II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1257 

To authorize a new type of housing choice voucher to help achieve the 

goals of ending homelessness among families with children, increasing 

housing opportunities, and improving life outcomes of poor children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2023 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize a new type of housing choice voucher to help 

achieve the goals of ending homelessness among families 

with children, increasing housing opportunities, and improving life outcomes of poor children. 

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 ‘‘Family Stability and 

5 Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY VOUCHERS. 

7 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

8 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), as amended by section 


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1 601(a)(2)(B) of division AA of the Consolidated Appro2 priations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328; ), is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(23) FAMILY STABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY

5 VOUCHERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(i) The term ‘area of concentrated 

8 poverty’ means a census tract in which the 

9 poverty rate is not less than 30 percent, as 

10 most recently determined by the Bureau of 

11 the Census. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘at risk of homeless13 ness’ has the meaning given the term in 

14 section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Home15 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360). 

16 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘eligible family’ means 

17 a family that— 

18 ‘‘(I)(aa) will welcome a minor 

19 child through birth or adoption in the 

20 next 300 days; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) has not less than 1 child 

22 under the age of 6; 

23 ‘‘(II) meets all applicable eligi24 bility requirements under this sub25 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) is— 

2 ‘‘(aa) homeless; 

3 ‘‘(bb) unstably housed; 

4 ‘‘(cc) living in an area of 

5 concentrated poverty; or 

6 ‘‘(dd) at risk of displace7 ment from— 

8 ‘‘(AA) an opportunity 

9 area for children; or 

10 ‘‘(BB) an area rapidly 

11 transitioning to become an 

12 opportunity area for chil13 dren. 

14 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘high-performing 

15 school’ shall have the meaning given the 

16 term by the Secretary, using the best avail17 able evidence. 

18 ‘‘(v) The term ‘homeless’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 103 of 

20 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 11302). 

22 ‘‘(vi) The term ‘opportunity area for 

23 children’ shall have the meaning given the 

24 term by the Secretary, using the best avail25 able evidence. 


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1 ‘‘(vii) The term ‘unstably housed’, 

2 with respect to a family, means a family 

3 who— 

4 ‘‘(I) is at risk of homelessness; 

5 ‘‘(II) has moved not less than 

6 twice during the 12-month period end7 ing on the date on which a public 

8 housing agency selects the family 

9 from a waiting list to receive assist10 ance under this paragraph; 

11 ‘‘(III) is living in a unit not ac12 cessible to a family member with a 

13 disability; 

14 ‘‘(IV) is experiencing trauma or a 

15 lack of safety relating to, or fleeing or 

16 attempting to flee, domestic violence, 

17 dating violence, sexual assault, stalk18 ing, or another dangerous, traumatic, 

19 or life-threatening condition relating 

20 to violence against a member of the 

21 family or an individual in the housing 

22 situation of the family, including an 

23 instance in which the health and safe24 ty of a child is jeopardized; or 


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1 ‘‘(V) is living in housing condi2 tions that are dangerous or life3 threatening. 

4 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVE AWARD.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In each fiscal year 

6 for which amounts are authorized to be ap7 propriated under subparagraph (F), the 

8 Secretary shall provide assistance to public 

9 housing agencies on a competitive basis to 

10 be used for— 

11 ‘‘(I) incremental vouchers for eli12 gible families; and 

13 ‘‘(II) additional fees for the cost 

14 to the public housing agencies of pro15 viding mobility-related services to eli16 gible families. 

17 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION.—For the second fis18 cal year in which the Secretary provides 

19 assistance under this paragraph, and each 

20 fiscal year thereafter, in selecting public 

21 housing agencies to receive assistance 

22 under this paragraph, the Secretary 

23 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) consider the performance of 

2 public housing agencies in imple3 menting this paragraph; and 

4 ‘‘(II) give preference to public 

5 housing agencies that partner with or6 ganizations that provide home visiting 

7 services, such as the services author8 ized under section 511 of the Social 

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711) or lo10 cally funded initiatives, if those serv11 ices are available in the service area of 

12 the public housing agency. 

13 ‘‘(C) SERVICES REQUIRED TO BE OFFERED

14 TO FAMILIES RECEIVING VOUCHERS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A public housing 

16 agency that receives assistance under this 

17 paragraph— 

18 ‘‘(I) shall offer, to each eligible 

19 family that the agency selects to re20 ceive a voucher, mobility-related serv21 ices to help the family move to an op22 portunity area for children with access 

23 to— 

24 ‘‘(aa) a high-performing 

25 school; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) high-quality childcare 

2 and early education; 

3 ‘‘(II) may not require an eligible 

4 family to participate in the mobility5 related services described in subclause 

6 (I) as a condition of receipt of a 

7 voucher; and 

8 ‘‘(III) shall adopt mobility-related 

9 policies, to be specified by the Sec10 retary. 

11 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM ASSORTMENT OF SERV12 ICES AND POLICIES.—The Secretary shall 

13 establish a minimum assortment of types 

14 of mobility-related services that a public 

15 housing agency shall offer, and mobility-re16 lated policies that a public housing agency 

17 shall adopt, under clause (i) based on 

18 promising practices and evidence of the ef19 fectiveness of the services and policies. 

20 ‘‘(iii) SPECIFIC SERVICES.—The types 

21 of mobility-related services required to be 

22 offered under clause (i)— 

23 ‘‘(I) shall include a customized 

24 approach to enable a successful tranVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257

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1 sition to opportunity areas for chil2 dren; and 

3 ‘‘(II) may include counseling and 

4 continued supportive services for fami5 lies. 

6 ‘‘(iv) OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR CHIL7 DREN; HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS; HIGH8 QUALITY CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDU9 CATION.—The Secretary shall establish cri10 teria for areas, schools, and child care and 

11 early education to qualify as opportunity 

12 areas for children, high-performing schools, 

13 and high-quality child care and early edu14 cation, respectively. 

15 ‘‘(v) MANNER OF PROVIDING SERV16 ICES.—A public housing agency may pro17 vide mobility-related services as required 

18 under clause (i) directly or through a local 

19 partnership or contract. 

20 ‘‘(D) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) TURNOVER.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Upon turn23 over of a voucher issued by a public 

24 housing agency using assistance re25 ceived under this paragraph, the pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257

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1 lic housing agency shall issue the 

2 voucher to another eligible family 

3 under this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(II) MOBILITY SERVICES.—A 

5 public housing agency turning over a 

6 voucher as described in subclause (I) 

7 shall provide any available mobility 

8 services to the eligible family receiving 

9 the voucher. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RECAPTURE AND REALLOCATION

11 BY SECRETARY.—If a public housing agen12 cy that receives assistance to be used for 

13 vouchers and fees under this paragraph de14 termines that it no longer has an identified 

15 need for the assistance, the public housing 

16 agency shall notify the Secretary, who may 

17 recapture the assistance and reallocate the 

18 assistance in accordance with this para19 graph. 

20 ‘‘(E) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 

22 180 days after the date of enactment of 

23 this paragraph, the Secretary shall publish 

24 a notice for public comment in the Federal 

25 Register that includes any definitions or 


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1 other specifications required or authorized 

2 under this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 

4 ‘‘(I) INITIAL YEAR.—For the 

5 first fiscal year for which amounts are 

6 appropriated to be provided to public 

7 housing agencies for incremental 

8 vouchers under this paragraph, the 

9 Secretary shall allocate the amounts 

10 to public housing agencies not later 

11 than 2 years after the date on which 

12 the amounts are appropriated. 

13 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—For 

14 any fiscal year after the fiscal year de15 scribed in subclause (I), the Secretary 

16 shall allocate amounts to public hous17 ing agencies for incremental vouchers 

18 under this paragraph not later than 

19 180 days after the date on which the 

20 amounts are appropriated. 

21 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 

24 2024 through 2029 such sums as may be necVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1257.IS S1257

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1 essary to provide assistance to public housing 

2 agencies under this paragraph to be used for— 

3 ‘‘(i) not more than 50,000 incre4 mental vouchers each fiscal year, as de5 scribed in subparagraph (B)(i)(I); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) fees for the cost of administering 

7 the incremental vouchers described in sub8 paragraph (B)(i)(I) and other mobility-re9 lated expenses.’’. 

Æ 


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