Bill Text: CA AB2893 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: The Shared Recovery Housing Residency Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-24 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2893 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2893-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 17, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2893
| Introduced by Assembly Member Ward |
February 15, 2024 |
An act to add Division 10.95 (commencing with Section 11999.45) to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2893, as amended, Ward.
The Shared Recovery Housing Residency Program.
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 recovery housing, as defined, that emphasize abstinence under these provisions as long as the state program uses meets specified criteria, including using at least 75% of its funds in each county for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model and model. The bill would specify requirements for applicants seeking funds
under these programs and would require the state to perform periodic monitoring of select recovery housing programs to ensure that the recovery housing meets certain requirements, including that core outcomes of the 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.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate facilities that provide residential nonmedical services to adults who are recovering from problems related to alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug misuse or abuse, and who need alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug recovery treatment or detoxification services. Existing law also requires the department to certify alcohol and other drug treatment recovery services, as specified.
This bill would require the department to oversee
certification of recovery houses that serve individuals experiencing, or who are at risk of experiencing, homelessness or mental health issues,
who are experiencing serious mental illness or substance use disorders with a housing first model, as defined. The bill would require the department to establish criteria for certification of recovery houses in order to allow a recovery house to receive referrals from the department as available housing for persons experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness or mental health issues. The bill would prohibit recovery houses from providing any licensed services onsite, including, but not limited to, incidental medical services. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee for certification of recovery houses in an amount not to exceed the reasonable cost of administering the program, not to exceed $1,000, and would establish the Shared Recovery Housing Residency Program Fund for collection of the fee.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Division 10.95 (commencing with Section 11999.45) is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:DIVISION 10.95. The Shared Recovery Housing Residency Program
11999.45.
For the purposes of this division, the following definitions shall apply:(a) “Department” means the State Department of Health Care Services.
(b) “Housing first model” means housing that satisfies the core components of Housing First pursuant to Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c) “Recovery house” means a residence that serves individuals experiencing, or who are at risk of experiencing, homelessness or mental health issues
who are experiencing serious mental illness or substance use disorders and that does all of the following:
(1) Satisfies the core components of Housing First pursuant to Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) Uses substance use-specific services, peer support, and physical design features supporting individuals and families on a path to recovery from addiction.
(3) Emphasizes abstinence.
(d) “Trauma-informed practices” means a trauma-informed approach to care guided by the principles of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment and choice, and culture,
historical, and gender issues.
11999.50.
(a) The department shall oversee certification of recovery houses.(b) The department shall establish criteria for the certification of recovery houses, conditions under which a recovery house may be decertified, and the means by which a recovery house may regain certification.
(c) The department may charge a fee for certification of recovery houses in an amount not to exceed the reasonable cost of administering the program, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(d) The Shared Recovery Housing Residency Program Fund is hereby
established in the State Treasury. All fees collected in accordance with this division shall be deposited in the fund. The moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for the purposes of supporting the certification activities of the department.
11999.51.
(a) Recovery houses that are certified by the department shall be permitted to receive referrals from the department, its agencies, or contractors as available housing for persons experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness or(b) Recovery houses shall not provide any licensed services onsite, including, but not limited to, incidental medical services as defined in Section
11834.026.
SEC. 2.
Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:8255.
For purposes of this chapter:(a) “Council” means the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, formerly known as the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council established pursuant to Section 8257.
(b) “Core components of Housing First” means all of the following:
(1) Tenant screening and selection practices that promote accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services.
(2) Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or financial
history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal convictions
unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack of “housing readiness.”
(3) Acceptance of referrals directly from shelters, street outreach, drop-in centers, and other parts of crisis response systems frequented by vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.
(4) Supportive services that emphasize engagement and problem solving over therapeutic goals and service plans that are highly tenant-driven without predetermined goals.
(5) Participation in services or program compliance is not a condition of permanent housing tenancy.
(6) Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health
and Safety, and Government codes. Codes.
(7) The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other lease violations, is not a reason for eviction.
(8) In communities with coordinated assessment and entry systems, incentives for funding promote tenant selection plans for supportive housing that prioritize eligible tenants based on criteria other than “first-come-first-serve,” including, but not limited to, the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early mortality, or high utilization of crisis services. Prioritization may include triage tools, developed through local data, to identify high-cost,
high-need homeless residents.
