Client Alert AB 799 - HHAP

On February 13, 2023, Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D ­– San Fernando Valley) introduced AB 799, the Homeless Accountability Act. This proposed bill seeks to impose result-based conditions on the grant of funds under the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program (HHAP) by encouraging collaboration between state, local, and federal entities, requiring more oversight and transparency on state fund spending, and tying funding to the actual achievement of certain results.

In an effort to modernize and streamline California’s fight against homelessness, AB 799 as proposed would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (State Council) and HHAP fund applicants—e.g., regional or local groups, or agencies, that coordinate housing services—to establish and update achievable, statewide goals using evidence-based solutions to combat homelessness. Further, applicants must provide local sociological “landscape” data and analyses that assess the current number of people experiencing homelessness.

In order to ensure actual progress on the homelessness front, the proposed legislation would make HHAP funds contingent on what Assemblywoman Rivas calls “tangible results,” which may include a demonstrable reduction in the number of unhoused individuals. If a recipient does not achieve “tangible results,” the State Council must place the recipient on a corrective action plan. If the recipient fails to meet specified benchmarks in the corrective action plan, the remainder of the recipient’s funds for that grant cycle will be reallocated to an alternate recipient to provide services within the same jurisdiction.

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