I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2378 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a financial assistance 

program to facilitate the provision of supportive services for very lowincome veteran families in permanent housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2007 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a financial assistance program to facilitate the provision of supportive services for very low-income veteran families in 

permanent housing, 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. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SUPPORTIVE 

4 SERVICES FOR VERY LOW-INCOME VETERAN 

5 FAMILIES IN PERMANENT HOUSING. 

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

7 ‘‘Services to Prevent Veterans Homelessness Act’’. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili2 tate the provision of supportive services for very low-in3 come veteran families in permanent housing. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 20 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 2044. Financial assistance for supportive services 

9 for very low-income veteran families re10 siding in permanent housing 

11 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

12 (1) The Secretary shall provide financial assistance to eli13 gible entities approved under this section to provide and 

14 coordinate the provision of the supportive services for very 

15 low-income veteran families residing in permanent hous16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Financial assistance under this section shall 

18 consist of payments for each such family for which an ap19 proved eligible entity provides or coordinates the provision 

20 of supportive services. 

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish a formula for de22 termining the rate of payments provided to a very low23 income veteran family receiving supportive services under 

24 this section. The rate shall be adjusted not less than once 

25 annually to reflect changes in the cost of living. In calcuVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:50 May 19, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2378.IH H2378

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1 lating the payment formula under this subparagraph, the 

2 Secretary may consider geographic cost of living variances, 

3 family size, and the cost of services provided. 

4 ‘‘(3) In providing financial assistance under para5 graph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to an entity 

6 that provides or coordinates the provision of supportive 

7 services for very low-income veteran families who are 

8 transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. 

9 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall ensure that, to the extent 

10 practicable, financial assistance under this subsection is 

11 equitably distributed across geographic regions, including 

12 rural communities and tribal lands. 

13 ‘‘(5) Each entity receiving financial assistance under 

14 this section to provide supportive services to a very low15 income veteran family shall notify the family that such 

16 services are being paid for, in whole or in part, by the 

17 Department. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Secretary may require an entity receiving 

19 financial assistance under this section to submit a report 

20 to the Secretary describing the supportive services pro21 vided with such financial assistance. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (1) An eligible entity seeking financial assistance under 

24 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an application 

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1 mitments and information as the Secretary determines to 

2 be necessary. 

3 ‘‘(2) An application submitted under paragraph (1) 

4 shall contain— 

5 ‘‘(A) a description of the supportive services 

6 proposed to be provided by the eligible entity; 

7 ‘‘(B) a description of the types of very low-in8 come veteran families proposed to be provided such 

9 services; 

10 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the number of very low-in11 come veteran families proposed to be provided such 

12 services; 

13 ‘‘(D) evidence of the experience of the eligible 

14 entity in providing supportive services to very low-in15 come veteran families; and 

16 ‘‘(E) a description of the managerial capacity of 

17 the eligible entity to— 

18 ‘‘(i) coordinate the provision of supportive 

19 services with the provision of permanent hous20 ing, by the eligible entity or by other organiza21 tions; 

22 ‘‘(ii) continuously assess the needs of very 

23 low-income veteran families for supportive serv24 ices; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) coordinate the provision of supportive 

2 services with the services of the Department; 

3 ‘‘(iv) tailor supportive services to the needs 

4 of very low-income veteran families; and 

5 ‘‘(v) continuously seek new sources of as6 sistance to ensure the long-term provision of 

7 supportive services to very low-income veteran 

8 families. 

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish criteria for the se10 lection of eligible entities to receive financial assistance 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—(1) The Secretary 

13 shall provide training and technical assistance eligible en14 tities that receive financial assistance under this section 

15 with respect to the planning, development, and provision 

16 of supportive services to very low-income veteran families 

17 occupying permanent housing. 

18 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide the training de19 scribed in paragraph (1) directly or through grants or con20 tracts with appropriate public or nonprofit private entities. 

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 is authorized to be appropriated, for each fiscal year, 

23 $25,000,000, to carry out this section, of which not more 

24 than $750,000 may be used to provide technical assistance 

25 under subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘very low-income veteran family’ 

3 means a veteran family whose income does not ex4 ceed 50 percent of the median income for the area, 

5 as determined by the Secretary in accordance with 

6 this paragraph, except that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall make appropriate 

8 adjustments to the income requirement under 

9 subparagraph (A) based on family size; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may establish an in11 come ceiling higher or lower than 50 percent of 

12 the median income for an area if the Secretary 

13 determines that such variations are necessary 

14 because the area has unusually high or low con15 struction costs, fair market rents (as deter16 mined under section 8 of the United States 

17 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)), or 

18 family incomes. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘veteran family’ includes a vet20 eran who is a single person and a family in which 

21 the head of household or the spouse of the head of 

22 household is a veteran. 

