I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 766 

To encourage States and units of general local government to use amounts 

received under the community development block grant program and 

the community mental health services and substance abuse block grant 

programs to provide housing counseling and financial counseling for 

individuals before their release from inpatient or residential institutions 

for individuals with mental illness and periodic evaluation of the appropriateness of such counseling after such release. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2009 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To encourage States and units of general local government 

to use amounts received under the community development block grant program and the community mental 

health services and substance abuse block grant programs to provide housing counseling and financial counseling for individuals before their release from inpatient 

or residential institutions for individuals with mental illness and periodic evaluation of the appropriateness of 

such counseling after such release. 


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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 ‘‘Community Assistance 

5 Act for Persons with Mental Illness’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Many homeless individuals in the United 

9 States are individuals who have been discharged 

10 from inpatient or residential institutions for individ11 uals with mental illness. 

12 (2) With proper predischarge housing coun13 seling and related services, many such individuals 

14 can be accommodated in existing housing facilities. 

15 (3) Residential institutions for individuals with 

16 mental illness are funded and operated by States 

17 and units of general local government without direct 

18 Federal involvement. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 Section 1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 300x–8) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new paragraphs: 

23 ‘‘(3) HOUSING COUNSELING.—The term ‘hous24 ing counseling’ means counseling furnished to an in25 dividual before the individual’s release from an inpaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:07 Jan 31, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.IH H766

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1 tient or residential institution for individuals with 

2 mental illness that includes discussions with an ac3 credited or experienced advisor from a community4 based non-profit organization on, and distribution to 

5 such individual by such an advisor of, information 

6 about how the application and grant processes work 

7 for Federal, State, and local housing assistance, 

8 about selection preferences for such housing assist9 ance, about how rent is determined for applicable 

10 public housing, and about the duration for which the 

11 individual would be eligible to stay in such public 

12 housing. Such counseling shall include information 

13 on any of the following topics, as appropriate: 

14 ‘‘(A) Housing choice vouchers under sec15 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

16 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 

17 ‘‘(B) Direct housing subsidies. 

18 ‘‘(C) Non-profit housing. 

19 ‘‘(D) Public housing (as such term is de20 fined in section 3(b) of the United States Hous21 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

22 ‘‘(E) Rent supplements and assistance pro23 grams. 

24 ‘‘(F) Co-operative housing. 

25 ‘‘(G) Permanent supportive housing. 


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1 ‘‘(H) Private-sector housing affordable to 

2 the individual. 

3 ‘‘(I) Tax credit programs. 

4 ‘‘(J) Local laws regarding renters’ rights. 

5 ‘‘(K) Home mortgages. 

6 ‘‘(L) Mortgage refinancing. 

7 ‘‘(M) Home equity loans. 

8 ‘‘(N) Home repair loans. 

9 ‘‘(O) Property taxes. 

10 ‘‘(P) Other housing options for low-income 

11 individuals or other applicable groups of indi12 viduals. 

13 ‘‘(4) FINANCIAL COUNSELING.—The term ‘fi14 nancial counseling’ means counseling furnished to an 

15 individual before the individual’s release from a resi16 dential institution for individuals with mental illness 

17 that includes discussions with an accredited or expe18 rienced advisor from a community-based non-profit 

19 organization on, and distribution to such individual 

20 by such an advisor of, information about issues re21 lating to financial literacy and education to promote 

22 an understanding of consumer, economic, and per23 sonal finance issues and concepts, including the fol24 lowing, as appropriate: 

25 ‘‘(A) Saving for retirement. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Managing credit. 

2 ‘‘(C) Long-term care. 

3 ‘‘(D) Estate planning. 

4 ‘‘(E) Predatory lending. 

5 ‘‘(F) Identity theft. 

6 ‘‘(G) Financial abuse schemes. 

7 ‘‘(H) Work incentives. 

8 ‘‘(I) Money management skills building.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. USE OF CERTAIN BLOCK GRANT FUNDS FOR HOUS10 ING COUNSELING, FINANCIAL COUNSELING, 

11 AND PERIODIC EVALUATION. 

12 (a) USE OF FUNDS UNDER EXISTING PROGRAM

13 PERMITTED.—Funds made available to States and units 

14 of general local government under the community develop15 ment block grant program under title I of the Housing 

16 and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

17 5301 et seq.), and under the block grant programs for 

18 community mental health services and for the prevention 

19 and treatment of substance abuse under part B of title 

20 XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x 

21 et seq.), may be used for purposes of providing housing 

22 counseling and financial counseling (as such terms are de23 fined in paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, of section 

24 1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x– 

25 8), as added by section 3) for individuals before their reVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:07 Jan 31, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.IH H766

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1 lease from inpatient or residential institutions for individ2 uals with mental illness and for purposes of biannual eval3 uations of the appropriateness of such counseling provided 

4 for such individuals following such release. 

5 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ABOUT USING FUNDS FOR

6 THIS PURPOSE.—It is the sense of Congress that States 

7 and units of general local government should use a reason8 able portion of the funds described in subsection (a) to 

9 provide for housing counseling, financial counseling, and 

10 biannual evaluations described in such subsection. 

11 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY 

12 DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974 AND PUBLIC 

13 HEALTH SERVICE ACT. 

14 (a) STATEMENT OF PROJECTED USE OF FUNDS AND

15 REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

16 BLOCK GRANT FUNDS.— 

17 (1) STATEMENT OF PROJECTED USE OF FUNDS

18 TO INCLUDE FUNDS USED FOR HOUSING COUN19 SELING AND FINANCIAL COUNSELING.—Section 

20 104(a)(1) of the Housing and Community Develop21 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(1)) is amend22 ed by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

23 ‘‘Each statement of projected use of funds required 

24 under this paragraph shall include a specific state25 ment of the portion of funds received under section 


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1 106 that are expected to be used pursuant to section 

2 4(a) of the Community Assistance Act for Persons 

3 with Mental Illness to provide housing counseling 

4 and financial counseling (as such terms are defined 

5 in section 1919 of the Public Health Service Act) for 

6 individuals before their release from inpatient or res7 idential institutions for individuals with mental ill8 ness and for biannual evaluations of the appropriate9 ness of such counseling provided for such individuals 

10 following such release.’’. 

11 (2) REPORTS ON HOUSING COUNSELING AND

12 FINANCIAL COUNSELING PROVIDED.—Section 104(e) 

13 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 

14 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(e)) is amended by inserting 

15 after the third sentence the following new sentences: 

16 ‘‘The report shall include a specific statement of the 

17 portion of funds received by the grantee under sec18 tion 106 that were used pursuant to section 4(a) of 

19 the Community Assistance Act for Persons with 

20 Mental Illness to provide housing counseling and fi21 nancial counseling (as such terms are defined in sec22 tion 1919 of the Public Health Service Act) for indi23 viduals before their release from inpatient or resi24 dential institutions for individuals with mental ill25 ness, a description of the housing counseling and fiVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:07 Jan 31, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.IH H766

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1 nancial counseling provided, a specific statement of 

2 the portion of such funds used to evaluate bian3 nually the appropriateness of such counseling pro4 vided for such individuals following such release, and 

5 a description of the type of the evaluations made. 

6 The report shall also include recommendations for 

7 the further improvement of such counseling and 

8 such biannual evaluations.’’. 

9 (b) STATE PLAN AND REPORTS BY STATES RECEIV10 ING BLOCK GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH

11 SERVICES AND FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF

12 SUBSTANCE ABUSE.— 

13 (1) INCLUSION OF HOUSING COUNSELING AND

14 FINANCIAL COUNSELING IN STATE PLAN FOR COM15 PREHENSIVE COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL HEALTH

16 SYSTEMS.—The second sentence of section 

17 1912(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 300x–2(b)(1)) is amended— 

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘housing counseling (as 

20 defined in section 1919(4)), financial counseling 

21 (as defined in section 1919(5),’’ after ‘‘medical 

22 and dental care,’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including individuals 

24 who are released from inpatient or residential 


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1 institutions,’’ after ‘‘support services to be pro2 vided to individuals’’. 

3 (2) REPORTS ON HOUSING COUNSELING AND

4 FINANCIAL COUNSELING PROVIDED.—Section 

5 1942(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–52(a)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), at the end by strik8 ing at the end ‘‘and’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), at the end by strik10 ing the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(3) with respect to a grant under section 

14 1911, the number of individuals in the State who 

15 were transitioned out of inpatient or residential in16 stitutions for individuals with mental illness, the 

17 housing counseling and financial counseling fur18 nished to such individuals for purposes of such tran19 sition into the community, and the number of such 

20 individuals who returned to such an institution after 

21 being released from such institution and the reasons 

22 for such return.’’. 

23 (c) REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND

24 URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

25 HUMAN SERVICES.— 


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1 (1) Not later than 6 months after the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing 

3 and Urban Development and the Secretary of 

4 Health and Human Services shall each submit to the 

5 Congress a report describing the projected use of 

6 funds received under the applicable block grant pro7 gram referred to in section 4(a) for fiscal year 2010 

8 to provide housing counseling and financial coun9 seling (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (4) 

10 and (5) of section 1919 of the Public Health Service 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–8), as added by section 3) for 

12 individuals before their release from inpatient or res13 idential institutions for individuals with mental ill14 ness and biannual evaluations of the appropriateness 

15 of such counseling provided for such individuals fol16 lowing such release. 

17 (2) Not later than September 30, 2011, and an18 nually thereafter, the Secretary of Housing and 

19 Urban Development and the Secretary of Health 

20 and Human Services shall each submit to the Con21 gress a report describing the actual use of amounts 

22 received under the applicable block grant program 

23 referred to in section 4(a) for the previous 12-month 

24 period to provide the housing counseling, financial 


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1 counseling, and biannual evaluation described in 

2 paragraph (1). Each such report shall include— 

3 (A) an analysis of the feasibility and desir4 ability of requiring, as a condition of receipt of 

5 funds under the applicable block grant pro6 gram, that each State and unit of general local 

7 government either have a program providing for 

8 such housing counseling, financial counseling, 

9 and biannual evaluation or for the development 

10 of a prerelease housing plan; 

11 (B) an analysis of the feasibility and desir12 ability of requiring States and units of general 

13 local government to reserve for such purpose a 

14 certain portion or amount of the funds received 

15 under such block grant program; and 

16 (C) any recommendations of the applicable 

17 Secretary for legislative changes in such block 

18 grant program. 

19 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to grants made for pe21 riods beginning on or after October 1, 2010. 

Æ 


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