I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 192

To amend title IV of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act

to require operators of emergency shelters and transitional housing assisted under such title to determine the immunization status of children

under the age of 6 occupying such housing.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mrs. ROUKEMA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To amend title IV of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless

Assistance Act to require operators of emergency shelters

and transitional housing assisted under such title to determine the immunization status of children under the

age of 6 occupying such housing.

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 Children’s

5 Immunization Assistance Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY SHELTER GRANTS PROGRAM.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 411 of the Stewart B.

3 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371) is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new para5 graph:

6 ‘‘(11) The term ‘child immunization’ means im7 munization of children who have not attained the

8 age of 6 years, in accordance with recommendations

9 issued by the Surgeon General of the Public Health

10 Service.’’.

11 (b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Section 414(a) of the

12 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

13 11374(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following

14 new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(5) The provision of services relating to child

16 immunization, as follows:

17 ‘‘(A) Providing transportation for children

18 occupying facilities assisted under this subtitle

19 to locations where child immunization is avail20 able.

21 ‘‘(B) Providing information and counseling

22 to families occupying such facilities regarding

23 the benefits and availability of child immuniza24 tion.

25 ‘‘(C) Providing child immunization for chil26 dren occupying such facilities at the facility
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1 (subject to the limitations under paragraph (2))

2 or coordinating and arranging for child immu3 nization at the facility.

4 Any assistance used for the purposes under this

5 paragraph shall be considered to have been used for

6 activities under paragraph (2) for purposes of the

7 limitation under paragraph (2)(B).’’.

8 (c) REQUIREMENTS TO ASSIST IN OBTAINING CHILD

9 IMMUNIZATIONS.—Section 415 of the Stewart B. McKin10 ney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11375) is amend11 ed—

12 (1) in subsection (c)(3)—

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end;

15 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

16 subparagraph (C); and

17 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A)

18 the following new subparagraph:

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of children who have not

20 attained the age of 6 years and occupy a facility

21 assisted under this subtitle, immunizations (to

22 the extent that such children have not been im23 munized in accordance with recommendations

24 issued by the Surgeon General of the Public

25 Health Service); and’’; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section:

3 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION OF IMMUNIZATION RECORD OF

4 CHILDREN OCCUPYING FACILITIES.—For any child who

5 has not attained the age of 6 and is occupying a facility

6 assisted under this subtitle, not later than 60 days after

7 such initial occupancy the recipient of such assistance

8 shall—

9 ‘‘(1) make reasonable efforts to obtain from the

10 family of such child or the appropriate State or local

11 health agency information sufficient to determine

12 whether the child has been immunized in accordance

13 with recommendations issued by the Surgeon Gen14 eral of the Public Health Service; and

15 ‘‘(2) for any child that has not been so immu16 nized or for which insufficient information is avail17 able to determine whether the child has been so

18 immunized, provide the family of the child with in19 formation regarding the benefits and availability of

20 child immunization.’’.

21 SEC. 3. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING UNDER SUPPORTIVE

22 HOUSING PROGRAM.

23 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 422 of the Stewart B.

24 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11382) is

25 amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through

2 (14) as paragraphs (3) through (15), respectively;

3 and

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow5 ing new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘child immunization’ means im7 munization of children who have not attained the

8 age of 6 years, in accordance with recommendations

9 issued by the Surgeon General of the Public Health

10 Service.’’.

11 (b) REQUIREMENT TO ASSIST IN OBTAINING CHILD

12 IMMUNIZATIONS.—Section 425 of the Stewart B. McKin13 ney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11385) is amend14 ed—

15 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Supportive services pro19 vided in connection with a project shall address the

20 special needs of individuals (such as homeless per21 sons with disabilities and homeless families with

22 children) intended to be served by a project.

23 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF IMMUNIZATION

24 RECORD OF CHILDREN OCCUPYING TRANSITIONAL

25 HOUSING.—For any child who has not attained the
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1 age of 6 and is occupying a project that is transi2 tional housing, not later than 60 days after such ini3 tial occupancy the recipient of such assistance

4 shall—

5 ‘‘(A) make reasonable efforts to obtain

6 from the family of such child or the appropriate

7 State or local health agency information suffi8 cient to determine whether the child has been

9 immunized in accordance with recommendations

10 issued by the Surgeon General of the Public

11 Health Service; and

12 ‘‘(B) for any child that has not been so im13 munized or for which insufficient information is

14 available to determine whether the child has

15 been so immunized, provide the family of the

16 child with information regarding the benefits

17 and availability of child immunization.’’.

18 (c) ELIGIBLE SERVICES.—Section 425(c) of the

19 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

20 11385(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘and (G)’’ and inserting

21 the following: ‘‘(G) providing (i) transportation for chil22 dren occupying projects that are supportive housing to

23 locations where child immunization is available, (ii) infor24 mation and counseling to families occupying such projects

25 regarding the benefits and availability of child immuniza-
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1 tion, and (iii) child immunization for children occupying

2 such projects at the project or coordinating and arranging

3 for the provision of such services at the project, and (H)’’.

4 (d) REQUIRED AGREEMENTS.—Section 426(c) of the

5 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

6 11386(c)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

8 end;

9 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para10 graph (8); and

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the follow12 ing new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(7) in the case of any project that is support14 ive housing, to assist children who have not attained

15 the age of 6 years and occupy the project to obtain

16 immunizations (to the extent that such children have

17 not been immunized in accordance with rec18 ommendations issued by the Surgeon General of the

19 Public Health Service); and’’.

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