Section 50242 - Application process; applicants(a) The department shall make an application for round 6 base program allocations available no later than January 31, 2025.(b) Applications shall be due no later than 180 days from the date applications are made available pursuant to subdivision (a).(c)(1) Applicants from each region shall submit a single, regional application from their shared region.(2) Each applicant shall have the discretion to receive their base program allocation directly or may designate a corresponding eligible applicant in their region to serve as the fiscal agent responsible for the administration of funding made available pursuant to this article.(d) Within 30 days of the application deadline pursuant to subdivision (b), the department shall either approve the application or return it to the applicant with written, detailed comments and request one or more of the following specific amendments to the application: (1) Greater detail on any aspect of the application so the department can ensure fidelity with the applicant's proposed use of funds and impact on system performance measures.(2) Modifications or provision of additional information on the applicant's proposed funding plan to ensure compliance with this section, and ensure alignment with evidence-based solutions to reduce homelessness.(3) Any other modifications or provision of information that would allow the department to better monitor and evaluate the region's compliance with its regionally coordinated homelessness action plan and whether it is meeting objective performance standards.(e)(1) An applicant whose application has been returned pursuant to this section shall respond to the department's requested amendments and submit a revised application within 30 days. Where the revised application differs from the department's requests, the applicant shall include an explanation of the differences and the rationale for departing from requested amendments.(2) The department shall have 30 days within which to approve the application if, as amended, it addressed the department's concerns or to provide the applicant with additional guidance and a deadline for further amending to fully address the department's concerns.(f)(1) To receive a round 6 base program allocation, an applicant shall submit an application to the department. A complete application submitted pursuant to this section shall include, in the form and manner prescribed by the department, all of the following: (A) A regionally coordinated homelessness action plan that the department finds compliant with Section 50240. This may be an updated version of the action plan submitted in prior rounds if that action plan was found compliant by the department.(B) A detailed proposal for how the applicant intends to use the funds for which it is applying that complies with Section 50243.(C) All other components that the department shall deem necessary to the proper administration of the program.(2) After approval of an application pursuant to this section, the department shall disburse 50 percent of an eligible city's, county's, or continuum of care's total allocation pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50241 upon a determination that the eligible city, county, or continuum of care has done all of the following:(A) Contractually obligated all of its funding from rounds 1 through 3 of the program.(B) Expended all of its funding from round 1 of the program.(C) Expended at least 50 percent of its funding and contractually obligated 75 percent of its funding from the first disbursement of round 4 of the program.(g) The department and recipients shall post final round 6 program applications to their respective internet websites within 30 days of disbursal to the applicant.(h)(1) On or before January 31, 2027, a grantee shall submit to the department an update on their round 6 regionally coordinated homelessness action plan activities, which shall include updates on the obligation and expenditure activities, progress on their system performance and improvement plan, key actions and corresponding updates on system performance measures carried out pursuant Section 50240, as applicable.(2) The department shall, within 30 days, review the update and report its findings to the participating grantee pursuant to this subdivision.(3) If the department finds that the grantee has adhered to the requirements of this section, or concludes that the grantee has addressed any shortcomings in the update, the department shall approve the update.(4)(A) If the department finds that a grantee failed to adhere to the requirements of this section, the department may require the participating jurisdictions in the region to make specific changes needed to meet the requirements of this section. If the department concludes that the grantee made insufficient progress on key actions or failed to improve on at least one-half of the region's system performance measures, the department may require the participating jurisdictions to provide a corrective action plan to the update to the regionally coordinated action plan to address these findings. Participating jurisdictions shall accomplish these changes or submit a corrective action plan, as applicable, within 30 days of being notified by the department.(B) The department shall have 30 days to review the changes or corrective action plan, as applicable, to determine if they addressed the department's concerns and approve the update, or to provide the grantee with additional guidance and a deadline for making changes or further amending the corrective action plan to address the department's concerns.(5)(A) The department may withhold the remaining 50 percent of funds from a grantee until the department has approved the update to the grantee's round 6 regionally coordinated homelessness action plan.(B) The department shall provide technical assistance and support of jurisdictions efforts to comply with the requirements of this paragraph.(6) Regions are encouraged to update their memorandums of understanding to reflect their updated regionally coordinated homelessness action plan that have been approved pursuant to this subdivision. The department may ask for confirmation that a region has updated its memorandum of understanding to reflect a part of a corrective action required under this section.(7) In making determinations pursuant to this subdivision the department may provide exceptions to the requirement if the recipient demonstrates hardship by a disaster for which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code.(8) After the department has deemed a regionally coordinated action plan compliant with this section, the grantee shall submit any proposed revisions to the department for review and approval. No later than 30 days from submission, the department shall review the proposed revisions and either approve the revisions or recommend changes.(9) All proposed, approved, and amended regionally coordinated homelessness action plans shall be posted on the internet website of all participating jurisdictions in the regionally coordinated homelessness action plan, and the department shall post all action plans received from participating jurisdictions.(10) In determining whether the regionally coordinated homelessness action plan substantially complies with this article, the department may consult with any local government, public agency, group, or person, and shall receive and consider any written comments from any public agency, group, or person, regarding the action by a participating jurisdiction.(i)(1) A recipient shall contractually obligate not less than 75 percent, and shall expend not less than 50 percent, of the initial round 6 program allocations made to it pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) no later than June 30, 2027.(2) The department shall disburse the remaining 50 percent of a recipient's total base allocation pursuant to Section 50241 only after the recipient demonstrates all of the following:(A) Compliance with subdivision (h).(B) Compliance with the requirement to contractually obligate and expend a minimum amount of its round 6 program allocation pursuant to paragraph (1).(C) That the recipient has a compliant housing element as defined in Section 65589.9 of the Government Code, if the recipient is a city or county. If the recipient does not have a compliant housing element, the department shall hold the disbursement until the recipient is housing element compliant, consistent with paragraph (3).(3) On or before December 31, 2028, a recipient shall return to the department any funds that have not been expended pursuant to this subdivision, to be allocated as supplemental awards by the department in accordance with Section 50244.(j) The department may request additional information from applicants, as needed, to meet other applicable reporting or audit requirements.(k) In addition to requirements in Section 50222, the department may monitor the expenditures and programmatic activities of an applicant, as the department considers necessary, to ensure compliance with round 6 program requirements.(l) The department may, as it considers appropriate or necessary, request the repayment of round 6 program funds from an applicant, or pursue any other remedies available to it by law for failure to comply with program requirements.(m) Any remaining amounts of round 6 base program allocation funds not expended by June 30, 2029, shall revert to, and be paid and deposited in, the General Fund.Ca. Health and Saf. Code § 50242
Added by Stats 2024 ch 48 (AB 166),s 13, eff. 7/2/2024.