II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 980 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the provision of services 

for homeless veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2019 

Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. CORNYN, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

provision of services for homeless veterans, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeless Veterans 

5 Prevention Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF PER DIEM PAYMENTS FOR 

2 FURNISHING CARE TO DEPENDENTS OF CER3 TAIN HOMELESS VETERANS. 

4 Subsection (a) of section 2012 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) Services for which a recipient of a grant under 

8 section 2011 of this title (or an entity described in para9 graph (1)) may receive per diem payments under this sub10 section may include furnishing care for a dependent of a 

11 homeless veteran who is under the care of such homeless 

12 veteran while such homeless veteran receives services from 

13 the grant recipient (or entity).’’. 

14 SEC. 3. PARTNERSHIPS WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTI15 TIES TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES TO 

16 HOMELESS VETERANS AND VETERANS AT 

17 RISK OF HOMELESSNESS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 20 of title 38, United 

19 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2022 

20 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 2022A. Partnerships with public and private enti22 ties to provide legal services to homeless 

23 veterans and veterans at risk of home24 lessness 

25 ‘‘(a) PARTNERSHIPS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the 

26 availability of funds for that purpose, the Secretary shall 


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1 enter into partnerships with public or private entities to 

2 fund a portion of the general legal services specified in 

3 subsection (c) that are provided by such entities to home4 less veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness. 

5 ‘‘(b) LOCATIONS.—(1) The Secretary shall ensure 

6 that, to the extent practicable, partnerships under this sec7 tion are made with entities equitably distributed across the 

8 geographic regions of the United States, including rural 

9 communities, tribal lands of the United States, Native 

10 Americans, and tribal organizations. 

11 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the terms ‘Native American’ 

12 and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings given such 

13 terms in section 3765 of this title. 

14 ‘‘(c) LEGAL SERVICES.—Legal services specified in 

15 this subsection include legal services provided by public 

16 or private entities that address the needs of homeless vet17 erans and veterans at risk of homelessness as follows: 

18 ‘‘(1) Legal services related to housing, including 

19 eviction defense and representation in landlord-ten20 ant cases and foreclosure proceedings. 

21 ‘‘(2) Legal services related to family law, in22 cluding assistance in court proceedings for family re23 unification, child support, divorce, and estate plan24 ning. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Legal services related to income support, 

2 including assistance in obtaining public benefits. 

3 ‘‘(4) Legal services related to criminal defense, 

4 including defense in matters symptomatic of home5 lessness, such as outstanding warrants, fines, and 

6 driver’s license revocation, to reduce recidivism and 

7 facilitate the overcoming of reentry obstacles in em8 ployment or housing. 

9 ‘‘(5) Such other legal services as the Secretary 

10 considers appropriate and necessary. 

11 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and carrying 

12 out partnerships under this section, the Secretary shall, 

13 to the extent practicable, consult with public and private 

14 entities— 

15 ‘‘(1) for assistance in identifying and contacting 

16 organizations described in subsection (c); and 

17 ‘‘(2) to coordinate appropriate outreach rela18 tionships with such organizations. 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary may require entities 

20 that have entered into partnerships under this section to 

21 submit to the Secretary periodic reports on legal services 

22 provided to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of 

23 homelessness pursuant to such partnerships.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 


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1 by adding after the item relating to section 2022 the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘2022A. Partnerships with public and private entities to provide legal services 

to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF4 FAIRS AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE DENTAL 

5 CARE TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 

6 Subsection (b) of section 2062 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—(1) Subsection (a) ap9 plies to a veteran who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is enrolled for care under section 1705(a) 

11 of this title; and 

12 ‘‘(B) for a period of 60 consecutive days, is re13 ceiving— 

14 ‘‘(i) assistance under section 8(o) of the 

15 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

16 1437f(o)); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) care (directly or by contract) in any 

18 of the following settings: 

19 ‘‘(I) A domiciliary under section 1710 

20 of this title. 

21 ‘‘(II) A therapeutic residence under 

22 section 2032 of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(III) Community residential care co2 ordinated by the Secretary under section 

3 1730 of this title. 

4 ‘‘(IV) A setting for which the Sec5 retary provides funds for a grant and per 

6 diem provider. 

7 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), in determining 

8 whether a veteran has received assistance or care for a 

9 period of 60 consecutive days, the Secretary may disregard 

10 breaks in the continuity of assistance or care for which 

11 the veteran is not responsible.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF SUNSET ON AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT 

13 PROGRAM OF REFERRAL AND COUNSELING 

14 SERVICES FOR VETERANS AT RISK FOR 

15 HOMELESSNESS WHO ARE TRANSITIONING 

16 FROM CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS. 

17 Section 2023 of title 38, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by striking subsection (d); and 

20 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub21 section (d). 


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1 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSIST2 ANCE FOR SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR VERY 

3 LOW-INCOME VETERAN FAMILIES IN PERMA4 NENT HOUSING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 2044(e) 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(H) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.’’. 

9 (b) TRAINING ENTITIES FOR PROVISION OF SUP10 PORTIVE SERVICES.—Paragraph (3) of such section is 

11 amended by inserting ‘‘and 2020’’ after ‘‘through 2012’’. 

12 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT FOR COMPTROLLER GENERAL TO 

13 STUDY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

14 HOMELESS VETERANS PROGRAMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

17 of the United States shall complete a study of programs 

18 of the Department of Veterans Affairs that provide assist19 ance to homeless veterans. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study required by subsection 

21 (a) shall include the following: 

22 (1) An assessment of whether programs de23 scribed in subsection (a) are meeting the needs of 

24 veterans who are eligible for assistance provided by 

25 such programs. 


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1 (2) A review of recent efforts of the Secretary 

2 of Veterans Affairs to improve the privacy, safety, 

3 and security of female veterans receiving assistance 

4 from such programs. 

5 SEC. 8. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT FOR ANNUAL REPORTS 

6 ON ASSISTANCE TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2065 of title 38, United 

8 States Code, is hereby repealed. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 

11 by striking the item relating to section 2065. 

Æ 


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