Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2803 To provide Federal housing assistance on behalf of youths who are aging out of foster care, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To provide Federal housing assistance on behalf of youths who are aging out of foster care, 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 ‘‘Fostering Stable Hous- 4 ing Opportunities Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FAMILY. 6 Subparagraph (A) of section 3(b)(3) of the United 7 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(3)(A)) 8 is amended— 9 (1) in the first sentence— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2803 IS (A) by striking ‘‘(v)’’ and inserting ‘‘(vi)’’; 1 and 2 (B) by inserting after ‘‘tenant family,’’ the 3 following: ‘‘(v) a youth described in section 4 8(x)(2)(B),’’; and 5 (2) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘or 6 (vi)’’ after ‘‘clause (v)’’. 7 SEC. 3. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS FOR FOSTERING STA- 8 BLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES. 9 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER 10 CARE.—Section 8(x) of the United States Housing Act of 11 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)) is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘subject to 13 paragraph (5),’’ after ‘‘(B)’’; 14 (2) in paragraph (3)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.—The’’ 16 and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The’’; and 19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 20 subparagraph: 21 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT 22 OF FOSTER CARE.—Notwithstanding any other 23 provision of law, the Secretary shall, subject 24 only to the availability of funds, allocate such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2803 IS assistance to any public housing agencies that 1 (i) administer assistance pursuant to paragraph 2 (2)(B), or seek to administer such assistance, 3 consistent with procedures established by the 4 Secretary, (ii) have requested such assistance so 5 that they may provide timely assistance to eligi- 6 ble youth, and (iii) have submitted to the Sec- 7 retary a statement describing how the agency 8 will connect assisted youths with local commu- 9 nity resources and self-sufficiency services, to 10 the extent they are available, and obtain refer- 11 rals from public child welfare agencies regard- 12 ing youths in foster care who become eligible 13 for such assistance.’’; 14 (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para- 15 graph (6); and 16 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol- 17 lowing new paragraph: 18 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE FOR 19 YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE.—Assistance 20 provided under this subsection for an eligible youth 21 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall be subject to the 22 following requirements: 23 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS TO EXTEND ASSIST- 24 ANCE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2803 IS ‘‘(i) PARTICIPATION IN FAMILY SELF- 1 SUFFICIENCY.—In the case of a public 2 housing agency that is providing such as- 3 sistance under this subsection on behalf of 4 an eligible youth and that is carrying out 5 a family self-sufficiency program under 6 section 23, the agency shall, subject only 7 to the availability of such assistance, ex- 8 tend the provision of such assistance for 9 up to 24 months beyond the period re- 10 ferred to in paragraph (2)(B), but only 11 during such period that the youth is in 12 compliance with the terms and conditions 13 applicable under section 23 and the regula- 14 tions implementing such section to a per- 15 son participating in a family self-suffi- 16 ciency program. 17 ‘‘(ii) EDUCATION, WORKFORCE DE- 18 VELOPMENT, OR EMPLOYMENT.—In the 19 case of a public housing agency that is 20 providing such assistance under this sub- 21 section on behalf of an eligible youth and 22 that is not carrying out a family self-suffi- 23 ciency program under section 23, or is car- 24 rying out such a program in which the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2803 IS youth has been unable to enroll, the agency 1 shall, subject only to the availability of 2 such assistance, extend the provision of 3 such assistance for two successive 12- 4 month periods, after the period referred to 5 in paragraph (2)(B), but only if for not 6 less than 9 months of the 12-month period 7 preceding each such extension the youth 8 was— 9 ‘‘(I) engaged in obtaining a rec- 10 ognized postsecondary credential or a 11 secondary school diploma or its recog- 12 nized equivalent; 13 ‘‘(II) enrolled in an institution of 14 higher education, as such term is de- 15 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher 16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17 1001(a)) and including the institu- 18 tions described in subparagraphs (A) 19 and (B) of section 102(a)(1) of such 20 Act (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)(1)); or 21 ‘‘(III) participating in a career 22 pathway, as such term is defined in 23 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2803 IS and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 1 3102). 2 Notwithstanding any other provision of 3 this clause, a public housing agency shall 4 consider employment as satisfying the re- 5 quirements under this subparagraph. 6 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding 7 clauses (i) and (ii), a public housing agen- 8 cy that is providing such assistance under 9 this subsection on behalf of an eligible 10 youth shall extend the provision of such as- 11 sistance for up to 24 months beyond the 12 period referred to in paragraph (2)(B), 13 and clauses (i) and (ii) of this subpara- 14 graph shall not apply, if the eligible youth 15 certifies that he or she is— 16 ‘‘(I) a parent or other household 17 member responsible for the care of a 18 dependent child under the age of 6 or 19 for the care of an incapacitated per- 20 son; 21 ‘‘(II) a person who is regularly 22 and actively participating in a drug 23 addiction or alcohol treatment and re- 24 habilitation program; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2803 IS ‘‘(III) a person who is incapable 1 of complying with the requirement 2 under clause (i) or (ii), as applicable, 3 due to a documented medical condi- 4 tion. 5 ‘‘(iv) VERIFICATION OF COMPLI- 6 ANCE.—The Secretary shall require the 7 public housing agency to verify compliance 8 with the requirements under this subpara- 9 graph by each eligible youth on whose be- 10 half the agency provides such assistance 11 under this subsection on an annual basis 12 in conjunction with reviews of income for 13 purposes of determining income eligibility 14 for such assistance. 