HB 1083

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to homelessness; amending s. 420.621,
3	F.S.; deleting, revising, and adding definitions; creating
4	s. 420.628, F.S.; establishing the Housing Retention
5	Program in the State Office on Homelessness in the
6	Department of Children and Family Services for the purpose
7	of awarding competitive grants to local agencies to be
8	used for homelessness-prevention assistance; providing a
9	grant application procedure; requiring grant applicants to
10	develop a housing-retention assistance plan and to provide
11	a match of cash and in-kind services; providing eligible
12	uses for grant funding and funding limits; establishing
13	performance outcomes; requiring mandatory temporary
14	housing referrals for households unable to retain their
15	home; providing an effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  Section 420.621, Florida Statutes, is amended
20	to read:
21	420.621  Definitions; ss. 420.621-420.628 420.621-
22	420.627.--As used in ss. 420.621-420.628 420.621-420.627, the
23	term following terms shall have the following meanings, unless
24	the context otherwise requires:
25	(1)  "Council on Homelessness" means the council created in
26	s. 420.622. "AFDC" means Aid to Families with Dependent Children
27	as administered under chapter 409.
28	(2)  "Department" means the Department of Children and
29	Family Services.
30	(3)  "District" means a service district of the department
31	of Children and Family Services, as set forth in s. 20.19.
32	(4)  "Homeless" or "homeless person" means refers to an
33	individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
34	residence. The term includes an individual or an individual who
35	has a primary nighttime residence that is:
36	(a)  Sharing the housing of others due to the loss of
37	housing, economic hardship or similar reason; living in a motel,
38	hotel, travel trailer park, or camping ground due to the lack of
39	alternative accommodations; living in an emergency or
40	transitional shelter; abandoned in a hospital; or awaiting
41	foster care placement. A supervised publicly or privately
42	operated shelter designed to provide temporary living
43	accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters,
44	and transitional housing for the mentally ill;
45	(b)  An institution that provides a temporary residence for
46	individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
47	(b)(c)  Whose primary residence is a public or private
48	place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular
49	sleeping accommodation for human beings.
50	(c)  Living in a car, park, public space, abandoned
51	building, bus or train station, or similar setting.
52	(d)  Who is migratory and living in circumstances described
53	in paragraphs (a)-(c).
54
55	The term does not refer to an any individual imprisoned or
56	otherwise detained pursuant to state or federal law.
57	(5)  "Local coalition for the homeless" means a coalition
58	established pursuant to s. 420.623.
59	(6)  "New and temporary homeless" means an individual or
60	family that is those individuals or families who are homeless
61	due to external factors, such as unemployment or other loss of
62	income, personal or family-life crises, or the shortage of low-
63	income housing.
64	(7)  "State Office on Homelessness" means the state office
65	created in s. 420.622. "Secretary" means the secretary of the
66	Department of Children and Family Services.
67	Section 2.  Section 420.628, Florida Statutes, is created
68	to read:
69	420.628  Housing Retention Program.--
70	(1)  ESTABLISHMENT.--There is created the Housing Retention
71	Program to provide funding for comprehensive, short-term
72	financial aid and case management to households at risk of
73	losing their current home due to a financial or other crisis.
74	The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence of the
75	Council on Homelessness, is authorized to accept and administer
76	moneys appropriated to provide such assistance to qualified
77	households to keep them in stable housing conditions and to
78	avoid becoming homeless.
79	(2)  APPLICATION PROCEDURE.--A qualified local agency,
80	including a unit of government, public authority, local
81	coalition for the homeless, designated lead agency for a
82	homeless assistance continuum of care catchment area, nonprofit
83	organization, or any other entity seeking to provide assistance
84	in preventing homelessness may submit a grant application for
85	competitive review to the State Office on Homelessness.
