2012 California Policy Priorities
PRIORITY: Fund housing & services for people experiencing homelessness
1. Use Medi-Cal more effectively to improve care and decrease costs among frequent hospital users: People who frequently use emergency rooms face multiple barriers, including homelessness, in navigating care. Opportunities exist to fund multidisciplinary services proven to better health outcomes and reduce state and local costs.
- Support Assembly Bill 2266 (Mitchell) to fund health homes. The Affordable Care Act offers states 90% federal funding of “health home” services for two years to improve care of people with chronic physical, mental health, and substance abuse conditions. Services include case management, transportation, and outreach, services supportive housing has been providing to vulnerable Californians for decades. AB 2266 would require the state to apply for this option, delineating prospects to fund the state’s 10% share of costs. Use CSH's sample letter to support this bill, and see our fact sheet and more about health home options.
- Ensure that California and Medi-Cal managed health plans take advantage of new opportunities to fund multidisciplinary services in supportive housing. People who frequently use emergency rooms face multiple barriers, including homelessness, in navigating their health care. Multidisciplinary services improve health outcomes and decrease costly hospital services. National health reform and a California waiver offer opportunities to fund services in supportive housing.
2. Dedicate a revenue source to housing: Redevelopment dissolution, depletion of dollars in state housing bonds, and slashes to federal funds left the affordable housing industry in crisis at a time of record poverty.
- Support Senate Bill 1220 (DeSaulnier & Steinberg) to dedicate a permanent source of revenue for affordable housing.
SB 1220, the Housing Opportunity Act, would create a dedicated source of revenue to fund capital, operating, and services costs of affordable and supportive housing. The bill would prevent and end homelessness for thousands of Californians, create construction jobs, and put many families on the road to homeownership. Use the CSH sample support letter. If you are in the health care or education industries, use our samples tailored to these fields.
PRIORITY: Ensure existing Funds are Used Effectively for People with the Greatest Need
3. Strengthen programs for homeless parolees and probationers: Given Public Safety Realignment and a growing body of evidence establishing that supportive housing reduces recidivism, opportunities exist to break the cycle of incarceration and homelessness.
- Promote budget trailer bill language to use existing resources more wisely.
CSH successfully advocated for state funding for wrap-around services for mentally ill parolees, and is now advocating for budget language to (1) ensure those funds target homeless parolees and people leaving prison vulnerable to homelessness, and (2) support supportive housing programs. - Advocate for using Public Safety Realignment dollars to reduce homelessness and recidivism.
Homeless probationers and parolees are seven times more likely to recidivate than those who are housed. Using Realignment (AB 109) funds for housing with services would reduce public costs, making it a wise investment.
4. Foster collaboration among state agencies: California could be investing existing resources, as well as obtaining additional federal resources, more effectively to reduce homelessness.
- Urge Governor Brown to form an Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Forty-one other states have created interagency councils to access federal funding, coordinate resources, and use scarce resources to prevent and end homelessness. - Advocate for the more effective collection of data.
Collecting data on homelessness for a centralized database would allow state policymakers to identify policy solutions and realign resources.
Contact Sharon Rapport, Assoc. Director, California Policy, or call (213) 623-4342, ext. 18.
