Assembly BillPassed both housesWelfare and Institutions
AB 1924: Statewide homelessness prevention strategy.
What AB 1924 does, verified September 15, 2026
The bill aims to create a statewide homelessness prevention strategy to address the issue of homelessness in California. The strategy must be developed and published by July 1, 2027, and includes a plan to prevent homelessness for certain state agencies, as well as evidence-based model homeless prevention practices. The strategy will be reviewed and updated annually, with any revisions published publicly. The bill also defines various terms related to homelessness prevention, such as "homelessness prevention action plan" and "evidence-based model homeless prevention practices".
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Last action: Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. (2026-09-04)Alert me
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Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $15/moUnlockRecent actions25 total · showing 5
| Sep. 04, 2026 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. |
| Aug. 27, 2026 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 1. Page 6700.). |
| Aug. 25, 2026 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. |
| Aug. 25, 2026 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.). |
| Aug. 17, 2026 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 1, 2026 · 1,486 words
| Enrolled September 01, 2026 |
| Passed IN Senate August 25, 2026 |
| Passed IN Assembly August 27, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate June 15, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 09, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1924
| Introduced by Assembly Members Gabriel and Quirk-Silva (Coauthors: Assembly Members Caloza, Haney, and Kalra) (Coauthor: Senator Arreguín) |
February 12, 2026 |
An act to add Section 8257.4 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to homelessness.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1924, Gabriel. Statewide homelessness prevention strategy.
Existing law establishes the California Interagency Council on Homelessness and requires the council to take various actions to prevent and end homelessness in California. Existing law establishes various programs to prevent homelessness or assist persons experiencing homelessness, including the No Place Like Home Program and the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program.
This bill would require the council, by July 1, 2028, to develop a statewide homelessness prevention strategy in the council’s publicly available Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The bill would require the strategy to include specified elements, including a homelessness prevention action plan for certain state agencies and evidence-based model homeless prevention practices, as specified. The bill would require the council to review and update the strategy in the Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would limit each state agency’s participation to its existing statutory authority, activities, data, and subject-matter responsibilities.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 8257.4 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:8257.4.
(a) For purposes of this section:(1) “At risk of homelessness” means the presence of multiple evidence-based homelessness risk factors for an individual, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(A) Prior experience of homelessness.
(B) Annual income at or below 30 percent of the area median income.
(C) Experiencing rent burden.
(D) Experiencing other household and social characteristics that are known to elevate the risk of homelessness.
(2) “Homelessness prevention” or “preventing homelessness” means reducing the inflow of individuals into the population of people experiencing homelessness.
(3) “Homeless prevention action plan” means a plan described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b).
(4) “Housing stability” means the ability of an individual or family to maintain housing that is consistent, safe, and affordable.
(5) “Relevant agency” means any state agency or department that affects, or has the potential to affect, housing stability and the prevention of homelessness, including, but not limited to, state agencies and departments represented on the executive council.
(b) By July 1, 2028, the council shall develop a statewide homelessness prevention strategy and include it in the council’s publicly available Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The strategy shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) To the extent reasonably feasible using available data and reporting systems, a baseline estimate of first-time experiences of homelessness and an assessment of achievable short- and long-term progress toward reducing entries into homelessness, taking into account available resources, existing activities and authorities, and other factors affecting entries into homelessness.
(2) A description of the role of each relevant agency in promoting housing stability and preventing homelessness, limited to the activities, authorities, data, and subject-matter responsibilities of that agency.
(3) An inventory of each definition of homelessness prevention employed by each relevant agency and how those definitions differ.
(4) The actions each relevant agency is taking to promote housing stability and homelessness prevention, including, but not limited to, the identification of any significant gaps or opportunities to improve coordination and implement those actions.
(5) (A) A homelessness prevention action plan for each relevant agency that is developed by council staff and the relevant agency, and incorporated into the Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, that details specific actions, in addition to those described in paragraph (4), the agency will take, within its existing authority and through its existing activities and resources, to contribute to housing stability and homelessness prevention and the anticipated timeline for those actions. The council may consolidate these agency action plans within the Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, and a relevant agency shall not be required to prepare or publish a separate plan.
(B) Each homelessness prevention action plan developed pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall consider available model practices developed pursuant to paragraph (11) and relevant evidence-based research and practice regarding the prevention of homelessness.
(6) (A) Recommendations, as appropriate, for all of the following:
(i) Supporting the coordination and implementation of the homelessness action plans, including conducting an impact assessment of the plans and relevant state-funded activities, benefits, services, grants, employment and training activities, and other interventions in preventing homelessness.
(ii) Identifying the highest impact state and local homelessness prevention activities to which new state funding should be devoted, when such funding becomes available.
(iii) Establishing the authority necessary to enable the council to most effectively execute its duties and responsibilities under this section.
(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, “highest impact” means program designs, policies, benefits, services, grants, employment and training activities, investments, or other interventions determined by the council to have the greatest demonstrated or potential impact on preventing individuals and households from experiencing homelessness.
(C) For the purposes of this paragraph, homelessness prevention activities may include, but are not limited to, state-funded activities, grants, benefits, services, employment and training activities, and other interventions or investments that the council determines can prevent or reduce the risk of individuals or households experiencing homelessness.
(7) An inventory of state resources currently devoted specifically to preventing homelessness.
(8) A description of how the state resources described in paragraph (7) and actions will work toward preventing homelessness.
(9) Statewide homelessness prevention goals and metrics to determine success.
(10) Identification of and recommendations for best practices in homelessness prevention activities.
(11) Evidence-based model homelessness prevention practices identified or designed and developed by the council that include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Identification of opportunities within existing state activities to intervene when an individual or household faces an imminent risk of losing housing based on evidence-based risk factors, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Prior experience of homelessness.
(ii) Annual income at or below 30 percent of the area median income.
(iii) Rent burden.
(iv) Other household and social characteristics that are known to elevate the risk of homelessness.
(B) The use of predictive models to identify individuals most at risk of homelessness.
(C) The targeting of resources to households most at risk of homelessness.
(D) The most effective and efficient interventions to prevent homelessness, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Financial assistance to increase housing stability, including, but not limited to, the most effective methods of accelerating the delivery of emergency rental assistance.
(ii) Eviction defense and holistic legal services to increase housing stability.
(iii) Case management to increase housing stability.
(E) Specific homelessness prevention practices that address the needs of subpopulations.
(F) Successful integration of financial, legal, and case management assistance.
(G) Evaluation of the effectiveness of homelessness prevention strategies on preventing homelessness, including performance metrics.
(H) The most effective and efficient means of coordinating state and federal homelessness prevention efforts identified and proposed by the council.
(I) The most effective and efficient means of coordinating state and local homeless prevention efforts identified and proposed by the council.
(J) Evidence-based state and local homelessness prevention activities and systems that have received evaluations validating their effectiveness in preventing homelessness identified by the council and recommendations for scaling up those activities and systems to have a broader impact on homelessness prevention.
(K) The compilation, acquisition, and use of relevant data necessary to effectuate homelessness prevention, including, but not limited to, a universal system of data collection and reporting that facilitates access to data by all participants in a homelessness prevention system.
(c) The council shall do both of the following with the model homelessness prevention practices described in paragraph (11) of subdivision (b):
(1) Offer them as guidance to local activities.
(2) Propose methods to integrate relevant practices into state agencies and activities.
(d) The council shall review and update the strategy in the Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.
(e) In implementing this section, all of the following apply:
(1) The council and relevant agencies shall use reasonably available information, research, evaluations, and data. This section does not require a relevant agency to conduct new primary data collection, develop a predictive model, establish a new reporting system, or commission a new program evaluation.
(2) A relevant agency’s participation shall be limited to its existing statutory authority, activities, data, and subject-matter responsibilities.
(3) A relevant agency shall not be required to establish a new program or expand eligibility for, or the scope of, an existing program.
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