(a) Utilizing no more than ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000) of the combined one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021 and the Budget Act of 2022 for the purposes of the CalWORKs Housing Support Program (Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 11330) of Chapter 2 of Part 3), the Home Safe Program (Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770) of Part 3), the Bringing Families Home Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 16523) of Chapter 5 of Part 4), and the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program (Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 18999) of Part 6), the department may contract with one or more vendors for the purpose of establishing a system to collect data and track outcomes, and may, in consultation with the Legislature, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, advocates for clients, and housing and homelessness stakeholders, contract with one or more independent evaluation and research agencies to evaluate the impacts of each of these programs, which may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Outcomes for recipients, including achievement of housing stability.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) Demographic information about recipients.

(3) The likelihood of future homelessness and housing instability among recipients.

(4) Program costs and benefits.

(b) Program evaluation efforts described in subdivision (a) shall complement evaluation efforts specified in subdivision (g) of Section 15771.

(c) Utilizing no more than ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000) of the one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021, and no more than ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000) of the one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2022 in a manner consistent with the purpose of this subdivision, for the purposes of the CalWORKs Housing Support Program (Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 11330) of Chapter 2 of Part 3), the Home Safe Program (Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770) of Part 3), the Bringing Families Home Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 16523) of Chapter 5 of Part 4), and the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program (Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 18999) of Part 6), the department may, in consultation with the Legislature, County Welfare Directors Association of California, advocates for clients, and housing and homelessness stakeholders, contract with one or more entities to provide technical assistance for each of these programs, which may include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Implementing and administering programs that incorporate evidence-based and emerging promising practices in homeless assistance and homelessness prevention that support the advancement of racial equity.

(2) Scaling housing navigation and location services.

(3) Coordination and integration between the social services department, homelessness system of care, and health systems.

(4) Streamlining administrative efficiencies.

(5) Data collection and reporting, outcomes monitoring, and continuous quality improvement.

(d) On or before February 1 of each year, the department shall report annually to the Legislature, in accordance with § 9795 of the Government Code, on all of the following:

(1) Detailed information on the dollar amounts and entities for contracts entered into and other activities funded pursuant to the amounts authorized in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c).

(2) Data regarding implementation for each of the programs specified in subdivision (a), including all of the following:

(A) All actual expenditures against the total appropriations provided, noting funds remaining and expenditure deadlines. If the program is subject to a regional allocation approach, this information shall be provided by region.

(B) For the state as a whole and on a regional basis, the number of requests for service, where available, the number of families or individuals approved to receive program services as applicable to each program, and net expenditures. For the Community Care Expansion Program (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 18999.97) of Part 6), the department shall report the number of awards funded, the amount of these awards, the number of proposed beds to be expanded through the expansion component of the program, and the number of existing beds to be preserved through the preservation component of the program.

(C) For the state as a whole and on a regional basis, the housing status of families or individuals, as applicable to each program, at exit from the program, including those who exit to permanent housing, temporary housing, homelessness, unknown, or other exit destinations, including institutions, as available by program.

(D) For the state as a whole and on a regional basis, the relevant information reported to the department historically across at least the previous seven fiscal years to ascertain and display trend data reported pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C). For programs that have not been operational for at least seven years, the historical information shall be provided for as long as relevant program data was being reported to the department.

(E) Trend information across California, even if informal and by observation, about the increasing or decreasing of housing and homelessness needs for families, adults with disabilities, and older adults.

(e) For purposes of subdivision (d), “regional” and “regional basis” shall, at a minimum, include information about all of the following:

(1) County of Los Angeles.

(2) Bay area: Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma.

(3) Southern California: Counties of Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura.

(4) San Joaquin Valley: Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare.

(5) Sacramento area: Counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba.

(6) Central coast: Counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz.

(7) Balance of the state: Counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, and Tuolumne.

(f) For purposes of implementing this section, contracts entered into or amended 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 § 11546 of the Government Code, from the 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.

(g) (1) If any provisions of tribal law, tribal governance, tribal charter, or difference in tribal entity or agency legal structure would cause a violation of, would fail to satisfy, or would create inconsistencies with, program requirements for the CalWORKs Housing Support Program (Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 11330) of Chapter 2 of Part 3), the Home Safe Program (Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770) of Part 3), the Bringing Families Home Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 16523) of Chapter 5 of Part 4), the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program (Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 18999) of Part 6), or the Community Care Expansion Program (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 18999.97) of Part 6), any regulatory or other program requirement set forth by the department may be modified or waived, at the discretion of the department, as necessary to ensure program compatibility or to avoid an unnecessary administrative burden on tribes.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applied or interpreted to permit the modification or waiver of any federal regulation or statute.

(3) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement, interpret, or make specific paragraph (1) without taking any regulatory action.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 43, Sec. 34. (AB 120) Effective July 10, 2023.)