Fighting Homelessness Through Services and Housing Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1978 To fight homelessness in the United States by authorizing a grant program within the Health Resources and Services Administration for housing programs that offer comprehensive services and intensive case manage- ment for homeless individuals and families. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CORREA, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. COSTA) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Finan- cial Services A BILL To fight homelessness in the United States by authorizing a grant program within the Health Resources and Serv- ices Administration for housing programs that offer com- prehensive services and intensive case management for homeless individuals and families. 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 ‘‘Fighting Homelessness 4 Through Services and Housing Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1978 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Health 2 Resources and Services Administration (referred to in this 3 section as the ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the 4 working group established under subsection (b), shall es- 5 tablish a grant program to award competitive grants to 6 eligible entities for the planning and implementation of 7 programs to address homelessness. 8 (b) WORKING GROUP.—The Administrator shall es- 9 tablish an interagency working group to provide advice to 10 the Administrator in carrying out the program under sub- 11 section (a). The working group shall include representa- 12 tives from the United States Interagency Council on 13 Homelessness, Department of Education, Department of 14 Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and 15 Urban Development, Department of Labor, Department 16 of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, De- 17 partment of Agriculture, Department of the Treasury, De- 18 partment of Justice, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. 19 (c) TYPES OF GRANTS.— 20 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program 22 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall 23 award 5-year implementation grants to eligible 24 entities to assist such entities in carrying out 25 activities, and paying capital building costs, as- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1978 IH sociated with the provision of housing and serv- 1 ices to homeless individuals and families, in- 2 cluding homeless children and youths (as de- 3 fined by section 725 of the McKinney-Vento 4 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)), 5 or those at risk of becoming homeless. 6 (B) AMOUNT.—The amount awarded to an 7 entity under a grant under this paragraph shall 8 not exceed $25,000,000. 9 (C) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—With re- 10 spect to the costs of the activities to be carried 11 out by an entity under a grant under this para- 12 graph, the entity shall make available (directly 13 or through donations from public or private en- 14 tities) non-Federal contributions toward such 15 costs in an amount that equals 25 percent of 16 the amount of the grant. 17 (2) PLANNING GRANTS.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program 19 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall 20 award 1-year planning grants to eligible entities 21 to assist such entities in developing comprehen- 22 sive plans to address homelessness in the com- 23 munities and regions served by such entities or 24 to enhance the effectiveness of existing pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1978 IH grams that serve homeless individuals and fami- 1 lies, including homeless children and youths (as 2 defined by section 725 of the McKinney-Vento 3 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)), 4 or those at risk of becoming homeless. 5 (B) AMOUNT.—The amount awarded to an 6 entity under a grant under this paragraph shall 7 not exceed $100,000, and such amount shall 8 not be subject to any matching requirement. 9 (d) ELIGIBILITY.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 11 grant under the program under subsection (a), an 12 entity shall— 13 (A) be a governmental entity (at the coun- 14 ty, city, regional, or locality level), Indian tribe, 15 or tribal organization; 16 (B) demonstrate that the capacity of the 17 entity for providing services under the grant in- 18 cludes the ability to address mental health, sub- 19 stance use disorder and recovery services, dis- 20 abling or other chronic health conditions, edu- 21 cational and job training or employment out- 22 comes, and life skills needs (including financial 23 literacy); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1978 IH (C) submit to the Administrator an appli- 1 cation that includes an assurance that, in car- 2 rying out activities under the grant, the entity 3 will— 4 (i) ensure stable housing, intensive 5 case management, and comprehensive serv- 6 ices that include, at minimum, mental 7 health, substance use disorder treatment 8 and recovery services, education and job 9 training, age-appropriate services for chil- 10 dren, and life skills training (such as fi- 11 nancial literacy training); 12 (ii) coordinate with the population to 13 be served by the entity to ensure that sup- 14 portive services are tailored to meet the 15 specific and actual needs of the individuals 16 and families served; 17 (iii) coordinate with local law enforce- 18 ment, courts (including specialized courts), 19 probation, and other public services agen- 20 cies to conduct outreach and better iden- 21 tify at-risk or homeless populations that 22 would benefit from services offered by the 23 entity; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1978 IH (iv) follow trauma-informed best prac- 1 tices to address the needs of the popu- 2 lations to be served; 3 (v) provide services under the grant 4 on-site or in-home as appropriate; 5 (vi) provide assistance in addressing 6 the transportation needs of individuals for 7 services provided under the grant off-site; 8 and 9 (vii) comply with additional require- 10 ments, if the entity intends to serve fami- 11 lies with children under the grant, to en- 12 sure— 13 (I) that services include chil- 14 dren’s behavioral and mental health 15 services, early childhood education, 16 regular and age-appropriate children’s 17 programming and activities, child 18 health, development, and nutrition 19 screening (including coordination of 20 medical and well-child services), and 21 parenting classes and support pro- 22 grams; 23 (II) in conditions where family 24 housing is provided in a central facil- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1978 IH ity and not in mixed units in a com- 1 mercial building, that a safe space for 2 play and age-appropriate activities is 3 available on-site and has regular 4 hours of operation; and 5 (III) that the entity has in place 6 protocol for staff training and best 7 practices to identify and prevent child 8 trafficking, abuse, and neglect. 9 (2) CASE MANAGEMENT.—An entity receiving a 10 grant under this section shall ensure that case man- 11 agement provided by the entity under the grant does 12 not exceed a ratio of 1 caseworker to 20 cases. 13 (3) PARTNERSHIPS.—An entity may enter into 14 a partnership with more than one provider that may 15 include a local health agency, non-profit service pro- 16 viders, medical and mental health providers, housing 17 providers, and other service providers as necessary. 18 (e) OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS.— 19 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 20 after the date on which a grant is received by an en- 21 tity under subsection (a), and annually thereafter 22 for the term of the grant, such entity shall submit 23 to the Administrator a report on the activities car- 24 ried out under the grant. Such report shall include, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1978 IH with respect to activities carried out under the grant 1 in the community served, measures of outcomes re- 2 lating to— 3 (A) whether individuals and families who 4 are served continued to have housing and did 5 not experience intermittent periods of homeless- 6 ness; 7 (B) whether individuals and families who 8 are served see improvements in their physical 9 and mental health, have access to a specific pri- 10 mary care provider, promptly receive any need- 11 ed health care, and have a health care plan that 12 meets their individual needs (including access to 13 mental health and substance use treatment as 14 applicable, and family-based treatment models); 15 (C) whether children who are served are 16 enrolled in school, attend regularly, and are re- 17 ceiving services to meet their educational needs; 18 (D) whether children who are served have 19 access to trauma-informed mental health care 20 and screening for any mental and behavioral 21 health needs, as well as other services to meet 22 their needs, as appropriate; 23 (E) how grant funds are used; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1978 IH (F) other matters determined appropriate 1 by the Administrator. 2 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 3 subsection shall be construed to condition the receipt 4 of future housing and other services by individuals 5 under the grant on the outcomes detailed in the re- 6 ports submitted under paragraph (1). 7 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘Indian 8 tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’ have the meanings given 9 such terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 10 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304) and shall 11 include tribally designated housing entities (as defined in 12 section 4(22) of the Native American Housing Assistance 13 and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103(22)) 14 and entities that serve Native Hawaiians (as defined in 15 section 338K(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 16 U.S.C. 254s(c)). 17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 19 $750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025, 20 of which— 21 (1) not less than 5 percent of such funds shall 22 be awarded to Indian tribes and tribal organizations; 23 (2) $5,000,000 shall be made available for plan- 24 ning grants under subsection (c)(2); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1978 IH (3) the remainder shall be made available for 1 implementation grants under subsection (c)(1). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS