II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1885 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the provision of assistance 

and benefits to veterans who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, 

or occupying temporary housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. HIRONO) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

provision of assistance and benefits to veterans who are 

homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, or occupying 

temporary housing, 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 ‘‘Veteran Housing Sta5 bility Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF HOMELESS VET2 ERAN FOR PURPOSES OF BENEFITS UNDER 

3 THE LAWS ADMINISTERED BY THE SEC4 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 Section 2002(1) of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘in section 103(a) of the McKinney7 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a))’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘in subsection (a) or (b) of section 103 of 

9 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 11302)’’. 

11 SEC. 3. PROGRAM ON PROVISION OF INTENSIVE CASE MAN12 AGEMENT INTERVENTIONS TO HOMELESS 

13 VETERANS WHO RECEIVE THE MOST HEALTH 

14 CARE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF VET15 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

16 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

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. Intensive case management interventions 

21 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

22 carry out a program under which the Secretary shall pro23 vide intensive case management interventions to covered 

24 veterans. 

25 ‘‘(b) COVERED VETERANS.—For purposes of the pro26 gram, a covered veteran is a veteran who is enrolled in— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the homeless registry of the Department; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) the system of annual patient enrollment 

4 established and operated by the Secretary under sec5 tion 1705(a) of this title. 

6 ‘‘(c) LOCATION.—(1) The Secretary shall carry out 

7 the program at not fewer than six locations selected by 

8 the Secretary for purposes of the program as follows: 

9 ‘‘(A) Not fewer than three locations in cities 

10 that have the largest populations of homeless vet11 erans in the United States. 

12 ‘‘(B) Not fewer than three locations in subur13 ban or rural settings. 

14 ‘‘(2) In selecting locations under paragraph (1), the 

15 Secretary shall only select locations in areas in which the 

16 Secretary determines that there is a high degree of inter17 action and coordination between the Department and com18 munity organizations that provide housing and social serv19 ices for veterans, such as outreach, employment, and fi20 nancial assistance for homeless veterans, veterans at risk 

21 of becoming homeless, and low-income veterans. 

22 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF INTENSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT

23 INTERVENTIONS.—(1) In carrying out the program at 

24 each location selected under subsection (c), the Secretary 

25 shall provide intensive case management interventions to 


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1 not fewer than 20 covered veterans at each such location 

2 who the Secretary determines are the covered veterans at 

3 such location who receive the most health care and related 

4 services furnished by the Department. 

5 ‘‘(2) The intensive case management interventions 

6 provided to covered veterans under paragraph (1) shall in7 clude assistance with gaining and maintaining access to 

8 such housing and services, including benefits and services 

9 to which covered veterans may be entitled or eligible under 

10 the laws administered by the Secretary, as may be nec11 essary to improve the stability of their housing and the 

12 appropriateness of the health care that they receive.’’. 

13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 

15 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec16 tion 2066 the following new item: 

‘‘2067. Intensive case management interventions.’’. 

17 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—Not later than September 1, 

18 2016, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall commence 

19 carrying out the program required by section 2067(a) of 

20 such title, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

21 (c) REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 1, 

23 2018, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

24 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com25 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jul 31, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1885.IS S1885

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1 resentatives a report on the program carried out 

2 under section 2067 of such title, as added by sub3 section (a)(1). 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

5 paragraph (1) shall include assessments of the fol6 lowing: 

7 (A) The types and frequencies of intensive 

8 case management interventions provided under 

9 the program. 

10 (B) The housing status of each veteran 

11 who received an intensive case management 

12 intervention under the program. 

13 (C) The employment status of each veteran 

14 who received an intensive case management 

15 intervention under the program, including a 

16 comparison of the employment status of such 

17 veteran before and after receiving such inter18 vention. 

19 (D) The use by veterans who received in20 tensive case management interventions under 

21 the program of health care and related services 

22 furnished by the Department of Veterans Af23 fairs and the costs incurred by the Department 

24 in furnishing such care and services, including 

25 a comparison of the use by such veterans of 


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1 such care and services and the costs incurred 

2 from furnishing such care and services before 

3 and after receiving such interventions. 

4 (E) The number of veterans who received 

5 intensive case management interventions under 

6 the program, disaggregated by whether the in7 tensive case management intervention was pro8 vided in a location described in subparagraph 

9 (A) or (B) of section 2067(c)(1) of such title, 

10 as added by subsection (a)(1). 

11 (F) The costs incurred by the Department 

12 in carrying out the program, disaggregated by 

13 provision of intensive case management inter14 ventions in locations described in subpara15 graphs (A) and (B) of such section. 

16 (G) An estimate of the costs the Depart17 ment would have incurred for the provision of 

18 health care and associated services to covered 

19 veterans (as described in subsection (b) of sec20 tion 2067 of such title, as added by subsection 

21 (a)(1)) but for the provision of intensive case 

22 management interventions under the program, 

23 disaggregated by provision of intensive case 

24 management interventions in locations deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jul 31, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1885.IS S1885

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1 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub2 section (c) of such section. 

3 SEC. 4. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE RETENTION OF HOUSING 

4 BY FORMERLY HOMELESS VETERANS AND 

5 VETERANS AT RISK OF BECOMING HOME6 LESS. 

7 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 20 

9 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating section 2013 as sec11 tion 2014; and 

12 (B) by inserting after section 2012 the fol13 lowing new section 2013: 

14 ‘‘§ 2013. Program to improve retention of housing by 

15 formerly homeless veterans and veterans 

16 at risk of becoming homeless 

17 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

18 carry out a program under which the Secretary shall pro19 vide case management services to improve the retention 

20 of housing by veterans who were previously homeless and 

21 are transitioning to permanent housing and veterans who 

22 are at risk of becoming homeless. 

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary shall carry out the 

24 program through the award of grants. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the 

2 Secretary shall give priority to organizations that dem3 onstrate a capability to provide case management services 

4 as described in subsection (a), particularly organizations 

5 that are successfully providing or have successfully pro6 vided transitional housing services using amounts provided 

7 by the Secretary under sections 2012 and 2061 of this 

8 title. 

9 ‘‘(B) In giving priority under subparagraph (A), the 

10 Secretary shall give extra priority to an organization de11 scribed in such subparagraph that— 

12 ‘‘(i) voluntarily stops receiving amounts pro13 vided by the Secretary under sections 2012 and 

14 2061 of this title; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) converts a facility that the organization 

16 used to provide transitional housing services into a 

17 facility that the organization uses to provide perma18 nent housing that meets housing quality standards 

19 established under section 8(o)(8)(B) of the United 

20 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

21 1437f(o)(8)(B)). 

22 ‘‘(C) In any case in which a facility, with respect to 

23 which a person received a grant for construction, rehabili24 tation, or acquisition under section 2011 of this title, is 

25 converted as described in subparagraph (B)(ii), such conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jul 31, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1885.IS S1885

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1 version shall be considered to have been carried out pursu2 ant to the needs of the Department and such person shall 

3 not be considered in non-compliance with the terms of 

4 such grant by reason of such conversion.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 

7 amended by striking the item relating to section 

8 2013 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘2013. Program to improve retention of housing by formerly homeless veterans 

and veterans at risk of becoming homeless. 

‘‘2014. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet11 erans Affairs shall prescribe regulations to carry out sec12 tion 2013 of such title, as added by subsection (a)(1)(B). 

13 (c) REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 1, 

15 2019, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

16 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com17 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report on the program required by 

19 section 2013 of such title, as added by subsection 

20 (a)(1)(B). 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

22 paragraph (1) shall include assessments of the fol23 lowing: 


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1 (A) The percentage of veterans who re2 ceived case management services under the pro3 gram who were able to retain permanent hous4 ing by the end of the pilot program, 

5 disaggregated by each recipient of a grant 

6 under such section. 

7 (B) The percentage of veterans who re8 ceived case management services under the pro9 gram who were not in permanent housing at 

10 the end of the program, disaggregated by hous11 ing status and reason for failing to retain per12 manent housing under the program. 

13 (C) The use by veterans who received case 

14 management services under the program of 

15 housing assistance furnished by the Department 

16 of Veterans Affairs, including a comparison of 

17 the use of such assistance by such veterans be18 fore and after receiving such services. 

19 (D) An assessment of the employment sta20 tus of veterans who received case management 

21 services under the program, including a com22 parison of the employment status of such vet23 erans before and after receiving such services. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF 

2 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2041 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end 

6 the following: ‘‘, veterans in temporary hous7 ing, and very low-income veteran fami8 lies’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter before 

11 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘To assist home12 less veterans and their families in acquiring 

13 shelter’’ and inserting ‘‘To assist homeless vet14 erans and their families, veterans and their 

15 families who are at risk of becoming homeless, 

16 and very low-income veteran families (as de17 fined in section 2044(f) of this title) in acquir18 ing shelter, in acquiring and transitioning to 

19 permanent housing, and in maintaining occu20 pancy in permanent housing’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘home22 less veterans’’ and inserting ‘‘veterans and fam23 ilies described in paragraph (1)’’; and 

24 (C) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

25 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘solely as 

26 a shelter primarily for homeless veterans 


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1 and their families’’ and inserting ‘‘to pro2 vide permanent or transitional housing for 

3 veterans and families described in para4 graph (1)’’; 

5 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

6 at the end; 

7 (iii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 

8 clause (v); 

9 (iv) by inserting after clause (iii) the 

10 following new clause (iv): 

11 ‘‘(iv) ensure that veterans who receive 

12 housing at the property also receive referrals 

13 for the benefits and services to which they may 

14 be entitled or eligible under this title, and’’; and 

15 (v) in clause (v), as redesignated by 

16 clause (iii) of this subparagraph, by strik17 ing ‘‘homeless veterans’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘veterans and families described in para19 graph (1)’’. 

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

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

22 by striking the item relating to section 2041 and inserting 

23 the following new item: 

‘‘2041. Housing assistance for homeless veterans, veterans in temporary housing, and very low-income veteran families.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. OUTREACH RELATING TO INCREASING THE 

2 AMOUNT OF HOUSING AVAILABLE TO VET3 ERANS. 

4 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, in collabora5 tion with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop6 ment, public housing authorities, tribally designated hous7 ing entities, realtors, landlords, property management 

8 companies, developers, and such other persons as the Sec9 retary considers appropriate, conduct outreach to realtors, 

10 landlords, property management companies, and devel11 opers to educate them about the housing needs of veterans 

12 and the benefits of having veterans as tenants. 

13 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER ON HOME14 LESSNESS AMONG VETERANS. 

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

16 title 38, United States Code, as amended by section 

17 3(a)(1), is further amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new section: 

19 ‘‘§ 2068. National Center on Homelessness Among Vet20 erans 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall establish 

22 and operate a center to carry out the functions described 

23 in subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) The center establish under paragraph (1) shall 

25 be known as the ‘National Center on Homelessness Among 

26 Veterans’. 


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1 ‘‘(3) To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall 

2 operate the center established under paragraph (1) inde3 pendently of the other programs of the Department that 

4 address homelessness among veterans. 

5 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions described in this 

6 subsection are as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) To carry out and promote research into 

8 the causes and contributing factors to veteran home9 lessness. 

10 ‘‘(2) To assess the effectiveness of programs of 

11 the Department to meet the needs of homeless vet12 erans. 

13 ‘‘(3) To identify and disseminate best practices 

14 with regard to housing stabilization, income support, 

15 employment assistance, community partnerships, 

16 and such other matters as the Secretary considers 

17 appropriate with respect to addressing veteran 

18 homelessness. 

19 ‘‘(4) To integrate evidence-based and best prac20 tices, policies, and programs into programs of the 

21 Department for homeless veterans and veterans at 

22 risk of homelessness and to ensure that the staff of 

23 the Department and community partners can imple24 ment such practices, policies, and programs. 


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1 ‘‘(5) To serve as a resource center for, and pro2 mote and seek to coordinate the exchange of infor3 mation regarding, all research and training activities 

4 carried out by the Department and by other Federal 

5 and non-Federal entities with respect to veteran 

6 homelessness.’’. 

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

8 at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title, as amended 

9 by section 3(a)(2), is further amended by inserting after 

10 the item relating to section 2067 the following new item: 

‘‘2068. National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO GRANT AND 

12 PER DIEM PROGRAMS OF DEPARTMENT OF 

13 VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

14 Section 2012 of title 38, United States Code, is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(1), in the matter before 

17 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and except as oth18 erwise provided in this section’’ after ‘‘such pur19 pose’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(e) REVIEW AND CONDITIONAL RENEWAL.—(1) 

23 Each year, the Secretary shall review each grant recipient 

24 and eligible entity that received a per diem payment under 

25 this section for a service furnished to a veteran during 


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1 the one-year period preceding the review to evaluate the 

2 performance of the grant recipient or eligible entity during 

3 that period with respect to— 

4 ‘‘(A) the success of the grant recipient or eligi5 ble entity in assisting veterans obtain, transition 

6 into, and retain permanent housing; and 

7 ‘‘(B) increasing the income of veterans, whether 

8 by helping veterans obtain employment or by helping 

9 veterans obtain income-related benefits to which 

10 such veterans may be eligible or entitled. 

11 ‘‘(2) For any grant recipient or eligible entity whose 

12 performance was evaluated for a year under paragraph 

13 (1), the Secretary may only provide per diem under this 

14 section to that grant recipient or eligible entity in the fol15 lowing year if the Secretary determines that such perform16 ance merits continued receipt of per diem under this sec17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish uniform perform19 ance targets throughout the United States for all grant 

20 recipients and eligible entities that receive per diem pay21 ments under this section for purposes of evaluating the 

22 performance of each such grant recipient and eligible enti23 ty under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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