Bill > H90

This bill requires the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to provide quarterly reports to the House and Senate committees on ways and means detailing the usage of emergency shelter services for families. These reports will include comprehensive data on families applying for, being approved for, or being denied emergency shelter, along with the reasons for denials, and will track the home communities of families receiving shelter, the number of available shelter slots in each community, and the income levels of families in shelters. Furthermore, the DTA must report on families who have previously used state programs to prevent homelessness, the composition of families in shelters, the reasons they are seeking emergency shelter, and why they leave, including their subsequent housing plans, rental costs, and income. The bill also mandates reporting on the operational aspects of emergency shelters, such as average length of stay, cost per household, and unused shelter slots, along with an analysis of this data and the causes of any significant differences between shelter types. Finally, the DTA will report on the outcomes of state-funded homeless prevention initiatives, including their costs, the number of families served, and the affordability and stability of housing or alternative placements for recipients of these programs.