BILL REQ. #:  H-2095.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/16/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing assistance to homeless individuals and families; adding new sections to chapter 43.185C RCW; and making appropriations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.185C RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The transitional housing operating and rent program is created in the department to assist homeless individuals and families secure and retain safe, decent, and affordable housing. For the purposes of the transitional housing operating and rent program, the department shall develop program eligibility criteria that includes, but is not limited to, the definition of homeless person in RCW 43.185C.010, and shall also take into consideration factors that contribute to or precipitate homelessness including, but not limited to, domestic violence. The department shall provide grants to eligible organizations, as described in RCW 43.185.060, to provide assistance to program participants. The eligible organizations must use grant moneys for:
     (a) Rental assistance, which includes security or utility deposits, first and last month's rent assistance, and eligible moving expenses to be determined by the department;
     (b) Case management services designed to assist program participants to secure and retain immediate housing and to transition into permanent housing and greater levels of self-sufficiency;
     (c) Operating expenses of transitional housing facilities that serve homeless families with children; and
     (d) Administrative costs of the eligible organization, which must not exceed limits prescribed by the department.
     (2) Eligible to receive assistance through the transitional housing operating and rent program are:
     (a) Families with children who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless and who have household incomes at or below fifty percent of the median household income for their county; and
     (b) Individuals or families without children who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and who have household incomes at or below thirty percent of the median household income for their county.
     (3) All program participants must be willing to create and actively participate in a housing stability plan for achieving permanent housing and greater levels of self-sufficiency.
     (4) Data on all program participants must be entered into and tracked through the Washington homeless client management information system as described in RCW 43.185C.180.
     (5) The department encourages all eligible organizations funded through the program to have a quality management system and to submit an application to the Washington state quality award program to evaluate that system. Beginning in 2009, all organizations funded through the program receiving over five hundred thousand dollars a year during the previous calendar year from: This program; other state housing related funding sources, including the housing trust fund; housing finance commission programs; and the ending homelessness program surcharge in RCW 36.22.179 and the surcharges in RCW 36.22.178, shall apply to the full examination Washington state quality award program once every three years beginning by January 1, 2010.
     (6) The department may develop rules, requirements, procedures, and guidelines as necessary to implement and operate the transitional housing operating and rent program.
     (7) The department shall produce an annual transitional housing operating and rent program report that must be included in the department's homeless housing strategic plan as described in 43.185C.040. The report must include performance measures to be determined by the department that address, at a minimum, the following issue areas:
     (a) The success of the program in helping program participants transition into permanent housing and increase their levels of self-sufficiency;
     (b) The financial performance of the program related to efficient program administration by the department and program operation by selected eligible organizations, including an analysis of the costs per program participant served;
     (c) The quality, completeness, and timeliness of the information on program participants provided to the Washington homeless client management information system database; and
     (d) The satisfaction of program participants in the assistance provided through the program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.185C RCW to read as follows:
     The transitional housing operating and rent account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from sources directed to the transitional housing operating and rent program must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used solely for the purpose of the transitional housing operating and rent program as described in section 1 of this act. Only the director of the department or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The sum of seven million five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, from the general fund to the transitional housing operating and rent account created in section 2 of this act for the purpose of implementing and operating the transitional housing operating and rent program. The first two million five hundred dollars of the appropriation shall be distributed to eligible organizations that will utilize available funds, less appropriate administrative costs of the department of community, trade, and economic development, to be used for the purposes described in section 1(1) (a) through (d) of this act solely to serve families with children under the age of eighteen. All remaining appropriated moneys, less appropriate administrative costs of the department of community, trade, and economic development, shall be used solely for the purposes described in section 1(1) (a), (b), and (d) of this act to serve those eligible under section 1(2) of this act.
     (2) The sum of seven million five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, from the general fund to the transitional housing operating and rent account created in section 2 of this act for the purpose of implementing and operating the transitional housing operating and rent program. The first two million five hundred dollars of the appropriation shall be distributed to eligible organizations that will utilize available funds, less appropriate administrative costs of the department of community, trade, and economic development, to be used for the purposes described in section 1(1) (a) through (d) of this act solely to serve families with children under the age of eighteen. All remaining appropriated moneys, less appropriate administrative costs of the department of community, trade, and economic development, shall be used solely for the purposes described in section 1(1) (a), (b), and (d) of this act to serve those eligible under section 1(2) of this act.