Homeless Veterans Prevention Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 980 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the provision of services for homeless veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. CORNYN, and Ms. HIRONO) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the provision of services for 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeless Veterans 4 Prevention Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 980 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF PER DIEM PAYMENTS FOR 1 FURNISHING CARE TO DEPENDENTS OF CER- 2 TAIN HOMELESS VETERANS. 3 Subsection (a) of section 2012 of title 38, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(4) Services for which a recipient of a grant under 7 section 2011 of this title (or an entity described in para- 8 graph (1)) may receive per diem payments under this sub- 9 section may include furnishing care for a dependent of a 10 homeless veteran who is under the care of such homeless 11 veteran while such homeless veteran receives services from 12 the grant recipient (or entity).’’. 13 SEC. 3. PARTNERSHIPS WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTI- 14 TIES TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES TO 15 HOMELESS VETERANS AND VETERANS AT 16 RISK OF HOMELESSNESS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 20 of title 38, United 18 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2022 19 the following new section: 20 ‘‘§ 2022A. Partnerships with public and private enti- 21 ties to provide legal services to homeless 22 veterans and veterans at risk of home- 23 lessness 24 ‘‘(a) PARTNERSHIPS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the 25 availability of funds for that purpose, the Secretary shall 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 980 IS enter into partnerships with public or private entities to 1 fund a portion of the general legal services specified in 2 subsection (c) that are provided by such entities to home- 3 less veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness. 4 ‘‘(b) LOCATIONS.—(1) The Secretary shall ensure 5 that, to the extent practicable, partnerships under this sec- 6 tion are made with entities equitably distributed across the 7 geographic regions of the United States, including rural 8 communities, tribal lands of the United States, Native 9 Americans, and tribal organizations. 10 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the terms ‘Native American’ 11 and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings given such 12 terms in section 3765 of this title. 13 ‘‘(c) LEGAL SERVICES.—Legal services specified in 14 this subsection include legal services provided by public 15 or private entities that address the needs of homeless vet- 16 erans and veterans at risk of homelessness as follows: 17 ‘‘(1) Legal services related to housing, including 18 eviction defense and representation in landlord-ten- 19 ant cases and foreclosure proceedings. 20 ‘‘(2) Legal services related to family law, in- 21 cluding assistance in court proceedings for family re- 22 unification, child support, divorce, and estate plan- 23 ning. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 980 IS ‘‘(3) Legal services related to income support, 1 including assistance in obtaining public benefits. 2 ‘‘(4) Legal services related to criminal defense, 3 including defense in matters symptomatic of home- 4 lessness, such as outstanding warrants, fines, and 5 driver’s license revocation, to reduce recidivism and 6 facilitate the overcoming of reentry obstacles in em- 7 ployment or housing. 8 ‘‘(5) Such other legal services as the Secretary 9 considers appropriate and necessary. 10 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and carrying 11 out partnerships under this section, the Secretary shall, 12 to the extent practicable, consult with public and private 13 entities— 14 ‘‘(1) for assistance in identifying and contacting 15 organizations described in subsection (c); and 16 ‘‘(2) to coordinate appropriate outreach rela- 17 tionships with such organizations. 18 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary may require entities 19 that have entered into partnerships under this section to 20 submit to the Secretary periodic reports on legal services 21 provided to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of 22 homelessness pursuant to such partnerships.’’. 23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 24 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 980 IS by adding after the item relating to section 2022 the fol- 1 lowing new item: 2 ‘‘2022A. Partnerships with public and private entities to provide legal services to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness.’’. SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 3 FAIRS AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE DENTAL 4 CARE TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 5 Subsection (b) of section 2062 of title 38, United 6 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—(1) Subsection (a) ap- 8 plies to a veteran who— 9 ‘‘(A) is enrolled for care under section 1705(a) 10 of this title; and 11 ‘‘(B) for a period of 60 consecutive days, is re- 12 ceiving— 13 ‘‘(i) assistance under section 8(o) of the 14 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 15 1437f(o)); or 16 ‘‘(ii) care (directly or by contract) in any 17 of the following settings: 18 ‘‘(I) A domiciliary under section 1710 19 of this title. 20 ‘‘(II) A therapeutic residence under 21 section 2032 of this title. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 980 IS ‘‘(III) Community residential care co- 1 ordinated by the Secretary under section 2 1730 of this title. 3 ‘‘(IV) A setting for which the Sec- 4 retary provides funds for a grant and per 5 diem provider. 6 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), in determining 7 whether a veteran has received assistance or care for a 8 period of 60 consecutive days, the Secretary may disregard 9 breaks in the continuity of assistance or care for which 10 the veteran is not responsible.’’. 11 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF SUNSET ON AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT 12 PROGRAM OF REFERRAL AND COUNSELING 13 SERVICES FOR VETERANS AT RISK FOR 14 HOMELESSNESS WHO ARE TRANSITIONING 15 FROM CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS. 16 Section 2023 of title 38, United States Code, is 17 amended— 18 (1) by striking subsection (d); and 19 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 20 section (d). 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 980 IS SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSIST- 1 ANCE FOR SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR VERY 2 LOW-INCOME VETERAN FAMILIES IN PERMA- 3 NENT HOUSING. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 2044(e) 5 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 6 the end the following new subparagraph: 7 ‘‘(H) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.’’. 8 (b) TRAINING ENTITIES FOR PROVISION OF SUP- 9 PORTIVE SERVICES.—Paragraph (3) of such section is 10 amended by inserting ‘‘and 2020’’ after ‘‘through 2012’’. 11 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT FOR COMPTROLLER GENERAL TO 12 STUDY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 13 HOMELESS VETERANS PROGRAMS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 16 of the United States shall complete a study of programs 17 of the Department of Veterans Affairs that provide assist- 18 ance to homeless veterans. 19 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study required by subsection 20 (a) shall include the following: 21 (1) An assessment of whether programs de- 22 scribed in subsection (a) are meeting the needs of 23 veterans who are eligible for assistance provided by 24 such programs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 980 IS (2) A review of recent efforts of the Secretary 1 of Veterans Affairs to improve the privacy, safety, 2 and security of female veterans receiving assistance 3 from such programs. 4 SEC. 8. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT FOR ANNUAL REPORTS 5 ON ASSISTANCE TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2065 of title 38, United 7 States Code, is hereby repealed. 8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 9 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 10 by striking the item relating to section 2065. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S980.IS S980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS