| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to housing assistance grants; amending s. |
| 3 | 420.622, F.S.; authorizing the agencies that provide a |
| 4 | local homeless assistance continuum of care to use |
| 5 | homeless housing assistance grants, provided by the State |
| 6 | Office on Homelessness within the Department of Children |
| 7 | and Family Services, to acquire transitional or permanent |
| 8 | housing units for homeless persons; providing an effective |
| 9 | date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 420.622, Florida |
| 14 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 15 | 420.622 State Office on Homelessness; Council on |
| 16 | Homelessness.-- |
| 17 | (5) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence |
| 18 | of the Council on Homelessness, may administer moneys |
| 19 | appropriated to it to provide homeless housing assistance grants |
| 20 | annually to lead agencies for local homeless assistance |
| 21 | continuum of care, as recognized by the State Office on |
| 22 | Homelessness, to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate |
| 23 | transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons. |
| 24 | These moneys shall consist of any sums that the state may |
| 25 | appropriate, as well as money received from donations, gifts, |
| 26 | bequests, or otherwise from any public or private source, which |
| 27 | money is intended to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate |
| 28 | transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons. |
| 29 | (a) Grant applicants shall be ranked competitively. |
| 30 | Preference must be given to applicants who leverage additional |
| 31 | private funds and public funds, particularly federal funds |
| 32 | designated for the acquisition, construction, or and |
| 33 | rehabilitation of transitional or permanent housing for homeless |
| 34 | persons;, who acquire, build, or rehabilitate the greatest |
| 35 | number of units;, and who acquire, build, or rehabilitate in |
| 36 | catchment areas having the greatest need for housing for the |
| 37 | homeless relative to the population of the catchment area. |
| 38 | (b) Funding for any particular project may not exceed |
| 39 | $750,000. |
| 40 | (c) Projects must reserve, for a minimum of 10 years, the |
| 41 | number of units acquired, constructed, or rehabilitated through |
| 42 | homeless housing assistance grant funding to serve persons who |
| 43 | are homeless at the time they assume tenancy. |
| 44 | (d) No more than two grants may be awarded annually in any |
| 45 | given local homeless assistance continuum of care catchment |
| 46 | area. |
| 47 | (e) A project may not be funded which is not included in |
| 48 | the local homeless assistance continuum of care plan, as |
| 49 | recognized by the State Office on Homelessness, for the |
| 50 | catchment area in which the project is located. |
| 51 | (f) The maximum percentage of funds that the State Office |
| 52 | on Homelessness and each applicant may spend on administrative |
| 53 | costs is 5 percent. |
| 54 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |