The 2018-19 Budget

California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Chapter 2: Spending by Program Area

Homelessness

Emergency Aid Block Grants for Homelessness. The budget includes a one‑time allocation of $500 million for block grants to local governments to fund a variety of homelessness services—such as shelter services, rental assistance, outreach, and construction of affordable housing. $150 million of the grants is divided among the state’s 11 most populous cities based on their homeless populations. The remainder is divided among Continuums of Care—local entities that administer housing assistance programs with a particular area, often covering a county or group of counties—roughly based on their homeless populations.

No Place Like Home. The budget package places the No Place Like Home (NPLH) program before the voters for their approval at the November 2018 election. In 2016, the Legislature created the NPLH program to construct and rehabilitate permanent supportive housing for those with mental illness who are homeless. The program authorizes the issuance of bonds backed by personal income tax revenues raised under the Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63 of 2004). Before these bonds can be issued, the state must complete a validation process whereby the courts determine whether issuance of the bonds is legal. The validation action is pending. If NPLH is approved by voters, the state would be able to issue the bonds without going through the validation process.

Other Funding for Homelessness. The budget also includes a collection of homelessness‑related funding augmentations for outreach, mental health services, and assistance targeted to CalWORKs families, seniors, youth, and victims of domestic violence. These augmentations total $109 million in 2018‑19. More detail on these augmentations can be found in the “Health and Human Services” sections of this report.