II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2172 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve grants, payments, and technical assistance provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to serve homeless veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve grants, payments, and technical assistance provided by the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to serve homeless veterans, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Building Solutions for Veterans Experiencing Homeless- 5 ness Act of 2021’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2172 IS Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Adjustments of grants awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for comprehensive service programs to serve homeless veterans. Sec. 3. Increase in maximum rates of per diem payments provided by the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs for services furnished to homeless veterans. Sec. 4. Technical assistance provided by Secretary of Veterans Affairs to cer- tain grant recipients. Sec. 5. Report and action on shallow subsidy program under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. Sec. 6. Housing and health care navigators grant program. Sec. 7. Grant program for substance use and alcohol use disorder recovery for homeless veterans. Sec. 8. Increase and extension of authorization of appropriations for homeless veterans reintegration programs. Sec. 9. Pilot program on grants to improve public transportation services for veterans. Sec. 10. Pilot program on grants for care for elderly homeless veterans. Sec. 11. Report by Comptroller General of the United States on affordable housing for veterans. SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENTS OF GRANTS AWARDED BY THE SEC- 1 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR COM- 2 PREHENSIVE SERVICE PROGRAMS TO SERVE 3 HOMELESS VETERANS. 4 (a) ELIMINATION OF MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2011(c) of title 38, 6 United States Codes, is amended— 7 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and 8 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 9 paragraph (2). 10 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 11 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to any 12 grant awarded under section 2011 of title 38, 13 United States Code, on or after the date of the en- 14 actment of this Act. 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2172 IS (3) SUNSET.—Section 4201(b)(2) of the John- 1 ny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health 2 Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public 3 Law 116–315; 134 Stat. 5009; 38 U.S.C. 2011 4 note) is amended— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘Subsection (c)(2)’’ and in- 6 serting the following: 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c)(2)’’; 8 and 9 (B) by adding at the end the following new 10 subparagraph: 11 ‘‘(B) SUNSET.—Subparagraph (A) shall 12 cease to be effective on the date of the enact- 13 ment of the Building Solutions for Veterans 14 Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021.’’. 15 (b) ELIMINATION OF PROPERTY DISPOSITION RE- 16 QUIREMENTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant 18 awarded under section 2011 of title 38, United 19 States Code, on or after the date of the enactment 20 of this Act for a project described in subsection 21 (b)(1) of such section shall not be subject to any 22 property disposition requirements relating to the 23 grant under subsection (c) or (f) of section 61.67 of 24 title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2172 IS 200.311(c) of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, 1 or successor regulations. 2 (2) SUNSET.—Section 4201(b)(6) of the John- 3 ny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health 4 Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public 5 Law 116–315; 134 Stat. 5010; 38 U.S.C. 2011 6 note) is amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘During’’ and inserting the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During’’; and 10 (B) by adding at the end the following new 11 subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(B) SUNSET.—Subparagraph (A) shall 13 cease to be effective on the date of the enact- 14 ment of the Building Solutions for Veterans 15 Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021.’’. 16 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM RATES OF PER DIEM PAY- 17 MENTS PROVIDED BY THE SECRETARY OF 18 VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR SERVICES FUR- 19 NISHED TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 20 Section 2012(a)(2)(B) of title 38, United States 21 Code, is amended— 22 (1) in clause (i)(II)(aa)(BB), by striking ‘‘115’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘200’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2172 IS (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘150’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘200’’. 2 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY SECRETARY 3 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO CERTAIN GRANT 4 RECIPIENTS. 5 (a) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR VERY LOW-INCOME 6 FAMILIES IN PERMANENT HOUSING.—Section 2044(e) of 7 title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking para- 8 graph (2) and inserting the following new paragraph (2): 9 ‘‘(2) Not less than two percent of the amounts avail- 10 able under paragraph (1) in any fiscal year may be avail- 11 able to provide technical assistance under subsection (d).’’. 12 (b) COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE PROGRAMS.—Section 13 2011 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add- 14 ing at the end the following new subsection: 15 ‘‘(i) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—(1) 16 The Secretary shall provide training and technical assist- 17 ance to each recipient of a grant under this section regard- 18 ing the planning, development, and provision of services 19 for which the grant is made. 20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide the training and 21 technical assistance described in paragraph (1) directly or 22 through grants or contracts with such public or nonprofit 23 private entities as the Secretary considers appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2172 IS ‘‘(3) Not less than two percent of amounts designated 1 for the administration of grants under this section in any 2 fiscal year shall be used to provide training and technical 3 assistance under this subsection.’’. 4 SEC. 5. REPORT AND ACTION ON SHALLOW SUBSIDY PRO- 5 GRAM UNDER THE SUPPORTIVE SERVICES 6 FOR VETERAN FAMILIES PROGRAM. 7 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 10 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com- 11 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 12 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 13 Representatives a report on program for providing 14 rental subsidies under section 62.34(a)(8) of title 15 38, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 16 regulation) (in this section referred to as the ‘‘pro- 17 gram’’). 18 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para- 19 graph (1) shall include the following: 20 (A) The number of veterans and families 21 served under the program during the 1-year pe- 22 riod preceding the date of the enactment of this 23 Act, disaggregated, if such information is avail- 24 able, by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2172 IS (i) race and ethnicity; 1 (ii) gender; 2 (iii) geographic location; and 3 (iv) age. 4 (B) A description of support provided to 5 special populations under the program, includ- 6 ing elderly veterans, women veterans, children 7 of veterans, disabled veterans, veterans 8 transitioning from certain institutions, and mi- 9 nority veterans. 10 (C) A description of the decision-making 11 process of the Department of Veterans Affairs 12 regarding which locations would be eligible for 13 coverage under the program. 14 (D) An assessment of whether increasing 15 the payment rate under the program is nec- 16 essary. 17 (E) An assessment of whether it is feasible 18 and beneficial to expand the program nation- 19 ally. 20 (F) An assessment of the efficacy of the 21 increased payments provided under the program 22 based on increases in number of veterans served 23 and number of veterans transitioned into per- 24 manent housing. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2172 IS (b) INCREASE IN PAYMENT RATE.—If the assess- 1 ment described in subsection (a)(2)(D) finds that increas- 2 ing the payment rate under the program is necessary, the 3 Secretary shall issue such regulations as may be necessary 4 to increase such rate. 5 (c) EXPANSION OF PROGRAM.—If the assessment de- 6 scribed in subsection (a)(2)(E) finds that it is feasible and 7 beneficial to expand the program nationally, the Secretary 8 shall so expand the program not later than two years after 9 date on which the report required by subsection (a)(1) is 10 submitted. 11 SEC. 6. HOUSING AND HEALTH CARE NAVIGATORS GRANT 12 PROGRAM. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 20 of 14 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 15 (1) by redesignating section 2014 as section 16 2015; and 17 (2) by inserting after section 2013 the following 18 new section 2014: 19 ‘‘§ 2014. Housing and health care navigators grant 20 program 21 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall es- 22 tablish and carry out a program under which the Sec- 23 retary shall provide services to assist veterans with navi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2172 IS gating housing and health care resources in order to im- 1 prove the retention of housing by and overall health of— 2 ‘‘(1) veterans who were previously homeless and 3 are transitioning to permanent housing; and 4 ‘‘(2) veterans who are at risk of becoming 5 homeless. 6 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary shall carry out the 7 program established under subsection (a) through the 8 award of grants. 9 ‘‘(2) In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the 10 Secretary shall give priority to organizations that dem- 11 onstrate the capability to provide services described in 12 subsection (a), particularly organizations that are success- 13 fully providing or have successfully provided transitional 14 housing services using amounts provided by the Secretary 15 under sections 2012 and 2061 of this title. 16 ‘‘(c) STAFFING.—In areas where individuals who 17 meet the licensure and certification requirements to pro- 18 vide services described in subsection (a) are in high de- 19 mand as determined by the Secretary, a grantee under the 20 program may provide such services through one or more 21 individuals with a master’s degree in social work who are 22 undergoing training to meet such requirements, if such in- 23 dividuals are under the supervision of an individual who 24 meets such requirements. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2172 IS ‘‘(d) SERVICES.—Services provided under this section 1 shall include services to assist veterans with navigating re- 2 sources provided by the Federal Government and State, 3 local, and Tribal governments. 4 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON SERVICES PROVIDED.—The Sec- 5 retary shall require each recipient of a grant awarded 6 under subsection (b)(1) to submit to the Secretary a re- 7 port that describes the services provided or coordinated 8 with amounts under such grant.’’. 9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 20013(a) 10 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act 11 (38 U.S.C. 2011 note) is amended by striking ‘‘2014’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘2015’’. 13 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 14 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 15 by striking the item relating to section 2014 and inserting 16 the following new items: 17 ‘‘2014. Housing and health care navigators grant program. ‘‘2015. Authorization of appropriations.’’. SEC. 7. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE USE AND ALCO- 18 HOL USE DISORDER RECOVERY FOR HOME- 19 LESS VETERANS. 20 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 21 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 22 retary of Veterans Affairs shall commence carrying out a 23 pilot program under which the Secretary shall award 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2172 IS grants to eligible entities for the provision or coordination 1 of services for recovery from substance use disorder or al- 2 cohol use disorder for veterans who were previously home- 3 less and are transitioning to permanent housing and vet- 4 erans who are at risk of becoming homeless. 5 (b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 6 pilot program during the five-year period beginning on the 7 date of the commencement of the pilot program. 8 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 10 program, the Secretary shall award a grant to an el- 11 igible entity for each veteran with substance use dis- 12 order or alcohol use disorder participating in the 13 pilot program for which the eligible entity is pro- 14 viding or coordinating the provision of recovery serv- 15 ices for substance use disorder or alcohol use dis- 16 order, as the case may be, under the pilot program. 17 (2) INTERVALS OF PAYMENT AND MAXIMUM 18 AMOUNTS.—The Secretary may establish intervals of 19 payment for the administration of grants under this 20 section and a maximum amount to be awarded, in 21 accordance with the services being provided and the 22 duration of such services. 23 (3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 24 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2172.IS S2172 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2172 IS eligible entities providing or coordinatin [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]