IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4300 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To provide Federal housing assistance on behalf of youths 

who are aging out of foster care, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fostering Stable Hous3 ing Opportunities Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FAMILY. 

5 Subparagraph (A) of section 3(b)(3) of the United 

6 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(3)(A)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in the first sentence— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(v)’’ and inserting ‘‘(vi)’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by inserting after ‘‘tenant family,’’ the 

12 following: ‘‘(v) a youth described in section 

13 8(x)(2)(B),’’; and 

14 (2) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘or 

15 (vi)’’ after ‘‘clause (v)’’. 

16 SEC. 3. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS FOR FOSTERING STA17 BLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES. 

18 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER

19 CARE.—Section 8(x) of the United States Housing Act of 

20 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘subject to 

22 paragraph (5),’’ after ‘‘(B)’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.—The’’ 

25 and inserting the following: 

26 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The’’; and 

2 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

3 subparagraph: 

4 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT

5 OF FOSTER CARE.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of law, the Secretary shall, subject 

7 only to the availability of funds, allocate such 

8 assistance to any public housing agencies that 

9 (i) administer assistance pursuant to paragraph 

10 (2)(B), or seek to administer such assistance, 

11 consistent with procedures established by the 

12 Secretary, (ii) have requested such assistance so 

13 that they may provide timely assistance to eligi14 ble youth, and (iii) have submitted to the Sec15 retary a statement describing how the agency 

16 will connect assisted youths with local commu17 nity resources and self-sufficiency services, to 

18 the extent they are available, and obtain refer19 rals from public child welfare agencies regard20 ing youths in foster care who become eligible 

21 for such assistance.’’; 

22 (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para23 graph (6); and 

24 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol25 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE FOR

2 YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE.—Assistance 

3 provided under this subsection for an eligible youth 

4 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall be subject to the 

5 following requirements: 

6 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS TO EXTEND ASSIST7 ANCE.— 

8 ‘‘(i) PARTICIPATION IN FAMILY SELF9 SUFFICIENCY.—In the case of a public 

10 housing agency that is providing such as11 sistance under this subsection on behalf of 

12 an eligible youth and that is carrying out 

13 a family self-sufficiency program under 

14 section 23, the agency shall, subject only 

15 to the availability of such assistance, ex16 tend the provision of such assistance for 

17 up to 24 months beyond the period re18 ferred to in paragraph (2)(B), but only 

19 during such period that the youth is in 

20 compliance with the terms and conditions 

21 applicable under section 23 and the regula22 tions implementing such section to a per23 son participating in a family self-suffi24 ciency program. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EDUCATION, WORKFORCE DE2 VELOPMENT, OR EMPLOYMENT.—In the 

3 case of a public housing agency that is 

4 providing such assistance under this sub5 section on behalf of an eligible youth and 

6 that is not carrying out a family self-suffi7 ciency program under section 23, or is car8 rying out such a program in which the 

9 youth has been unable to enroll, the agency 

10 shall, subject only to the availability of 

11 such assistance, extend the provision of 

12 such assistance for two successive 12- 

13 month periods, after the period referred to 

14 in paragraph (2)(B), but only if for not 

15 less than 9 months of the 12-month period 

16 preceding each such extension the youth 

17 was— 

18 ‘‘(I) engaged in obtaining a rec19 ognized postsecondary credential or a 

20 secondary school diploma or its recog21 nized equivalent; 

22 ‘‘(II) enrolled in an institution of 

23 higher education, as such term is de24 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 


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1 1001(a)) and including the institu2 tions described in subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B) of section 102(a)(1) of such 

4 Act (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)(1)); or 

5 ‘‘(III) participating in a career 

6 pathway, as such term is defined in 

7 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 

8 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

9 3102). 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of 

11 this clause, a public housing agency shall 

12 consider employment as satisfying the re13 quirements under this subparagraph. 

14 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding 

15 clauses (i) and (ii), a public housing agen16 cy that is providing such assistance under 

17 this subsection on behalf of an eligible 

18 youth shall extend the provision of such as19 sistance for up to 24 months beyond the 

20 period referred to in paragraph (2)(B), 

21 and clauses (i) and (ii) of this subpara22 graph shall not apply, if the eligible youth 

23 certifies that he or she is— 

24 ‘‘(I) a parent or other household 

25 member responsible for the care of a 


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1 dependent child under the age of 6 or 

2 for the care of an incapacitated per3 son; 

4 ‘‘(II) a person who is regularly 

5 and actively participating in a drug 

6 addiction or alcohol treatment and re7 habilitation program; or 

8 ‘‘(III) a person who is incapable 

9 of complying with the requirement 

10 under clause (i) or (ii), as applicable, 

11 due to a documented medical condi12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(iv) VERIFICATION OF COMPLI14 ANCE.—The Secretary shall require the 

15 public housing agency to verify compliance 

16 with the requirements under this subpara17 graph by each eligible youth on whose be18 half the agency provides such assistance 

19 under this subsection on an annual basis 

20 in conjunction with reviews of income for 

21 purposes of determining income eligibility 

22 for such assistance. 

