SEC. 20.1501. THE CAAP DISCONTINUANCE RENTAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROJECT.

(a) The Board of Supervisors hereby establishes the CAAP Discontinuance Rental Assistance Pilot Project ("Pilot Project").

(b) The purpose of the Pilot Project is to preserve the housing security of individuals who participate in the County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP) and who reside in HSA-funded or DHSH-funded supportive housing where such persons have engaged in three negligent acts of noncompliance with program requirements.

(c) To be eligible for rental assistance under the Pilot Project, a person must:

(1) be a recipient of financial assistance through General Assistance (GA), the Personal Assisted Employment Services (PAES) Program, Cash Assistance Linked to Medi-Cal (CALM), or Supplemental Security Income Pending (SSIP), as those programs are set forth in Articles VII through XI of this Chapter 20 of the Administrative Code;

(2) reside in HSA-funded or DHSH-funded Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings; and

(3) be facing the discontinuance of financial assistance resulting from three acts of negligent failure to comply with CAAP program requirements.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), persons will be ineligible for rental assistance under the Pilot Project if the discontinuance of their assistance is due to fraud, willful noncompliance with program requirements or loss of program eligibility due to other reasons, including increased income or assets or eligibility for another cash assistance program.

(e) Individuals who receive rental assistance under the Pilot Project shall be required to:

(1) reinstate to CAAP during the first month of the sanction period in order to reestablish an income source that will allow the individual to resume rental payments for the following month; and

(2) re-establish participation in a third-party rent payment service upon reinstatement to CAAP.

(f) The Pilot Project shall be implemented as follows:

(1) The Human Services Agency ("HSA") and DHSH shall administer the Pilot Project.

(2) When a CAAP recipient satisfies the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 20.1501(c), HSA shall discontinue cash benefits, but DHSH shall pay the client's share of rent directly to the housing provider for a period of one month following discontinuance.

(3) Eligible CAAP recipients may receive rental assistance benefits under the Pilot Project no more than once every six months, provided, however, that an eligible CAAP recipient shall not receive rental assistance benefits more than once if he or she has not complied with the program requirements set forth in Section 20.1501(e).

(Added by Ord. 74-16, File No. 151279, App. 5/13/2016, Eff. 6/12/2016, Oper. 7/12/2016; amended by Ord. 116-16, File No. 160638, App. 6/29/2016, Eff. 7/29/2016)