Homeless Veterans CREDIT Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6990 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the effect of financial and credit counseling for housing unstable veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mr. ROSE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the effect of financial and credit counseling for housing unstable veterans. 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 Credit Repair, Enhancement, and Debt Improvement for 5 Tomorrow Act’’ or the ‘‘Homeless Veterans CREDIT 6 Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. STUDY ON FINANCIAL AND CREDIT COUNSELING. 8 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 9 Affairs shall conduct a comprehensive study on— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6990 IH (1) the use of and variation of financial and 1 credit counseling services available for housing un- 2 stable veterans; 3 (2) barriers to accessing financial and credit 4 counseling for housing unstable veterans; and 5 (3) the ability to evaluate and assess the poten- 6 tial effects of financial and credit counseling for 7 housing unstable veterans with respect to housing, 8 employment, income, and other outcomes the Sec- 9 retary determines appropriate. 10 (b) METHODOLOGY.—In conducting the study under 11 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 12 (1) survey— 13 (A) housing unstable veterans who are en- 14 rolled in the Supportive Services for Veterans 15 Families program; 16 (B) housing unstable veterans who do not 17 seek or receive the care or services under such 18 program or a similar program; 19 (C) grantees of the Supportive Services for 20 Veterans Families program; 21 (D) financial and credit counselors; and 22 (E) persons who are subject matter experts 23 regarding the use of financial and credit coun- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6990 IH seling services that the Secretary determines 1 appropriate; and 2 (2) administer the survey to a representative 3 sample of housing unstable veterans and veterans in 4 areas with high veteran homelessness. 5 (c) USE AND VARIATION OF SERVICES.—In con- 6 ducting the study under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary 7 shall— 8 (1) use data from the Supportive Services for 9 Veterans Families program and other data collected 10 by the Department of Veterans Affairs, data col- 11 lected by other departments or agencies of the Fed- 12 eral Government, and data collected by nongovern- 13 mental entities to compare the use of and variation 14 of financial and credit counseling services available 15 for housing unstable veterans and such use and vari- 16 ation for other individuals; and 17 (2) assess such services made available through 18 the Supportive Services for Veterans Families pro- 19 gram, including with respect to the types, modes of 20 delivery, duration, consistency, and quality, of such 21 services. 22 (d) BARRIERS TO COUNSELING.—In conducting the 23 study under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall conduct 24 research on the effects of the following perceived barriers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6990 IH to financial and credit counseling for housing unstable vet- 1 erans surveyed in the study: 2 (1) The cost of financial and credit counseling 3 services. 4 (2) The perceived stigma associated with seek- 5 ing financial and credit counseling assistance. 6 (3) The effect of driving distance or availability 7 of other forms of transportation to the nearest facil- 8 ity that received a grant under the Supportive Serv- 9 ices for Veterans Families program. 10 (4) The availability of child care. 11 (5) The comprehension of eligibility require- 12 ments for, and the scope of services available under, 13 the Supportive Services for Veterans Families pro- 14 gram. 15 (6) The effectiveness of outreach for the serv- 16 ices available to housing unstable veterans under the 17 Supportive Services for Veterans Families program. 18 (7) The location and operating hours of facili- 19 ties that provide services to housing unstable vet- 20 erans under the Supportive Services for Veterans 21 Families program. 22 (8) The COVID–19 pandemic and other health 23 related issues. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6990 IH (9) Such other significant barriers as the Sec- 1 retary considers appropriate. 2 (e) EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF 3 COUNSELING.— 4 (1) EFFECTS.—In conducting the study under 5 subsection (a)(3), the Secretary shall conduct re- 6 search on the ability to evaluate and assess the po- 7 tential effects of financial and credit counseling serv- 8 ices on housing unstable veterans with respect to the 9 following: 10 (A) The effects of such services on employ- 11 ment by comparing the veterans who received 12 such services and the veterans who did not re- 13 ceive such services. 14 (B) The effects of such services on housing 15 status by comparing the veterans who received 16 such services and the veterans who did not re- 17 ceive such services. 18 (C) The effects of such services on income 19 by comparing the veterans who received such 20 services and the veterans who did not receive 21 such services. 22 (D) The effects of such services on credit 23 score by comparing the veterans who received 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6990 IH such services and the veterans who did not re- 1 ceive such services. 2 (E) The effects of such services on other 3 outcomes the Secretary determines appropriate. 4 (2) DATA AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—In car- 5 rying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 6 (A) determine the relevant data that is 7 available to the Secretary and determine the 8 confidence of the Secretary with respect to ac- 9 cessing any additional data the Secretary may 10 require; and 11 (B) provide recommendations regarding 12 the optimal research or evaluation design that 13 would generate the greatest insights and value. 14 (f) DISCHARGE BY CONTRACT.—The Secretary may 15 seek to enter into a contract with a qualified independent 16 entity or organization to carry out the study and research 17 required under this section, including such an entity or 18 organization that is able to access credit scores, data 19 maintained by the Internal Revenue Service, and other 20 date beneficial to studying income. 21 (g) MANDATORY REVIEW OF DATA BY CERTAIN 22 ELEMENTS OF DEPARTMENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 24 that the head of each element of the Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6990 IH Veterans Affairs specified in paragraph (2) reviews 1 the results of the study conducted under subsection 2 (a). The head of each such element shall submit to 3 the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Oper- 4 ations and Management the findings of the head 5 with respect to the study, including recommenda- 6 tions regarding what data the Secretary should col- 7 lect from grantees under the Supportive Services for 8 Veterans Families program. 9 (2) SPECIFIED ELEMENTS.—The elements of 10 the Department of Veterans Affairs specified in this 11 paragraph are the following: 12 (A) The Advisory Committee on Homeless 13 Veterans established under section 2066 of title 14 38, United States Code. 15 (B) The Advisory Committee on Women 16 Veterans established under section 542 of title 17 38, United States Code. 18 (C) The Advisory Committee on Minority 19 Veterans established under section 544 of title 20 38, United States Code. 21 (D) The Homeless Programs Office of the 22 Veterans Health Administration. 23 (E) The Office of Tribal Government Rela- 24 tions of the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6990 IH (h) REPORTS.— 1 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than one year 2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall submit to Congress an interim report on 4 the study under subsection (a). 5 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 months 6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 7 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the 8 study under subsection (a). The report shall in- 9 clude— 10 (A) the findings of the head of each ele- 11 ment of the Department specified under sub- 12 section (g)(2); and 13 (B) recommendations for such administra- 14 tive and legislative action as the Secretary con- 15 siders appropriate. 16 (i) DEFINITION.—In this section: 17 (1) The term ‘‘housing unstable veteran’’ means 18 a veteran that is without a permanent place to live 19 that is fit for human habitation. 20 (2) The term ‘‘Supportive Services for Veterans 21 Families program’’ means the program established 22 pursuant to section 2044 of title 38, United States 23 Code. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6990.IH H6990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS