(a) The Encampment Resolution Funding program is hereby established to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, increase collaboration between the council, local jurisdictions, and continuums of care for the following purposes:
(1) Assist local jurisdictions in ensuring the safety and wellness of people experiencing homelessness in encampments.
(2) Provide encampment resolution grants to local jurisdictions and continuums of care to resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing.
(3) Encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach to address encampment concerns.
(b) (1) The council shall administer the program.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the council may consult with and designate a state agency or department to support the administration of the program.
(c) (1) The council’s decision to approve or deny an application and the determination of the amount of funding to be provided shall be final and not subject to appeal.
(2) In determining which applications to approve, the council shall evaluate and score proposals based on all of the following criteria:
(A) The applicant’s capacity to carry out the proposal.
(B) Whether the site selected for services aligns with the proposed service delivery model.
(C) Whether the demographics and needs of service recipients align with the proposed service delivery model.
(D) The applicant’s ability to develop a detailed service delivery plan, including a description of how individuals will be served with permanent housing solutions.
(E) The applicant’s ability to coordinate with other systems to increase services and housing options.
(F) The applicant’s capacity to involve people with lived experience and local community partners in the implementation of its project.
(G) The applicant’s ability to recruit and deploy personnel with experience and expertise needed to support the success of their proposal.
(H) The applicant’s ability to demonstrate a prudent and effective use of requested funding relative to the number of people it seeks to serve and the types of services to be provided in the proposal.
(d) The council shall maintain records of the following:
(1) The number of applications for program grants received by the council.
(2) The number of applications for program grants denied by the council.
(3) The name of each recipient of a program grant.
(4) The amount of funds allocated to each applicant.
(e) The council may adopt regulations to implement this chapter. The adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation authorized by this subdivision is hereby exempted from 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).
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 70, Sec. 4. (SB 197) Effective June 30, 2022.)