(9) Case managers and service coordinators who are trained in and actively employ evidence-based practices for client engagement, including, but not limited to, motivational interviewing and client-centered counseling.
(10) (A) Services are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’ lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment if the tenant so chooses.
(B) State departments or agencies may allow programs to fund recovery houses, as defined in Section 11999.45 of the Health and Safety Code. State
departments or agencies may allow programs to fund recovery houses, as defined in Section 11999.45 of the Health and Safety Code, that use substance use-specific services, peer support, and physical design features supporting individuals and families on a path to recovery from addition addiction that emphasizes abstinence, so long as the state program uses at least 75 percent of funds for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model, and that the recovery housing complies with the following: meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The state program uses at least 75 percent of funds in each county for housing or housing-based services using a harm reduction model.
(ii) The state program shall require an applicant for funding, in the submission of an application for funding, to demonstrate engagement with people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use that informs the local decision to seek funding for recovery housing options. An applicant shall include minutes or notes of at least two meetings between the applicant and a new or existing body of people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use in order to demonstrate engagement with people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use.
(iii) The state program shall require a grantee under the program, prior to awarding subgrants, to confirm that the
subgrantee has achieved successful outcomes in promoting housing retention, similar to rates of housing retention as harm reduction programs.
(iv) The state performs periodic monitoring of select recovery housing programs to ensure that the recovery housing complies with the following:
(i)
(I) The individual or family is offered options and chooses recovery housing over housing offering a harm-reduction approach.
(ii)
(II) The recovery housing otherwise complies with all other components of Housing First in this section, including low-barrier
low barrier to entry.
(iii)
(III) Participation in a program is self-initiated.
(iv)
(IV) Core outcomes emphasize long-term housing stability and minimize returns to homelessness.
(v)
(V) Policies and operations ensure individual rights of privacy, dignity and respect, and freedom from coercion and restraint, as
well as continuous, uninterrupted access to the housing.
(vi)
(VI) Holistic services and peer-based recovery supports are available to all program participants along with services that align with participants’ choice and prioritization of personal goals of sustained recovery and abstinence from substance use.
(vii)
(VII) The housing abides by local and state landlord-tenant laws governing grounds for eviction.
(viii)
(VIII) Relapse is not a cause for eviction from housing and tenants receive relapse support.
(ix)
(IX) Eviction from recovery housing shall only occur when a tenant’s behavior substantially disrupts or impacts the welfare of the recovery community in which the tenant resides. A tenant may apply to reenter the housing program if expressing a renewed commitment to living in a housing setting targeted to people in recovery with an abstinence focus.
(x)
(X) If a tenant is no longer interested in living in a recovery housing model or the tenant is at risk of eviction, the housing program provides assistance in accessing housing operated with harm-reduction principles that is also
permanent housing.
(11) The project and specific apartment may include special physical features that accommodate disabilities, reduce harm, and promote health and community and independence among tenants.
(c) “Homeless” has the same definition as that term is defined in Section 91.5 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) (1) “Housing First” means the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery and that centers on providing or connecting homeless people to permanent housing as quickly as possible. Housing First providers offer services as needed and requested on a voluntary basis and that
do not make housing contingent on participation in services.
(2) (A) “Housing First” includes time-limited rental or services assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the recipient in accessing permanent housing and in securing longer term rental assistance, income assistance, or employment, and the housing otherwise meets the core components identified in this section.
(B) For time-limited, supportive services programs serving homeless youth, programs should use a positive youth development model and be culturally competent to serve unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age. Providers should work with the youth to engage in family reunification efforts, where appropriate and when in the best interest of the youth.
In the event of an eviction, programs shall make every effort, which shall be documented, to link tenants to other stable, safe, and decent housing options. Exit to homelessness should be extremely rare, and only after a tenant refuses assistance with housing search, location, and move-in assistance.
(e) “State programs” means any programs a California state agency or department funds, implements, or administers for the purpose of providing housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, with the exception of federally funded programs with requirements inconsistent with this chapter.
