II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 612 

To require the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs to provide certain information to medical center staff and homelessness service providers of the Department regarding the coordinated 

entry processes for housing and services operated under the Continuum 

of Care Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide certain information 

to medical center staff and homelessness service providers of the Department regarding the coordinated entry 

processes for housing and services operated under the 

Continuum of Care Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 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, 


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•S 612 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Housing 

3 Outcomes for Veterans Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SHARING OF 

5 INFORMATION RELATING TO COORDINATED 

6 ENTRY PROCESSES FOR HOUSING AND SERV7 ICES OPERATED UNDER DEPARTMENT OF 

8 HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT CON9 TINUUM OF CARE PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Health 

11 of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall— 

12 (1) provide to staff of medical centers of the 

13 Department of Veterans Affairs and homelessness 

14 service providers of the Department the information 

15 described in subsection (b); and 

16 (2) ensure that such information, and other re17 sources the Under Secretary determines are appro18 priate, are accessible to such staff and providers. 

19 (b) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The information de20 scribed in this subsection is information related to best 

21 practices with respect to the collaboration between medical 

22 centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, homeless23 ness service providers of the Department, and local part24 ners (including local offices of the Department of Housing 

25 and Urban Development or public housing agencies, and 

26 private and public local community organizations) on the 


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1 centralized or coordinated assessment systems established 

2 and operated by Continuums of Care under section 

3 578.7(a)(8) of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, in4 cluding making referrals and sharing data, as the Under 

5 Secretary determines appropriate. 

6 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMUNICA7 TION WITH EMPLOYEES RESPONSIBLE FOR 

8 HOMELESSNESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

9 The Under Secretary for Health of the Department 

10 of Veterans Affairs shall clearly communicate with em11 ployees of the Department of Veterans Affairs whose re12 sponsibilities are related to homelessness assistance pro13 grams regarding— 

14 (1) the measurement of performance of such 

15 programs by the Homeless Programs Office of the 

16 Department; and 

17 (2) how to obtain and provide feedback about 

18 performance measures. 

Æ 


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