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Committee approves SB 2557 to expand homelessness reporting; members flag data limits on annual point-in-time counts
Summary
The committee passed SB 2557 SD1 requiring annual reports from the State Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions; members pressed staff on reliance on point-in-time counts that nonprofits sometimes run biennially and on the office's limited staffing and resources.
The House Human Services and Homelessness Committee passed SB 2557 SD1 with amendments, directing the State Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions to provide expanded reporting on sheltered and unsheltered counts and housing placements.
Office staff said the office already publishes annual and quarterly reports and that the point-in-time count is conducted statewide, but cautioned the point-in-time (PIT) count is often administered by nonprofits and in recent years some communities shifted to a biennial schedule because of volunteer and resource constraints. As the office put it, “the point in time count is required by the federal government on an annual base on a bi-annual basis, every other year,” and some PIT data may not be available annually.
Carolyn Wegner Hildebrand for the State Council on Mental Health urged the committee to strengthen reporting to include, where practicable and in collaboration with relevant agencies, data on individuals experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness or co-occurring behavioral-health conditions, including placement type and housing outcomes.
Dr. Jack Lewin testified that better data, even if costly, would help quantify health-care usage tied to homelessness and could identify efficiencies; committee members asked staff whether placement and federal HMIS data could fill gaps when PIT counts are not annual.
The Chair moved to pass SB 2557 with amendments and called the roll; the record shows Chair and Vice Chair and representatives Amato, Har Shield, Keohokalole, Takayama, Tokioka, Okimoto and Garcia voting in favor. The committee adopted technical and effective-date amendments and will note in the committee report that the measure passed with amendments.
Committee members asked staff to include available HMIS and federal data where PIT information is unavailable and to account for the office’s limited staff capacity in implementing any new reporting requirements.
