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Assembly committee advances bill requiring homelessness systems to prioritize single mothers and children
Summary
The Assembly Human Services Committee voted to pass AB 790 as amended, directing cities, counties and continuums of care that receive state homelessness funds to develop systems specifically serving single women with children, supporters said would reduce long-term costs and protect families fleeing domestic violence.
Assemblymember Avi LaFarius presented AB 790 to the Assembly Human Services Committee, and the committee on a voice/roll call approved the bill as amended.
AB 790 would require jurisdictions and continuums of care that receive state homelessness funding to develop systems that specifically serve single women with children, a group supporters said is disproportionately at risk of homelessness and fleeing domestic violence. “A person who is unhoused and has diagnosed mental illness ... often receives immediate housing and supportive services than a mother living in a car with her 4 children fleeing an abuser,” said Beatrice Olvera Stotzer, president of New Economics for Women, testifying in support. “This opportunity ... is an opportunity for California to become the first state in the nation to make the prevention of homelessness among single mothers a policy priority,” she said.
Nut graf: Supporters told the committee the bill would fill gaps in current homeless-response systems by creating explicit accountability for serving single mothers and children; they argued the change would reduce emergency-service use and long-term state costs. New Economics for Women described its experience serving low-income families and cited Los Angeles County data that it said shows high rates of single-mother–led family homelessness.
Committee discussion and procedure: Committee members thanked the author and staff for working on committee amendments. Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez offered to coauthor and praised the sponsor’s local work. The bill was moved and seconded on the committee floor and later included on the roll call as File Item 1. The committee secretary recorded the final vote on AB 790 as unanimous (final vote recorded later in the hearing as 7–0).
Quotes in context: Assemblymember LaFarius opened the item by saying she would accept the committee’s amendments and thanked staff. “I respectfully ask for your I vote,” LaFarius said in closing. Olvera Stotzer said the bill would “interrupt intergenerational poverty by investing in the economic resiliency and leadership of women, specifically single mothers.”
Ending: With the committee’s recommendation to pass as amended, AB 790 moves on in the legislative process to the next committee (as recorded on the floor sheet). The committee discussion centered on creating targeted homelessness prevention and services for single mothers and their children.
