Florida Senate - 2014 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for HB 979
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 1/WD/3R .
05/01/2014 04:07 PM .
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Senator Latvala moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Subsections (1) through (3) of section 420.606,
6 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
7 420.606 Training and technical assistance program.—
8 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.—In addition to the legislative
9 findings set forth in s. 420.6015, the Legislature finds and
10 declares that:
11 (a) Housing in economically declining or distressed areas
12 is frequently substandard and is often unaffordable or
13 unavailable to homeless persons, very-low-income persons, and
14 low-income persons;
15 (b) Community-based organizations often have limited
16 experience in development of quality housing for homeless
17 persons, very-low-income persons, and low-income persons in
18 economically declining or distressed areas; and
19 (c) The staffs and board members of community-based
20 organizations need additional training in housing development as
21 well as technical support to assist them in gaining the
22 experience they need to better serve their communities; and.
23 (d) The staffs of state agencies and local governments,
24 whether directly involved in the production of affordable or
25 available housing or acting in a supportive role, can better
26 serve the goals of state and local governments if their
27 expertise in housing development is expanded.
28 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to provide
29 community-based organizations, and staff of state and local
30 governments, and designated lead agencies of homeless assistance
31 continuums of care with the necessary training and technical
32 assistance to meet the needs of homeless persons, very-low
33 income persons, low-income persons, and moderate-income persons
34 for standard, affordable housing.
35 (3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—The
36 Department of Economic Opportunity shall be responsible for
37 securing the necessary expertise to provide training and
38 technical assistance to:
39 (a) Staff of local governments, to staff of state agencies,
40 as appropriate, and to community-based organizations, and to
41 persons forming such organizations, which are formed for the
42 purpose of developing new housing and rehabilitating existing
43 housing that which is affordable for very-low-income persons,
44 low-income persons, and moderate-income persons.
45 1.(a) The training component of the program shall be
46 designed to build the housing development capacity of community
47 based organizations and local governments as a permanent
48 resource for the benefit of communities in this state.
49 a.1. The scope of training must shall include, but need not
50 be limited to, real estate development skills related to
51 affordable housing, including the construction process and
52 property management and disposition, the development of public
53 private partnerships to reduce housing costs, model housing
54 projects, and management and board responsibilities of
55 community-based organizations.
56 b.2. Training activities may include, but are not limited
57 to, materials for self-instruction, workshops, seminars,
58 internships, coursework, and special programs developed in
59 conjunction with state universities and community colleges.
60 2.(b) The technical assistance component of the program
61 shall be designed to assist applicants for state-administered
62 programs in developing applications and in expediting project
63 implementation. Technical assistance activities for the staffs
64 of community-based organizations and local governments who are
65 directly involved in the production of affordable housing may
66 include, but are not limited to, workshops for program
67 applicants, onsite visits, guidance in achieving project
68 completion, and a newsletter to community-based organizations
69 and local governments.
70 (b) Designated lead agencies of homeless assistance
71 continuums of care which receive operating or other support
72 under s. 420.9073(7) from the Department of Children and
73 Families to provide or secure housing, programs, and other
74 services for homeless persons. Such training and technical
75 assistance must be provided by a nonprofit entity that meets the
76 requirements for providing training and technical assistance
77 under s. 420.531.
78 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 420.622, Florida
79 Statutes, is amended to read:
80 420.622 State Office on Homelessness; Council on
81 Homelessness.—
82 (4) Not less than 120 days after the effective date of this
83 act, The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence of
84 the Council on Homelessness, may accept and administer moneys
85 appropriated to it to provide annual “Challenge Grants” annually
86 to lead agencies of for homeless assistance continuums of care
87 designated by the State Office on Homelessness pursuant to s.
88 420.624. The department shall establish varying levels of grant
89 awards A lead agency may be a local homeless coalition,
90 municipal or county government, or other public agency or
91 private, not-for-profit corporation. Such grants may be up to
92 $500,000 per lead agency. Award levels shall be based upon the
93 total population within the continuum of care catchment area and
94 reflect the differing degrees of homelessness in the catchment
95 planning areas. The department, in consultation with the Council
96 on Homelessness, shall specify a grant award level in the notice
97 of the solicitation of grant applications.
98 (a) To qualify for the grant, a lead agency must develop
99 and implement a local homeless assistance continuum of care plan
100 for its designated catchment area. The continuum of care plan
101 must implement a coordinated assessment or central intake system
102 to screen, assess, and refer persons seeking assistance to the
103 appropriate service provider. The lead agency shall also
104 document the commitment of local government and private
105 organizations to provide matching funds or in-kind support in an
106 amount equal to the grant requested.
107 (b) Preference must be given to those lead agencies that
108 have demonstrated the ability of their continuum of care to
109 provide quality services to homeless persons and the ability to
110 leverage federal homeless-assistance funding under the Stewart
111 B. McKinney Act and private funding for the provision of
112 services to homeless persons.
113 (c) Preference must be given to lead agencies in catchment
114 areas with the greatest need for the provision of housing and
115 services to the homeless, relative to the population of the
116 catchment area.
117 (d) The grant may be used to fund any of the housing,
118 program, or service needs included in the local homeless
119 assistance continuum of care plan. The lead agency may allocate
120 the grant to programs, services, or housing providers that
121 implement the local homeless assistance continuum of care plan.
122 The lead agency may provide subgrants to a local agency to
123 implement programs or services or provide housing identified for
124 funding in the lead agency’s application to the department. A
125 lead agency may spend a maximum of 8 percent of its funding on
126 administrative costs.
127 (e) The lead agency shall submit a final report to the
128 department documenting the outcomes achieved by the grant in
129 enabling persons who are homeless to return to permanent housing
130 thereby ending such persons’ episodes of homelessness.
131 Section 3. Present subsection (7) of section 420.9073,
132 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), and a new
133 subsection (7) is added to that section, to read:
134 420.9073 Local housing distributions.—
135 (7) Notwithstanding subsections (1)-(4), the corporation
136 shall first distribute 4 percent of the total amount to be
137 distributed each fiscal year from the Local Government Housing
138 Trust Fund to the Department of Children and Families and the
139 Department of Economic Opportunity as follows:
140 (a) The Department of Children and Families shall receive
141 95 percent of such amount to provide operating and other support
142 to the designated lead agency in each continuum of care for the
143 benefit of the designated catchment area as described in s.
144 420.624.
145 (b) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall receive 5
146 percent of such amount to provide training and technical
147 assistance to lead agencies receiving operating and other
148 support under paragraph (a) in accordance with s. 420.606(3).
149 Training and technical assistance funded by this distribution
150 shall be provided by a nonprofit entity that meets the
151 requirements for providing training and technical assistance
152 under s. 420.531.
153 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
154
155 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
156 And the title is amended as follows:
157 Delete everything before the enacting clause
158 and insert:
159 A bill to be entitled
160 An act relating to homelessness; amending s. 420.606,
161 F.S.; revising legislative findings; requiring the
162 Department of Economic Opportunity to provide training
163 and technical assistance to certain designated lead
164 agencies of homeless assistance continuums of care;
165 requiring that the provision of such training and
166 assistance be delegated to certain nonprofit entities;
167 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
168 amending s. 420.622, F.S.; requiring the department to
169 establish award levels for “Challenge Grants”;
170 specifying criteria to determine award levels;
171 requiring the department, after consultation with the
172 Council on Homelessness, to specify a grant award
173 level in the notice of solicitation of grant
174 applications; revising qualifications for the grant;
175 specifying authorized uses of grant funds; requiring a
176 lead agency that receives a grant to submit a report
177 to the department; amending s. 420.9073, F.S.;
178 requiring the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to
179 distribute to the department and the Department of
180 Children and Families certain funds from the Local
181 Government Housing Trust Fund for the purpose of
182 providing support, training, and technical assistance
183 to designated lead agencies of continuums of care;
184 providing an effective date.