I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4746 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a financial assistance 

program to facilitate the provision of supportive services for very lowincome veteran families in permanent housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2006 

Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire (for himself, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. STRICKLAND, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. SIMMONS, Ms. HERSETH, 

Mr. FILNER, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, 

and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a financial assistance program to facilitate the provision of supportive services for very low-income veteran families in 

permanent 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. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SUPPORTIVE 

4 SERVICES FOR VERY LOW-INCOME VETERAN 

5 FAMILIES IN PERMANENT HOUSING. 

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

7 ‘‘Services to Prevent Veterans Homelessness Act’’. 
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili2 tate the provision of supportive services for very low-in3 come veteran families in permanent housing. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 20 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 2044. Financial assistance for supportive services 

9 for very low-income veteran families re10 siding in permanent housing 

11 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

12 (1) The Secretary shall provide financial assistance to eli13 gible entities approved under this section to provide and 

14 coordinate the provision of the supportive services for very 

15 low-income veteran families residing in permanent hous16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Financial assistance under this section shall 

18 consist of payments for each such family for which an ap19 proved eligible entity provides or coordinates the provision 

20 of supportive services. 

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish a formula for de22 termining the rate of payments provided to a very low23 income veteran family receiving supportive services under 

24 this section. The rate shall be adjusted not less than once 

25 annually to reflect changes in the cost of living. In calcu-
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1 lating the payment formula under this subparagraph, the 

2 Secretary may consider geographic cost of living variances, 

3 family size, and the cost of services provided. 

4 ‘‘(3) In providing financial assistance under para5 graph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to an entity 

6 that provides or coordinates the provision of supportive 

7 services for very low-income veteran families who are 

8 transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. 

9 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall ensure that, to the extent 

10 practicable, financial assistance under this subsection is 

11 equitably distributed across geographic regions, including 

12 rural communities and tribal lands. 

13 ‘‘(5) Each entity receiving financial assistance under 

14 this section to provide supportive services to a very low15 income veteran family shall notify the family that such 

16 services are being paid for, in whole or in part, by the 

17 Department. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Secretary may require an entity receiving 

19 financial assistance under this section to submit a report 

20 to the Secretary describing the supportive services pro21 vided with such financial assistance. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (1) An eligible entity seeking financial assistance under 

24 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an application 

25 in such form, in such manner, and containing such com-
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1 mitments and information as the Secretary determines to 

2 be necessary. 

3 ‘‘(2) An application submitted under paragraph (1) 

4 shall contain— 

5 ‘‘(A) a description of the supportive services 

6 proposed to be provided by the eligible entity; 

7 ‘‘(B) a description of the types of very low-in8 come veteran families proposed to be provided such 

9 services; 

10 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the number of very low-in11 come veteran families proposed to be provided such 

12 services; 

13 ‘‘(D) evidence of the experience of the eligible 

14 entity in providing supportive services to very low-in15 come veteran families; and 

16 ‘‘(E) a description of the managerial capacity of 

17 the eligible entity to— 

18 ‘‘(i) coordinate the provision of supportive 

19 services with the provision of permanent hous20 ing, by the eligible entity or by other organiza21 tions; 

22 ‘‘(ii) continuously assess the needs of very 

23 low-income veteran families for supportive serv24 ices; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) coordinate the provision of supportive 

2 services with the services of the Department; 

3 ‘‘(iv) tailor supportive services to the needs 

4 of very low-income veteran families; and 

5 ‘‘(v) continuously seek new sources of as6 sistance to ensure the long-term provision of 

7 supportive services to very low-income veteran 

8 families. 

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish criteria for the se10 lection of eligible entities to receive financial assistance 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—(1) The Secretary 

13 shall provide training and technical assistance eligible en14 tities that receive financial assistance under this section 

15 with respect to the planning, development, and provision 

16 of supportive services to very low-income veteran families 

17 occupying permanent housing. 

18 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide the training de19 scribed in paragraph (1) directly or through grants or con20 tracts with appropriate public or nonprofit private entities. 

21 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Of the amounts available each fiscal 

22 year to the Department for Medical Care for veterans, 

23 $25,000,000 shall be available in each such fiscal year to 

24 carry out the provisions of this section, of which not more 
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1 than $750,000 may be used to provide technical assistance 

2 under subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘very low-income veteran family’ 

5 means a veteran family whose income does not ex6 ceed 50 percent of the median income for the area, 

7 as determined by the Secretary in accordance with 

8 this paragraph, except that— 

9 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall make appropriate 

10 adjustments to the income requirement under 

11 subparagraph (A) based on family size; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may establish an in13 come ceiling higher or lower than 50 percent of 

14 the median income for an area if the Secretary 

15 determines that such variations are necessary 

16 because the area has unusually high or low con17 struction costs, fair market rents (as deter18 mined under section 8 of the United States 

19 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)), or 

20 family incomes. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘veteran family’ includes a vet22 eran who is a single person and a family in which 

23 the head of household or the spouse of the head of 

24 household is a veteran. 
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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘consumer cooperative’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 202 of the 

3 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 

4 ‘‘(4) The term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a private nonprofit organization; or 

6 ‘‘(B) a consumer cooperative. 

