Reducing Veteran Homelessness Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8275 To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, to make certain enhancements to grants and agreements between the Secretary of Vet- erans Affairs and entities that provide services to homeless veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. MCCARTHY (for himself, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. BOST, Mr. DUNN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. COOK, and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Fami- lies Act of 2012, to make certain enhancements to grants and agreements between the Secretary of Veterans Af- fairs and entities that provide services to homeless vet- erans. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Sep 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8275.IH H8275 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8275 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Veteran 2 Homelessness Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS BE- 4 TWEEN THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF- 5 FAIRS AND ENTITIES THAT PROVIDE SERV- 6 ICES TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 7 Section 2012(a)(2)(B) of title 38, United States 8 Code, is amended— 9 (1) by striking clause (i) and inserting the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the rate deter- 12 mined under this paragraph shall be the higher of— 13 ‘‘(I) 125 percent of the rate authorized for 14 State homes for domiciliary care under subsection 15 (a)(1)(A) of section 1741 of this title, as the Sec- 16 retary may increase from time to time under sub- 17 section (c) of that section; or 18 ‘‘(II) regulations prescribed by the Secretary 19 that determine such rate based on locality.’’; and 20 (2) by adding at the end the following new 21 clause (iii): 22 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary may reimburse the recipient of 23 a grant under section 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2061 of this 24 title for fees charged to that grant recipient for the use 25 of the homeless management information system described 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Sep 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8275.IH H8275 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8275 IH in section 402 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist- 1 ance Act (Public Law 100–77; 42 U.S.C. 11630a)— 2 ‘‘(I) in amounts the Secretary determines to be 3 reasonable; and 4 ‘‘(II) if the Secretary determines that the grant 5 recipient is unable to obtain information contained 6 in such system through other means and at no cost 7 to the grant recipient.’’. 8 SEC. 3. CONTRACTING FOR HUD–VASH CASE MANAGERS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Honoring 10 America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Fami- 11 lies Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–154; 38 U.S.C. 2041 12 note) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a)— 14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Sec- 15 retary’’; and 16 (B) by adding at the end the following new 17 paragraphs: 18 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the 19 director of a covered medical center shall seek to enter 20 into a contract or agreement described in paragraph (1). 21 ‘‘(B) A contract or agreement under subparagraph 22 (A) may require that a case manager employed by an eligi- 23 ble entity have credentials equivalent to those of a case 24 manager of the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Sep 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8275.IH H8275 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8275 IH ‘‘(C) The Secretary may waive the requirement under 1 subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that ful- 2 filling such requirement is infeasible. If the Secretary 3 grants such a waiver, the Secretary shall submit, not later 4 than 90 days after granting such waiver, to the Commit- 5 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 6 resentatives, a report containing— 7 ‘‘(i) an explanation of that determination; 8 ‘‘(ii) a plan to increase the number of case 9 managers of the Department; and 10 ‘‘(iii) a plan for the covered medical center to 11 increase use of such vouchers. 12 ‘‘(D) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered medical 13 center’ means a medical center of the Department that 14 the Secretary determines— 15 ‘‘(i) had more than 15 percent of all vouchers 16 allocated to that medical center under the program 17 described in paragraph (1) through the fiscal year 18 preceding such determination go unused due to a 19 lack of case management services provided by the 20 Secretary; and 21 ‘‘(ii) has a case manager position that has been 22 vacant for at least nine consecutive months imme- 23 diately preceding the date of such determination.’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Sep 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8275.IH H8275 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8275 IH (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 1 (A) in the matter before subparagraph (A), 2 by striking ‘‘, including because—’’ and insert- 3 ing a period; and 4 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A), (B), 5 and (C). 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 8 fiscal year to begin on or after the date of the enactment 9 of this Act. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Sep 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8275.IH H8275 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS