II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1547 

To amend title 38, United States Code, and the United States Housing 

Act of 1937 to enhance and expand the assistance provided by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. BOND, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KERRY, 

and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, and the United 

States Housing Act of 1937 to enhance and expand 

the assistance provided by the Department of Veterans 

Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of 

homelessness, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zero Tolerance for 

5 Veterans Homelessness Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) veterans are at a greater risk of becoming 

4 homeless than other people in the United States, be5 cause of characteristics that include— 

6 (A) having employment-related skills that 

7 are unique to military service and that can be 

8 difficult to transfer to the civilian sector; 

9 (B) combat-related health issues; 

10 (C) earning minimal income or being un11 employed; and 

12 (D) a shortage of safe, affordable housing; 

13 (2) the Department of Veterans Affairs esti14 mates that— 

15 (A) 131,000 veterans are homeless on any 

16 given night; 

17 (B) more than 200,000 veterans experience 

18 homelessness each year; and 

(C) veterans account for nearly 1 19 ⁄5 of all 

20 homeless people in the United States; 

21 (3) approximately 1,500,000 veterans, nearly 

22 6.3 percent of the veterans in the United States, 

23 have an income that falls below the Federal poverty 

24 level, and approximately 634,000 veterans have an 

25 income below 50 percent of the Federal poverty 

26 level; 


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1 (4) the Department of Veterans Affairs is only 

2 adequately funded to respond to the health, housing, 

and supportive services needs of approximately 1 3 ⁄3 of 

4 the veterans in the United States; and 

5 (5) it is expected that significant increases in 

6 services will be needed to serve the aging veterans 

7 of the Vietnam war and members of the Armed 

8 Forces returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and 

9 Operation Enduring Freedom. 

10 SEC. 3. PROGRAM ON PREVENTION OF VETERAN HOME11 LESSNESS. 

12 (a) PROGRAM ON PREVENTION OF VETERAN HOME13 LESSNESS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VII of chapter 

15 20 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 2067. Prevention of veteran homelessness 

18 ‘‘(a) PREVENTION OF VETERAN HOMELESSNESS.— 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

20 of this section, the Secretary shall establish a program 

21 within the Veterans Benefits Administration to prevent 

22 veteran homelessness by— 

23 ‘‘(1) identifying in a timely fashion any veteran 

24 who is homeless or at imminent risk of becoming 

25 homeless; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) providing assistance sufficient to ensure 

2 that each veteran identified under paragraph (1) 

3 does not become or remain homeless. 

4 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance pro5 vided under subsection (a)(2) may include the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) The provision of short-term or medium7 term rental assistance. 

8 ‘‘(2) Housing relocation and stabilization serv9 ices, including housing search, mediation, and out10 reach to property owners. 

11 ‘‘(3) Services to resolve personal credit issues 

12 that have led to negative credit reports. 

13 ‘‘(4) Assistance with paying security or utility 

14 deposits and utility payments. 

15 ‘‘(5) Assistance with covering costs associated 

16 with moving. 

17 ‘‘(6) A referral to a program of another depart18 ment or agency of the Federal Government. 

19 ‘‘(7) Such other activities as the Secretary con20 siders appropriate to prevent veterans homelessness. 

21 ‘‘(c) NO DUPLICATION OF SERVICES.—The Secretary 

22 may provide assistance under subsection (a)(2) to a vet23 eran receiving supportive services from an eligible entity 

24 receiving financial assistance under section 2044 of this 

25 title only to the extent that the assistance provided under 


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1 subsection (a)(2) does not duplicate the supportive serv2 ices provided to such veteran by such entity. 

3 ‘‘(d) STAFFING.—The Secretary shall assign such 

4 employees at such locations as the Secretary considers 

5 necessary to carry out this section. 

6 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘2067. Prevention of veteran homelessness.’’. 

13 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOMELESS VETERANS

14 PROGRAM COORDINATORS.—Section 2003(a) of such title 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘The housing’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘Any housing’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para19 graph (8); and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol21 lowing new paragraph (7): 

22 ‘‘(7) The program under section 2067 of this 

23 title.’’. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of the establishment of the program required by section 


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1 2067 of title 38, United States Code, as added by para2 graph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

3 to Congress a report on the operation of such program. 

4 SEC. 4. ENHANCEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE PRO5 GRAMS. 

6 (a) ENHANCEMENT OF GRANTS.—Section 2011 of 

7 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Subject to 

9 the availability of appropriations provided for such 

10 purpose, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘new 

12 construction,’’ before ‘‘expansion’’; and 

13 (3) in subsection (c)— 

14 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘A 

15 grant’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) A grant’’; 

16 (B) in the second sentence of paragraph 

17 (1), as designated by subparagraph (A), by 

18 striking ‘‘The amount’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(2) The amount’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary may not deny an application 

24 from an entity that seeks a grant under this section to 

25 carry out a project described in subsection (b)(1)(A) solely 


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1 on the basis that the entity proposes to use funding from 

2 other private or public sources, if the entity demonstrates 

3 that a private nonprofit organization will provide oversight 

4 and site control for the project. 

5 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘private nonprofit 

6 organization’ means the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) An incorporated private institution, organi8 zation, or foundation— 

9 ‘‘(I) that has received, or has temporary 

10 clearance to receive, tax-exempt status under 

11 paragraphs (2), (3), or (19) of section 501(c) of 

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

13 ‘‘(II) for which no part of the net earnings 

14 of the institution or foundation inures to the 

15 benefit of any member, founder, or contributor 

16 of the institution or foundation; and 

17 ‘‘(III) that the Secretary determines is fi18 nancially responsible. 

19 ‘‘(ii) A for-profit limited partnership or limited 

20 liability company, the sole general partner of which 

21 is an organization that is described by subclauses (I) 

22 through (III) of clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(iii) A corporation wholly owned and controlled 

24 by an organization that is described by subclauses 

25 (I) through (III) of clause (i).’’. 


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1 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON PER DIEM PAY2 MENTS.— 

3 (1) STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PAYMENT

4 METHOD.—Not later than one year after the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

6 Affairs shall— 

7 (A) complete a study of all matters relat8 ing to the method used by the Secretary to 

9 make per diem payments under section 2012(a) 

10 of title 38, United States Code; and 

11 (B) develop an improved method for ade12 quately reimbursing recipients of grants under 

13 section 2011 of such title for services furnished 

14 to homeless veterans. 

15 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the meth16 od required by paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary may 

17 consider payments and grants received by recipients 

18 of grants described in such paragraph from other 

19 departments and agencies of Federal and local gov20 ernments and from private entities. 

21 (3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

23 Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report 

24 on— 


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1 (A) the findings of the Secretary with re2 spect to the study required by subparagraph 

3 (A) of paragraph (1); 

4 (B) the method developed under subpara5 graph (B) of such paragraph; and 

6 (C) any recommendations of the Secretary 

7 for revising the method described in subpara8 graph (A) of such paragraph and any legislative 

9 action the Secretary considers necessary to im10 plement such method. 

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

12 2013 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘subchapter 

13 $150,000,000’’ and all that follows through the period and 

14 inserting the following: ‘‘subchapter— 

15 ‘‘(1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

16 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

17 of fiscal years 2011 through 2014.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. HUD VETERANS AFFAIRS SUPPORTIVE HOUSING 

19 VOUCHERS. 

20 Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 

21 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(19) RENTAL VOUCHERS FOR VETERANS AF24 FAIRS SUPPORTED HOUSING PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) RENTAL VOUCHERS.—The Secretary 

2 shall make available to public housing agencies 

3 described in subparagraph (C) the amounts de4 scribed in subparagraph (B), to provide rental 

5 assistance through a supported housing pro6 gram administered in conjunction with the De7 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amounts specified in 

9 this subparagraph are the amounts necessary to 

10 ensure that— 

11 ‘‘(i) not more than 30,000 vouchers 

12 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

13 are outstanding at any one time during fis14 cal year 2010; 

15 ‘‘(ii) not more than 40,000 vouchers 

16 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

17 are outstanding at any one time during fis18 cal year 2011; 

19 ‘‘(iii) not more than 50,000 vouchers 

20 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

21 are outstanding at any one time during fis22 cal year 2012; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) not more than 60,000 vouchers 

24 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

25 are outstanding at any one time during fisVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:26 Jul 31, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1547.IS S1547

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1 cal year 2013 and each fiscal year there2 after. 

3 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.—A pub4 lic housing agency described in this subpara5 graph is a public housing agency that— 

6 ‘‘(i) has a partnership with a Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs medical center or 

8 an entity determined to be appropriate by 

9 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

10 ‘‘(ii) is located in an area that the 

11 Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines 

12 has a high concentration of veterans in 

13 need of assistance; 

14 ‘‘(iii) has demonstrated expertise in 

15 providing housing for homeless individuals; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iv) meets any other criteria that the 

18 Secretary, in consultation with the Sec19 retary of Veterans Affairs may prescribe. 

20 ‘‘(D) CASE MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary 

21 of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that the case 

22 managers described in section 2003(b) of title 

23 38, United States Code, provide appropriate 

24 case management for each veteran who receives 

25 rental assistance under this paragraph that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) assists the veteran in— 

2 ‘‘(I) locating available housing; 

3 ‘‘(II) working with the appro4 priate public housing agency; 

5 ‘‘(III) accessing benefits and 

6 health services provided by the De7 partment of Veterans Affairs and 

8 other departments and agencies of the 

9 Federal Government; 

10 ‘‘(IV) negotiating with landlords; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(V) other areas, as the Sec13 retary determines is necessary to help 

