Encampment Resolution Funding program: safe parking sites: reporting.

Senator Richardson, with coauthors Assembly Members Haney and Tangipa, advances changes to the Encampment Resolution Funding program by adding a requirement that applications for additional funding rounds include detailed plans for operating safe parking sites and connecting individuals living in vehicles or recreational vehicles to housing, while signaling a statewide emphasis on cross-systems collaboration and demographic diversity in grant awards. The core change expands the description applicants must provide to include how funds will be used to link all encampment residents to services and housing, and it specifies aspects of safe parking site planning such as acquiring sites, operating the site, delivering services, and extending hours.

The bill alters how funds are allocated and used by guiding the council to prioritize grants for projects from prior rounds that met applicable requirements but were not funded, with any remaining funds awarded on a rolling basis. It also sets timing and application mechanics: new program grant applications must be accepted five months after appropriation, and the council must cease accepting new applications by the end of the fiscal year or when funds are exhausted. Applications must include, at a minimum, the encampment’s demographics, justification for prioritization, collaborative plans with state and local partners, and a detailed description of how funds will connect residents to services and housing, including the safe parking components. Additional required elements address local resource coordination, goals for temporary shelter and permanent housing, and prioritization criteria that favor cross-systems collaboration and diverse communities.

On data collection and reporting, the bill amends data-sharing requirements to mandate that recipients provide health information to the local Homeless Management Information System and the statewide Homeless Data Integration System, with the council determining the form and substance of data elements and the ability to modify them as needed. Grantees would be required to report individual-level data to the council for research and evaluation of program performance and outcomes, while protections shield health information and personally identifying information from public disclosure. The council must include in the annual report to the Governor and Legislature a summary of the data elements described in the recipient reports, disaggregated by funding round, and the department will evaluate the data and outcomes at the program level to identify scalable best practices for encampment resolution. The final report requirement tied to the 2024–25 and 2025–26 funding rounds remains, with the department’s reporting role adjusted accordingly, and contracts implementing the program remain exempt from several standard procurement and contracting requirements.

Together, the changes establish a more structured, data-driven framework for encampment resolution that foregrounds safe parking site planning and cross-agency collaboration, while enlarging reporting, accountability, and evaluation mechanisms within the program’s existing governance structure. The bill situates these elements within a broader effort to map services and housing pathways for people experiencing homelessness, including those living in RVs, and to standardize statewide practices through ongoing assessment and public reporting.