7 ‘‘(5) The term ‘homeless’ has the meaning 

8 given the term in section 103 of the McKinney9 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302)). 

10 ‘‘(6) The term ‘permanent housing’ means com11 munity-based housing without a designated length of 

12 stay. 

13 ‘‘(7) The term ‘private nonprofit organization’ 

14 means— 

15 ‘‘(A) any incorporated private institution 

16 or foundation— 

17 ‘‘(i) no part of the net earnings of 

18 which inures to the benefit of any member, 

19 founder, contributor, or individual; 

20 ‘‘(ii) which has a governing board that 

21 is responsible for the operation of the sup22 portive services provided under this sec23 tion; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) which is approved by the Sec25 retary as to financial responsibility; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a for-profit limited partnership, the 

2 sole general partner of which is an organization 

3 meeting the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 

4 and (iii) of subparagraph (A); 

5 ‘‘(C) a corporation wholly owned and con6 trolled by an organization meeting the require7 ments of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subpara8 graph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(D) a tribally designated housing entity 

10 (as defined in section 4 of the Native American 

11 Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

12 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)). 

13 ‘‘(8) The term ‘supportive services’ means the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(A) Services provided by an eligible entity 

16 or subcontractors that address the needs of very 

17 low-income veteran families occupying perma18 nent housing, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) outreach services; 

20 ‘‘(ii) health care services, including di21 agnosis, treatment, and counseling for 

22 mental health and substance abuse dis23 orders and for post-traumatic stress dis24 order, if such services are not readily avail25 able through the Department of Veterans 
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1 Affairs medical center serving the geo2 graphic area in which the veteran family is 

3 housed; 

4 ‘‘(iii) habilitation and rehabilitation 

5 services; 

6 ‘‘(iv) case management services; 

7 ‘‘(v) daily living services; 

8 ‘‘(vi) personal financial planning; 

9 ‘‘(vii) transportation services; 

10 ‘‘(viii) vocational counseling; 

11 ‘‘(ix) employment and training; 

12 ‘‘(x) educational services; 

13 ‘‘(xi) assistance in obtaining veterans 

14 benefits and other public benefits, includ15 ing health care provided by the Depart16 ment; 

17 ‘‘(xii) assistance in obtaining income 

18 support; 

19 ‘‘(xiii) assistance in obtaining health 

20 insurance; 

21 ‘‘(xiv) fiduciary and representative 

22 payee services; 

23 ‘‘(xv) legal services to assist the vet24 eran family with reconsiderations or ap25 peals of veterans and public benefit claim 
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1 denials and to resolve outstanding war2 rants that interfere with the family’s abil3 ity to obtain or retain housing or sup4 portive services; 

5 ‘‘(xvi) child care; 

6 ‘‘(xvii) housing counseling; 

7 ‘‘(xviii) other services necessary for 

8 maintaining independent living; and 

9 ‘‘(xix) coordination of services de10 scribed in this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(B) Services provided by an eligible entity 

12 or subcontractors, including services described 

13 in clauses (i) through (xix) of subparagraph 

14 (A), that are delivered to very low-income vet15 eran families who are homeless and who are 

16 scheduled to become residents of permanent 

17 housing within 90 days of the date on which the 

18 service is provided pending the location or de19 velopment of housing suitable for permanent 

20 housing. 

21 ‘‘(C) Services provided by an eligible entity 

22 or subcontractors, including services described 

23 in clauses (i) through (xix) of subparagraph 

24 (A), for very low-income veteran families who 

25 have voluntarily chosen to seek other housing 
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1 after a period of tenancy in permanent housing, 

2 that are provided, for a period of 90 days be3 ginning on the date on which such a family 

4 exits permanent housing or until such a family 

5 commences receipt of other housing services 

6 adequate to meet the needs of the family, but 

7 only to the extent that services under this para8 graph are designed to support such a family in 

9 the choice to transition into housing that is re10 sponsive to the individual needs and preferences 

11 of the family.’’. 

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

14 by inserting after the item relating to section 2043 

15 the following new item: 

‘‘2044. Financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran 

families in permanent housing’’. 

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