14 the veteran maintain housing or avoid 

15 homelessness; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) ensures that a veteran with a se17 vere disability, including a veteran that has 

18 been homeless for a substantial period of 

19 time, is referred to sufficient supportive 

20 services to provide the veteran with stable 

21 housing, including— 

22 ‘‘(I) mental health services, in23 cluding treatment and recovery sup24 port services; 


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1 ‘‘(II) substance abuse treatment 

2 and recovery support services, includ3 ing counseling, treatment planning, 

4 recovery coaching, and relapse preven5 tion; 

6 ‘‘(III) integrated, coordinated 

7 treatment and recovery support serv8 ices for co-occurring disorders; 

9 ‘‘(IV) health education, including 

10 referrals for medical and dental care; 

11 ‘‘(V) services designed to help in12 dividuals make progress toward self13 sufficiency and recovery, including job 

14 training, assistance in seeking employ15 ment, benefits advocacy, money man16 agement, life-skills training, self-help 

17 programs, and engagement and moti18 vational interventions; 

19 ‘‘(VI) parental skills and family 

20 support; and 

21 ‘‘(VII) other supportive services 

22 that promote an end to chronic home23 lessness.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN OF2 FICE OF SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND 

3 URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 

4 Section 4 of the Department of Housing and Urban 

5 Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3533) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AF8 FAIRS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the 

10 Department a Special Assistant for Veterans Af11 fairs, who shall be in the Office of the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Special Assistant for 

13 Veterans Affairs shall be appointed by the Secretary, 

14 based solely on merit and shall be covered under the 

15 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

16 appointments in the competitive service. 

17 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Special Assist18 ant for Veterans Affairs shall be responsible for— 

19 ‘‘(A) ensuring that veterans have access to 

20 housing and homeless assistance under each 

21 program of the Department providing such as22 sistance; 

23 ‘‘(B) coordinating all programs and activi24 ties of the Department relating to veterans; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) carrying out such other duties as may 

2 be assigned to the Special Assistant by the Sec3 retary or by law.’’. 

4 SEC. 7. HOMELESS VETERANS MANAGEMENT INFORMA5 TION SYSTEM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VII of chapter 20 of 

7 title 38, United States Code, as amended by section 3(b), 

8 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘§ 2068. Homeless Veterans Management Information 

11 System 

12 ‘‘(a) METHOD FOR DATA COLLECTION AND AGGRE13 GATION.—(1) Not later than one year after the date of 

14 the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall, in con15 sultation with the Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs 

16 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

17 and the United States Interagency Council on Homeless18 ness established under section 201 of the McKinney-Vento 

19 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11311), establish a 

20 method for the collection and aggregation of data on 

21 homeless veterans participating in programs of the De22 partment of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 

23 Housing and Urban Development, including the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The age, race, sex, disability status, mar2 ital status of the veteran, income, employment his3 tory, and whether the veteran is a parent. 

4 ‘‘(B) If the veteran received housing assistance, 

5 the number of days that the veteran resided in such 

6 housing, and the type of housing in which the vet7 eran resided. 

8 ‘‘(C) If the veteran is no longer participating in 

9 a program, the reason the veteran left the program. 

10 ‘‘(2) The method required by paragraph (1) shall be 

11 established in a manner that ensures that each veteran 

12 is counted only once. 

13 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL DATA COLLECTION AND AGGREGA14 TION.—Not later than one year after the method is estab15 lished under subsection (a), and annually thereafter, the 

16 Secretary shall collect and aggregate data using the meth17 od established under subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than two years 

19 after the date of enactment of this section and annually 

20 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

21 on the data collected and aggregated under subsection (b). 

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

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec24 tion— 

25 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

2 years 2011 through 2014.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘2068. Homeless Veterans Management Information System.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. PLAN TO END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

9 Affairs shall submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to 

10 end homelessness among veterans that includes— 

11 (1) an analysis of programs of the Department 

12 of Veterans Affairs and other departments and 

13 agencies of the Federal Government that are de14 signed to prevent homelessness among veterans and 

15 assist veterans who are homeless; 

16 (2) an evaluation of whether and how partner17 ships between the programs described in paragraph 

18 (1) would contribute to ending homelessness among 

19 veterans; 

20 (3) recommendations for improving the pro21 grams described in paragraph (1), creating partner22 ships between such programs, or eliminating pro23 grams that are no longer effective; 


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1 (4) recommendations for new programs to pre2 vent and end homelessness among veterans, includ3 ing an estimation of the cost of such programs; 

4 (5) a timeline for implementing the plan; and 

5 (6) such other information as the Secretary de6 termines necessary. 

7 (b) CONSIDERATION OF VETERANS LOCATED IN

8 RURAL AREAS.—The analysis, evaluation, and rec9 ommendations included in the report required by sub10 section (a) shall include consideration of the circumstances 

11 and requirements that are unique to veterans located in 

12 rural areas. 

Æ 


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