86	Preference shall be given to local agencies that have
87	established local partnerships that effectively address the
88	needs of households facing the loss of their home and that can
89	demonstrate the ability to leverage other public and private
90	funding for the provision of emergency assistance to such
91	households. Preference shall also be given to local agencies
92	that can demonstrate success in keeping households in their
93	current home and avoiding homelessness.
94	(3)  HOUSING-RETENTION ASSISTANCE PLAN.--To qualify for a
95	grant, the local agency must develop, implement, and annually
96	update a housing-retention assistance plan.
97	(a)  The plan must include:
98	1.  The services and assistance to be made available to at-
99	risk households, including how the local agency will provide
100	case management to the household.
101	2.  The local partners involved, their roles and
102	responsibilities, and the resources they are committing to
103	homelessness-prevention assistance.
104	3.  An annual program budget detailing the amount and use
105	of funding committed to homelessness-prevention assistance,
106	including funding from other public and private resources.
107	4.  The assessment and selection criteria that will be used
108	to identify households to be assisted and how the level of
109	assistance per household will be determined.
110	5.  The outreach efforts that will be used to market the
111	availability of homelessness-prevention assistance to at-risk
112	households.
113	6.  How the local agency shall track all households
114	receiving homelessness-prevention assistance, as required under
115	subsection (8), to determine if the household was successful in
116	keeping the home.
117	(b)  At a minimum, the plan must be made part of and be
118	consistent with the applicable local homeless assistance
119	continuum of care plan developed pursuant to s. 420.624.
120	(c)  If applicable, the local agency should coordinate the
121	plan with the local housing assistance plan developed pursuant
122	to s. 420.9075.
123	(4)  LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS.--The intent of the Housing
124	Retention Program is to bring together multiple agencies and
125	providers in order to provide a full range of services and the
126	aid needed to stabilize the household and retain the home. The
127	local partnership may include the local government housing
128	agency or department, public housing authority, local coalition
129	for the homeless or designated lead agency for the homeless
130	assistance continuum of care catchment area, workforce
131	development board, school district, and local health care
132	providers, or any other entity having a role in contributing to
133	homelessness prevention. The local partnership may be formalized
134	by written agreements or memoranda of understanding specifying
135	roles and responsibilities.
136	(5)  ELIGIBLE GRANT USES.--The grant funding may be used by
137	the local agency grantee to provide the following assistance:
138	(a)  Rental or mortgage payments.
139	(b)  Utility bill payments.
140	(c)  Payment of major household bills contributing to the
141	financial crisis, including health care bills, auto repair
142	bills, property insurance premiums, or similar costs.
143	(d)  Payment of security deposits if needed to relocate the
144	household to more affordable housing.
145	(e)  Payment of child care costs necessary to enable the
146	parent or head of household to seek or retain employment.
147	(f)  Payment of case management costs, which may not exceed
148	10 percent of the local agency's grant award.
149	(6)  ASSISTANCE LIMITS.--Homelessness-prevention assistance
150	provided by the local agency may not exceed an average of $3,000
151	per household for all households served by the grant. Any one
152	household may not receive more than $6,000 in direct financial
153	aid. Public or private funding leveraged by the local agency may
154	be in addition to the limits set in this subsection.
155	(7)  MATCH.--Local agencies must match the grant with both
156	cash and in-kind services. The cash match must be at least 25
157	percent of the grant award and in-kind services must be valued
158	at least 25 percent of the amount of the state grant.
159	(8)  PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES.--The goal for the Housing
160	Retention Program is to ensure that at least 85 percent of the
161	households assisted remain in their homes for a period of 2
162	years. Each local agency grantee shall track, monitor, and
163	report on the households receiving assistance for at least 2
164	years following the date the last assistance was received by the
165	household.
166	(9)  MANDATORY REFERRAL.--If a household receiving
167	assistance is not able to retain the home, the local agency must
168	be prepared to immediately refer the household for placement in
169	a suitable temporary housing arrangement. Such arrangement must
170	keep all the household members together in the same temporary
171	arrangement.
172	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.