Returning Home Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2994 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish the Reentry Rental Assistance and Housing Services Grant Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Ms. BARRAGA´N (for herself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mrs. PELTOLA, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish the Reentry Rental Assistance and Housing Services Grant Program, 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 ‘‘Returning Home Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2994 IH SEC. 2. REENTRY RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND HOUSING 1 SERVICES GRANT PROGRAM. 2 Section 2976 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10631) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘OF- 6 FENDER’’; 7 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘offender’’; 8 (3) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OF- 10 FENDER’’; 11 (B) by striking ‘‘offender’’; 12 (C) in paragraph (1)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘offenders’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘individuals’’; and 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘or juvenile facilities’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘juvenile facilities, or half- 17 way houses’’; 18 (D) in paragraph (3)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘prison, jail, or a juve- 20 nile facility’’ and inserting ‘‘a prison, jail, 21 juvenile facility, or halfway house’’; and 22 (ii) by striking ‘‘offenders’’ and insert- 23 ing ‘‘individuals’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2994 IH (E) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘of- 1 fenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who are in- 2 carcerated or who were incarcerated’’; 3 (F) in paragraph (5)— 4 (i) by striking ‘‘or juvenile facility’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘juvenile facility, or halfway 6 house’’; and 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘offenders while in 8 custody’’ and inserting ‘‘such individuals 9 during incarceration’’; 10 (G) in paragraph (6)— 11 (i) by striking ‘‘by offenders to vic- 12 tims’’ and inserting ‘‘by individuals who 13 committed crimes to victims of such 14 crimes’’; and 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘of offenders’’ and in- 16 serting ‘‘of such individuals from a prison, 17 jail, juvenile facility, or halfway house’’; 18 and 19 (H) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘dan- 20 gerous offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals 21 who are incarcerated and dangerous’’; 22 (4) in subsection (c)— 23 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OF- 24 FENDER’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2994 IH (B) by striking ‘‘offender’’; 1 (5) in subsection (d)— 2 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for a 3 planning grant under subsection (e) and an im- 4 plementation grant under subsection (f)’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘when applying simultaneously for 6 two or more of the grants established under 7 subsections (e), (f), and (o)’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘under subsections (e) 10 and (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘under subsections 11 (e), (f), and (o)’’; and 12 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 13 ‘‘offender’’; 14 (6) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘offender’’; 15 (7) in subsection (f)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘of- 17 fender’’; 18 (B) in paragraph (2)— 19 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 20 ‘‘offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who 21 are incarcerated’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 23 ‘‘offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who 24 are incarcerated’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2994 IH (C) in paragraph (3)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 2 (I) by striking ‘‘and juvenile fa- 3 cilities’’ and inserting ‘‘juvenile facili- 4 ties, and halfway houses’’; and 5 (II) by striking ‘‘offenders’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘individuals’’; 7 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 8 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘of- 9 fenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals’’; 10 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 11 ‘‘prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘a prison, jail, juvenile 13 facility, or halfway house’’; and 14 (III) in clause (iii), by striking 15 ‘‘offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals 16 who are incarcerated or who were in- 17 carcerated’’; 18 (iii) in subparagraph (C)(ii)— 19 (I) by striking ‘‘an offender’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘an incarcerated individual’’; 21 and 22 (II) by striking ‘‘that offenders’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘that such individuals’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2994 IH (iv) in subparagraph (F), by striking 1 ‘‘offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who 2 are incarcerated’’; and 3 (v) in subparagraph (G)— 4 (I) by striking ‘‘offenders with 5 histories’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals 6 who are incarcerated or who were in- 7 carcerated and who have a history’’; 8 and 9 (II) by striking ‘‘offender’’ in 10 each place it occurs and inserting ‘‘in- 11 dividual’’; 12 (8) in subsection (h)— 13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘offenders’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘individuals’’; 16 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ each 17 place such term appears and inserting 18 ‘‘subsection (f) or (o)’’; and 19 (iii) by striking ‘‘prison, jail or a juve- 20 nile facility’’ and inserting ‘‘a prison, jail, 21 juvenile facility, or halfway house’’; and 22 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘released 23 offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals released 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2994 IH from a prison, jail, juvenile facility, or halfway 1 house’’; 2 (9) in subsection (i)(1)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘under subsection (f)’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘under subsection (f) or (o)’’; 5 (B) by striking ‘‘returning offenders and’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘individuals reentering the com- 7 munity after time spent in a prison, jail, juve- 8 nile facility, or halfway house and to’’; 9 (C) by striking ‘‘offenders’ time in prison, 10 jail, or a juvenile facility’’ and inserting ‘‘such 11 time’’; 12 (D) by striking ‘‘of offenders’’ and insert- 13 ing ‘‘of such individuals’’; and 14 (E) by striking ‘‘offender’’; 15 (10) in subsection (j)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘an implementation’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘a’’; and 19 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ each 20 place such term appears and inserting 21 ‘‘subsection (f) or (o)’’; 22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘offend- 23 ers released back’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2994 IH who were released from a prison, jail, juvenile 1 facility, or halfway house’’; 2 (C) in paragraph (3)— 3 (i) by striking ‘‘offenders’’ and insert- 4 ing ‘‘individuals’’; and 5 (ii) by striking ‘‘prison, jails, or juve- 6 nile facilities’’ and inserting ‘‘prisons, jails, 7 juvenile facilities, or halfway houses’’; and 8 (D) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘sub- 9 section (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and 10 (o)’’; 11 (11) in subsection (k)(1), by striking ‘‘sub- 12 section (f)’’ each place such term appears and in- 13 serting ‘‘subsections (f) and (o)’’; 14 (12) in subsection (m)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘Juvenile Offender’’ each 16 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Juve- 17 nile’’; 18 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of- 19 fender’’; and 20 (C) in paragraph (3)— 21 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 22 ‘‘offender’’; 23 (ii) in subparagraph (F)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2994 IH (I) by striking ‘‘prison, jail, or a 1 juvenile facility’’ and inserting ‘‘a 2 prison, jail, juvenile facility, or half- 3 way house’’; and 4 (II) by striking ‘‘prisons, jails, or 5 juvenile facilities’’ and inserting ‘‘a 6 prison, jail, juvenile facility, or half- 7 way house’’; and 8 (iii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 9 ‘‘offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who 10 are incarcerated or who were incarcer- 11 ated’’; 12 (13) in subsection (n)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘of- 13 fenders’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals who received as- 14 sistance from such projects and who are incarcer- 15 ated or who were incarcerated’’; 16 (14) in subsection (o)— 17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘section (other than subsection 19 (o))’’; and 20 (B) in paragraph (2)— 21 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 22 ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘section (including 23 amounts made available to carry out sub- 24 section (o))’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2994 IH (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1 ‘‘criminal offenders’’ and inserting ‘‘indi- 2 viduals who were incarcerated’’; 3 (15) in subsection (p)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘offenders reentering the 5 community’’ in each place it occurs and insert- 6 ing ‘‘individuals who are reentering the commu- 7 nity after incarceration’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘offend- 9 ers’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals’’; 10 (16) by redesignating subsections (o) and (p) as 11 subsections (p) and (q), respectively; and 12 (17) by inserting after subsection (n) the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(o) REENTRY RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND HOUSING 15 SERVICES GRANT PROGRAM.— 16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General 17 shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Housing 18 and Urban Development, establish a program to be 19 known as the ‘Reentry Rental Assistance and Hous- 20 ing Services Grant Program’ to provide grants as 21 provided under this subsection. 22 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under this sub- 23 section may be used for— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2994 IH ‘‘(A) providing 24 months of rental assist- 1 ance to an individual who was incarcerated for 2 purposes of paying housing costs at a perma- 3 nent residence; 4 ‘‘(B) providing a stipend to a family mem- 5 ber of an individual who was incarcerated if the 6 individual lives in the family member’s house- 7 hold; and 8 ‘‘(C) providing supportive services to indi- 9 viduals who are incarcerated or who were incar- 10 cerated, including— 11 ‘‘(i) pre-release planning; 12 ‘‘(ii) document collection support; 13 ‘‘(iii) housing counseling and location 14 services; 15 ‘‘(iv) system navigation and linkage 16 support to other services, including mental 17 health therapy, program services for vic- 18 tims of domestic violence, program services 19 for victims of sexual assault, substance 20 abuse treatment, education services, and 21 employment services; 22 ‘‘(v) information about home-based 23 services and community-based services; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2994 IH ‘‘(vi) case management and address- 1 ing criminogenic needs; 2 ‘‘(vii) move-in support and assistance; 3 ‘‘(viii) support with security deposits 4 and other leasing fees; 5 ‘‘(ix) housing placement support; 6 ‘‘(x) housing stabilization support for 7 at least 12 months to help retain housing 8 after placement; 9 ‘‘(xi) financial incentives to landlords, 10 including payment of holding fees, funds to 11 mitigate property damage, and other incen- 12 tives to accept tenants who are receiving 13 rental assistance; and 14 ‘‘(xii) other similar supportive services 15 as determined by the Secretary. 16 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 17 A grantee shall use— 18 ‘‘(A) not less than 60 percent of the grant 19 funding for rental assistance described under 20 paragraph (2)(A); and 21 ‘‘(B) not more than 25 percent of grant 22 funding for financial incentives to landlords de- 23 scribed under paragraph (2)(C)(x). 24 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 2994 IH ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.— 1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible appli- 2 cant seeking a grant under this subsection 3 shall submit to the Attorney General an 4 application that meets the requirements of 5 paragraphs (1) and (2) in subsection (f) 6 and includes a proposed program under 7 subparagraph (B). 8 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—For pur- 9 poses of this subparagraph, an eligible ap- 10 plicant is— 11 ‘‘(I) an eligible entity; 12 ‘‘(II) a nonprofit organization or 13 service provider in partnership with 14 an eligible entity; or 15 ‘‘(III) a nonprofit organization or 16 service provider in partnership with— 17 ‘‘(aa) a collaborative appli- 18 cant or other entity funded under 19 the Continuum of Care program 20 under subtitle IV of the McKin- 21 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance 22 Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.); 23 ‘‘(bb) a protection and advo- 24 cacy system (as defined in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:40 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2994.IH H2994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •HR 2994 IH 102 of the Developmental Dis- 1 abilities Assistance and Bill of 2 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 3 15002)); 4 ‘‘(cc) a client assistance pro- 5 gram (as described in section 112 6 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 7 (29 U.S.C. 732)); or 8 ‘‘(dd) a center for inde- 9 pendent living (as defined in sec- 10 tion 702 of the Rehabilitation 11 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 796a)). 12 ‘‘(iii) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS 13 AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.—In the case 14 that the eligible appl [Text truncated for display. 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