Funding Backgrounder:
California's Homelessness Approach and Funding
CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment) Court is a new civil court process to deliver community-based behavioral health services and supports to Californians living with under- or untreated schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders who meet specific criteria, many of whom may be experiencing homelessness. CARE Court empowers these Californians in crisis to access community- based care, treatment, and housing. It includes accountability for both individuals and local governments.
State funding to address homelessness has increased significantly in recent years and the proposed 2022-23 budget includes an additional $9.35 billion over multiple years.
State Funding to Address Homelessness
$10,000
2 $8,000
$6,000
$4,000
$2,000
$-
18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 22/23
(Proposed)
• HCD • HCFC/CalICH •OES • DSS
•I DHCS • DSH • Veteran's Affairs I DOT
•CCC • CSU •UC
Major Local, State, and Federal Funding to Support Housing Placements Local governments can tap into various existing local, state, and federal funding streams that may help provide housing to CARE Court participants, including but not limited to the programs listed below.
CA Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH)
• Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention will be administering its 4th round (FY 22/23) of block-grants to large cities, counties, and continuums of care to strengthen homeless services and systems. Grantees are required to work across systems to assure coordination of homelessness and other services. • Encampment Resolution Funding supports a range of activities to provide housing and services solutions for people currently staying in encampments, including supporting people to access permanent housing. 1 Funding Backgrounder:
California's Homelessness Approach and Funding
CA Department of Social Services (CDSS)
• Project Roomkey and Rehousing provides operating costs for non congregate shelter and funding for rehousing upon exit.
• Community Care Expansion provides funding for the acquisition and rehabilitation of adult and senior care facilities for those who are homeless or at- risk of becoming homeless and have higher level of care needs, and/or for capitalized operating reserves to help preserve existing facilities. • CalWORKs Housing Support offers financial assistance and housing-related wrap- around supportive services to families involved in the CalWORKs program who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• CalWORKs Housing Assistance provides families on or apparently eligible for CalWORKs with payments for temporary shelter for up to 16 cumulative calendar days, as well as payments to secure or maintain housing, including a security deposit and last month's rent, or up to two months of rent arrearages. • Housing and Disability Advocacy Program assists individuals to apply for disability benefit programs while also providing housing assistance and other necessary services to help stabilize clients who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. • Home Safe offers a range of strategies to prevent and end homelessness and support ongoing housing stability for Adult Protective Services clients. • Bringing Families Home offers financial assistance and housing-related wrap- around supportive services to families involved in the child welfare system who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• Transitional Housing Placement-Plus-Foster Care provides housing for youth in extended foster care ages 18 to 21.
• Transitional Housing Program-Plus offers housing and life skills supports to former foster youth ages 18-25.
CA Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
• Mental Health Service Act (MHSA) funds a broad continuum of prevention, early intervention, and service needs and the necessary infrastructure, technology, and training elements that effectively support the public mental health system including housing.
• Behaviorial Health Continuum Infrastructure Program provides capital funding to construct, acquire, and rehabilitate real estate assets or to invest in mobile crisis infrastructure to expand the community continuum of behavioral health treatment resources.
• Behavioral Health Bridge Housing Program (proposed) would provide funding to address the immediate housing and treatment needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness with serious behavioral health conditions by providing time-limited operational supports in various bridge housing settings, including existing assisted living settings. Pending CARE Court legislation would prioritize these funds for CARE Court participants.
2 Funding Backgrounder:
California's Homelessness Approach and Funding
CA Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) • No Place Like Home provides capital funding and operating subsidies for permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or at risk of chronic homelessness.
• California Housing Accelerator Program provides capital funding to shovel-ready affordable and supportive housing development in lieu of tax credit equity in order to enable projects to proceed to development.
• Homekey provides capital funding and operating subsidies to support the acquisition and conversion of properties into affordable and supportive housing or interim housing.
• Transitional Housing Program provides grants to counties for the purpose of housing stability to help young adults 18 to 25 years of age secure and maintain housing, with priority given to young adults formerly in the foster care system and probation.
• Interim Housing (proposed) would house unsheltered individuals on state-owned land through grants to local governments for interim housing and site reparation.
Governor's Office of Emergency Services
• Transitional Housing Program supports transitional housing, short-term housing assistance, and supportive services, including follow-up services that move victims of crime into permanent housing.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness through nationwide focus on permanent supportive housing and other activities.
• Emergency Solutions Grant program assists people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. • Federal Housing Choice Vouchers, Family Unification Program Vouchers, and Emergency Housing Vouchers provide federally funded rental subsidies, often referred to as Section 8 Vouchers.
• HOME Investment Partnerships Program provides grants to state and local governments to create affordable housing for low-income households. • Community Development Block Grant supports community development activities to build stronger and more resilient communities.
CA Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) and US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) • Veterans Support to Self-Reliance provides higher level of on-site supportive services for veterans aging in place who require a higher level of care within permanent supportive housing.
3 Funding Backgrounder:
California's Homelessness Approach and Funding
• VA Supportive Housing Program is a collaborative program which pairs HUD's Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance with VA case management and supportive services for homeless Veterans.
• Supportive Services for Veteran Families provides a range of supportive services designed to promote housing stability to eligible very low-income Veterans and their families.
For more information on these homelessness programs, see Putting the Funding Pieces Together: Guide to Strategic Use of New and Recent State and Federal Funds to Prevent and End Homelessness (September 2021) at
https://bcsh.ca.gov/calich/documents/covid19 strategic guide new funds.pdf 4