(a) An application submitted in response to the department‘s notice of funding availability shall meet all of the following minimum requirements:

(1) The application requests an allocation pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.2 in order to carry out one or more of the eligible activities described in subdivision (a) of Section 50490.4 within the relevant Continuum of Care service area.

(2) The applicant is an administrative entity that meets one of the following:

(A) Has prior experience administering the eligible activities described in the application.

(B) Has partnered with one or more local governments or other entities within the relevant Continuum of Care service area that have the necessary prior experience to administer the requested funds.

(3) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B), the application documents that the Continuum of Care service area has a functioning CES and HMIS that meet the applicable HUD requirements, as set forth in the department’s notice of funding availability.

(B) If the Continuum of Care does not have systems in place that meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), the application documents that a minimum of 20 percent of the allocation to the Continuum of Care service area pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.2 will be used to implement or update its systems to comply with the applicable HUD requirements.

(4) The application describes or provides documentation of the local program or project selection process anticipated to be used to allocate available funds to subrecipients qualified to carry out the eligible activities. In order to satisfy the requirements of this subdivision, the applicant’s proposed program or project selection process shall avoid conflicts of interest in program or project selection and shall be easily accessible to the public.

(5) The application identifies anticipated estimated amounts to be used for the specific eligible activities described in the application and numerical goals and performance measures established by the applicant, in collaboration with the relevant Continuum of Care, to be used to evaluate success in implementing eligible activities described in the application for the anticipated term of the agreement with the department entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.5. Any goal established pursuant to this paragraph shall be greater than zero, unless using funds for systemwide or administrative capacity-building such as improving CES functionality. At minimum, the application shall evaluate the following project or system performance measures based on HMIS data from the Continuum of Care service area, as set forth in the department’s notice of funding availability:

(A) The number of homeless persons served.

(B) The number of unsheltered homeless persons served, and the average length of time spent as homeless before entry into the program or project.

(C) The number of homeless persons exiting the program or project to permanent housing.

(D) The number of persons that return to homelessness after exiting the program or project.

(b) An application submitted in response to the department’s notice of funding availability may include, if available, the most current plan addressing actions to be taken within the Continuum of Care service area to address homelessness. If there is no current plan addressing actions to be taken within the Continuum of Care service area to address homelessness, the application may request that funds allocated to the Continuum of Care service area pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.2 be used to develop a plan. If an application requests funding to develop a plan pursuant to this subdivision, the applicant shall submit the plan developed to the department prior to the expiration of the contract pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.5.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 48, Sec. 4. (SB 850) Effective June 27, 2018.)