’s geographic reach.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Draft a plan for the participant’s transition into interim interventions, and then affordable or supportive housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Engage the participant to actively participate in services upon release on a voluntary basis.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assist in obtaining identification for the participant, if necessary.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assist in applying for any benefits for which the participant is eligible.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
</ns0:LawSection>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_1DE68419-D151-452D-A7EA-C6310DFC6C2D">
<ns0:Num>50480.3.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_2EEEEBA4-8508-4834-BF9F-238A6FE1C583">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recipients and providers shall adhere to the core components of Housing First.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Providers shall identify and locate housing opportunities for participants prior to release from state prison or as quickly upon release from state prison as possible.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Housing identified pursuant to subdivision (b) shall satisfy all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The housing is located in an apartment building, townhouse, or single-family home, including rent-subsidized apartments leased in the open market or set aside within privately owned buildings, or
affordable or supportive housing receiving a publicly funded subsidy.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The housing is not subject to community care licensing requirements or is exempt from licensing under Section 1504.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
</ns0:LawSection>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_85D13C3A-CFFD-4084-BC20-265C8EAD0B80">
<ns0:Num>50480.4.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_CED77499-42B8-40FB-9D7C-1F80FEC17241">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities that shall be for a term of five years, subject to automatic renewal. After a contract has expired pursuant to this subdivision, any funds not expended for eligible activities shall revert to the department for use for the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A recipient shall submit to the department an annual report on a form issued by the department, pertaining to the recipient’s program or project selection process, contract expenditures, and progress toward meeting state and local goals, as demonstrated by the performance measures set forth in the application. Recipients shall, along
with any other data as required by the department, report all of the following on an annual basis:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The number of participants served.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The types of services that were provided to program participants.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Whether the recipient met performance metrics identified in their application.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The outcomes for participants, including the number who remain permanently housed, the number who ceased to participate in the program and the reason why, the number who participated in workforce development programs, including the number of participants placed in livable wage
employment and the number of those participants who retained employment for at least six months following placement, the number who returned to state prison or were incarcerated in county jail, the number of arrests among participants, and the number of days in jail or prison among participants, to the extent data are available.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
As part of the annual report required pursuant to subdivision (b), the recipient shall report to the department on the expenditures and activities of any subrecipients for each year of the term of the contract with the department until all funds awarded to a subrecipient have been expended.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall design an evaluation and hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program, which shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The total number of parolees served and the type of interventions provided.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The housing status of participants at 12, 24, and 36 months after entering the program, to the extent data are available, including how many participants remain in permanent housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Recidivism among participants, including the number of arrests, days incarcerated, and incarceration in jail or prison.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The total number of participants who accessed an innovative reentry housing program. For participants in these programs, the evaluator shall assess both of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The number of placements in livable wage employment.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The number of placements who transitioned into permanent housing, and whether the participants require housing subsidies to afford that housing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department may monitor the expenditures and activities of the recipient, as the department deems necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department may, as it deems appropriate or necessary, request the repayment of funds from an administrative entity or pursue any other remedies available to it by law for failure to comply with program requirements.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall submit, on or before February 1, 2029,
the analysis prepared pursuant to subdivision (d) to the chairs of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety, the Senate Committee on Housing, and the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
</ns0:LawSection>
</ns0:LawHeading>
</ns0:Fragment>
</ns0:BillSection>
</ns0:Bill>
</ns0:MeasureDoc>
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