For purposes of this chapter:

(a) “Agency” means the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

(b) “Applicant” means a continuum of care, city, or county.

(c) “City” means a city or city and county that is legally incorporated to provide local government services to its population. A city can be organized either under the general laws of this state or under a charter adopted by the local voters.

(d) “Continuum of care” means the same as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development at Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(e) “Coordinated Entry System” means a centralized or coordinated process developed pursuant to Section 578.7 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 10, 2019, designed to coordinate homelessness program participant intake, assessment, and provision of referrals. In order to satisfy this subdivision, a centralized or coordinated assessment system shall cover the geographic area, be easily accessed by individuals and families seeking housing or services, be well advertised, and include a comprehensive and standardized assessment tool.

(f) “Council” means the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council created pursuant to Section 8257 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(g) “Emergency shelter” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 50801.

(h) “Homeless” has the same meaning as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 10, 2019.

(i) “Homeless Management Information System” means the information system designated by a continuum of care to comply with federal reporting requirements as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The term “Homeless Management Information System” also includes the use of a comparable database by a victim services provider or legal services provider that is permitted by the federal government under Part 576 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(j) “Homeless point-in-time count” means the 2019 homeless point-in-time count pursuant to Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations. A jurisdiction may elect to instead use their 2017 point-in-time count if they can demonstrate that a significant methodology change occurred between the 2017 and 2019 point-in-time counts that was based on an attempt to more closely align the count with HUD best practices and undertaken in consultation with HUD representatives. A jurisdiction shall submit documentation of this to the agency by the date by which HUD’s certification of the 2019 homeless point-in-time count is finalized. The agency shall review and approve or deny a request described in the previous sentence along with a jurisdiction’s application for homeless funding.

(k) “Homeless youth” means an unaccompanied youth between 12 and 24 years of age, inclusive, who is experiencing homelessness, as defined in subsection (2) of Section 725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a(2)). “Homeless youth” includes unaccompanied youth who are pregnant or parenting.

(l) “Housing First” has the same meaning as in Section 8255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, including all of the core components listed therein.

(m) “Jurisdiction” means a city, city that is also a county, county, or continuum of care, as defined in this section.

(n) “Navigation center” means a Housing First, low-barrier, service-enriched shelter focused on moving homeless individuals and families into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to income, public benefits, health services, shelter, and housing.

(o) “Program” means the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program established pursuant to this chapter.

(p) “Program allocation” means the portion of program funds available to expand or develop local capacity to address immediate homelessness challenges, in the amount of six hundred fifty million dollars ($650,000,000).

(q) “Recipient” means a jurisdiction that receives funds from the agency for the purposes of the program.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 159, Sec. 10. (AB 101) Effective July 31, 2019.)