Homelessness plan of action.

Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program administered by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency for the purpose of providing jurisdictions, as defined, with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law provides that upon appropriation, the agency is required to distribute $650,000,000 among cities, counties, and continuum of care, as provided. This bill would enact the Homelessness Plan of Action Act, which requires all local agencies, as defined, to adopt and submit to the Department of Housing and Community Development, by January 1, 2022, a homelessness plan of action that includes specified information, including, among other things, information regarding surplus land that could be used to develop homeless shelters, assisted living units, and affordable housing. The bill would require a local agency to update and submit, to the department, the plan at least once every 4 years thereafter by January 1. The bill would require the department, in consultation with any state agency the department may choose, to review and provide recommendations on improvements to each local agency's homelessness plan of action within 120 days of receiving an action plan, as provided. The bill would require a local agency to respond to the department's recommendations within 120 days of receiving the department's recommendations, as provided. The bill would require, if a local agency indicates that it will not follow a particular recommendation, the local agency to describe how the agency plans to use all funds provided to the agency by the state, and provide, within one year of the local agency's written response, the department a detailed accounting of how the state funds were used. The bill would provide that if a local agency does not provide the detailed accounting pursuant to subdivision (c) within one year, the local agency is ineligible for certain state funding, as the Legislature may appropriate under this chapter or the Budget Act, from the date the detailed accounting is due to the department to the date the local agency provides the detailed accounting to the department. By requiring local agencies to adopt a homelessness plan of action, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.