SUPPORT For SNAP Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3847 To improve nutrition assistance for people experiencing homelessness, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWN, and Ms. TLAIB) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- culture A BILL To improve nutrition assistance for people experiencing homelessness, 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 bill may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Unhoused 4 Peoples’ Program for Outreach Resources and Transpor- 5 tation For SNAP Act’’ or the ‘‘SUPPORT For SNAP 6 Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3847 IH SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO CONNECT PEOPLE EXPERI- 1 ENCING HOMELESSNESS WITH SNAP RE- 2 SOURCES. 3 The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 31. ENROLLMENT AND OUTREACH PILOT PROGRAM 6 FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESS- 7 NESS. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 10 tity’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) a State or local government agency; 12 ‘‘(B) an Indian tribe or Tribal organiza- 13 tion; 14 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization, including a 15 public or nonprofit provider of services; 16 ‘‘(D) a community-based organization; 17 ‘‘(E) a continuum of care; 18 ‘‘(F) a community action agency; 19 ‘‘(G) a public housing agency; or 20 ‘‘(H) a consortia of 2 or more entities 21 under this paragraph. 22 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 23 ‘public housing agency’ has the meaning given such 24 term in section 3(b)(6) of the United States Hous- 25 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘community action agency’ means an eligible entity 2 (which meets the requirements of paragraph (1) or 3 (2), as appropriate, of section 680(c)) of subtitle B 4 of title VI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 5 of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.) that delivers mul- 6 tiple programs, projects, and services to a variety of 7 low-income individuals and families. 8 ‘‘(4) CONTINUUM OF CARE.—The term ‘con- 9 tinuum of care’ means a collaborative applicant es- 10 tablished and operating for a geographic area for 11 purposes of the Continuum of Care Program under 12 subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home- 13 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.). 14 ‘‘(5) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro- 15 gram’ means the pilot program established under 16 subsection (b). 17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 18 after the effective date of this section, the Secretary, in 19 consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 20 velopment, shall establish a pilot program, to be known 21 as the ‘Enrollment and Outreach Pilot Program for People 22 Experience Homelessness’, under which the Secretary 23 shall award grants to eligible entities— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(1) to raise awareness among homeless indi- 1 viduals of the availability, eligibility requirements, 2 application procedures, and benefits of the supple- 3 mental nutrition assistance program, including the 4 excess shelter expense deduction and the deduction 5 for homeless households referenced in Section 6 5(e)(6); 7 ‘‘(2) to support homeless individuals in enroll- 8 ing in that program; and 9 ‘‘(3) to train outreach workers, caseworkers, 10 and any other appropriate employees in supporting 11 homeless individuals, the requirements of and appli- 12 cation for the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 13 gram, and other relevant matter as determined ap- 14 propriate by the Secretary. 15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the pilot 16 program, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible enti- 17 ties that— 18 ‘‘(1) provide services to homeless individuals; 19 ‘‘(2) are located in jurisdictions that assume 20 costs are being incurred and do not require docu- 21 mentation in the case record in affirming a standard 22 homeless shelter deduction is being allowed when im- 23 plementing the standard homeless household deduc- 24 tion under section 5(e)(6); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(3) have experience implementing grants 1 under the Continuum of Care program under sub- 2 title C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 3 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) or grants 4 under the Emergency Solutions Grant program 5 under subtitle B of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 6 11371 et seq.); 7 ‘‘(4) have experience implementing programs 8 administered by the Food and Nutrition Service; or 9 ‘‘(5) receive, plan to receive, or demonstrate an 10 ability to partner with a program that receives fund- 11 ing under the Continuum of Care program under 12 subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home- 13 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.), 14 grants under the Emergency Solutions Grant pro- 15 gram under subtitle B of title IV of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.), or nutrition programs admin- 17 istered by the Secretary. 18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity re- 19 ceiving a grant under the pilot program shall use the grant 20 to carry out 1 or more of the following activities: 21 ‘‘(1) Application assistance, including— 22 ‘‘(A) eligibility prescreening; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(B) assistance completing an application 1 for the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 2 gram benefits; 3 ‘‘(C) assistance obtaining application 4 verification documents; 5 ‘‘(D) excess shelter expense deduction and 6 the deduction for homeless households deduc- 7 tion counseling; 8 ‘‘(E) translation of materials and bilingual 9 accommodation; and 10 ‘‘(F) improving State agency applications 11 and screening for the supplemental nutrition 12 assistance program to better capture potential 13 eligibility of homeless individuals. 14 ‘‘(2) Tailored information dissemination about 15 the supplemental nutrition assistance program, in- 16 cluding through— 17 ‘‘(A) community-based outreach workshops 18 and events; 19 ‘‘(B) street outreach activities; 20 ‘‘(C) a toll-free hotline to provide informa- 21 tion about Federal, State, and local food re- 22 sources; 23 ‘‘(D) informational websites and other so- 24 cial media sites; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(E) printed or digital informational con- 1 tent. 2 ‘‘(3) Transportation, including— 3 ‘‘(A) transportation to or from a local of- 4 fice of the supplemental nutrition assistance 5 program; and 6 ‘‘(B) administration of vouchers or similar 7 items for the transportation described in sub- 8 paragraph (A). 9 ‘‘(4) Identification, implementation, analysis, 10 and dissemination of replicable and scalable models 11 for increasing enrollment in the supplemental nutri- 12 tion assistance program among households with 13 homeless individuals. 14 ‘‘(5) Training for staff on supplemental nutri- 15 tion assistance program requirements and best prac- 16 tices for outreach to homeless individuals. 17 ‘‘(e) GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant awarded 19 under the pilot program to an eligible entity for a 20 fiscal year shall be not less than $50,000, but not 21 more than $500,000. 22 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—An eligible entity may be 23 awarded a grant under the pilot program for not 24 more than 5 years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3847 IH ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the effective date of this section, and annually there- 2 after for the duration of the pilot program, the Secretary 3 shall submit a report to the Committee on Agriculture of 4 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri- 5 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate regarding 6 the implementation of the pilot program, including— 7 ‘‘(1) an evaluation of the pilot program; 8 ‘‘(2) the number of awards made under the pro- 9 gram; 10 ‘‘(3) description of projects conducted with 11 funding under the pilot program; 12 ‘‘(4) demographic information of homeless indi- 13 viduals contacted or served with pilot programs 14 funds; and 15 ‘‘(5) number of homeless individuals served by 16 the supplemental nutrition assistance program. 17 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 18 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 19 be appropriated to carry out this section 20 $12,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024 21 through 2029. 22 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts 23 made available under paragraph (1), not more than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3847 IH 3 percent may be used by the Secretary for adminis- 1 trative costs. 2 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 3 in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 4 Urban Development, shall provide technical assist- 5 ance and publish best practices to carry out this sec- 6 tion and may use no more than 2 percent of the 7 amounts made available under paragraph (1) to do 8 so. 9 ‘‘(4) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—As a con- 10 dition of receiving funds under this section, an eligi- 11 ble entity shall use funds received under this section 12 only to supplement the level of State or local funds 13 that would, in the absence of the receipt of funds 14 under this section, be available.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3847.IH H3847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB