Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3083 To authorize a new type of housing choice voucher to help achieve the goals of ending homelessness among families with children, increasing housing opportunities, and improving life outcomes of poor children. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize a new type of housing choice voucher to help achieve the goals of ending homelessness among families with children, increasing housing opportunities, and im- proving life outcomes of poor children. 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 ‘‘Family Stability and 4 Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3083 IS SEC. 2. FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY VOUCHERS. 1 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 2 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 3 end the following: 4 ‘‘(21) FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY 5 VOUCHERS.— 6 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 7 ‘‘(i) The term ‘area of concentrated 8 poverty’ means a census tract in which the 9 poverty rate is not less than 30 percent, as 10 most recently determined by the Bureau of 11 the Census. 12 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘eligible family’ means 13 a family that— 14 ‘‘(I) includes a pregnant woman 15 or a child under the age of 6; 16 ‘‘(II) meets all applicable eligi- 17 bility requirements under this sub- 18 section; and 19 ‘‘(III) is— 20 ‘‘(aa) homeless; 21 ‘‘(bb) unstably housed; 22 ‘‘(cc) living in an area of 23 concentrated poverty; or 24 ‘‘(dd) at risk of displace- 25 ment from an opportunity area 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3083 IS for children or an area rapidly 1 transitioning to become an oppor- 2 tunity area for children. 3 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘homeless’, with re- 4 spect to a family, means the family would 5 satisfy the definition of ‘homeless children 6 and youths’ (as defined in section 725 of 7 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)) but for the re- 9 quirement to be a child or youth. 10 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘opportunity area for 11 children’ shall have the meaning given the 12 term by the Secretary, using the best avail- 13 able, outcomes-based evidence. 14 ‘‘(v) The term ‘unstably housed’, with 15 respect to a family, means a family who— 16 ‘‘(I) is at risk of losing tem- 17 porary or permanent housing; 18 ‘‘(II) has moved not less than 19 twice during the 12-month period end- 20 ing on the date on which a public 21 housing agency selects the family 22 from a waiting list to receive assist- 23 ance under this paragraph; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3083 IS ‘‘(III) is living in a unit not ac- 1 cessible to a disabled family member; 2 ‘‘(IV) is fleeing, or attempting to 3 flee, domestic violence, dating vio- 4 lence, sexual assault, or stalking; or 5 ‘‘(V) is living in housing condi- 6 tions that are dangerous or life- 7 threatening. 8 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVE AWARD.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 10 shall provide assistance to public housing 11 agencies on a competitive basis to be used 12 for— 13 ‘‘(I) incremental vouchers for eli- 14 gible families; and 15 ‘‘(II) one-time additional fees for 16 the cost to the public housing agencies 17 of providing mobility-related services 18 to eligible families. 19 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION.—For the second fis- 20 cal year in which the Secretary provides 21 assistance under this paragraph, and each 22 fiscal year thereafter, in selecting public 23 housing agencies to receive assistance 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3083 IS under this paragraph, the Secretary 1 shall— 2 ‘‘(I) consider the performance of 3 public housing agencies in imple- 4 menting this paragraph; and 5 ‘‘(II) give preference to public 6 housing agencies that partner with or- 7 ganizations that provide home visiting 8 services, such as the services author- 9 ized under section 511 of the Social 10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711) or lo- 11 cally funded initiatives, if those serv- 12 ices are available in the service area of 13 the public housing agency. 14 ‘‘(C) SERVICES REQUIRED TO BE OFFERED 15 TO FAMILIES RECEIVING VOUCHERS.— 16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A public housing 17 agency that receives assistance under this 18 paragraph— 19 ‘‘(I) shall offer, to each eligible 20 family that the agency selects to re- 21 ceive a voucher, mobility-related serv- 22 ices to help the family move to an op- 23 portunity area for children with access 24 to a high-performing school; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3083 IS ‘‘(II) may not require an eligible 1 family to participate in the mobility- 2 related services described in subclause 3 (I) as a condition of receipt of a 4 voucher; and 5 ‘‘(III) shall adopt mobility-related 6 policies, to be specified by the Sec- 7 retary. 8 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM ASSORTMENT OF SERV- 9 ICES AND POLICIES.—The Secretary shall 10 establish a minimum assortment of types 11 of mobility-related services that a public 12 housing agency shall offer, and mobility-re- 13 lated policies that a public housing agency 14 shall adopt, under clause (i) based on 15 promising practices and evidence of the ef- 16 fectiveness of the services and policies. 17 ‘‘(iii) SPECIFIC SERVICES.—The types 18 of mobility-related services required to be 19 offered under clause (i)— 20 ‘‘(I) shall include a customized 21 approach to enable a successful tran- 22 sition to opportunity areas for chil- 23 dren; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 3083 IS ‘‘(II) may include counseling and 1 continued support for families. 2 ‘‘(iv) OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR CHIL- 3 DREN; HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS.—The 4 Secretary shall establish criteria for areas 5 and schools to qualify as opportunity areas 6 for children and high-performing schools, 7 respectively. 8 ‘‘(v) MANNER OF PROVIDING SERV- 9 ICES.—A public housing agency may pro- 10 vide mobility-related services as required 11 under clause (i) directly or through a local 12 partnership or contract. 13 ‘‘(D) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 14 ‘‘(i) TURNOVER.—Upon turnover of a 15 voucher issued by a public housing agency 16 using assistance received under this para- 17 graph, the public housing agency shall 18 issue the voucher to another eligible family 19 under this paragraph. 20 ‘‘(ii) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 21 Notwithstanding any other provision of 22 law, with respect to a voucher authorized 23 under this paragraph— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 3083 IS ‘‘(I) the Secretary may not waive 1 any provision of this paragraph or 2 subsection (r); and 3 ‘‘(II) subsection (b) of section 16 4 shall apply, except as provided under 5 subsection (d) of that section. 6 ‘‘(E) IMPLEMENTATION.— 7 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 8 180 days after the date of enactment of 9 this paragraph, the Secretary shall publish 10 a notice for public comment in the Federal 11 Register that includes any definitions or 12 other specifications required or authorized 13 under this paragraph. 14 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 15 ‘‘(I) INITIAL YEAR.—For the 16 first fiscal year for which amounts are 17 appropriated to be provided to public 18 housing agencies for incremental 19 vouchers under this paragraph, the 20 Secretary shall allocate the amounts 21 to public housing agencies not later 22 than 1 year after the date on which 23 the amounts are appropriated. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 3083 IS ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—For 1 any fiscal year after the fiscal year de- 2 scribed in subclause (I), the Secretary 3 shall allocate amounts to public hous- 4 ing agencies for incremental vouchers 5 under this paragraph not later than 6 180 days after the date on which the 7 amounts are appropriated. 8 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 9 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro- 10 priated to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 11 2020 through 2024 such sums as may be nec- 12 essary to provide assistance to public housing 13 agencies under this paragraph to be used for— 14 ‘‘(i) 100,000 incremental vouchers, as 15 described in subparagraph (B)(i)(I); 16 ‘‘(ii) fees for the cost of administering 17 the incremental vouchers described in sub- 18 paragraph (B)(i)(I); and 19 ‘‘(iii) one-time additional fees for mo- 20 bility-related services, as described in sub- 21 paragraph (B)(i)(II).’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Dec 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3083.IS S3083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS