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 

AUGUST 5, 2009 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Veterans’ 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Veterans Homelessness Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

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

7 homeless than other people in the United States, be8 cause of characteristics that include— 

9 (A) having employment-related skills that 

10 are unique to military service and that can be 

11 difficult to transfer to the civilian sector; 

12 (B) combat-related health issues; 

13 (C) earning minimal income or being un14 employed; and 

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

16 (2) the Department of Veterans Affairs esti17 mates that— 

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

19 given night; 

20 (B) more than 200,000 veterans experience 

21 homelessness each year; and 

(C) veterans account for nearly 1 22 ⁄5 of all 

23 homeless people in the United States; 

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

25 6.3 percent of the veterans in the United States, 

26 have an income that falls below the Federal poverty 


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1 level, and approximately 634,000 veterans have an 

2 income below 50 percent of the Federal poverty 

3 level; 

4 (4) the Department of Veterans Affairs is only 

5 adequately funded to respond to the health, housing, 

and supportive services needs of approximately 1 6 ⁄3 of 

7 the veterans in the United States; and 

8 (5) it is expected that significant increases in 

9 services will be needed to serve the aging veterans 

10 of the Vietnam war and members of the Armed 

11 Forces returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and 

12 Operation Enduring Freedom. 

13 SEC. 3. PROGRAM ON PREVENTION OF VETERAN HOME14 LESSNESS. 

15 (a) PROGRAM ON PREVENTION OF VETERAN HOME16 LESSNESS.— 

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

18 20 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following new section: 

20 ‘‘§ 2067. Prevention of veteran homelessness 

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

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

23 of this section, the Secretary shall establish a program 

24 within the Veterans Benefits Administration to prevent 

25 veteran homelessness by— 


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

2 who is homeless or at imminent risk of becoming 

3 homeless; and 

4 ‘‘(2) providing assistance sufficient to ensure 

5 that each veteran identified under paragraph (1) 

6 does not become or remain homeless. 

7 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance pro8 vided under subsection (a)(2) may include the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) The provision of short-term or medium10 term rental assistance. 

11 ‘‘(2) Housing relocation and stabilization serv12 ices, including housing search, mediation, and out13 reach to property owners. 

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

15 that have led to negative credit reports. 

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

17 deposits and utility payments. 

18 ‘‘(5) Assistance with covering costs associated 

19 with moving. 

20 ‘‘(6) A referral to a program of another depart21 ment or agency of the Federal Government. 

22 ‘‘(7) Such other activities as the Secretary con23 siders appropriate to prevent veterans homelessness. 

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

25 may provide assistance under subsection (a)(2) to a vetVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:40 Aug 06, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1547.RCS S1547

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1 eran receiving supportive services from an eligible entity 

2 receiving financial assistance under section 2044 of this 

3 title only to the extent that the assistance provided under 

4 subsection (a)(2) does not duplicate the supportive serv5 ices provided to such veteran by such entity. 

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

7 employees at such locations as the Secretary considers 

8 necessary to carry out this section. 

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

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 item: 

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

16 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOMELESS VETERANS

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

18 is amended— 

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

20 and inserting ‘‘Any housing’’; 

21 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para22 graph (8); and 

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol24 lowing new paragraph (7): 


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

2 title.’’. 

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

4 of the establishment of the program required by section 

5 2067 of title 38, United States Code, as added by para6 graph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

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

8 SEC. 4. ENHANCEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE PRO9 GRAMS. 

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

11 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

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

13 the availability of appropriations provided for such 

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

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

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

17 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

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

20 (B) in the second sentence of paragraph 

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

22 striking ‘‘The amount’’ and inserting the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(2) The amount’’; and 


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

2 paragraph: 

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

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

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

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

7 other private or public sources, if the entity demonstrates 

8 that a private nonprofit organization will provide oversight 

9 and site control for the project. 

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

11 organization’ means the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) An incorporated private institution, organi13 zation, or foundation— 

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

15 clearance to receive, tax-exempt status under 

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

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

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

19 of the institution or foundation inures to the 

20 benefit of any member, founder, or contributor 

21 of the institution or foundation; and 

22 ‘‘(III) that the Secretary determines is fi23 nancially responsible. 

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

25 liability company, the sole general partner of which 


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

2 through (III) of clause (i). 

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

4 by an organization that is described by subclauses 

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

6 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON PER DIEM PAY7 MENTS.— 

8 (1) STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PAYMENT

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

10 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

11 Affairs shall— 

12 (A) complete a study of all matters relat13 ing to the method used by the Secretary to 

14 make per diem payments under section 2012(a) 

15 of title 38, United States Code; and 

16 (B) develop an improved method for ade17 quately reimbursing recipients of grants under 

18 section 2011 of such title for services furnished 

19 to homeless veterans. 

20 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the meth21 od required by paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary may 

22 consider payments and grants received by recipients 

23 of grants described in such paragraph from other 

24 departments and agencies of Federal and local gov25 ernments and from private entities. 


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

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

3 Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report 

4 on— 

5 (A) the findings of the Secretary with re6 spect to the study required by subparagraph 

7 (A) of paragraph (1); 

8 (B) the method developed under subpara9 graph (B) of such paragraph; and 

10 (C) any recommendations of the Secretary 

11 for revising the method described in subpara12 graph (A) of such paragraph and any legislative 

13 action the Secretary considers necessary to im14 plement such method. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

16 2013 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘subchapter 

17 $150,000,000’’ and all that follows through the period and 

18 inserting the following: ‘‘subchapter— 

19 ‘‘(1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

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

21 of fiscal years 2011 through 2014.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. HUD VETERANS AFFAIRS SUPPORTIVE HOUSING 

2 VOUCHERS. 

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

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

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(19) RENTAL VOUCHERS FOR VETERANS AF7 FAIRS SUPPORTED HOUSING PROGRAM.— 

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

9 shall make available to public housing agencies 

10 described in subparagraph (C) the amounts de11 scribed in subparagraph (B), to provide rental 

12 assistance through a supported housing pro13 gram administered in conjunction with the De14 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

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

16 this subparagraph are the amounts necessary to 

17 ensure that— 

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

19 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

20 are outstanding at any one time during fis21 cal year 2010; 

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

23 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

24 are outstanding at any one time during fis25 cal year 2011; 


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

2 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

3 are outstanding at any one time during fis4 cal year 2012; and 

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

6 for rental assistance under this paragraph 

7 are outstanding at any one time during fis8 cal year 2013 and each fiscal year there9 after. 

10 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.—A pub11 lic housing agency described in this subpara12 graph is a public housing agency that— 

13 ‘‘(i) has a partnership with a Depart14 ment of Veterans Affairs medical center or 

15 an entity determined to be appropriate by 

16 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

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

18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines 

19 has a high concentration of veterans in 

20 need of assistance; 

21 ‘‘(iii) has demonstrated expertise in 

22 providing housing for homeless individuals; 

23 and 


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

2 Secretary, in consultation with the Sec3 retary of Veterans Affairs may prescribe. 

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

5 of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that the case 

6 managers described in section 2003(b) of title 

7 38, United States Code, provide appropriate 

8 case management for each veteran who receives 

9 rental assistance under this paragraph that— 

10 ‘‘(i) assists the veteran in— 

11 ‘‘(I) locating available housing; 

12 ‘‘(II) working with the appro13 priate public housing agency; 

14 ‘‘(III) accessing benefits and 

15 health services provided by the De16 partment of Veterans Affairs and 

17 other departments and agencies of the 

18 Federal Government; 

19 ‘‘(IV) negotiating with landlords; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(V) other areas, as the Sec22 retary determines is necessary to help 

23 the veteran maintain housing or avoid 

24 homelessness; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ensures that a veteran with a se2 vere disability, including a veteran that has 

3 been homeless for a substantial period of 

4 time, is referred to sufficient supportive 

5 services to provide the veteran with stable 

6 housing, including— 

7 ‘‘(I) mental health services, in8 cluding treatment and recovery sup9 port services; 

10 ‘‘(II) substance abuse treatment 

11 and recovery support services, includ12 ing counseling, treatment planning, 

13 recovery coaching, and relapse preven14 tion; 

15 ‘‘(III) integrated, coordinated 

16 treatment and recovery support serv17 ices for co-occurring disorders; 

18 ‘‘(IV) health education, including 

19 referrals for medical and dental care; 

20 ‘‘(V) services designed to help in21 dividuals make progress toward self22 sufficiency and recovery, including job 

23 training, assistance in seeking employ24 ment, benefits advocacy, money man25 agement, life-skills training, self-help 


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1 programs, and engagement and moti2 vational interventions; 

3 ‘‘(VI) parental skills and family 

4 support; and 

5 ‘‘(VII) other supportive services 

6 that promote an end to chronic home7 lessness.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN OF9 FICE OF SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND 

10 URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 

11 Section 4 of the Department of Housing and Urban 

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

13 at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AF15 FAIRS.— 

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

17 Department a Special Assistant for Veterans Af18 fairs, who shall be in the Office of the Secretary. 

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

20 Veterans Affairs shall be appointed by the Secretary, 

21 based solely on merit and shall be covered under the 

22 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

23 appointments in the competitive service. 

24 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Special Assist25 ant for Veterans Affairs shall be responsible for— 


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

2 housing and homeless assistance under each 

3 program of the Department providing such as4 sistance; 

5 ‘‘(B) coordinating all programs and activi6 ties of the Department relating to veterans; and 

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

8 be assigned to the Special Assistant by the Sec9 retary or by law.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. HOMELESS VETERANS MANAGEMENT INFORMA11 TION SYSTEM. 

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

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

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

15 section: 

16 ‘‘§ 2068. Homeless Veterans Management Information 

17 System 

18 ‘‘(a) METHOD FOR DATA COLLECTION AND AGGRE19 GATION.—(1) Not later than one year after the date of 

20 the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall, in con21 sultation with the Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs 

22 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

23 and the United States Interagency Council on Homeless24 ness established under section 201 of the McKinney-Vento 

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


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1 method for the collection and aggregation of data on 

2 homeless veterans participating in programs of the De3 partment of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 

4 Housing and Urban Development, including the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) The age, race, sex, disability status, mar6 ital status of the veteran, income, employment his7 tory, and whether the veteran is a parent. 

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

9 the number of days that the veteran resided in such 

10 housing, and the type of housing in which the vet11 eran resided. 

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

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

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

15 established in a manner that ensures that each veteran 

16 is counted only once. 

17 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL DATA COLLECTION AND AGGREGA18 TION.—Not later than one year after the method is estab19 lished under subsection (a), and annually thereafter, the 

20 Secretary shall collect and aggregate data using the meth21 od established under subsection (a). 

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

23 after the date of enactment of this section and annually 

24 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

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


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

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec3 tion— 

4 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

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

6 years 2011 through 2014.’’. 

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

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

9 by adding at the end the following new item: 

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

10 SEC. 8. PLAN TO END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS. 

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

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

13 Affairs shall submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to 

14 end homelessness among veterans that includes— 

15 (1) an analysis of programs of the Department 

16 of Veterans Affairs and other departments and 

17 agencies of the Federal Government that are de18 signed to prevent homelessness among veterans and 

19 assist veterans who are homeless; 

20 (2) an evaluation of whether and how partner21 ships between the programs described in paragraph 

22 (1) would contribute to ending homelessness among 

23 veterans; 

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1 ships between such programs, or eliminating pro2 grams that are no longer effective; 

3 (4) recommendations for new programs to pre4 vent and end homelessness among veterans, includ5 ing an estimation of the cost of such programs; 

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

7 (6) such other information as the Secretary de8 termines necessary. 

9 (b) CONSIDERATION OF VETERANS LOCATED IN

10 RURAL AREAS.—The analysis, evaluation, and rec11 ommendations included in the report required by sub12 section (a) shall include consideration of the circumstances 

13 and requirements that are unique to veterans located in 

14 rural areas. 

Æ 


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