This legislation seeks to augment how the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless Commission is appointed. The legislation also adds a definition for stable housing accountability programs and provides that funding such programs are eligible expenditures of the fund. 

Stable housing accountability programs must at minimum:

(1) Provide voluntary, immediate, and stable housing to homeless persons;  

(2) Limit the length of total residence for any person to 18 months or whenever the tenant who was the qualifying resident is able to obtain or is offered affordable housing, whichever is earlier;  

(3) Ensure that the minor children of any resident receives adequate nutrition, healthcare, and education;  

(4) Provide ongoing assistance to each resident for obtaining long-term affordable housing;  

(5) Require residents to be removed from the program if they fail to meet specified accountability measures, including sustaining an honest, good-faith effort to achieve or maintain sobriety from drugs and alcohol;  

(6) Conduct regular inspections of common areas and residential units; and  

(7) Require qualifying residents: (A) To show proof of citizenship and execute an affidavit verifying continuous residency in this state for the previous 12 months; (B) To participate in free and relevant job training and educational opportunities until such resident obtains stable employment; (C) To engage in an active search and apply for stable employment; (D) Who obtain stable employment to maintain such employment status as long as stable employment is available to them; (E) To participate in counseling, mental healthcare, and substance abuse treatment programs, as necessary; (F) To submit to regular drug and alcohol testing; (G) To abstain from criminal activity; and (H) To submit to regular review of compliance with applicable terms and conditions provided for in this Code section for stable housing accountability programs.

The legislation provides that the state auditor shall conduct a performance audit of spending on homeless programs in this state, including expenditures by the state, expenditures by municipalities and counties with substantial homeless populations, and the expenditure of federal funds allocated to the state for homeless programs.