On July 1, 2016, Governor Brown signed landmark legislation enacting the No Place Like Home program to dedicate up to $2 billion in bond proceeds to invest in the development of permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of chronic homelessness. The bonds are repaid by funding from the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA). In November 2018 voters approved Proposition 2, authorizing the sale of up to $2 billion of revenue bonds and the use of a portion of Proposition 63 taxes for the NPLH program.
Key features of the program include:
- Counties will be eligible applicants (either solely or with a housing development sponsor).
- Funding for permanent supportive housing must utilize low barrier tenant selection practices that prioritize vulnerable populations and offer flexible, voluntary, and individualized supportive services.
- Counties must commit to provide mental health services and help coordinate access to other community-based supportive services.
Program Funds
Noncompetitive Allocation ($190 million)
Distributed by formula allocation to each county based on their 2017 homeless Point-In-Time Count with a minimum allocation per county of $500,000.
Competitive Allocation (up to $1.8 billion for multiple funding rounds)
Counties will compete for funding with counties of similar size:
- Los Angeles County*
- Large counties (population greater than 750,000)*
- Medium counties (population between 200,000 to 750,000)
- Small counties (population less than 200,000)
*Counties with five percent or more of the state's homeless population (Alternative Process Counties) may be designated by HCD to receive and administer their own allocations of NPLH funds under their own HCD-approved method of distribution.