Requires organizations providing services to homeless persons to participate in Homeless Management Information System to track occupancy of shelter beds.

A5026

ASSEMBLY, No. 5026

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� LINDA S. CARTER

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

Assemblywoman� VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires organizations providing services to homeless
persons to participate in Homeless Management Information System to track
occupancy of shelter beds.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning agencies that provide services to persons
experiencing homelessness and amending P.L.2019, c.73 and P.L.2021, c.440.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2019,
c.73 (C.52:27D-287.5) is amended to read as follows:����������������

���� 1.��� a. There is hereby
established within the Department of Community Affairs an Office of
Homelessness Prevention to coordinate among State and local agencies and
private organizations that provide services to persons who are homeless or at
risk for homelessness, and to implement a Statewide strategy to address
homelessness.

���� b.��� The office shall be
under the immediate supervision of a director, who shall be a person qualified
by training and experience to direct the work of
[
such
]

the
office.� The
Commissioner of Community Affairs shall appoint the director, who shall serve
at the pleasure of the commissioner.� The director shall administer the work of
the office under the direction of the commissioner and shall perform such other
functions of the department as the commissioner may prescribe.

���� c.���� In addition to other
functions, powers, and duties vested in the Department of Community Affairs by
P.L.2019, c.73 (C.52:27D-287.5 et al.) or by any other law, the Department of
Community Affairs shall, through the Office of Homelessness Prevention:

���� (1)�� Collect, maintain, and
make available information concerning persons who are homeless or at risk for
homelessness, including demographics information, current services and
resources available, the cost and availability of services and programs, and
the met and unmet needs of this population.� All entities that receive State,
county, or municipal funding shall provide the office access to all data they
maintain;

���� (2)�� Evaluate State and local
services and resources and develop, implement, and revise, as necessary, a
consolidated plan for addressing the needs of persons who are homeless or at
risk for homelessness;

���� (3)�� Explore, compile, and
disseminate information regarding public and private funding sources for State
and local programs serving persons who are homeless;

���� (4)�� Assess and provide
recommendations for coordinating the activities of State programs, including
multi-State programs, and local coalitions for persons who are homeless and
promote the effectiveness of programs addressing the needs of persons who are
homeless;

���� (5)�� Convene meetings and
workshops of State and local agencies, local coalitions and programs, and other
stakeholders for developing and reviewing policies, services, activities,
coordination, and funding of efforts to meet the needs of persons who are homeless,
including training, counseling, and navigation services essential to enable
persons who are homeless to make the transition to permanent housing; and

���� (6)�� Conduct or promote
research on the effectiveness of programs addressing the needs of persons who
are homeless.

���� d.��� All State, county, and
municipal departments and agencies shall, upon request, make every reasonable
effort to assist the Office of Homelessness Prevention in carrying out the
office's functions, powers, and duties.

���� e.���� (1) On the effective
date of P.L.2019, c.73 (C.52:27D-287.5 et al.), the Office of Homelessness
Prevention shall have access to all information in the Homeless Management
Information System administered in the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance
Agency.�

���� (2)�� The Homeless Management
Information System, administered in the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance
Agency, including any personnel charged with administering and maintaining the
Homeless Management Information System, may be transferred to the Office of
Homelessness Prevention.� If the Homeless Management Information System is
transferred pursuant to this paragraph, all appropriations, grants, and other
moneys available and to become available to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage
Finance Agency, which the agency uses for the maintenance and administration of
the Homeless Management Information System, shall be transferred to the Office
of Homelessness Prevention.

����
(3)�� The New Jersey
Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, or the Office of Homelessness Prevention,
if the Homeless Management Information System is transferred pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this subsection, shall:

����
(a)�� adopt rules and
regulations to:

����
(i)��� require all State
and local agencies and private organizations that provide services to persons
who are homeless or at risk for homelessness to participate in the Homeless
Management Information System and delineate necessary information reporting
requirements as part of this participation, including information concerning
the occupancy status of shelter beds pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2021, c.440
(C.55:14K-5.5); and

����
(ii)�� establish criteria
for hotels and motels to qualify as private organizations that provide services
to persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness; and

����
(b)�� provide grants to
those agencies and private organizations for any costs associated with joining,
and participating in, the Homeless Management Information System pursuant to
subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.� The Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing
and Mortgage Finance Agency or the Director of the Office of Homelessness
Prevention, as applicable, shall adopt rules and regulations to facilitate
requests for funding to join and participate in the Homeless Management
Information System.� An agency or private organization that joins and
participates in the Homeless Management Information System may apply for a
grant on a form and in such a manner as determined by the Executive Director of
the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency or the Director of the
Office of Homelessness Prevention, as applicable.

����
(4)�� Each year after the
date of enactment of P.L.�� , c.�� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature
as this bill), the Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage
Finance Agency or the Director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention, as applicable,
shall submit information on the agency�s or office�s financial needs concerning
the provision of grants pursuant to subparagraph (b) of paragraph (3) of this
subsection as part of the agency�s or office�s annual budget request.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.73, s.1)

���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.2021,
c.440 (C.55:14K-5.5) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� The New Jersey Housing
and Mortgage Finance Agency
, or the Office of Homelessness Prevention if the
Homeless Management Information System is transferred pursuant to paragraph (2)
of subsection e. of P.L.2019, c.73 (C.52:27D-287.5),
shall
[
allow
]

require
all
operators of shelters for the homeless and selected local information
and referral providers who place persons in the shelters to
[
have access to
]

use the
Homeless Management Information System and to provide
real-time information
about the occupancy status of shelter beds in the State, as collected by the
Homeless Management Information System, in order to determine the availability
of shelter beds in the community or within a certain geographic area.� Shelter
operators shall update information in the Homeless Management Information
System about the availability of shelter beds not later than one hour after a
bed becomes available, or an available bed has been filled.

���� The provisions of this section
shall not apply to shelters for victims of domestic violence.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.440, s.1)

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires all
organizations that provide services to persons experiencing homelessness to
more effectively track the occupancy status of shelter beds by participating in
Homeless Management Information System.� The Homeless Management Information
System is administered by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
(NJHMFA) but, under current law, may be transferred to the Office of
Homelessness Prevention (OHP).

���� This bill amends the law to
require the NJHMFA, or the OHP if the Homeless Management Information System is
transferred, to adopt rules and regulations to require all State and local
agencies and private organizations that provide services to persons who are
homeless or at risk for homelessness, to participate in the Homeless Management
Information System, and to delineate necessary information reporting
requirements as part of this participation, including information concerning
the occupancy status of shelter beds.

���� Under the bill, the NJHMFA or
the OHP, as applicable, is to provide grants to those agencies and private
organizations for any costs associated with joining, and participating in, the
Homeless Management Information System.� Under the bill, an agency or private
organization that joins and participates in the Homeless Management Information
System may apply for a grant on a form and in such a manner as determined by
the Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency or
the Director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention, as applicable.