Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1257 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 APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) 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 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY VOUCHERS. 6 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 7 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), as amended by section 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1257 IS 601(a)(2)(B) of division AA of the Consolidated Appro- 1 priations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328; ), is amended 2 by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(23) FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY 4 VOUCHERS.— 5 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 6 ‘‘(i) The term ‘area of concentrated 7 poverty’ means a census tract in which the 8 poverty rate is not less than 30 percent, as 9 most recently determined by the Bureau of 10 the Census. 11 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘at risk of homeless- 12 ness’ has the meaning given the term in 13 section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Home- 14 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360). 15 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘eligible family’ means 16 a family that— 17 ‘‘(I)(aa) will welcome a minor 18 child through birth or adoption in the 19 next 300 days; or 20 ‘‘(bb) has not less than 1 child 21 under the age of 6; 22 ‘‘(II) meets all applicable eligi- 23 bility requirements under this sub- 24 section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1257 IS ‘‘(III) is— 1 ‘‘(aa) homeless; 2 ‘‘(bb) unstably housed; 3 ‘‘(cc) living in an area of 4 concentrated poverty; or 5 ‘‘(dd) at risk of displace- 6 ment from— 7 ‘‘(AA) an opportunity 8 area for children; or 9 ‘‘(BB) an area rapidly 10 transitioning to become an 11 opportunity area for chil- 12 dren. 13 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘high-performing 14 school’ shall have the meaning given the 15 term by the Secretary, using the best avail- 16 able evidence. 17 ‘‘(v) The term ‘homeless’ has the 18 meaning given the term in section 103 of 19 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 20 Act (42 U.S.C. 11302). 21 ‘‘(vi) The term ‘opportunity area for 22 children’ shall have the meaning given the 23 term by the Secretary, using the best avail- 24 able evidence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1257 IS ‘‘(vii) The term ‘unstably housed’, 1 with respect to a family, means a family 2 who— 3 ‘‘(I) is at risk of homelessness; 4 ‘‘(II) has moved not less than 5 twice during the 12-month period end- 6 ing on the date on which a public 7 housing agency selects the family 8 from a waiting list to receive assist- 9 ance under this paragraph; 10 ‘‘(III) is living in a unit not ac- 11 cessible to a family member with a 12 disability; 13 ‘‘(IV) is experiencing trauma or a 14 lack of safety relating to, or fleeing or 15 attempting to flee, domestic violence, 16 dating violence, sexual assault, stalk- 17 ing, or another dangerous, traumatic, 18 or life-threatening condition relating 19 to violence against a member of the 20 family or an individual in the housing 21 situation of the family, including an 22 instance in which the health and safe- 23 ty of a child is jeopardized; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1257 IS ‘‘(V) is living in housing condi- 1 tions that are dangerous or life- 2 threatening. 3 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVE AWARD.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In each fiscal year 5 for which amounts are authorized to be ap- 6 propriated under subparagraph (F), the 7 Secretary shall provide assistance to public 8 housing agencies on a competitive basis to 9 be used for— 10 ‘‘(I) incremental vouchers for eli- 11 gible families; and 12 ‘‘(II) additional fees for the cost 13 to the public housing agencies of pro- 14 viding mobility-related services to eli- 15 gible families. 16 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION.—For the second fis- 17 cal year in which the Secretary provides 18 assistance under this paragraph, and each 19 fiscal year thereafter, in selecting public 20 housing agencies to receive assistance 21 under this paragraph, the Secretary 22 shall— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1257 IS ‘‘(I) consider the performance of 1 public housing agencies in imple- 2 menting this paragraph; and 3 ‘‘(II) give preference to public 4 housing agencies that partner with or- 5 ganizations that provide home visiting 6 services, such as the services author- 7 ized under section 511 of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711) or lo- 9 cally funded initiatives, if those serv- 10 ices are available in the service area of 11 the public housing agency. 12 ‘‘(C) SERVICES REQUIRED TO BE OFFERED 13 TO FAMILIES RECEIVING VOUCHERS.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A public housing 15 agency that receives assistance under this 16 paragraph— 17 ‘‘(I) shall offer, to each eligible 18 family that the agency selects to re- 19 ceive a voucher, mobility-related serv- 20 ices to help the family move to an op- 21 portunity area for children with access 22 to— 23 ‘‘(aa) a high-performing 24 school; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1257 IS ‘‘(bb) high-quality childcare 1 and early education; 2 ‘‘(II) may not require an eligible 3 family to participate in the mobility- 4 related services described in subclause 5 (I) as a condition of receipt of a 6 voucher; and 7 ‘‘(III) shall adopt mobility-related 8 policies, to be specified by the Sec- 9 retary. 10 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM ASSORTMENT OF SERV- 11 ICES AND POLICIES.—The Secretary shall 12 establish a minimum assortment of types 13 of mobility-related services that a public 14 housing agency shall offer, and mobility-re- 15 lated policies that a public housing agency 16 shall adopt, under clause (i) based on 17 promising practices and evidence of the ef- 18 fectiveness of the services and policies. 19 ‘‘(iii) SPECIFIC SERVICES.—The types 20 of mobility-related services required to be 21 offered under clause (i)— 22 ‘‘(I) shall include a customized 23 approach to enable a successful tran- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1257 IS sition to opportunity areas for chil- 1 dren; and 2 ‘‘(II) may include counseling and 3 continued supportive services for fami- 4 lies. 5 ‘‘(iv) OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR CHIL- 6 DREN; HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS; HIGH- 7 QUALITY CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDU- 8 CATION.—The Secretary shall establish cri- 9 teria for areas, schools, and child care and 10 early education to qualify as opportunity 11 areas for children, high-performing schools, 12 and high-quality child care and early edu- 13 cation, respectively. 14 ‘‘(v) MANNER OF PROVIDING SERV- 15 ICES.—A public housing agency may pro- 16 vide mobility-related services as required 17 under clause (i) directly or through a local 18 partnership or contract. 19 ‘‘(D) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(i) TURNOVER.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Upon turn- 22 over of a voucher issued by a public 23 housing agency using assistance re- 24 ceived under this paragraph, the pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1257 IS lic housing agency shall issue the 1 voucher to another eligible family 2 under this paragraph. 3 ‘‘(II) MOBILITY SERVICES.—A 4 public housing agency turning over a 5 voucher as described in subclause (I) 6 shall provide any available mobility 7 services to the eligible family receiving 8 the voucher. 9 ‘‘(ii) RECAPTURE AND REALLOCATION 10 BY SECRETARY.—If a public housing agen- 11 cy that receives assistance to be used for 12 vouchers and fees under this paragraph de- 13 termines that it no longer has an identified 14 need for the assistance, the public housing 15 agency shall notify the Secretary, who may 16 recapture the assistance and reallocate the 17 assistance in accordance with this para- 18 graph. 19 ‘‘(E) IMPLEMENTATION.— 20 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 21 180 days after the date of enactment of 22 this paragraph, the Secretary shall publish 23 a notice for public comment in the Federal 24 Register that includes any definitions or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1257 IS other specifications required or authorized 1 under this paragraph. 2 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 3 ‘‘(I) INITIAL YEAR.—For the 4 first fiscal year for which amounts are 5 appropriated to be provided to public 6 housing agencies for incremental 7 vouchers under this paragraph, the 8 Secretary shall allocate the amounts 9 to public housing agencies not later 10 than 2 years after the date on which 11 the amounts are appropriated. 12 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—For 13 any fiscal year after the fiscal year de- 14 scribed in subclause (I), the Secretary 15 shall allocate amounts to public hous- 16 ing agencies for incremental vouchers 17 under this paragraph not later than 18 180 days after the date on which the 19 amounts are appropriated. 20 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 21 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro- 22 priated to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 23 2024 through 2029 such sums as may be nec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1257 IS essary to provide assistance to public housing 1 agencies under this paragraph to be used for— 2 ‘‘(i) not more than 50,000 incre- 3 mental vouchers each fiscal year, as de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (B)(i)(I); and 5 ‘‘(ii) fees for the cost of administering 6 the incremental vouchers described in sub- 7 paragraph (B)(i)(I) and other mobility-re- 8 lated expenses.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS