ASSEMBLY, No. 2186

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  RAJ MUKHERJI

District 33 (Hudson)

Assemblywoman  ANNETTE CHAPARRO

District 33 (Hudson)

Assemblywoman  ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes Statewide database of beds in shelters for the homeless.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning emergency shelters for the homeless and supplementing P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-1 et seq.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1.  The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency shall allow operators of shelters for the homeless and selected local information and referral providers who place persons in the shelters to have access to real-time information about the occupancy status of shelter beds in the State as collected by the Homeless Management Information System, in order to determine the availability of shelter beds in the community or within a certain geographic area.  Shelter operators shall update information in the Homeless Management Information System about the availability of shelter beds not later than one hour after a bed becomes available, or an available bed has been filled.

      The provisions of this section shall not apply to shelters for victims of domestic violence.

      2.  A shelter for the homeless, except a shelter for victims of domestic violence, which is subject to regulation by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to N.J.A.C.5:15-1.1 et seq., shall cooperate in providing any necessary information to the database, as determined by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Department of Human Services, as a condition of being eligible to receive funding for the shelter from the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Human Services.

A shelter operator shall update information in the Homeless Management Information System about the availability of shelter beds not later than one hour after a bed becomes available, or an available bed has been filled.

     3.    This act shall take effect on the 60th day following enactment.

STATEMENT

     This bill would require the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) to allow certain homeless shelter personnel to have access to real-time information about the occupancy status of shelter beds, as collected by the Homeless Management Information System.  The information would be used to determine the availability of shelter beds in the nearby area.  Specifically, the information would be made available to the operators of shelters for the homeless and selected local providers who place persons in homeless shelters.

     Under the bill, each homeless shelter operator would be required to update information about available shelter beds not later than one hour after a bed becomes available or occupied.  Additionally, each shelter for the homeless would be required to provide any necessary information, as determined by the HMFA, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Department of Human Services, in order to be eligible for funding from the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Human Services.

     The bill would not apply to shelters for victims of domestic violence.