Florida Senate - 2020 SB 68
By Senator Book
32-00059-20 202068__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to homelessness; amending s. 201.15,
3 F.S.; requiring that certain taxes of a specified
4 amount be transferred annually to the Grants and
5 Donations Trust Fund within the Department of Children
6 and Families for the purpose of funding challenge
7 grants; amending s. 420.621, F.S.; revising, adding,
8 and deleting defined terms; amending s. 420.622, F.S.;
9 expanding the membership of the Council on
10 Homelessness to include a representative of the
11 Florida Housing Coalition and the Secretary of the
12 Department of Elderly Affairs or his or her designee;
13 providing that the Governor is encouraged to appoint
14 council members who have certain experience; revising
15 the duties of the State Office on Homelessness;
16 revising requirements for the state’s homeless
17 programs; requiring entities that receive state
18 funding to provide summary aggregated data to assist
19 the council in providing certain information; removing
20 the requirement that the office have the concurrence
21 of the council to accept and administer moneys
22 appropriated to it to provide certain annual challenge
23 grants to continuums of care lead agencies; clarifying
24 the source of such appropriation; increasing the
25 maximum amount of grant awards per continuum of care
26 lead agency; conforming provisions to changes made by
27 the act; revising requirements for the use of grant
28 funds by continuum of care lead agencies; revising
29 preference criteria for certain grants; increasing the
30 maximum percentage of its funding which a continuum of
31 care lead agency may spend on administrative costs;
32 requiring such agencies to submit a final report to
33 the Department of Children and Families documenting
34 certain outcomes achieved by grant-funded programs;
35 removing the requirement that the office have the
36 concurrence of the council to administer moneys given
37 to it to provide homeless housing assistance grants
38 annually to certain continuum of care lead agencies to
39 acquire, construct, or rehabilitate permanent housing
40 units for homeless persons; conforming a provision to
41 changes made by the act; requiring grant applicants to
42 be ranked competitively based on criteria determined
43 by the office; deleting preference requirements;
44 increasing the minimum number of years for which
45 projects must reserve certain units acquired,
46 constructed, or rehabilitated; increasing the maximum
47 percentage of funds the office and each applicant may
48 spend on administrative costs; revising certain
49 performance measure requirements; authorizing, instead
50 of requiring, the Department of Children and Families,
51 with input from the council, to adopt rules relating
52 to certain grants and related issues; revising
53 requirements for an annual report the council must
54 submit to the Governor, Legislature, and Secretary of
55 Children and Families; authorizing the office to
56 administer moneys appropriated to it for distribution
57 among certain designated continuum of care lead
58 agencies and entities; creating s. 420.6225, F.S.;
59 specifying the purposes of a continuum of care;
60 requiring each continuum of care, pursuant to federal
61 law, to designate a collaborative applicant that is
62 responsible for submitting the continuum of care
63 funding application for the designated catchment area
64 to the United States Department of Housing and Urban
65 Development; providing requirements for such
66 designated collaborative applicants; authorizing the
67 applicant to be referred to as the continuum of care
68 lead agency; providing requirements for the office for
69 the purpose of awarding certain federal funding for
70 continuum of care programs; requiring that each
71 continuum of care create a continuum of care plan for
72 specified purposes; specifying requirements for such
73 plans; requiring continuums of care to promote
74 participation by all interested individuals and
75 organizations, subject to certain requirements;
76 creating s. 420.6227, F.S.; providing legislative
77 findings and program purpose; establishing a grant-in
78 aid program to help continuums of care prevent and end
79 homelessness, which may include any aspect of the
80 local continuum of care plan; requiring continuums of
81 care to submit an application for grant-in-aid funds
82 to the office for review; requiring the office to
83 develop guidelines for the development, evaluation,
84 and approval of spending plans; requiring grant-in-aid
85 funds for continuums of care to be administered by the
86 office and awarded on a competitive basis; requiring
87 the office to distribute such funds to local agencies
88 to fund programs that are required by the local
89 continuum of care plan, based on certain
90 recommendations; limiting the percentage of the total
91 state funds awarded under a spending plan which may be
92 used by the continuum of care lead agency for staffing
93 and administrative expenditures; requiring entities
94 that contract with local agencies to provide services
95 and that receive certain financial assistance to
96 provide a specified minimum percentage of the funding
97 necessary for the support of project operations;
98 authorizing in-kind contributions to be evaluated and
99 counted as part or all of the required local funding,
100 at the discretion of the office; repealing s. 420.623,
101 F.S., relating to local coalitions for the homeless;
102 repealing s. 420.624, F.S., relating to local homeless
103 assistance continuums of care; repealing s. 420.625,
104 F.S., relating to a grant-in-aid program; amending s.
105 420.626, F.S.; revising procedures that certain
106 facilities and institutions are encouraged to develop
107 and implement to reduce the discharge of persons into
108 homelessness when such persons are admitted to or
109 housed for a specified period at such facilities or
110 institutions; amending s. 420.6265, F.S.; revising
111 legislative findings and intent for Rapid ReHousing;
112 revising the Rapid ReHousing methodology; amending s.
