I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1257 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the 

effect of financial and credit counseling for homeless veterans and veterans experiencing housing instability. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a 

study on the effect of financial and credit counseling 

for homeless veterans and veterans experiencing housing 

instability. 

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 ‘‘Homeless Veterans 

5 Credit Repair, Enhancement, and Debt Improvement for 

6 Tomorrow Act’’ or the ‘‘Homeless Veterans CREDIT 

7 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY ON FINANCIAL AND CREDIT COUNSELING. 

2 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 

3 Affairs shall conduct a comprehensive study on— 

4 (1) the use of and variation of financial and 

5 credit counseling services available for homeless vet6 erans and veterans experiencing housing instability; 

7 (2) barriers to accessing financial and credit 

8 counseling for such veterans; and 

9 (3) the ability to evaluate and assess the poten10 tial effects of financial and credit counseling for 

11 such veterans with respect to housing, employment, 

12 income, and other outcomes the Secretary deter13 mines appropriate. 

14 (b) METHODOLOGY.—In conducting the study under 

15 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

16 (1) survey— 

17 (A) homeless veterans and veterans experi18 encing housing instability who are enrolled in 

19 the Supportive Services for Veterans Families 

20 program; 

21 (B) such veterans who do not seek or re22 ceive the care or services under such program 

23 or a similar program; 

24 (C) grantees of the Supportive Services for 

25 Veterans Families program; 

26 (D) financial and credit counselors; and 


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1 (E) persons who are subject matter experts 

2 regarding the use of financial and credit coun3 seling services that the Secretary determines 

4 appropriate; and 

5 (2) administer the survey to a representative 

6 sample of homeless veterans and veterans experi7 encing housing instability in areas with high veteran 

8 homelessness. 

9 (c) USE AND VARIATION OF SERVICES.—In con10 ducting the study under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 (1) use data from the Supportive Services for 

13 Veterans Families program and other data collected 

14 by the Department of Veterans Affairs, data col15 lected by other departments or agencies of the Fed16 eral Government, and data collected by nongovern17 mental entities to compare the use of and variation 

18 of financial and credit counseling services available 

19 for homeless veterans and veterans experiencing 

20 housing instability and such use and variation for 

21 other individuals; and 

22 (2) assess such services made available through 

23 the Supportive Services for Veterans Families pro24 gram, including with respect to the types, modes of 


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1 delivery, duration, consistency, and quality, of such 

2 services. 

3 (d) BARRIERS TO COUNSELING.—In conducting the 

4 study under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall conduct 

5 research on the effects of the following perceived barriers 

6 to financial and credit counseling for homeless veterans 

7 and veterans experiencing housing instability surveyed in 

8 the study: 

9 (1) The cost of financial and credit counseling 

10 services. 

11 (2) The perceived stigma associated with seek12 ing financial and credit counseling assistance. 

13 (3) The effect of driving distance or availability 

14 of other forms of transportation to the nearest facil15 ity that received a grant under the Supportive Serv16 ices for Veterans Families program. 

17 (4) The availability of child care. 

18 (5) The comprehension of eligibility require19 ments for, and the scope of services available under, 

20 the Supportive Services for Veterans Families pro21 gram. 

22 (6) The effectiveness of outreach for the serv23 ices available to such veterans under the Supportive 

24 Services for Veterans Families program. 


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1 (7) The location and operating hours of facili2 ties that provide services to such veterans under the 

3 Supportive Services for Veterans Families program. 

4 (8) The COVID–19 pandemic and other health 

5 related issues. 

6 (9) Such other significant barriers as the Sec7 retary considers appropriate. 

8 (e) EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF

9 COUNSELING.— 

10 (1) EFFECTS.—In conducting the study under 

11 subsection (a)(3), the Secretary shall conduct re12 search on the ability to evaluate and assess the po13 tential effects of financial and credit counseling serv14 ices on homeless veterans and veterans experiencing 

15 housing instability with respect to the following: 

16 (A) The effects of such services on employ17 ment by comparing the veterans who received 

18 such services and the veterans who did not re19 ceive such services. 

20 (B) The effects of such services on housing 

21 status by comparing the veterans who received 

22 such services and the veterans who did not re23 ceive such services. 

24 (C) The effects of such services on income 

25 by comparing the veterans who received such 


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1 services and the veterans who did not receive 

2 such services. 

3 (D) The effects of such services on credit 

4 score by comparing the veterans who received 

5 such services and the veterans who did not re6 ceive such services. 

7 (E) The effects of such services on other 

8 outcomes the Secretary determines appropriate. 

9 (2) DATA AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—In car10 rying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

11 (A) determine the relevant data that is 

12 available to the Secretary and determine the 

13 confidence of the Secretary with respect to ac14 cessing any additional data the Secretary may 

15 require; and 

16 (B) provide recommendations regarding 

17 the optimal research or evaluation design that 

18 would generate the greatest insights and value. 

19 (f) DISCHARGE BY CONTRACT.—The Secretary may 

20 seek to enter into a contract with a qualified independent 

21 entity or organization to carry out the study and research 

22 required under this section, including such an entity or 

23 organization that is able to access credit scores, data 

24 maintained by the Internal Revenue Service, and other 

25 date beneficial to studying income. 


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1 (g) MANDATORY REVIEW OF DATA BY CERTAIN

2 ELEMENTS OF DEPARTMENT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

4 that the head of each element of the Department of 

5 Veterans Affairs specified in paragraph (2) reviews 

6 the results of the study conducted under subsection 

7 (a). The head of each such element shall submit to 

8 the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Oper9 ations and Management the findings of the head 

10 with respect to the study, including recommenda11 tions regarding what data the Secretary should col12 lect from grantees under the Supportive Services for 

13 Veterans Families program. 

14 (2) SPECIFIED ELEMENTS.—The elements of 

15 the Department of Veterans Affairs specified in this 

16 paragraph are the following: 

17 (A) The Advisory Committee on Homeless 

18 Veterans established under section 2066 of title 

19 38, United States Code. 

20 (B) The Advisory Committee on Women 

21 Veterans established under section 542 of title 

22 38, United States Code. 

23 (C) The Advisory Committee on Minority 

24 Veterans established under section 544 of title 

25 38, United States Code. 


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1 (D) The Homeless Programs Office of the 

2 Veterans Health Administration. 

3 (E) The Office of Tribal Government Rela4 tions of the Department. 

5 (h) REPORTS.— 

6 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than one year 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary shall submit to Congress an interim report on 

9 the study under subsection (a). 

10 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 months 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the 

13 study under subsection (a). The report shall in14 clude— 

15 (A) the findings of the head of each ele16 ment of the Department specified under sub17 section (g)(2); and 

18 (B) recommendations for such administra19 tive and legislative action as the Secretary con20 siders appropriate. 

21 (i) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘homeless veterans and veterans 

23 experiencing housing instability’’ means veterans 

24 who are homeless (as that term is defined in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1257.IH H1257

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1 section (a) or (b) of section 103 of the McKinney– 

2 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302)). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘Supportive Services for Veterans 

4 Families program’’ means the program established 

5 pursuant to section 2044 of title 38, United States 

6 Code. 

Æ 


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