23 ‘‘(B) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.— 

24 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBILITY.—Each eligible 

25 youth on whose behalf such assistance 


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1 under this subsection is provided shall be 

2 eligible for any supportive services (as such 

3 term is defined in section 103 of the Work4 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

5 U.S.C. 3102)) made available, in connec6 tion with any housing assistance program 

7 of the agency, by or through the public 

8 housing agency providing such assistance. 

9 ‘‘(ii) INFORMATION.—Upon the initial 

10 provision of such assistance under this 

11 subsection on behalf of any eligible youth, 

12 the public housing agency shall inform 

13 such eligible youth of the existence of any 

14 programs or services referred to in clause 

15 (i) and of their eligibility for such pro16 grams and services. 

17 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY TO MOVING TO WORK

18 AGENCIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi19 sion of law, the requirements of this paragraph 

20 shall apply to assistance under this subsection 

21 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) made available 

22 by each public housing agency participating in 

23 the Moving to Work Program under section 204 

24 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 

25 Housing and Urban Development, and IndeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4300.RFS H4300

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1 pendent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 

2 U.S.C. 1437f note), except that in lieu of com3 pliance with clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph 

4 (A) of this paragraph, such an agency may 

5 comply with the requirements under such 

6 clauses by complying with such terms, condi7 tions, and requirements as may be established 

8 by the agency for persons on whose behalf such 

9 rental assistance under this subsection is pro10 vided. 

11 ‘‘(D) TERMINATION OF VOUCHERS UPON

12 TURN-OVER.—A public housing agency shall not 

13 reissue any such assistance made available from 

14 appropriated funds when assistance for the 

15 youth initially assisted is terminated, unless 

16 specifically authorized by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(E) REPORTS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

19 shall require each public housing agency 

20 that provides such assistance under this 

21 subsection in any fiscal year to submit a 

22 report to the Secretary for such fiscal year 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(I) specifies the number of per25 sons on whose behalf such assistance 


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1 under this subsection was provided 

2 during such fiscal year; 

3 ‘‘(II) specifies the number of per4 sons who applied during such fiscal 

5 year for such assistance under this 

6 subsection, but were not provided 

7 such assistance, and provides a brief 

8 identification in each instance of the 

9 reason why the public housing agency 

10 was unable to award such assistance; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(III) describes how the public 

13 housing agency communicated or col14 laborated with public child welfare 

15 agencies to collect such data. 

16 ‘‘(ii) INFORMATION COLLECTIONS.— 

17 The Secretary shall, to the greatest extent 

18 possible, utilize existing information collec19 tions, including the voucher management 

20 system (VMS), the Inventory Management 

21 System/PIH Information Center (IMS/ 

22 PIC), or the successors of those systems, 

23 to collect information required under this 

24 subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(F) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 

2 consult with the Secretary of Health and 

3 Human Services to provide such information 

4 and guidance to the Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services as may be necessary to facili6 tate such Secretary in informing States and 

7 public child welfare agencies on how to correctly 

8 and efficiently implement and comply with the 

9 requirements of this subsection relating to as10 sistance provided pursuant to paragraph 

11 (2)(B).’’. 

12 (b) COORDINATION BETWEEN PHAS AND PUBLIC

13 CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES.— 

14 (1) APPLICABILITY TO FOSTERING STABLE

15 HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.—Subparagraph 

16 (A) of section 8(x)(4) of the United States Housing 

17 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)(4)(A)) is amended 

18 by inserting before the semicolon at the end the fol19 lowing: ‘‘and establishing a point of contact at public 

20 housing agencies to ensure that public housing agen21 cies receive appropriate referrals regarding eligible 

22 recipients’’. 

23 (c) PHA ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.—Subsection (q) of 

24 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(5) SUPPLEMENTS FOR ADMINISTERING AS4 SISTANCE FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER

5 CARE.—The Secretary may provide supplemental 

6 fees under this subsection to the public housing 

7 agency for the cost of administering any assistance 

8 for foster youth under subsection (x)(2)(B), in an 

9 amount determined by the Secretary, but only if the 

10 agency waives for such eligible youth receiving as11 sistance any residency requirement that it has other12 wise established pursuant to subsection 

13 (r)(1)(B)(i).’’. 

14 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS FOR PROJECT-BASED 

15 VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 

16 (a) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.—The first sentence of 

17 clause (ii) of section 8(o)(13)(B) of the United States 

18 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)(B)(ii)) is 

19 amended by inserting before ‘‘or that’’ the following: ‘‘that 

20 house eligible youths receiving assistance pursuant to sub21 section (x)(2)(B),’’. 

22 (b) INCOME-MIXING REQUIREMENT.—Subclause (I) 

23 of section 8(o)(13)(D)(ii) of the United States Housing 

24 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)(D)(ii)(I)) is amend25 ed by inserting after ‘‘elderly families’’ the following: ‘‘, 


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1 to eligible youths receiving assistance pursuant to sub2 section (x)(2)(B),’’. 

3 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 

4 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply 

5 to housing choice voucher assistance made available pur6 suant to section 8(x) of the United States Housing Act 

7 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)) that is in use on behalf of 

8 an assisted family as of the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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