I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9217 

To establish, in the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Destination Reception 

Services Program New Arrival Services Board and to authorize a grant 

program for providing funding for medium-term services to eligible arrivals in destination States and localities to promote their self-sufficiency, 

reduce costs of extended emergency service provision, maximize benefit 

to new arrivals and host communities, provide diversion from homelessness, and promote the effective navigation and compliance of the immigration process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2024 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. CARSON, Mr. JACKSON of 

Illinois, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. BUSH, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, and Ms. 

CHU) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish, in the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the 

Destination Reception Services Program New Arrival 

Services Board and to authorize a grant program for 

providing funding for medium-term services to eligible 

arrivals in destination States and localities to promote 

their self-sufficiency, reduce costs of extended emergency 

service provision, maximize benefit to new arrivals and 

host communities, provide diversion from homelessness, 


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and promote the effective navigation and compliance of 

the immigration process. 

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 ‘‘Destination Reception 

5 Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF DESTINATION RECEPTION 

7 SERVICES PROGRAM. 

8 Section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

9 (8 U.S.C. 1522) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(g) DESTINATION RECEPTION SERVICES PRO12 GRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection, the 

14 term ‘eligible arrival’ means an individual who— 

15 ‘‘(A) has been granted parole; 

16 ‘‘(B) have been placed in removal pro17 ceedings; or 

18 ‘‘(C) has a pending application for asylum. 

19 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, 

20 in the Office, the Destination Reception Services 

21 Program (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Pro22 gram’), which shall carry out the provisions of this 

23 subsection under the direction of the New Arrival 

24 Services Board (referred to in this subsection as the 


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1 ‘Board’). The Program shall coordinate with the Un2 accompanied Children Program and the Refugee 

3 Program to ensure that eligible arrivals receive all of 

4 the services for which they are eligible. 

5 ‘‘(3) NEW ARRIVAL SERVICES BOARD.— 

6 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 30 

7 days after the date of the enactment of the 

8 Destination Reception Assistance Act, the Di9 rector, who shall act as chairperson of the 

10 Board, shall appoint 8 additional members to 

11 the Board who represent nongovernmental or12 ganizations with experience providing, evalu13 ating, and offering technical assistance on eligi14 ble services provided through the Program, in15 cluding organizations representing individuals 

16 with lived experience of forced migration. 

17 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONS.—The Board shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) identify communities in which 

19 concentrations of eligible arrivals in need 

20 of assistance reside; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) recommend the amount of fund22 ing to be allocated to such communities in 

23 accordance with formulas, policies, proce24 dures, and guidelines established by the 

25 Office. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR ALLOCATING FUND2 ING.—In determining the allocation of Federal 

3 funding to communities under this subsection, 

4 the Board shall prioritize funding for commu5 nities with— 

6 ‘‘(i) a higher ratio of eligible arrivals 

7 compared to other communities; 

8 ‘‘(ii) higher housing and transpor9 tation costs; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) the most significant medium11 term reception needs (in per capita or ab12 solute terms) in which the level of direct 

13 services provided by nonprofit, faith-based, 

14 or governmental organizations to families 

15 and individuals released by the Depart16 ment of Homeland Security is most acute. 

17 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM STRUCTURE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) FRAMEWORK.—The framework of the 

19 Program shall be similar to the framework of 

20 the Emergency Food and Shelter Program of 

21 the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 

22 facilitate the timely delivery of Federal funding 

23 in support of eligible arrivals. 

24 ‘‘(B) DISTINCTION FROM ALTERNATIVES

25 TO DETENTION.—The Program is not an alterVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 Aug 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9217.IH H9217

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1 natives to detention program. Prior participa2 tion in an alternatives to detention program is 

3 not an eligibility requirement for eligible arriv4 als to receive Program services, nor is partici5 pating in monitoring or surveillance practices a 

6 condition while receiving Program services. 

7 ‘‘(C) RECIPIENT ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

8 Program shall provide funding to local govern9 ment entities and private nonprofit organiza10 tions to provide medium-term services to eligi11 ble arrivals who have been processed and re12 leased into the United States by the Depart13 ment of Homeland Security, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) housing transition, rental, and 

15 utility assistance programs; 

16 ‘‘(ii) medical and mental health care 

17 or insurance for such care; 

18 ‘‘(iii) child care, child care assistance 

19 programs, and out-of-school programming; 

20 ‘‘(iv) workforce development, job 

21 training, English language training, paid 

22 apprenticeships, work study, and loan pro23 grams; 

24 ‘‘(v) local public transportation sup25 port; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) interpretation and translation 

2 services; 

3 ‘‘(vii) legal services, particularly serv4 ices supporting applications for work au5 thorization, asylum, and other types of hu6 manitarian relief; 

7 ‘‘(viii) programs, including case man8 agement and social work services, to pro9 vide support to individuals accessing and 

10 navigating available assistance and serv11 ices; 

12 ‘‘(ix) voluntary, coordinated relocation 

13 service; and 

14 ‘‘(x) other eligible services, as deter15 mined by the Director. 

16 ‘‘(5) LOCAL NEW ARRIVAL SERVICES BOARDS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION.—The 

18 Board shall identify, in accordance with criteria 

19 to be established by the Board, communities 

20 throughout the United States where eligible ar21 rivals are residing. 

