Bridge to End Homelessness Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4936 To establish a grant program to provide temporary housing to homeless individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To establish a grant program to provide temporary housing to homeless individuals, 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 ‘‘Bridge to End Home- 4 lessness Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY HOUSING GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 7 and Urban Development (in this Act referred to as the 8 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a competitive grant program 9 to provide grants to eligible entities under subsection (b) 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4936.IH H4936 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4936 IH to provide interim housing to individuals experiencing 1 homelessness. 2 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 3 under subsection (a), an entity shall— 4 (1) be a governmental entity at the county, city, 5 regional, or locality level; 6 (2) submit a plan for targeted outreach to indi- 7 viduals experiencing homelessness within the juris- 8 diction of the entity or a partner of the entity; and 9 (3) submit to the Secretary an application that 10 includes a plan and assurances to provide for— 11 (A) identifying unused property or land 12 that— 13 (i) is located within the entity’s juris- 14 diction or partner entity’s jurisdiction; and 15 (ii) will be converted into a facility for 16 interim housing for such individuals; 17 (B) furnishing such facility with on-site 18 mental health, employment, substance use dis- 19 order, and wellness resources, except that for 20 services that cannot be furnished on-site, the 21 plan shall provide for direct linkage to transpor- 22 tation services to appointments for such serv- 23 ices; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4936.IH H4936 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4936 IH (C) accommodation of service animals and 1 pets at such facility; 2 (D) permanent, on-site supervision of such 3 facility; 4 (E) coordination of such facility with pub- 5 lic services agencies and law enforcement; and 6 (F) keeping the administrative entity for 7 the local Continuum of Care under subtitle C of 8 title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless As- 9 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) in- 10 formed. 11 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Each entity provided a grant 12 under this section shall— 13 (1) employ trauma-informed principles; 14 (2) employ a Housing First approach that 15 prioritizes permanent housing to people experiencing 16 homelessness; and 17 (3) provide connections to permanent housing 18 as a part of any case management provided. 19 (d) GRANT FUNDS.—An entity provided a grant 20 under this section shall receive— 21 (1) not more than $10,000,000 in the first year 22 of the grant, to remain available until expended, for 23 costs of acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4936.IH H4936 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4936 IH repurposing of a property to be used as an interim 1 housing facility; and 2 (2) not more than $2,000,000 in each of the 5 3 subsequent years for costs associated with providing 4 services at such facility. 5 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—An entity may enter into a 6 partnership with providers of services for the interim 7 housing facility established with grant amounts under this 8 section, including local health agencies, medical, mental 9 health, and substance use treatment providers, employ- 10 ment services providers, housing providers, and such other 11 service providers as necessary. 12 (f) MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 13 (1) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall de- 14 velop measures of outcomes to be applied by recipi- 15 ents of grants under this section in evaluating the 16 effectiveness of programs carried out under this sec- 17 tion. 18 (2) ANNUAL SUBMISSION OF DATA.—Each eligi- 19 ble entity described in subsection (b) that receives a 20 grant under this section shall annually submit to the 21 Secretary a report that includes data to evaluate the 22 success of the program carried out by the entity 23 based on whether such program is achieving the pur- 24 poses of the program. Such reports shall utilize the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4936.IH H4936 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4936 IH measures of outcomes under paragraph (1) in a rea- 1 sonable manner to demonstrate the progress of the 2 program in achieving such purposes. 3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 5 (1) for fiscal year 2020, $100,000,000; and 6 (2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 7 through 2025. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4936.IH H4936 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS