Existing law requires a city or county to prepare and adopt a general plan for its jurisdiction that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. Existing law requires the housing element to identify adequate sites for housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, and emergency shelters, among other things. Existing law requires the housing element to contain an assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to the meeting of these needs, including by identifying one or more zoning designations that allow residential uses, including mixed uses, where emergency shelters are allowed as a permitted use without a conditional use or other discretionary permit and that are suitable for residential uses. Existing law requires an emergency shelter to include other interim interventions, including, but not limited to, a navigation center, bridge housing, and respite or recuperative care. This bill would additionally require an emergency shelter to include all services provided onsite, including the addition or expansion of services that are consistent with certain written, objective standards. By imposing a higher level of service on cities and counties in preparing and adopting a general plan, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons at as low of a cost and as quickly as possible, without compromising the health and safety of shelter occupants, to encourage the move of homeless persons from shelters to a self-supporting environment as soon as possible, to encourage provision of services for as many persons at risk of homelessness as possible, to encourage compatible and effective funding of homeless services, and to encourage coordination among public agencies that fund or provide services to homeless individuals, as well as agencies that discharge people from their institutions. Existing law defines "emergency shelter" to mean, in part, housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of 6 months or less by a homeless person. This bill would modify that definition to mean housing with supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of 6 months or less by a homeless person. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65583 of the Government Code proposed by AB 610 and AB 650, to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Existing law establishes the Encampment Resolution Funding program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to, upon appropriation of the Legislature, increase collaboration between the department, local jurisdictions, and continuums of care for, among other things, providing encampment resolution grants to local jurisdictions and continuums of care to resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing. Existing law authorizes a continuum of care or a local jurisdiction to submit a specified application to the department for a program grant. Existing law, for additional rounds moneys, defined as moneys appropriated for the program in or after the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires that an applicant submit an application for a program grant that includes a description of how the applicant intends to use the funds to connect all individuals living in encampments to services and housing, among other things. This bill would, as part of this description, additionally require the applicant to include specified information about safe parking sites, when the application includes operating safe parking sites while locating interim or permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness living in vehicles or recreational vehicles. Existing law requires grant recipients to report specified data to their local Homeless Management Information System and as required by the department. Existing law requires the department to evaluate the data and outcomes reported by recipients to assess efficacy of programs and identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution that can be replicated across the state. Existing law requires the department to report to the chairs of the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on the outcomes, learnings, and best practices models identified through the program. Existing law requires a recipient of program funding appropriated in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years to submit to the department a final report of certain data elements no later than April 1 of the year following the expiration of the encumbrance period of funds, as provided. Existing law requires the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous fiscal year of the housing programs administered by the department, as specified. This bill would remove the requirement that the department report to the chairs of the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the department to report in the annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature a summary of the data elements required in the final report submitted by recipients of program funding appropriated in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years, as provided. The bill would require the department to evaluate the data and outcomes reported by the department in the annual report, instead of reported by recipients, to assess efficacy to assess the efficacy of programs and identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution that can be replicated across the state.
The California Constitution authorizes a county or city to make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws. Existing law establishes procedures for the enactment of ordinances by counties and cities and makes a violation of a county or city ordinance, as applicable, a misdemeanor unless by ordinance it is made an infraction. This bill would prohibit a local jurisdiction from adopting a local ordinance, or enforcing an existing ordinance, that prohibits a person or organization from providing support services, as specified, to a person who is homeless or assisting a person who is homeless with any act related to basic survival. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. 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.
