The Supportive-Recovery Residence Program.

The document was reformatted from a formal enrolled bill layout (with page numbers, signature lines, and legislative formatting) into a web page presentation that adds navigation elements, a quick search bar, bill status timeline, and sharing options. No statutory language was added, removed, or altered.

The minimum percentage of program funds that must be used for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model was raised from 75% to 90%, making it substantially harder for state programs to allocate funding to abstinence-focused supportive-recovery residences.

The certification fee was changed from a one-time fee of up to $1,000 to an annual fee of up to $100 per unit approved as Housing First-certified, substantially reducing the ongoing cost for operators.

New subclause (XI) requires that supportive housing and services support, and shall not prevent or restrict, a resident's access to and use of medications prescribed for behavioral or physical health conditions, explicitly including buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone for substance use disorders.

New subclause (XII) requires supportive housing and services to provide overdose prevention and response training to staff and residents and to make overdose reversal medication available and readily accessible on site.

A new verification requirement was added requiring the department to verify that the NARR affiliate ensures compliance with Housing First core components for residences seeking Housing First certification through that affiliate.

The eviction prohibition was strengthened from 'relapse is not an automatic cause for eviction' to 'relapse is not cause for eviction,' removing the word 'automatic' and making it a blanket ban on evicting tenants for relapse rather than only prohibiting automatic evictions.

The responsible department was changed from the State Department of Health Care Services to the Department of Housing and Community Development, shifting regulatory authority over supportive-recovery residence certification.

The standards language was clarified from 'other equivalent standards' to 'other equivalent (NARR) or other broadly recognized national standards,' narrowing what qualifies as an acceptable minimum standard.

The responsible department for administering the Supportive-Recovery Residence Program was changed from the State Department of Health Care Services to the Department of Housing and Community Development, shifting oversight from a health agency to a housing agency.

The minimum percentage of program funds that must be used for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model was increased from 75 percent to 90 percent, meaning abstinence-focused supportive-recovery residences can receive a smaller share of state funding in each jurisdiction.

The requirement that applicants obtain county certification confirming the project would not cause supportive-recovery residence units to exceed 25 percent of the county's total permanent supportive housing inventory was removed entirely, along with the county's duty to perform that determination and issue the certification.

The tenant transition provision was strengthened: if a tenant is no longer interested in the supportive-recovery residence, is at risk of eviction, or is discharged from the program (newly added), the tenant must remain housed in the residence until the operator secures a new permanent housing placement using harm-reduction principles, rather than merely receiving 'assistance in accessing' such housing.

The state-mandated local program finding was changed from 'yes' to 'no' as a direct consequence of removing the county certification duty, and the related state reimbursement provisions for local agencies were deleted.

A new Section 1 with legislative findings was added, citing that California has 187,084 homeless individuals (2024), overdose deaths among homeless Californians surged 488% between 2010 and 2020, and approximately 46% of homeless Californians report substance use causing problems. It also references HUD's Recovery Housing Policy Brief as guidance for recovery housing programs.

A new requirement was added that at least 75% of program funds awarded to each jurisdiction from a notice of funding availability must be used for housing or housing-based services using a harm-reduction model. This caps the share of funding that can go to abstinence-focused supportive-recovery residences.

The eviction protection was softened: 'Relapse is not a cause for eviction' was changed to 'Relapse is not an automatic cause for eviction,' allowing evictions based on relapse in certain circumstances rather than categorically prohibiting them.

A new subclause (X) requires that before placement in a supportive-recovery residence, the individual or family must be offered at least one harm-reduction housing placement option and must choose the abstinence-focused residence over it. The two options do not need to be available for move-in at the same time.

The state-mandated local program designation in the fiscal note was changed from 'yes' to 'yes no,' and minor text corrections were made throughout (e.g., removing a redundant possessive in 'California's the Civil').