I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5184 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to improve 

services for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

or stalking and their families. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself, Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Mr. ROUDA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to improve services for survivors of domestic violence, 

dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their families. 

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 ‘‘Help End Abusive Liv5 ing Situations Act’’ or the ‘‘HEALS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the terms ‘‘dating violence’’, ‘‘domestic vio2 lence’’, ‘‘sexual assault’’, and ‘‘stalking’’ have the 

3 meanings given those terms in section 40002(a) of 

4 the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

5 12291(a)); 

6 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

7 of Housing and Urban Development; 

8 (3) the term ‘‘victim service provider’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 401 of the 

10 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

11 U.S.C. 11360); and 

12 (4) the term ‘‘victim service provider project’’ 

13 means a project administered by a victim service 

14 provider designed to meet the needs of survivors of 

15 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

16 stalking and their families. 

17 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING HOUSING RESOURCES PROTEC18 TIONS FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIO19 LENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, 

20 OR STALKING. 

21 (a) NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY.—Subtitle C 

22 of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.) is amended— 

24 (1) in section 422 (42 U.S.C. 11382)— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

4 (ii) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(2) SCORING.—For purposes of scoring appli7 cants in the notice of funding availability, the Sec8 retary shall neither prioritize nor deprioritize the fol9 lowing categories of projects solely on the basis of 

10 the category: 

11 ‘‘(A) Rapid re-housing. 

12 ‘‘(B) Permanent supportive housing. 

13 ‘‘(C) Transitional housing. 

14 ‘‘(D) Short-term emergency shelter.’’; and 

15 (2) in section 428(d)(2) (42 U.S.C. 

16 11386b(d)(2))— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

20 subparagraph (D); and 

21 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) transitional housing for various popu24 lations, including, for survivors of domestic vio25 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalkVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5184.IH H5184

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1 ing and their families, projects providing transi2 tional or permanent housing that provide trau3 ma-informed services, maximize client choice, 

4 and address the special needs of those sur5 vivors; and’’. 

6 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.—In the next strategic plan re7 quired after the date of enactment of this Act under sec8 tion 306 of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary shall 

9 include as a goal or objective— 

10 (1) responding, including allocating appropriate 

11 resources, to the housing needs of survivors of do12 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

13 stalking and their families; and 

14 (2) collaborating with the Office of Violence 

15 Against Women of the Department of Justice to en16 sure that there is no conflict between the rapid re17 housing requirements of that Office and of the De18 partment of Housing and Urban Development. 

19 (c) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall de21 velop— 

22 (1) in accordance with the selection criteria 

23 under section 427(b)(1) of the McKinney-Vento 

24 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11386a(b)(1)), 

25 as amended by section 4, measurable criteria upon 


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1 which applicants for a grant under section subtitle 

2 C of title IV of that Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) 

3 are evaluated to demonstrate their local policy prior4 ities focused on survivors of domestic violence, dat5 ing violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 

6 families, including survivor-centered coordinated 

7 entry processes that appropriately assess and 

8 prioritize those survivors and take into account the 

9 safety and confidentiality needs of those survivors 

10 and their families; and 

11 (2) mechanisms that promote the provision of 

12 technical assistance and support for programs to im13 prove outcomes and maintain grant funding. 

14 (d) RESEARCH AGENDA.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

16 develop a research agenda that— 

17 (1) works and collaborates with the Family Vio18 lence Prevention and Services Program of the De19 partment of Health and Human Services and the 

20 Office of Violence Against Women of the Depart21 ment of Justice; and 

22 (2) focuses on survivors of domestic violence, 

23 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 

24 families, concentrating on the housing modalities 

25 that best support them and the mechanisms that 


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1 best facilitate their efforts to secure housing, while 

2 also paying attention to the critical safety concerns 

3 and the link between trauma and residential sta4 bility. 

5 SEC. 4. INCREASING ACCESS TO SAFE SHELTER FOR SUR6 VIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VI7 OLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING. 

8 Section 427 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11386a) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (B)(iv)(I), by insert12 ing ‘‘, including survivors of domestic violence, 

13 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and 

14 their families’’ after ‘‘subpopulations’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

16 (i) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (ii) in clause (iv), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(v) meets the safety and trauma 

23 needs of survivors of domestic violence, 

24 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking 


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1 and their families, including access to safe 

2 shelter;’’; 

3 (C) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

6 subparagraph (H); and 

7 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(G) the extent to which the assistance to 

10 be provided within the geographic area will 

11 meet the safety and trauma needs of survivors 

12 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as13 sault, or stalking and their families, including 

14 access to safe shelter; and’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(d) EQUAL CONSIDERATION OF TRANSITIONAL

17 HOUSING PROJECTS.—In awarding funds to recipients 

18 under this subtitle, the Secretary shall consider transi19 tional housing projects on an even basis with any other 

20 project of a qualified applicant.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re24 port on— 


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1 (1) the trends in allocating resources beginning 

2 after the date of enactment of the Homeless Emer3 gency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing 

4 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–22; 123 Stat. 1663) 

5 to address the housing needs of survivors of domes6 tic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalk7 ing and their families; and 

8 (2) the increase in the effectiveness of those re9 sources for promoting self-sufficiency and assisting 

10 survivors in finding employment beginning after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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