Cal. Code Regs. tit. 25 § 7959

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 7959 - Eligibility Requirements for Applicants and Grantees

(a) An agency of local government or a nonprofit corporation, which provides or contracts with community organizations to provide emergency shelter or transitional housing, or both, is eligible to apply for program funds, if the application demonstrates compliance with the eligibility requirements of this section.

(b) A grantee shall maintain continuous compliance with the requirements of this subchapter.

(c) As of the publication date of the Statewide NOFA, an applicant or a grantee shall have provided client housing continuously each day throughout the prior twelve months or, for cold-weather shelter providers, each day throughout the region's prior cold-weather season.

(d) An applicant or a grantee shall not require, as a condition of client housing, participation by clients in any religious or philosophical ritual, service, meeting, or rite.

(e) An applicant or a grantee shall not provide client housing in a manner which denies benefits on the basis of race, religion, age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, place of origin, physical or mental disability, or any other arbitrary basis. This section shall not be construed to preclude the provision of client housing designed to accommodate women or men only.

(f) An applicant or a grantee shall not provide client housing or rental assistance in a structure which contains any of the conditions of a substandard building listed in section 17920.3 of the Health and Safety Code and shall comply with all applicable State and local construction, maintenance and occupancy standards.

(g) An applicant or a grantee which provides emergency shelter and related client services shall provide access to the shelter and services on a first-come, first-served basis, for whatever time periods are established by the grantee.

(h) An applicant or a grantee providing emergency shelter to clients shall not:

(1) Condition the provision of emergency shelter on the receipt of public or private payment vouchers or cash payment from the client;

(2) Reserve space in the emergency shelter for any person(s) except as allowed by statute and described in subsection (i); or

(3) Deny shelter or services to any client due to the inability to pay.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (g) and (h), a grantee may accept payment vouchers provided through any other public or private program for clients in emergency shelters so long as no shelter beds are reserved beyond sundown for that purpose.

(j) An applicant or a grantee providing emergency shelter shall establish rules for client occupancy which shall:

(1) Include a statement of the maximum consecutive number of days during which a client is eligible to occupy the shelter;

(2) Be conspicuously posted at the emergency shelter.

(k) An applicant or a grantee providing transitional housing may charge rent only if a minimum of ten percent of all monies collected for each client are reserved to assist that client in moving to permanent housing. In addition:

(1) The reserve of monies for each client must be accounted for separately; and,

(2) If monies reserved for a client remain unused due to the absence of the client for a year or more, the monies shall be used to assist another client in moving to permanent housing.

(l) An applicant or grantee providing transitional housing shall demonstrate that the housing meets all of the following tests:

(1) Occupancy is limited to a maximum of two years; and,

(2) Every client is offered at least three types of self-sufficiency development services such as job counseling or instruction, personal budgeting or home economics instruction, tenant skills instruction, landlord/tenant law, victim's rights counseling, or apartment search skills instruction; and,

(3) Any client must participate in at least one self-sufficiency development service offered by the client housing provider as a condition for receiving client housing; and,

(4) Every client accumulates funds to be applied to first and last months' rent for permanent housing pursuant to subsection 7959(k); and,

(5) Every client is provided referrals or placements to permanent housing.

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 25, § 7959

1. New section filed 3-18-94 as an emergency; operative 3-18-94 (Register 94, No. 11). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL 7-18-94 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. New section refiled 7-8-94 as an emergency; operative 7-8-94 (Register 94, No. 27). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-7-94 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. Repealer and new section refiled 10-31-94 as an emergency; operative 10-31-94 (Register 94, No. 44). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-28-95 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Repealer and new section refiled 2-15-95 as an emergency; operative 2-15-95 (Register 95, No. 7). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-15-95 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Repealer and new section refiled 6-15-95 as an emergency; operative 6-15-95 (Register 95, No. 24). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-13-95 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
6. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-15-95 order including amendment of section heading and section transmitted to OAL 6-26-95 and filed 7-12-95 (Register 95, No. 28).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 50402, 50801.5 and 50806.5, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 50801(e) and (h) and 50801.5, Health and Safety Code.