22 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT; DESIGNATION.— 

23 Each community designated pursuant to sub24 paragraph (A) desiring a grant under para25 graph (7) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) establish a local new arrival serv2 ices board (referred to in this paragraph as 

3 a ‘local board’); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) at the discretion of the Board, 

5 appoint an existing substantially similar 

6 board to carry out the functions of a local 

7 board. 

8 ‘‘(C) MEMBERSHIP.—Each local board 

9 shall consist of— 

10 ‘‘(i) the head of a unit of local govern11 ment within such community, or of a rel12 evant department of such local govern13 ment; 

14 ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, rep15 resentatives of the organizations that are 

16 represented on the Board; 

17 ‘‘(iii) representatives of other local, 

18 private nonprofit organizations, as appro19 priate; 

20 ‘‘(iv) representatives of ethnic and 

21 community-based organizations; and 

22 ‘‘(v) an asylum seeker or parolee 

23 being served by the Program. 


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1 ‘‘(D) CHAIRPERSON.—Each local board es2 tablished pursuant to subparagraph (B) shall 

3 elect a chairperson from among its members. 

4 ‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each local 

5 board established pursuant to subparagraph 

6 (B) shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) determine which local government 

8 entities or private nonprofit organizations 

9 are eligible to receive grants to provide the 

10 services referred to in paragraph (4)(C); 

11 ‘‘(ii) allocate available Federal fund12 ing among the entities and organizations 

13 referred to in clause (i); 

14 ‘‘(iii) monitor recipient service pro15 viders for Program compliance; 

16 ‘‘(iv) reallocate Federal funding 

17 among service providers whenever a par18 ticular service provider fails to substan19 tially comply with Program requirements; 

20 ‘‘(v) ensure proper reporting to the 

21 Board; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) coordinate with other Federal, 

23 State, and local government assistance pro24 grams available in the community. 

25 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE SERVICES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in con2 sultation with the Board, shall annually estab3 lish guidelines specifying which services for eli4 gible arrivals may be funded under the Pro5 gram, which may include— 

6 ‘‘(i) noncustodial housing services, in7 cluding rental and utility assistance; 

8 ‘‘(ii) cultural orientation training; 

9 ‘‘(iii) culturally competent interpreta10 tion and translation services; 

11 ‘‘(iv) workforce development services, 

12 including education, employment, and 

13 training services, work study, loan pro14 grams, and childcare support; 

15 ‘‘(v) immigration-related legal serv16 ices, including preparation and practice; 

17 ‘‘(vi) referral and case management 

18 services; 

19 ‘‘(vii) medical and mental health serv20 ices or insurance for such services; 

21 ‘‘(viii) local public transportation sup22 port; 

23 ‘‘(ix) voluntary, coordinated relocation 

24 services; and 


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1 ‘‘(x) other eligible services, as deter2 mined by the Director. 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall 

4 annually publish the guidelines established pur5 suant to subparagraph (A) in the Federal Reg6 ister before the first day of the fiscal year dur7 ing which they will take effect. 

8 ‘‘(7) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

9 ‘‘(A) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.—The Direc10 tor, working through the Board, may award 

11 competitive grants to communities identified 

12 pursuant to paragraph (5)(A) which have estab13 lished a local new arrival services board to pro14 vide services to eligible arrivals who are residing 

15 in such communities. The allocation of available 

16 Federal funding among such communities shall 

17 be based on a formula developed by the Office. 

18 Grant funds allocated to a community pursuant 

19 to this subparagraph shall be disbursed to gov20 ernment human services agencies and local non21 profit organizations that have successfully pro22 vided human and social services in accordance 

23 with Federal, State, and local requirements, as 

24 applicable. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL BLOCK GRANTS.—A por2 tion of the Federal funding made available to 

3 carry out this subsection shall be reserved for 

4 Federal block grants to communities. Commu5 nities receiving funding under this subpara6 graph shall match every $1 of Federal funding 

7 with $1 of non-Federal funding. 

8 ‘‘(C) PURPOSE OF GRANTS.—The primary 

9 purpose of the grants awarded pursuant to sub10 paragraph (A) or (B) shall be to increase the 

11 capacity of grant recipients to provide medium12 term services and other service navigation as13 sistance to new arrivals to attain self-suffi14 ciency. 

15 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity is el16 igible to receive a grant under this subsection 

17 if the entity is— 

18 ‘‘(i) a local government, an Indian 

19 Tribe, or a nonprofit organization (as such 

20 terms are defined in section 200.1 of title 

21 2, Code of Federal Regulations); 

22 ‘‘(ii) a State of the United States, the 

23 District of Columbia, or the Common24 wealth of Puerto Rico; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any agency or instrumentality of 

2 a governmental entity listed in clause (ii) 

3 (excluding local governments); or 

4 ‘‘(iv) physically located in a State, the 

5 District of Columbia, or a territory of the 

6 United States. 

7 ‘‘(8) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT.— 

8 When issuing guidelines to carry out this subsection, 

9 including setting eligibility requirements and making 

10 program changes, the Director shall not be subject 

11 to the procedural rulemaking requirements set forth 

12 in subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 

13 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘Ad14 ministrative Procedures Act’). 

15 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 There is authorized to be appropriated, for each of 

17 the fiscal years 2025 through 2028, $3,000,000,000 

18 to carry out the Program established by this sub19 section.’’. 

Æ 


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