113 420.6275, F.S.; revising legislative findings relating
114 to Housing First; revising the Housing First
115 methodology to reflect current practice; amending s.
116 420.507, F.S.; conforming cross-references; providing
117 an effective date.
118
119 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
120
121 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
122 201.15, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (5) of that
123 section is republished, to read:
124 201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.—All taxes collected
125 under this chapter are hereby pledged and shall be first made
126 available to make payments when due on bonds issued pursuant to
127 s. 215.618 or s. 215.619, or any other bonds authorized to be
128 issued on a parity basis with such bonds. Such pledge and
129 availability for the payment of these bonds shall have priority
130 over any requirement for the payment of service charges or costs
131 of collection and enforcement under this section. All taxes
132 collected under this chapter, except taxes distributed to the
133 Land Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to subsections (1) and (2),
134 are subject to the service charge imposed in s. 215.20(1).
135 Before distribution pursuant to this section, the Department of
136 Revenue shall deduct amounts necessary to pay the costs of the
137 collection and enforcement of the tax levied by this chapter.
138 The costs and service charge may not be levied against any
139 portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds to the extent
140 that the costs and service charge are required to pay any
141 amounts relating to the bonds. All of the costs of the
142 collection and enforcement of the tax levied by this chapter and
143 the service charge shall be available and transferred to the
144 extent necessary to pay debt service and any other amounts
145 payable with respect to bonds authorized before January 1, 2017,
146 secured by revenues distributed pursuant to this section. All
147 taxes remaining after deduction of costs shall be distributed as
148 follows:
149 (4) After the required distributions to the Land
150 Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) and
151 deduction of the service charge imposed pursuant to s.
152 215.20(1), the remainder shall be distributed as follows:
153 (c) Eleven and twenty-four hundredths percent of the
154 remainder in each fiscal year shall be paid into the State
155 Treasury to the credit of the State Housing Trust Fund. Of such
156 funds, the first $35 million shall be transferred annually,
157 subject to any distribution required under subsection (5), to
158 the State Economic Enhancement and Development Trust Fund within
159 the Department of Economic Opportunity. The next $10 million
160 shall be transferred annually, subject to any distribution
161 required under subsection (5), to the Grants and Donations Trust
162 Fund within the Department of Children and Families for the
163 purpose of funding the challenge grants established in s.
164 420.622(4). The remainder shall be used as follows:
165 1. Half of that amount shall be used for the purposes for
166 which the State Housing Trust Fund was created and exists by
167 law.
168 2. Half of that amount shall be paid into the State
169 Treasury to the credit of the Local Government Housing Trust
170 Fund and used for the purposes for which the Local Government
171 Housing Trust Fund was created and exists by law.
172 (5) Distributions to the State Housing Trust Fund pursuant
173 to paragraphs (4)(c) and (d) must be sufficient to cover amounts
174 required to be transferred to the Florida Affordable Housing
175 Guarantee Program’s annual debt service reserve and guarantee
176 fund pursuant to s. 420.5092(6)(a) and (b) up to the amount
177 required to be transferred to such reserve and fund based on the
178 percentage distribution of documentary stamp tax revenues to the
179 State Housing Trust Fund which is in effect in the 2004-2005
180 fiscal year.
181 Section 2. Section 420.621, Florida Statutes, is amended to
182 read:
183 420.621 Definitions.—As used in ss. 420.621-420.628, the
184 term:
185 (1) “Continuum of care” means the group organized to carry
186 out the responsibilities imposed under ss. 420.621-420.628 to
187 coordinate, plan, and pursue ending homelessness in a designated
188 catchment area. The group is composed of representatives from
189 certain organizations, including, but not limited to, nonprofit
190 homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based
191 organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public
192 housing agencies, school districts, social service providers,
193 mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable
194 housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve
195 homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and organizations that
196 serve other homeless and formerly homeless persons, to the
197 extent that these organizations are represented within the
198 designated catchment area and are available to participate the
199 community components needed to organize and deliver housing and
200 services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless
201 as they move to stable housing and maximum self-sufficiency. It
202 includes action steps to end homelessness and prevent a return
203 to homelessness.
204 (2) “Continuum of care lead agency” or “continuum of care
205 collaborative applicant” means the organization designated by a
206 continuum of care pursuant to s. 420.6225.
207 (3)(2) “Council on Homelessness” means the council created
208 in s. 420.622.
209 (4)(3) “Department” means the Department of Children and
210 Families.
211 (4) “District” means a service district of the department,
212 as set forth in s. 20.19.
213 (5) “Homeless,” means an individual who or a family that:
214 (a) Lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
215 residence, as defined under “homeless” in 24 C.F.R. 578.3; or
216 (b) Will imminently lose his, her, or its primary nighttime
217 residence, as defined under “homeless” in 24 C.F.R. 578.3
218 applied to an individual, or “individual experiencing
219 homelessness” means an individual who lacks a fixed, regular,
220 and adequate nighttime residence and includes an individual who:
221 (a) Is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
222 housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
223 (b) Is living in a motel, hotel, travel trailer park, or
224 camping ground due to a lack of alternative adequate
225 accommodations;
226 (c) Is living in an emergency or transitional shelter;
227 (d) Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or
228 private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular
229 sleeping accommodation for human beings;
230 (e) Is living in a car, park, public space, abandoned
231 building, bus or train station, or similar setting; or
232 (f) Is a migratory individual who qualifies as homeless
233 because he or she is living in circumstances described in
234 paragraphs (a)-(e).
235
236 The terms do not refer to an individual imprisoned pursuant to
237 state or federal law or to individuals or families who are
238 sharing housing due to cultural preferences, voluntary
239 arrangements, or traditional networks of support. The terms
240 include an individual who has been released from jail, prison,
241 the juvenile justice system, the child welfare system, a mental
242 health and developmental disability facility, a residential
243 addiction treatment program, or a hospital, for whom no
244 subsequent residence has been identified, and who lacks the
245 resources and support network to obtain housing.
246 (6) “Local coalition for the homeless” means a coalition
247 established pursuant to s. 420.623.
248 (7) “New and temporary homeless” means individuals or
249 families who are homeless due to societal factors.
250 (6)(8) “State Office on Homelessness” means the state
251 office created in s. 420.622.
252 Section 3. Section 420.622, Florida Statutes, is amended to
253 read:
254 420.622 State Office on Homelessness; Council on
255 Homelessness.—
256 (1) The State Office on Homelessness is created within the
257 Department of Children and Families to provide interagency,
258 council, and other related coordination on issues relating to
259 homelessness.
260 (2) The Council on Homelessness is created to consist of 19
261 members 17 representatives of public and private agencies who
262 shall develop policy and advise the State Office on
263 Homelessness. The council is composed of the following members
264 shall be: the Secretary of Children and Families, or his or her
265 designee; the executive director of the Department of Economic
266 Opportunity, or his or her designee, who shall advise the
267 council on issues related to rural development; the State
268 Surgeon General, or his or her designee; the Executive Director
269 of Veterans’ Affairs, or his or her designee; the Secretary of
270 Corrections, or his or her designee; the Secretary of Health
271 Care Administration, or his or her designee; the Commissioner of
272 Education, or his or her designee; the Director of CareerSource
273 Florida, Inc., or his or her designee; the Executive Director of
274 the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, or his or her designee;
275 the Secretary of the Department of Elderly Affairs, or his or
276 her designee; one representative of the Florida Association of
277 Counties; one representative of the Florida League of Cities;
278 one representative of the Florida Supportive Housing Coalition;
279 one representative of the Florida Coalition for the Homeless;
280 one representative of the Florida Housing Coalition the
281 Executive Director of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation,
282 or his or her designee; one representative of the Florida
283 Coalition for the Homeless; and four members appointed by the
284 Governor, who is encouraged to appoint members who have
285 experience in the administration or the provision of resources
286 or services that address, or of housing that addresses, the
287 needs of persons experiencing homelessness. The council members
288 shall be nonpaid volunteers and shall be reimbursed only for
289 travel expenses. The appointed members of the council appointed
290 by the Governor shall be appointed to staggered 2-year terms.,
291 and The council shall meet at least four times per year. The
292 importance of minority, gender, and geographic representation
293 must shall be considered in appointing members to the council.
294 (3) The State Office on Homelessness, pursuant to the
295 policies set by the council and subject to the availability of
296 funding, shall:
297 (a) Coordinate among state, local, and private agencies and
298 providers to produce a statewide consolidated inventory of for
299 the state’s entire system of homeless programs, including local
300 continuum of care plans which incorporates regionally developed
301 plans. Such programs include, but are not limited to:
302 1. Programs authorized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless
303 Assistance Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987,
304 as amended by the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid
305 Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009, 42 U.S.C. ss. 11302
306 ss. 11371 et seq., and carried out under funds awarded to this
307 state; and
308 2. Programs, components thereof, or activities that assist
309 persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness.
310 (b) Collect, maintain, and make available information
311 concerning persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness,
312 including summary demographic demographics information drawn
313 from the local continuum of care Homeless Management Information
314 System or the annual Point-in-Time Count and the local continuum
315 of care Housing Inventory Chart required by the Department of
316 Housing and Urban Development, current services and resources
317 available, the cost and availability of services and programs,
318 and the met and unmet needs of this population. To assist the
319 council in providing this information, all entities that receive
320 state funding must provide the council with summary aggregated
321 access to all data they maintain in summary form, which may not
322 include with no individual identifying information, to assist
323 the council in providing this information. The State Office on
324 Homelessness, in consultation with the designated lead agencies
325 for a local homeless continuum of care and with the Council on
326 Homelessness, shall develop a process by which summary data is
327 collected the system and process of data collection from all
328 lead agencies for the purpose of analyzing trends and assessing
329 impacts in the statewide homeless delivery system for delivering
330 services to the homeless. Any statewide homelessness survey and
331 database system must comply with all state and federal statutory
332 and regulatory confidentiality requirements.
333 (c) Annually evaluate state and continuum of care programs
334 local services and resources and develop a consolidated plan for
335 addressing the needs of the homeless or those at risk for
336 homelessness.
337 (d) Explore, compile, and disseminate information regarding
338 public and private funding sources for state and local programs
339 serving the homeless and provide technical assistance in
340 applying for such funding.
341 (e) Monitor and provide recommendations for coordinating
342 the activities and programs of continuums of care local
343 coalitions for the homeless and promote the effectiveness of
344 programs to prevent and end homelessness in the state addressing
345 the needs of the homeless.
346 (f) Provide technical assistance to facilitate efforts to
347 support and strengthen establish, maintain, and expand local
348 homeless assistance continuums of care.
349 (g) Develop and assist in the coordination of policies and
350 procedures relating to the discharge or transfer from the care
351 or custody of state-supported or state-regulated entities
352 persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness.
353 (h) Spearhead outreach efforts for maximizing access by
354 people who are homeless or at risk for homelessness to state and
355 federal programs and resources.
356 (i) Promote a federal policy agenda that is responsive to
357 the needs of those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
358 the homeless population in this state.
359 (j) Review reports on continuum of care performance
360 measures and Develop outcome and accountability measures and
361 promote and use such measures to evaluate program effectiveness
362 and make recommendations for improving current practices to work
363 toward ending homelessness in this state in order to best meet
364 the needs of the homeless.
365 (k) Formulate policies and legislative proposals aimed at
366 preventing and ending homelessness in this state to address more
367 effectively the needs of the homeless and coordinate the
368 implementation of state and federal legislative policies.
369 (l) Convene meetings and workshops of state and local
370 agencies, continuums of care local coalitions and programs, and
371 other stakeholders for the purpose of developing and reviewing
372 policies, services, activities, coordination, and funding of
373 efforts to end homelessness meet the needs of the homeless.
374 (m) With the input of the continuums of care, conduct or
375 promote research on the effectiveness of current programs and
376 propose pilot projects aimed at ending homelessness improving
377 services.
378 (n) Serve as an advocate for issues relating to
379 homelessness.
380 (o) Investigate ways to improve access to participation in
381 state funding and other programs for prevention and alleviation
382 of homelessness to faith-based organizations and Collaborate and
383 coordinate with faith-based organizations, investigate ways to
384 improve such organizations’ access to state funding, and
385 investigate ways to improve such organizations’ participation in
386 other programs that are intended to prevent and reduce
387 homelessness.
388 (4) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence
389 of the Council on Homelessness, shall accept and administer
390 moneys appropriated to it pursuant to s. 201.15(4)(c) to provide
391 annual “challenge grants” to lead agencies of homeless
392 assistance continuums of care designated by the State Office on
393 Homelessness pursuant to s. 420.6225 s. 420.624. The department
394 shall establish varying levels of grant awards up to $750,000
395 $500,000 per continuum of care lead agency. The department, in
396 consultation with the Council on Homelessness, shall specify a
397 grant award level in the notice of the solicitation of grant
398 applications.
399 (a) To qualify for a the grant, a continuum of care lead
400 agency must develop and implement a local homeless assistance
401 continuum of care plan for its designated catchment area. The
402 services and housing funded through the grant must be
403 implemented through the continuum of care’s continuum of care
404 plan must implement a coordinated assessment or central intake
405 entry system as provided in s. 420.6225(4)(b) and must be
406 designed to screen, assess, and refer persons seeking assistance
407 to the appropriate housing intervention and service provider.
408 The continuum of care lead agency shall also document the
409 commitment of local government or private organizations to
410 provide matching funds or in-kind support in an amount equal to
411 25 percent of the grant requested. Expenditures of leveraged
412 funds or resources, including third-party cash or in-kind
413 contributions, may be made are authorized only for eligible
414 activities carried out in connection with a committed on one
415 project. Such funds or resources may which have not have been
416 used as leverage or match for any other project or program. The
417 expenditures and must be certified through a written commitment.
418 (b) Preference must be given to continuum of care those
419 lead agencies that have demonstrated the ability of their
420 continuum of care to help households move out of homelessness
421 provide quality services to homeless persons and the ability to
422 leverage federal homeless-assistance funding under the Stewart
423 B. McKinney Act with local government funding or private funding
424 for the provision of services to homeless persons.
425 (c) Preference must be given to lead agencies in catchment
426 areas with the greatest need for the provision of housing and
427 services to the homeless, relative to the population of the
428 catchment area.
429 (c)(d) The grant may be used to fund any of the housing,
430 program, or service needs included in the local homeless
431 assistance continuum of care plan. The continuum of care lead
432 agency may allocate the grant to programs, services, or housing
433 providers that implement the local homeless assistance continuum
434 of care plan. The lead agency may provide subgrants to a local
435 agency to implement programs or services or provide housing
436 identified for funding in the lead agency’s application to the
437 department. A lead agency may spend a maximum of 10 8 percent of
438 its funding on administrative costs.
439 (d)(e) The continuum of care lead agency shall submit a
440 final report to the department documenting the outcomes achieved
441 by the grant-funded programs grant in enabling persons who are
442 homeless to return to permanent housing, thereby ending such
443 person’s episode of homelessness.
444 (5) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence
445 of the Council on Homelessness, may administer moneys given
446 appropriated to it to provide homeless housing assistance grants
447 annually to continuum of care lead agencies for local homeless
448 assistance continuum of care, as recognized by the State Office
449 on Homelessness, to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate
450 transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
451 These moneys shall consist of any sums that the state may
452 appropriate, as well as money received from donations, gifts,
453 bequests, or otherwise from any public or private source, which
454 are intended to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate transitional
455 or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
456 (a) Grant applicants shall be ranked competitively based on
457 criteria determined by the State Office on Homelessness.
458 Preference must be given to applicants who leverage additional
459 private funds and public funds, particularly federal funds
460 designated for the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation
461 of transitional or permanent housing for homeless persons; who
462 acquire, build, or rehabilitate the greatest number of units; or
463 who acquire, build, or rehabilitate in catchment areas having
464 the greatest need for housing for the homeless relative to the
465 population of the catchment area.
466 (b) Funding for any particular project may not exceed
467 $750,000.
468 (c) Projects must reserve, for a minimum of 20 10 years,
469 the number of units acquired, constructed, or rehabilitated
470 through homeless housing assistance grant funding to serve
471 persons who are homeless at the time they assume tenancy.
472 (d) No more than two grants may be awarded annually in any
473 given local homeless assistance continuum of care catchment
474 area.
475 (e) A project may not be funded which is not included in
476 the local homeless assistance continuum of care plan, as
477 recognized by the State Office on Homelessness, for the
478 catchment area in which the project is located.
479 (f) The maximum percentage of funds that the State Office
480 on Homelessness and each applicant may spend on administrative
481 costs is 10 5 percent.
482 (6) The State Office on Homelessness, in conjunction with
483 the Council on Homelessness, shall establish performance
484 measures related to state funding provided through the State
485 Office on Homelessness and shall utilize those grant-related
486 measures to and specific objectives by which it may evaluate the
487 performance and outcomes of continuum of care lead agencies that
488 receive state grant funds. Challenge Grants made through the
489 State Office on Homelessness shall be distributed to lead
490 agencies based on their overall performance and their
491 achievement of specified objectives. Each lead agency for which
492 grants are made under this section shall provide the State
493 Office on Homelessness a thorough evaluation of the
494 effectiveness of the program in achieving its stated purpose. In
495 evaluating the performance of the lead agencies, the State
496 Office on Homelessness shall base its criteria upon the program
497 objectives, goals, and priorities that were set forth by the
498 lead agencies in their proposals for funding. Such criteria may
499 include, but are not limited to, the number of persons or
500 households that are no longer homeless, the rate of recidivism
501 to homelessness, and the number of persons who obtain gainful
502 employment.
503 (7) The State Office on Homelessness shall must monitor the
504 challenge grants and homeless housing assistance grants to
505 ensure proper expenditure of funds and compliance with the
506 conditions of the applicant’s contract.
507 (8) The Department of Children and Families, with input
508 from the Council on Homelessness, may must adopt rules relating
509 to the challenge grants and the homeless housing assistance
510 grants and related issues consistent with the purposes of this
511 section.
512 (9) The council shall, By June 30 of each year, the council
513 shall provide to the Governor, the Legislature, and the
514 Secretary of Children and Families a report summarizing the
515 extent of homelessness in the state and the council’s
516 recommendations for ending reducing homelessness in this state.
517 (10) The State Office on Homelessness may administer moneys
518 appropriated to it for distribution among the continuum of care
519 lead agencies and entities funded in the 2020-2021 state fiscal
520 year which are designated by the office as local coalitions for
521 the homeless 28 local homeless continuums of care designated by
522 the Department of Children and Families.
523 Section 4. Section 420.6225, Florida Statutes, is created
524 to read:
525 420.6225 Continuum of care.—
526 (1) The purposes of a continuum of care, as defined in s.
527 420.621, are to coordinate community efforts to prevent and end
528 homelessness in its catchment area designated as provided in
529 subsection (3) and to fulfill the responsibilities set forth in
530 this chapter.
531 (2) Pursuant to the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid
532 Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009, each continuum of
533 care is required to designate a collaborative applicant that is
534 responsible for submitting the continuum of care funding
535 application for the designated catchment area to the United
536 States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The
537 continuum of care collaborative applicant shall serve as the
538 continuum of care’s point of contact to the State Office on
539 Homelessness, is accountable for representations made in the
540 application, and, in carrying out its responsibilities under
541 this chapter, may be referred to as the continuum of care lead
542 agency.
543 (3) For the purpose of awarding federal homeless assistance
544 funding for continuum of care programs, the State Office on
545 Homelessness shall do both of the following:
546 (a) Designate and, as necessary, revise continuum of care
547 catchment areas, which must be consistent with the continuum of
548 care catchment areas recognized by the United States Department
549 of Housing and Urban Development.
550 (b) Recognize a single continuum of care lead agency for
551 each such catchment area, which must be consistent with the
552 continuum of care collaborative applicant designation recognized
553 by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
554 Development.
555 (4) Each continuum of care shall create a continuum of care
556 plan, the purpose of which is to implement an effective and
557 efficient housing crisis response system to prevent and end
558 homelessness in the continuum of care catchment area. A
559 continuum of care plan must include all of the following
560 components:
561 (a) Outreach to unsheltered individuals and families to
562 link them with appropriate housing interventions.
563 (b) A coordinated entry system, compliant with the
564 requirements of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid
565 Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009, which is designed to
566 coordinate intake, utilize common assessment tools, prioritize
567 households for housing interventions, and refer households to
568 the appropriate housing intervention.
569 (c) Emergency shelter, designed to provide safe temporary
570 shelter while the household is in the process of obtaining
571 permanent housing.
572 (d) Supportive services, designed to maximize housing
573 stability once the household is in permanent housing.
574 (e) Permanent supportive housing, designed to provide long
575 term affordable housing and support services to persons with
576 disabilities who are moving out of homelessness.
577 (f) Rapid ReHousing, as specified in s. 420.6265.
578 (g) Permanent housing, including linkages to affordable
579 housing, subsidized housing, long-term rent assistance, housing
580 vouchers, and mainstream private sector housing.
581 (h) An ongoing planning mechanism to end homelessness for
582 all subpopulations of persons experiencing homelessness.
583 (5) Continuums of care must promote participation by all
584 interested individuals and organizations and may not exclude
585 individuals and organizations on the basis of race, color,
586 national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.
587 Faith-based organizations, local governments, and persons who
588 have experienced homelessness are encouraged to participate. To
589 the extent possible, these individuals and organizations must be
590 coordinated and integrated with other mainstream health, social
591 services, and employment programs for which homeless populations
592 may be eligible, including, but not limited to, Medicaid, the
593 State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Temporary
594 Assistance for Needy Families Program, the Food Assistance
595 Program, and services funded through the Mental Health and
596 Substance Abuse Block Grant, the Workforce Innovation and
597 Opportunity Act, and the welfare-to-work grant program.
598 Section 5. Section 420.6227, Florida Statutes, is created
599 to read:
600 420.6227 Grant-in-aid program.—
601 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.—The Legislature hereby finds and
602 declares that many services for households experiencing
603 homelessness have been provided by local communities through
604 voluntary private agencies and religious organizations and that
605 these resources have not been sufficient to prevent and end
606 homelessness in this state. The Legislature recognizes that the
607 level of need and types of problems associated with homelessness
608 may vary from community to community, due to the diversity and
609 geographic distribution of the homeless population and the
610 resulting differing needs of particular communities.
611 (2) PURPOSE.—The principal purpose of the grant-in-aid
612 program is to provide needed assistance to continuums of care to
613 enable them to do all of the following:
614 (a) Assist persons in their communities who have become, or
615 may likely become, homeless.
616 (b) Help homeless households move to permanent housing as
617 quickly as possible.
618 (3) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a state
619 grant-in-aid program to help continuums of care prevent and end
620 homelessness, which may include any aspect of the local
621 continuum of care plan, as described in s. 420.6225.
622 (4) APPLICATION PROCEDURE.—Continuums of care that intend
623 to apply for the grant-in-aid program must submit an application
624 for grant-in-aid funds to the State Office on Homelessness for
625 review.
626 (5) SPENDING PLANS.—The State Office on Homelessness shall
627 develop guidelines for the development, evaluation, and approval
628 of spending plans that are created by local continuum of care
629 lead agencies.
630 (6) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.—The State Office on
631 Homelessness shall administer state grant-in-aid funds for
632 continuums of care, which must be awarded on a competitive
633 basis.
634 (7) DISTRIBUTION TO LOCAL AGENCIES.—The State Office on
635 Homelessness shall distribute funds awarded under subsection (6)
636 to local agencies to fund programs that are required by the
637 local continuum of care plan, as described in s. 420.6225 and
638 that are authorized under subsection (3), based upon the
639 recommendations of the local continuum of care lead agencies, in
640 accordance with spending plans that are developed by the lead
641 agencies and approved by the office. Not more than 10 percent of
642 the total state funds awarded under a spending plan may be used
643 by the continuum of care lead agency for staffing and
644 administrative expenditures.
645 (8) LOCAL MATCHING FUNDS.—If an entity contracts with local
646 agencies to provide services and receives financial assistance
647 under this section, the entity must provide a minimum of 25
648 percent of the funding necessary for the support of project
649 operations. In-kind contributions, including, but not limited
650 to, materials, commodities, transportation, office space, other
651 types of facilities, or personal services, may be evaluated and
652 counted as part or all of the required local funding, at the
653 discretion of the State Office on Homelessness.
654 Section 6. Section 420.623, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
655 Section 7. Section 420.624, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
656 Section 8. Section 420.625, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
657 Section 9. Subsection (3) of section 420.626, Florida
658 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (2) of that section is
659 republished, to read:
660 420.626 Homelessness; discharge guidelines.—
661 (2) The following facilities and institutions are
662 encouraged to develop and implement procedures designed to
663 reduce the discharge of persons into homelessness when such
664 persons are admitted or housed for more than 24 hours at such
665 facilities or institutions: hospitals and inpatient medical
666 facilities; crisis stabilization units; residential treatment
667 facilities; assisted living facilities; and detoxification
668 centers.
669 (3) The procedures should include all of the following:
670 (a) Development and implementation of a screening process
671 or other mechanism for identifying persons to be discharged from
672 the facility or institution who are at considerable risk for
673 homelessness or face some imminent threat to health and safety
674 upon discharge.;
675 (b) Development and implementation of a discharge plan
676 addressing how identified persons will secure housing and other
677 needed care and support upon discharge.;
678 (c) Communication with Assessment of the capabilities of
679 the entities to whom identified persons may potentially be
680 discharged to determine their capability to serve such persons
681 and their acceptance of such discharge into their programs, and
682 selection of the entity determined to be best equipped to
683 provide or facilitate the provision of suitable care and
684 support.;
685 (d) Coordination of effort and sharing of information with
686 entities that are expected to bear the responsibility for
687 providing care or support to identified persons upon discharge.;
688 and
689 (e) Provision of sufficient medication, medical equipment
690 and supplies, clothing, transportation, and other basic
691 resources necessary to assure that the health and well-being of
692 identified persons are not jeopardized upon their discharge.
693 Section 10. Section 420.6265, Florida Statutes, is amended
694 to read:
695 420.6265 Rapid ReHousing.—
696 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—
697 (a) The Legislature finds that Rapid ReHousing is a
698 strategy of using temporary financial assistance and case
699 management to quickly move an individual or family out of
700 homelessness and into permanent housing, and using housing
701 stabilization support services to help them remain stably
702 housed.
703 (b) The Legislature also finds that public and private
704 solutions to homelessness in the past have focused on providing
705 individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness with
706 emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a combination of
707 both. While emergency shelter and transitional housing programs
708 may provide critical access to services for individuals and
709 families in crisis, the programs often fail to address permanent
710 housing their long-term needs and may unnecessarily extend their
711 episodes of homelessness.
712 (c) The Legislature further finds that most households
713 become homeless as a result of a financial crisis that prevents
714 individuals and families from paying rent or a domestic conflict
715 that results in one member being ejected or leaving without
716 resources or a plan for housing.
717 (d) The Legislature further finds that Rapid ReHousing is a
718 cost-effective is an alternative approach to ending homelessness
719 which reduces to the current system of emergency shelter or
720 transitional housing which tends to reduce the length of time
721 that a person is homeless and which is demonstrably more has
722 proven to be cost effective than alternative approaches.
723 (e) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to
724 encourage homeless continuums of care to adopt the Rapid
725 ReHousing approach to ending preventing homelessness for
726 individuals who and families that who do not require the
727 intensive intense level of supports provided in the permanent
728 supportive housing model.
729 (2) RAPID REHOUSING METHODOLOGY.—
730 (a) The Rapid ReHousing response to homelessness differs
731 from traditional approaches to addressing homelessness by
732 focusing on each individual’s or family’s barriers to housing.
733 By using this approach, communities can significantly reduce the
734 amount of time that individuals and families are homeless and
735 prevent further episodes of homelessness.
736 (b) In Rapid ReHousing, when an individual or a family is
737 identified as being homeless, the individual or family is
738 assessed and prioritized for housing through the continuum of
739 care’s coordinated entry system, temporary assistance is
740 provided to allow the individual or family to obtain permanent
741 housing as quickly as possible, and necessary, if needed,
742 assistance is provided to allow the individual or family to
743 retain housing.
744 (c) The objective of Rapid ReHousing is to provide
745 assistance for as short a term as possible so that the
746 individual or family receiving assistance attains stability and
747 integration into the community as quickly as possible does not
748 develop a dependency on the assistance.
749 Section 11. Section 420.6275, Florida Statutes, is amended
750 to read:
751 420.6275 Housing First.—
752 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—
753 (a) The Legislature finds that many communities plan to
754 manage homelessness rather than plan to end it.
755 (b) The Legislature also finds that for nearly most of the
756 past two decades, public and private solutions to homelessness
757 have focused on providing individuals and families who were are
758 experiencing homelessness with emergency shelter, transitional
759 housing, or a combination of both. This strategy failed to
760 recognize that, while emergency shelter programs may provide
761 critical access to services for individuals and families in
762 crisis, they often fail to address their long-term needs.
763 (c) The Legislature further finds that Housing First is a
764 cost-effective an alternative approach to the current system of
765 emergency shelter or transitional housing which tends to ending
766 homelessness and reducing reduce the length of time of
767 homelessness for many individuals and families and has proven to
768 be cost-effective.
769 (d) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to
770 encourage homeless continuums of care to adopt the Housing First
771 approach to ending homelessness for individuals and families.
772 (2) HOUSING FIRST METHODOLOGY.—
773 (a) The Housing First approach to homelessness provides
774 permanent differs from traditional approaches by providing
775 housing assistance, followed by case management, and support
776 services responsive to individual or family needs once after
777 housing is obtained. By using this approach when appropriate,
778 communities can significantly reduce the amount of time that
779 individuals and families are homeless and prevent further
780 episodes of homelessness. Housing First emphasizes that social
781 services provided to enhance individual and family well-being
782 can be more effective when people are in their own home, and:
783 1. The housing is not time-limited.
784 2. The housing is not contingent on compliance with
785 services. Instead, participants must comply with a standard
786 lease agreement.
787 3. Individuals and families and are provided with
788 individualized the services and support that are necessary to
789 help them maintain stable housing do so successfully.
790 3. A background check and any rehabilitation necessary to
791 combat an addiction related to alcoholism or substance abuse has
792 been completed by the individual for whom assistance or support
793 services are provided.
794 (b) The Housing First approach addresses the societal
795 causes of homelessness and advocates for the immediate return of
796 individuals and families into housing and communities. Housing
797 First links affordable housing with community-based social
798 service and health care organizations Housing First provides a
799 critical link between the emergency and transitional housing
800 system and community-based social service, educational, and
801 health care organizations and consists of four components:
802 1. Crisis intervention and short-term stabilization.
803 2. Screening, intake, and needs assessment.
804 3. Provision of housing resources.
805 4. Provision of case management.
806 Section 12. Paragraph (d) of subsection (22) of section
807 420.507, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
808 420.507 Powers of the corporation.—The corporation shall
809 have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and
810 effectuate the purposes and provisions of this part, including
811 the following powers which are in addition to all other powers
812 granted by other provisions of this part:
813 (22) To develop and administer the State Apartment
814 Incentive Loan Program. In developing and administering that
815 program, the corporation may:
816 (d) In counties or rural areas of counties that do not have
817 existing units set aside for homeless persons, forgive
818 indebtedness for loans provided to create permanent rental
819 housing units for persons who are homeless, as defined in s.
820 420.621 s. 420.621(5), or for persons residing in time-limited
821 transitional housing or institutions as a result of a lack of
822 permanent, affordable housing. Such developments must be
823 supported by a local homeless assistance continuum of care
824 developed under s. 420.6225 s. 420.624, be developed by
825 nonprofit applicants, be small properties as defined by
826 corporation rule, and be a project in the local housing
827 assistance continuum of care plan recognized by the State Office
828 on Homelessness.
829 Section 13. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.