II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1387 

To establish a pilot program to authorize the Secretary of Housing and 

Urban Development to make grants to nonprofit organizations to rehabilitate and modify homes of disabled and low-income veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2013 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. JOHANNS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program to authorize the Secretary of 

Housing and Urban Development to make grants to nonprofit organizations to rehabilitate and modify homes 

of disabled and low-income veterans. 

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 ‘‘Housing Assistance 

5 for Veterans Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘HAVEN Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) DISABLED.—The term ‘‘disabled’’ means an 

2 individual with a disability, as defined by section 

3 12102 of title 42, United States Code. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘eligible 

5 veteran’’ means a disabled or low-income veteran. 

6 (3) ENERGY EFFICIENT FEATURES OR EQUIP7 MENT.—The term ‘‘energy efficient features or 

8 equipment’’ means features of, or equipment in, a 

9 primary residence that help reduce the amount of 

10 electricity used to heat, cool, or ventilate such resi11 dence, including insulation, weatherstripping, air 

12 sealing, heating system repairs, duct sealing, or 

13 other measures. 

14 (4) LOW-INCOME VETERAN.—The term ‘‘low-in15 come veteran’’ means a veteran whose income does 

16 not exceed 80 percent of the median income for an 

17 area, as determined by the Secretary. 

18 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 

20 is— 

21 (A) described in section 501(c)(3) or 

22 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986; and 

24 (B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) 

25 of such Code. 


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1 (6) PRIMARY RESIDENCE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘primary res3 idence’’ means a single family house, a duplex, 

4 or a unit within a multiple-dwelling structure 

5 that is an eligible veteran’s principal dwelling 

6 and is owned by such veteran or a family mem7 ber of such veteran. 

8 (B) FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—For pur9 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘‘family mem10 ber’’ includes— 

11 (i) a spouse, child, grandchild, parent, 

12 or sibling; 

13 (ii) a spouse of such a child, grand14 child, parent, or sibling; or 

15 (iii) any individual related by blood or 

16 affinity whose close association with a vet17 eran is the equivalent of a family relation18 ship. 

19 (7) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—The term 

20 ‘‘qualified organization’’ means a nonprofit organiza21 tion that provides nationwide or statewide programs 

22 that primarily serve veterans or low-income individ23 uals. 

24 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 


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1 (9) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

2 same meaning as given such term in section 101 of 

3 title 38, United States Code. 

4 (10) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means any or6 ganization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans 

7 Affairs for the representation of veterans under sec8 tion 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

9 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A PILOT PROGRAM. 

10 (a) GRANT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

12 a pilot program to award grants to qualified organi13 zations to rehabilitate and modify the primary resi14 dence of eligible veterans. 

15 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall work 

16 in conjunction with the Secretary of Veterans Af17 fairs to establish and oversee the pilot program and 

18 to ensure that such program meets the needs of eli19 gible veterans. 

20 (3) MAXIMUM GRANT.—A grant award under 

21 the pilot program to any one qualified organization 

22 shall not exceed $1,000,000 in any one fiscal year, 

23 and such an award shall remain available until ex24 pended by such organization. 

25 (b) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each qualified organization 

2 that desires a grant under the pilot program shall 

3 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

4 in such manner, and, in addition to the information 

5 required under paragraph (2), accompanied by such 

6 information as the Secretary may reasonably re7 quire. 

8 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

9 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

10 (A) a plan of action detailing outreach ini11 tiatives; 

12 (B) the approximate number of veterans 

13 the qualified organization intends to serve using 

14 grant funds; 

15 (C) a description of the type of work that 

16 will be conducted, such as interior home modi17 fications, energy efficiency improvements, and 

18 other similar categories of work; and 

19 (D) a plan for working with the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs and veterans service 

21 organizations to identify veterans who are not 

22 eligible for programs under chapter 21 of title 

23 38, United States Code, and meet their needs. 


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1 (3) PREFERENCES.—In awarding grants under 

2 the pilot program, the Secretary shall give pref3 erence to a qualified organization— 

4 (A) with experience in providing housing 

5 rehabilitation and modification services for dis6 abled veterans; or 

7 (B) that proposes to provide housing reha8 bilitation and modification services for eligible 

9 veterans who live in rural areas (the Secretary, 

10 through regulations, shall define the term 

11 ‘‘rural areas’’). 

12 (c) CRITERIA.—In order to receive a grant award 

13 under the pilot program, a qualified organization shall 

14 meet the following criteria: 

15 (1) Demonstrate expertise in providing housing 

16 rehabilitation and modification services for disabled 

17 or low-income individuals for the purpose of making 

18 the homes of such individuals accessible, functional, 

19 and safe for such individuals. 

20 (2) Have established outreach initiatives that— 

21 (A) would engage eligible veterans and vet22 erans service organizations in projects utilizing 

23 grant funds under the pilot program; 


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1 (B) ensure veterans who are disabled re2 ceive preference in selection for assistance 

3 under this program; and 

4 (C) identify eligible veterans and their 

5 families and enlist veterans involved in skilled 

6 trades, such as carpentry, roofing, plumbing, or 

7 HVAC work. 

8 (3) Have an established nationwide or statewide 

9 network of affiliates that are— 

10 (A) nonprofit organizations; and 

11 (B) able to provide housing rehabilitation 

12 and modification services for eligible veterans. 

13 (4) Have experience in successfully carrying out 

14 the accountability and reporting requirements in15 volved in the proper administration of grant funds, 

16 including funds provided by private entities or Fed17 eral, State, or local government entities. 

18 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant award under the pilot 

19 program shall be used— 

20 (1) to modify and rehabilitate the primary resi21 dence of an eligible veteran, and may include— 

22 (A) installing wheelchair ramps, widening 

23 exterior and interior doors, reconfigurating and 

24 re-equipping bathrooms (which includes install25 ing new fixtures and grab bars), removing doorVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:38 Jul 31, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1387.IS S1387

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1 way thresholds, installing special lighting, add2 ing additional electrical outlets and electrical 

3 service, and installing appropriate floor cov4 erings to— 

5 (i) accommodate the functional limita6 tions that result from having a disability; 

7 or 

8 (ii) if such residence does not have 

9 modifications necessary to reduce the 

10 chances that an elderly, but not disabled 

11 person, will fall in their home, reduce the 

12 risks of such an elderly person from fall13 ing; 

14 (B) rehabilitating such residence that is in 

15 a state of interior or exterior disrepair; and 

16 (C) installing energy efficient features or 

17 equipment if— 

18 (i) an eligible veteran’s monthly utility 

19 costs for such residence is more than 5 

20 percent of such veteran’s monthly income; 

21 and 

22 (ii) an energy audit of such residence 

23 indicates that the installation of energy ef24 ficient features or equipment will reduce 

25 such costs by 10 percent or more; 


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1 (2) in connection with modification and reha2 bilitation services provided under the pilot program, 

3 to provide technical, administrative, and training 

4 support to an affiliate of a qualified organization re5 ceiving a grant under such pilot program; and 

6 (3) for other purposes as the Secretary may 

7 prescribe through regulations. 

8 (e) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall direct the over9 sight of the grant funds for the pilot program so that such 

10 funds are used efficiently until expended to fulfill the pur11 pose of addressing the adaptive housing needs of eligible 

12 veterans. 

13 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified organization re15 ceiving a grant under the pilot program shall con16 tribute towards the housing modification and reha17 bilitation services provided to eligible veterans an 

18 amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the 

19 grant award received by such organization. 

20 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—In order to 

21 meet the requirement under paragraph (1), such or22 ganization may arrange for in-kind contributions. 

23 (g) LIMITATION COST TO THE VETERANS.—A quali24 fied organization receiving a grant under the pilot pro25 gram shall modify or rehabilitate the primary residence 


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1 of an eligible veteran at no cost to such veteran (including 

2 application fees) or at a cost such that such veteran pays 

3 no more than 30 percent of his or her income in housing 

4 costs during any month. 

5 (h) REPORTS.— 

6 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

7 submit to Congress, on an annual basis, a report 

8 that provides, with respect to the year for which 

9 such report is written— 

10 (A) the number of eligible veterans pro11 vided assistance under the pilot program; 

12 (B) the socioeconomic characteristics of 

13 such veterans, including their gender, age, race, 

14 and ethnicity; 

15 (C) the total number, types, and locations 

16 of entities contracted under such program to 

17 administer the grant funding; 

18 (D) the amount of matching funds and in19 kind contributions raised with each grant; 

20 (E) a description of the housing rehabilita21 tion and modification services provided, costs 

22 saved, and actions taken under such program; 

23 (F) a description of the outreach initiatives 

24 implemented by the Secretary to educate the 


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1 general public and eligible entities about such 

2 program; 

3 (G) a description of the outreach initiatives 

4 instituted by grant recipients to engage eligible 

5 veterans and veteran service organizations in 

6 projects utilizing grant funds under such pro7 gram; 

8 (H) a description of the outreach initia9 tives instituted by grant recipients to identify 

10 eligible veterans and their families; and 

11 (I) any other information that the Sec12 retary considers relevant in assessing such pro13 gram. 

14 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

15 after the completion of the pilot program, the Sec16 retary shall submit to Congress a report that pro17 vides such information that the Secretary considers 

18 relevant in assessing the pilot program. 

19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this Act 

21 $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018. 

Æ 


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