(a) Grants awarded by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be used by a grant recipient to defray costs of eligible activities defined in department regulations or guidelines, including, but not limited to, any of the following activities:

(1) Operating facilities, including, but not limited to, operations staff salaries, maintenance, repair, utilities, equipment, and debt reduction.

(2) Providing for capital development programs, such as acquisition, leasing, construction, and rehabilitation of sites for emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless persons.

(3) Administrative costs.

(4) Operating expenses relating to supervising and counseling clients.

(5) Providing residential rental assistance.

(6) Leasing or renting rooms for provision of temporary shelter.

(7) Capital development loans for the conversion of emergency shelter or transitional housing to permanent supportive housing for homeless families or individuals. The department shall establish the maximum loan limits for the loans in the notice of funding availability.

(8) Providing effective approaches to rapidly rehouse homeless clients. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, homeless system assessments, street outreach and housing and services engagement efforts, coordinated care services, housing location and stabilization services, and rental assistance costs, including deposits and costs necessary for occupancy.

(b) Funds allocated to a nonurban county pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50802 may be used to pay the cost of leasing or renting individual units, hotel rooms, or motel rooms for use as emergency shelters. No more than 15 percent of the funds allocated to a region other than a nonurban county shall be expended for this purpose.

(c) By regulation, the department shall establish a level, not to exceed 5 percent of a grant award, which any eligible recipient may use to defray administrative costs.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 488, Sec. 2. (AB 873) Effective January 1, 2014.)