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AB 249

Housing: Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program: youth-specific processes and coordinated entry systems.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Jessica Caloza and 2 co-sponsors

Requires CoCs to adopt youth-specific coordinated entry, trauma-informed assessments, youth advisory, and youth-aligned housing inventory, starting FY 2026-27, funding contingent.

In committee: Held under submission.
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Bill Summary · AB 249

AB 249 — Summary (Ramos)

Title: Housing: Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program — youth-specific processes and coordinated entry systems
Status: In committee; held under submission (05/23/2025)
Introduced: January 15, 2025

Purpose / Intent

AB 249 requires that, upon appropriation and beginning in the 2026–27 fiscal year, local homelessness systems (continuums of care) establish and maintain youth-specific coordinated entry processes and practices. The bill aims to ensure young people experiencing homelessness are assessed, prioritized, and matched to housing and supports according to developmentally appropriate needs rather than against adult populations (e.g., chronically homeless adults), and to incorporate youth voice into program design.

Key provisions

  • Adds Section 50245 to the Health and Safety Code.
  • Trigger and timing: requirements take effect upon appropriation and begin in FY 2026–27; continuums of care must annually certify compliance.
  • Required actions for each continuum of care:
    1. Create or maintain a documented, youth-specific process within their coordinated entry system specifying:
      • How youth are matched to youth-specific resources.
      • How youth can access coordinated entry, using factors beyond length of time homeless.
      • How youth who enter through adult/family programs can access youth-specific supports.
    2. Implement a youth-specific assessment tool that accounts for youth’s unique needs and presentations of homelessness (including trauma-informed approaches).
    3. Create or identify a body composed of youth with lived experience of homelessness to be consulted regularly on policy, program design, and implementation.
    4. Identify an array of youth-specific housing inventory aligned with regional youth needs.
  • If a continuum claims it already has a youth-specific coordinated entry system, its application must document:
    • How its housing assessment is youth-specific (including trauma-informed elements).
    • Its prioritization policy.
  • Defines “youth-specific” by reference to homeless youth as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code §8260.

Who is affected

  • Continuums of Care (CoCs) and regional homelessness systems.
  • Applicants and grantees of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program (HHAPP).
  • Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) — administers HHAPP round 6 and will enforce certification upon appropriation.
  • Homeless youth (unaccompanied minors/young adults) and service providers — expected to see more youth-aligned assessment, prioritization, and housing options.
  • Local jurisdictions that apply for HHAPP funds.

Procedural / Fiscal notes

  • The bill is contingent on appropriation (no immediate appropriation included). Fiscal committee review is required (fiscal committee: YES).
  • Legislative findings cite HUD’s 2023 AHAR noting California had 10,173 unaccompanied youth (≈29% of national total) and 68.2% of those youth were unsheltered.
  • Status highlights: introduced Jan 15, 2025; amended and moved through Housing & Community Development and Human Services committees; re-referred to Assembly Appropriations and held under submission as of 05/23/2025.

Potential impacts

  • Would institutionalize youth-centered assessment and referral practices in coordinated entry systems where HHAPP funding is involved, likely changing intake tools, prioritization criteria, and housing inventory planning.
  • Increases formal youth engagement by requiring a youth advisory/consultative body.
  • Implementation depends on HHAPP appropriations and HCD guidance; may require local system planning, training, and data/documentation updates.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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