(1) Existing law establishes various programs, administered by the State Department of Social Services, to assist individuals experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, including, among other programs, the CalWORKs Housing Support Program, the Home Safe Program, the Bringing Families Home Program, and the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program. This bill would require counties opting to participate in any of those programs to have written program policies and make them available to the public, and to implement and conduct county-level complaint resolution processes according to minimum requirements developed by the department, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop program guidance on a procedure for counties to inform recipients in writing of housing-related services and financial assistance being provided to the recipient, would provide program recipients with the right to file a request with the department for a state administrative hearing for county actions resulting in a reduction or discontinuance of housing-related services and financial assistance, as specified, and would require the department to establish criteria for recipients to receive housing-related services and financial assistance pending the resolution of a complaint and a state hearing. The bill would require the department to consult with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, counties, and advocates for program applicants and recipients on the development of the previously described processes, and would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions by means of all-county letters or similar written instructions. (2) Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law generally requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility. Existing law specifies the sequence of employment-related activities a welfare-to-work participant is required to undertake, which includes orientation and appraisal and, commencing July 1, 2026, or, if automation is necessary, the later of July 1, 2026, or when the department notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation, if eligible, family stabilization, substance abuse, mental health, or domestic violence services. Existing law, as it relates to family stabilization, substance abuse, mental health, or domestic violence services, requires the recipient to make their election verbally or in writing on the welfare-to-work plan. This bill would remove the requirement that the recipient make their election verbally or in writing on the welfare-to-work plan. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2026, or, if automation is necessary, the later of July 1, 2026, or when the department notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation, requires the department to develop an updated, streamlined appraisal tool to replace the Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool (OCAT) and exempts a contract necessary to obtain licenses for OCAT and the alternative appraisal tool developed by the department from, among other things, the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2026, or, if automation is necessary, the later of July 1, 2026, or when the department notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation, requires an assessment to be available upon completion of orientation and appraisal and, at the participant's option, authorizes the assessment to incorporate the OCAT, as specified. The bill would make technical corrections to the above provisions relating to the OCAT and the alternative appraisal tool developed by the department. Existing law requires counties, as part of the administration of the CalWORKs program, to use a semiannual report form and, to the extent permitted by federal law, provide recipients with a prepopulated semiannual report form. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to complete final policy guidance for changes to the prepopulated semiannual report form by August 15, 2025. This bill would delete the requirement that the department complete final policy guidance relating to the semiannual report form by August 15, 2025. (3) Existing law establishes the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) , administered by the State Department of Social Services, to benefit children residing in foster homes by providing the stability and security of permanent homes. Existing law authorizes AAP payments for placement in an out-of-state residential treatment facility if one or more of the adoptive parents reside in the state in which the residential treatment facility is located and the responsible public agency has confirmed that placement is necessary. Existing law defines a "responsible public agency" to mean either the department or the licensed county adoption agency responsible for making AAP determinations for a child. This bill would revise the definition of "responsible public agency" to include all county adoption agencies responsible for making AAP determinations for a child without regard to whether the agency is licensed. (4) Existing federal law establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing federal law, beginning in fiscal year 2028, a state's cost share for SNAP benefits will be determined based on the state's payment error rate. Under that federal law, if a state's payment error rate is less than 6%, the state's cost share is 0%, with increasing cost share for the state if the payment error rate is above that threshold. This bill would, until October 1, 2027, and when necessary to reduce the CalFresh payment error rate, authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer the CalFresh program by means of all-county letters and emergency regulations, as specified. The bill would require the department to engage in stakeholder consultation starting in September 2025 and continuing through the duration of the multiyear activities. The bill would also require the department, beginning in November 2025 through November 2027, to update the Legislature, including specified information, on a quarterly basis on the implementation of the multiyear activities. Existing federal law generally prohibits a resident of an institution from receiving supplemental nutrition assistance benefits. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, if the department deems it necessary to maximize CalFresh enrollment outcomes or employment placement success rates for individuals reentering the community from the state prison or a county jail, to submit to the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service a request to waive that prohibition to allow for preenrollment of applicants prior to their release. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a CalFresh workgroup by February 1, 2026, composed of members with specified backgrounds, to meet no less than quarterly. Existing law requires the workgroup to create and submit a report to the department and to the Legislature by August 31, 2027, and by August 31 annually thereafter, through 2030, with its recommendations for a state reentry process incorporating the necessary resources for transition from state prison or county jail to obtaining CalFresh benefits upon reentry into the community. This bill would delay the establishment of the workgroup to February 1, 2028, and would delay the reporting period by 2 years. (5) This bill would appropriate $3,200,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services for automation related to CalFresh payment error rate mitigation and implementation of federal H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) . (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing law establishes the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to oversee the implementation of Housing First guidelines and regulations, and, among other things, identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. Existing law requires a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. Existing law specifies the core components of Housing First, including services that are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants' lives and where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use. This bill would authorize state programs to fund supportive-recovery residences, as defined, that emphasize abstinence under these provisions as long as the state program meets specified criteria, including that at least 90% of program funds awarded to each jurisdiction is used for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model. This bill would specify requirements for applicants seeking funds under these programs and would require the state to perform periodic monitoring of select supportive-recovery residence programs to ensure that the supportive-recovery residences meet certain requirements, including that core outcomes of the supportive-recovery housing emphasize long-term housing stability and minimize returns to homelessness. The bill would also prohibit eviction on the basis of relapse, as specified. The bill would require, if a tenant is no longer interested in living in a supportive-recovery residence with an abstinence focus, is at risk of eviction, or is discharged from the program, the tenant to reside in the supportive recovery residence until the operator secures the tenant a new permanent housing placement option operated with harm-reduction principles that is also permanent housing. The bill would require supportive housing and services to support residents' access to and use of medications to treat behavioral and physical health conditions, as specified, and to provide overdose prevention training and overdose reversal medication to staff and residents, as specified. Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to administer various programs that provide services to homeless individuals. This bill would require the department to adopt the most recent standards approved by the National Alliance for Recovery Residences or other national standards as the minimum standard for supportive-recovery residences that receive public funds under these provisions. The bill would require the department to establish a separate process for determining if the supportive-recovery residence complies with the core components of Housing First. The bill would require the department to verify compliance with the core components of Housing First for residences seeking Housing First certification, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to charge an annual fee to verify that supportive-recovery residences comply with the core components of Housing First in an amount not to exceed the reasonable cost of administering the program, not to exceed $100, and would establish the Supportive-Recovery Residence Program Fund for collection of the fee, to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing law requires the Governor to create an Interagency Council on Homelessness, consisting of specified members. Among other goals, existing law requires the council to serve as a facilitator and create partnerships among federal, state, and local governments, nonprofit entities working to end homelessness, homeless services providers, and the private sector, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness. Existing law also requires the council to make policy and procedural recommendations to legislators and other governmental entities. This bill would require the council to coordinate with representatives from LGBTQ+ communities to identify recommended policies and best practices for providing inclusive and culturally competent services to LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness and develop recommendations to, among other things, expand data collection to understand the needs and experiences of LGBTQ+ people in state homelessness programs, as defined. The bill would require the council, on or before July 1, 2027, to submit a report to specific committees of the Legislature on these recommendations.
(1) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, prohibits housing discrimination based on specified characteristics. Existing law defines discrimination to include refusal to sell, rent, or lease housing accommodations. Under existing law, discrimination does not include refusal to rent or lease a portion of an owner-occupied single-family house to a person as a roomer or boarder living within the household if no more than one roomer or boarder is to live within the household, as specified. Under this bill, discrimination would additionally not include refusal to rent or lease a portion of an owner-occupied single-family house to a person as a roomer, boarder, or tenant living within the household if, among other things, the owner is renting the portion of their home as a landlord in a nonprofit home-sharing program, as defined. (2) Existing law establishes various public social services programs that are administered by counties to provide eligible recipients with certain benefits, including, but not limited to, cash assistance under the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSI/SSP) and the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, nutrition assistance under the CalFresh program, and health care services under the Medi-Cal program. This bill would exempt income received through renting bedrooms or units as a landlord in a nonprofit home-sharing program, as defined, from consideration as income or assets for purposes of determining eligibility and benefit amounts for public social services, to the extent permitted by federal law. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to seek all available federal waivers and approvals necessary for the exemption under CalFresh and SSI/SSP. The bill would, for purposes of Medi-Cal eligibility, require the State Department of Health Care Services to implement the exemption no sooner than January 1, 2027, and only to the extent consistent with federal law, upon any necessary federal approvals, and if federal financial participation under the Medi-Cal program is available and not otherwise jeopardized. By expanding the scope of eligibility for public social services, thereby increasing duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.