23 ‘‘(3) The term ‘consumer cooperative’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 202 of the 

25 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

2 ‘‘(A) a private nonprofit organization; or 

3 ‘‘(B) a consumer cooperative. 

4 ‘‘(5) The term ‘homeless’ has the meaning 

5 given the term in section 103 of the McKinney6 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302). 

7 ‘‘(6) The term ‘permanent housing’ means com8 munity-based housing without a designated length of 

9 stay. 

10 ‘‘(7) The term ‘private nonprofit organization’ 

11 means— 

12 ‘‘(A) any incorporated private institution 

13 or foundation— 

14 ‘‘(i) no part of the net earnings of 

15 which inures to the benefit of any member, 

16 founder, contributor, or individual; 

17 ‘‘(ii) which has a governing board that 

18 is responsible for the operation of the sup19 portive services provided under this sec20 tion; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) which is approved by the Sec22 retary as to financial responsibility; 

23 ‘‘(B) a for-profit limited partnership, the 

24 sole general partner of which is an organization 


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1 meeting the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 

2 and (iii) of subparagraph (A); 

3 ‘‘(C) a corporation wholly owned and con4 trolled by an organization meeting the require5 ments of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subpara6 graph (A); and 

7 ‘‘(D) a tribally designated housing entity 

8 (as defined in section 4 of the Native American 

9 Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

10 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)). 

11 ‘‘(8) The term ‘supportive services’ means the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(A) Services provided by an eligible entity 

14 or subcontractors that address the needs of very 

15 low-income veteran families occupying perma16 nent housing, including— 

17 ‘‘(i) outreach services; 

18 ‘‘(ii) health care services, including di19 agnosis, treatment, and counseling for 

20 mental health and substance abuse dis21 orders and for post-traumatic stress dis22 order, if such services are not readily avail23 able through the Department of Veterans 

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1 graphic area in which the veteran family is 

2 housed; 

3 ‘‘(iii) habilitation and rehabilitation 

4 services; 

5 ‘‘(iv) case management services; 

6 ‘‘(v) daily living services; 

7 ‘‘(vi) personal financial planning; 

8 ‘‘(vii) transportation services; 

9 ‘‘(viii) vocational counseling; 

10 ‘‘(ix) employment and training; 

11 ‘‘(x) educational services; 

12 ‘‘(xi) assistance in obtaining veterans 

13 benefits and other public benefits, includ14 ing health care provided by the Depart15 ment; 

16 ‘‘(xii) assistance in obtaining income 

17 support; 

18 ‘‘(xiii) assistance in obtaining health 

19 insurance; 

20 ‘‘(xiv) fiduciary and representative 

21 payee services; 

22 ‘‘(xv) legal services to assist the vet23 eran family with reconsiderations or ap24 peals of veterans and public benefit claim 

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1 rants that interfere with the family’s abil2 ity to obtain or retain housing or sup3 portive services; 

4 ‘‘(xvi) child care; 

5 ‘‘(xvii) housing counseling; 

6 ‘‘(xviii) other services necessary for 

7 maintaining independent living; and 

8 ‘‘(xix) coordination of services de9 scribed in this paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(B) Services provided by an eligible entity 

11 or subcontractors, including services described 

12 in clauses (i) through (xix) of subparagraph 

13 (A), that are delivered to very low-income vet14 eran families who are homeless and who are 

15 scheduled to become residents of permanent 

16 housing within 90 days of the date on which the 

17 service is provided pending the location or de18 velopment of housing suitable for permanent 

19 housing. 

20 ‘‘(C) Services provided by an eligible entity 

21 or subcontractors, including services described 

22 in clauses (i) through (xix) of subparagraph 

23 (A), for very low-income veteran families who 

24 have voluntarily chosen to seek other housing 

25 after a period of tenancy in permanent housing, 


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1 that are provided, for a period of 90 days be2 ginning on the date on which such a family 

3 exits permanent housing or until such a family 

4 commences receipt of other housing services 

5 adequate to meet the needs of the family, but 

6 only to the extent that services under this para7 graph are designed to support such a family in 

8 the choice to transition into housing that is re9 sponsive to the individual needs and preferences 

10 of the family.’’. 

11 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tion at the beginning of such chapter is amended by 

13 inserting after the item relating to section 2043 the 

14 following new item: 

‘‘2044. Financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran 

families in permanent housing.’’. 

Æ 


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