15 ‘‘(B) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.— 16 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBILITY.—Each eligible 17 youth on whose behalf such assistance 18 under this subsection is provided shall be 19 eligible for any supportive services (as such 20 term is defined in section 103 of the Work- 21 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 22 U.S.C. 3102)) made available, in connec- 23 tion with any housing assistance program 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2803 IS of the agency, by or through the public 1 housing agency providing such assistance. 2 ‘‘(ii) INFORMATION.—Upon the initial 3 provision of such assistance under this 4 subsection on behalf of any eligible youth, 5 the public housing agency shall inform 6 such eligible youth of the existence of any 7 programs or services referred to in clause 8 (i) and of their eligibility for such pro- 9 grams and services. 10 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY TO MOVING TO WORK 11 AGENCIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 12 sion of law, the requirements of this paragraph 13 shall apply to assistance under this subsection 14 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) made available 15 by each public housing agency participating in 16 the Moving to Work Program under section 204 17 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 18 Housing and Urban Development, and Inde- 19 pendent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 20 U.S.C. 1437f note), except that in lieu of com- 21 pliance with clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph 22 (A) of this paragraph, such an agency may 23 comply with the requirements under such 24 clauses by complying with such terms, condi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2803 IS tions, and requirements as may be established 1 by the agency for persons on whose behalf such 2 rental assistance under this subsection is pro- 3 vided. 4 ‘‘(D) TERMINATION OF VOUCHERS UPON 5 TURN-OVER.—A public housing agency shall not 6 reissue any such assistance made available from 7 appropriated funds when assistance for the 8 youth initially assisted is terminated, unless 9 specifically authorized by the Secretary. 10 ‘‘(E) REPORTS.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 12 shall require each public housing agency 13 that provides such assistance under this 14 subsection in any fiscal year to submit a 15 report to the Secretary for such fiscal year 16 that— 17 ‘‘(I) specifies the number of per- 18 sons on whose behalf such assistance 19 under this subsection was provided 20 during such fiscal year; 21 ‘‘(II) specifies the number of per- 22 sons who applied during such fiscal 23 year for such assistance under this 24 subsection, but were not provided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2803 IS such assistance, and provides a brief 1 identification in each instance of the 2 reason why the public housing agency 3 was unable to award such assistance; 4 and 5 ‘‘(III) describes how the public 6 housing agency communicated or col- 7 laborated with public child welfare 8 agencies to collect such data. 9 ‘‘(ii) INFORMATION COLLECTIONS.— 10 The Secretary shall, to the greatest extent 11 possible, utilize existing information collec- 12 tions, including the Voucher Management 13 System (VMS), the Inventory Management 14 System/PIH Information Center (IMS/ 15 PIC), or the successors of those systems, 16 to collect information required under this 17 subparagraph. 18 ‘‘(F) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 19 consult with the Secretary of Health and 20 Human Services to provide such information 21 and guidance to the Secretary of Health and 22 Human Services as may be necessary to facili- 23 tate such Secretary in informing States and 24 public child welfare agencies on how to correctly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2803 IS and efficiently implement and comply with the 1 requirements of this subsection relating to as- 2 sistance provided pursuant to paragraph 3 (2)(B).’’. 4 (b) COORDINATION BETWEEN PHAS AND PUBLIC 5 CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES.— 6 (1) APPLICABILITY TO FOSTERING STABLE 7 HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.—Subparagraph 8 (A) of section 8(x)(4) of the United States Housing 9 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)(4)(A)) is amended 10 by inserting before the semicolon at the end the fol- 11 lowing: ‘‘and establishing a point of contact at public 12 housing agencies to ensure that public housing agen- 13 cies receive appropriate referrals regarding eligible 14 recipients’’. 15 (c) PHA ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.—Subsection (q) of 16 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 17 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing new paragraph: 19 ‘‘(5) SUPPLEMENTS FOR ADMINISTERING AS- 20 SISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER 21 CARE.—The Secretary may provide supplemental 22 fees under this subsection to the public housing 23 agency for the cost of administering any assistance 24 for foster youth under subsection (x)(2)(B), in an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2803 IS amount determined by the Secretary, but only if the 1 agency waives for such eligible youth receiving as- 2 sistance any residency requirement that it has other- 3 wise established pursuant to subsection 4 (r)(1)(B)(i).’’. 5 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS FOR PROJECT-BASED 6 VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 7 (a) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.—The first sentence of 8 clause (ii) of section 8(o)(13)(B) of the United States 9 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)(B)(ii)) is 10 amended by inserting before ‘‘or that’’ the following: ‘‘that 11 house eligible youths receiving assistance pursuant to sub- 12 section (x)(2)(B),’’. 13 (b) INCOME-MIXING REQUIREMENT.—Subclause (I) 14 of section 8(o)(13)(D)(ii) of the United States Housing 15 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)(D)(ii)(I)) is amend- 16 ed by inserting after ‘‘elderly families’’ the following: ‘‘, 17 to eligible youths receiving assistance pursuant to sub- 18 section (x)(2)(B),’’. 19 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 20 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply 21 to housing choice voucher assistance made available pur- 22 suant to section 8(x) of the United States Housing Act 23 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)) that is in use on behalf of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2803 IS an assisted family as of the date of the enactment of this 1 Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2803.IS S2803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS