Federal

Preserving Our Commitment to Homeless Veterans Act

Source: Congress.gov · 760 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to limit how many veterans one case manager can oversee in the supported housing program. The bill also requires the department to report to Congress when it makes exceptions to this limit.

Who It Affects

- The Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Case managers in the Department of Veterans Affairs - Veterans enrolled in the supported housing program - Local housing authorities - Local service providers

Key Provisions

- Case managers cannot be assigned to more than 35 veterans at the same time in each fiscal year (a 12-month period for budgeting), unless the Secretary makes an exception (Sec. 2(a)(3)(A) and (B)) - The Secretary must provide case management support whenever a local housing authority requests it under the supported housing program (Sec. 2(a)(2)) - The Secretary must submit a report to Congress at least once per fiscal year describing any exceptions granted to the 35-veteran limit, including why each exception was granted (Sec. 2(a)(3)(C)) - If a case manager job stays empty for 180 days or more, the Secretary must try to hire a local service provider to do the work instead (Sec. 2(a)(5)(A)) - The Secretary must place each veteran reasonably close to their assigned case manager (Sec. 2(a)(4)) - The Secretary cannot shift funding from the supported housing program to other general programs unless the budget request to Congress included this plan (Sec. 2(b))

What Changes

The law currently does not specify how many veterans one case manager must handle. This bill adds a requirement that no case manager oversee more than 35 veterans per fiscal year, with limited exceptions. It also requires the department to hire contractors if case manager positions stay vacant for six months or longer.

Important Definitions

- Case manager: an employee who provides support to individual veterans in the supported housing program - Supported housing program: a Department of Veterans Affairs program that helps veterans with rental assistance - Fiscal year: a 12-month period used for government budgeting purposes

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 290 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that the supported housing program of the Department of Veterans Affairs has not fewer than one program manager for every 35 rental assistance cases under such program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2023 Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that the supported housing program of the Department of Veterans Affairs has not fewer than one program manager for every 35 rental assistance cases under such program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Our Com- 4 mitment to Homeless Veterans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Feb 17, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S290.IS S290 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 290 IS SEC. 2. STAFFING OF PROGRAM MANAGERS FOR SUP- 1 PORTED HOUSING PROGRAM OF DEPART- 2 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) STAFFING.—Section 2003(b) of title 38, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’; 6 and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraph: 9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall provide case management 10 support whenever requested by a local housing authority 11 under the program described in paragraph (1). 12 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 13 Secretary shall ensure that in each fiscal year no case 14 manager is concurrently assigned to more than 35 vet- 15 erans under this subsection. 16 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may waive the requirement of 17 subparagraph (A) for a particular case manager in a par- 18 ticular fiscal year as the Secretary considers appropriate. 19 ‘‘(C) Not less frequently than once each fiscal year, 20 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 21 waivers made by the Secretary under subparagraph (B) 22 in the previous fiscal year. Each report shall include a de- 23 scription of the circumstances under which each waiver 24 was made. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Feb 17, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S290.IS S290 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 290 IS ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall ensure that each veteran to 1 whom a case manager is assigned under this subsection 2 is located within such distance of the case manager as the 3 Secretary considers reasonable. 4 ‘‘(5)(A) In any case in which a position within the 5 Veterans Health Administration for a case manager de- 6 scribed in paragraph (1) is vacant for a period of 180 days 7 or more, the Secretary shall seek to enter into a contract 8 with a local service provider with knowledge and expertise 9 applicable to a case manager in such position to furnish 10 the case management services that would otherwise be 11 provided by a case manager in such position. 12 ‘‘(B) The requirement in subparagraph (A) to seek 13 to enter into a contract shall cease to apply if the Sec- 14 retary fills the vacancy referred to in such subpara- 15 graph.’’. 16 (b) LIMITATION ON CONVERSION OF FUNDS.—The 17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not convert any of the 18 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available in a fis- 19 cal year to carry out section 8(o)(19) of the United States 20 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) from a 21 specific purpose program to a general purpose program 22 unless the Secretary included a proposal to do so in the 23 budget justification materials submitted to Congress in 24 support of the Department of Veterans Affairs budget for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Feb 17, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S290.IS S290 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 290 IS such fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the 1 President for such fiscal year under section 1105(a) of 2 title 31, United States Code). 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Feb 17, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S290.IS S290 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS

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