Encampment Resolution Funding program: safe parking sites: reporting.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how the changes in reporting requirements will impact the effectiveness of the program.

Safe Parking Site Reporting for Encampment Resolution Funding

This law changes how safe parking sites are reported and evaluated as part of a program to help people experiencing homelessness.

What This Bill Does

• Requires applicants for encampment resolution grants to include information about safe parking sites if they plan to use these sites while helping homeless individuals find housing.
• Removes the requirement for the Department of Housing and Community Development to report directly to specific legislative committees.
• Changes how data from grant recipients is evaluated, now requiring the department to assess this data in their annual reports instead of using recipient evaluations.
• Requires the department to include a summary of safe parking site data in its annual report to the Governor and Legislature.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Department of Housing and Community Development
• Local jurisdictions applying for encampment resolution grants

Terms To Know

Encampment Resolution Funding program

A program that provides grants to help local areas address homeless encampments and transition people into stable housing.

Safe Parking Sites

Designated parking locations where individuals experiencing homelessness can park their vehicles safely while seeking permanent housing solutions.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify an effective date, so it is unclear when the changes will start.
• It's not clear how this change in reporting requirements will affect the overall effectiveness of the program.

Official Summary Text

SB 748, Richardson.
Encampment Resolution Funding program: safe parking sites: reporting.
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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF