AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 27, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

91

CHAPTER 524

Statutes of 2025

[ Approved by Governor October 10, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 10, 2025. ]

Introduced by Senator Richardson

February 21, 2025

An act to amend Sections 50252.1 and 50254 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law establishes the Encampment Resolution Funding program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to, upon appropriation of the Legislature, increase collaboration between the department, local jurisdictions, and continuums of care for, among other things, providing encampment resolution grants to local jurisdictions and continuums of care to resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing. Existing law authorizes a continuum of care or a local jurisdiction to submit a specified application to the department for a program grant. Existing law, for additional rounds moneys, defined as moneys appropriated for the program in or after the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires that an applicant submit an application for a program grant that includes a description of how the applicant intends to use the funds to connect all individuals living in encampments to services and housing, among other things.

This bill would, as part of this description, additionally require the applicant to include specified information about safe parking sites, when the application includes operating safe parking sites while locating interim or permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness living in vehicles or recreational vehicles.

Existing law requires grant recipients to report specified data to their local Homeless Management Information System and as required by the department. Existing law requires the department to evaluate the data and outcomes reported by recipients to assess efficacy of programs and identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution that can be replicated across the state. Existing law requires the department to report to the chairs of the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on the outcomes, learnings, and best practices models identified through the program. Existing law requires a recipient of program funding appropriated in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years to submit to the department a final report of certain data elements no later than April 1 of the year following the expiration of the encumbrance period of funds, as provided. Existing law requires the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous fiscal year of the housing programs administered by the department, as specified.

This bill would remove the requirement that the department report to the chairs of the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the department to report in the annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature a summary of the data elements required in the final report submitted by recipients of program funding appropriated in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years, as provided. The bill would require the department to evaluate the data and outcomes reported by the department in the annual report, instead of reported by recipients, to assess efficacy to assess the efficacy of programs and identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution that can be replicated across the state.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) In January 2024, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported 187,084 people experiencing homelessness, and a significant portion of these individuals are living in recreational vehicles (RV).

(b) Further startling statistics are:

(1) Two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness (124,537) in the state, the highest in the country, sleep outside.

(2) Twenty-five percent, that is one in four, of the people experiencing homelessness in America, are homeless here in California.

(3) Forty-four percent, on average, that are homeless are “chronically homeless,” meaning individuals may have a long medical or mental disability and are homeless for more than one year.

(c) Homelessness may be defined as an individual or family who lacks a “fixed, regular, and adequate” nighttime permanent residence.

(d) According to longstanding law, Section 18010 of the Health and Safety Code, an RV means a motor home, travel trailer, truck camper, or camping trailer, with or without motive power, designed for human habitation for recreational, emergency, or other occupancy.

(e) In California, RVs are intended for temporary recreational or emergency occupancy, not for long-term living or habitation on private property outside of designated areas like RV parks, campgrounds, or mobilehome parks.

(f) RVs are designed for leisure travel, camping, and temporary living, not as permanent residences.

SEC. 2.

Section 50252.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50252.1.

(a) This section only applies to additional funding round moneys and does not apply to funding round 1 moneys.

(b) The council shall award additional funding round moneys first to fund projects from prior funding rounds that the council determined satisfied applicable program requirements but were not funded in the prior round.

(c) (1) Any funds remaining after the awards required by subdivision (b) shall be awarded on a rolling basis in accordance with this subdivision.

(2) The council shall begin accepting new applications for a program grant by five months after the appropriation in the given fiscal year is made.

(3) The council shall cease accepting new applications for a program grant by the earlier of the end of the fiscal year in which the appropriation is made or the date the funds from the appropriation have been expended.

(4) Applicants shall submit an application for a program grant to the council in a form and manner specified by the council. The application shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(A) Information on the number and demographics of the individuals living in the encampment that the applicant is requesting funding to help resolve.

(B) A description of why the specific encampment is being prioritized for resolution support.

(C) A description of how the applicant intends to collaborate with state and local partners to mitigate risk and address safety concerns while ensuring a pathway for individuals living in encampments to move into safe and stable housing.

(D) A description of how the applicant intends to use these funds to connect all individuals living in the encampment to services and housing. When an application includes operating safe parking sites while locating interim or permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness living in vehicles or recreational vehicles, a description of how the applicant intends to acquire sites for safe parking, operate the site, provide services at the safe parking site, and increase safe parking site hours.

(E) A description of other local resources and funding streams that will be used to ensure the ongoing availability of services and housing support for people who are moved out of encampments into permanent housing.

(F) A goal for the number of individuals the program will support transitioning from encampments into temporary shelters.

(G) A goal for the number of individuals the program will support transitioning from encampments into permanent housing.

(5) In awarding grants, funding shall be prioritized for both of the following:

(A) Jurisdictions that can demonstrate a commitment to cross-systems collaboration, including collaborations with state entities, and innovative efforts to resolve encampment issues, while focusing on protecting the health and well-being of the individuals living in those encampments.

(B) Applicants that represent the diversity of communities across the state, including, but not limited to, rural, urban, and suburban communities.

(d) The council may do any of the following:

(1) Monitor grantee performance.

(2) Require a grantee not meeting goals to accept technical assistance from the council.

(3) Limit the allowable uses of program funds for a grantee that is not meeting goals.

(e) The council may use up to 5 percent of money appropriated in a given fiscal year for administration of the program, including capacity building and technical assistance activities in support of program goals.

SEC. 3.

Section 50254 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50254.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, all recipients of funds pursuant to this chapter shall provide data elements, including, but not limited to, health information, in a manner consistent with state and federal law, to their local Homeless Management Information System for tracking in the statewide Homeless Data Integration System.

(b) (1) The council shall specify the form and substance of the required data elements.

(2) The council may, as required by operational necessity, amend or modify data elements, disclosure formats, or disclosure frequency.

(3) Grantees shall report individual, client-level data for persons served by grant funding to the council, in addition to any data reported through the local Homeless Management Information System, as required by the council for the purposes of research and evaluation of grant performance, service pathways, and outcomes for people served.

(4) Council staff may use information reported directly from grantees and through the statewide Homeless Data Integration System for the purposes of research and evaluation of grant performance, service pathways, and outcomes for people served.

(c) Any health information or personal identifying information provided to or maintained within the statewide Homeless Data Integration System pursuant to this section shall not be subject to public inspection or disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(d) For purposes of this paragraph, “health information” includes “protected health information,” as defined in Part 160.103 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and “medical information,” as defined in subdivision (j) of Section 56.05 of the Civil Code.

(e) All recipients shall provide information and products developed with grant funds on service delivery models in support of the overall program goal to mitigate risk and address safety concerns in encampments, while ensuring a pathway for individuals living in encampments to move into safe and stable housing, in a format and timeframe specified by the council.

(f) The council shall evaluate the data and outcomes reported by the council pursuant to subdivision (g) to assess efficacy of programs and identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution that can be replicated across the state.

(g) (1) The department shall, in its annual report submitted pursuant to Section 50408, report a summary of the data elements described in paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 50254.5, disaggregated by funding round.

(2) The requirement of submitting data imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative after the department publishes the final report covering the final round of program funds.

(h) Contracts entered into to implement this chapter shall be exempt from all of the following:

(1) Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 14825) of Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(2) The personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(3) Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual.

(4) Notwithstanding Section 11546 of the Government Code, from review or approval of any division of the Department of Technology, upon approval from the Department of Finance.

(5) From the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services.