IB 

Union Calendar No. 554 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5735 

[Report No. 115–719] 

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to establish a demonstration program to set aside section 8 housing vouchers for supportive 

and transitional housing for individuals recovering from opioid use disorders or other substance use disorders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2018 

Mr. BARR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

JUNE 8, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Ms. TENNEY, Mr. ROYCE of California, Mr. BUDD, Mr. 

MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mrs. HANDEL, and Mr. TURNER

JUNE 8, 2018 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 


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A BILL 

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to establish a demonstration program to set aside section 8 housing vouchers for supportive and transitional housing for 

individuals recovering from opioid use disorders or other 

substance use disorders, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Transitional Housing 

5 for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Pro6 gram Act’’ or the ‘‘THRIVE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TO STUDY THE IMPACT 

8 OF USING RENTAL VOUCHERS FOR SUP9 PORTIVE AND TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR 

10 INDIVIDUALS RECOVERING FROM OPIOID 

11 USE DISORDERS OR OTHER SUBSTANCE USE 

12 DISORDERS. 

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

14 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(21) RENTAL VOUCHER DEMONSTRATION PRO17 GRAM FOR SUPPORTIVE AND TRANSITIONAL HOUS18 ING FOR INDIVIDUALS RECOVERING FROM OPIOID

19 USE DISORDERS OR OTHER SUBSTANCE USE DIS20 ORDERS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

22 shall establish a demonstration program under 

23 which the Secretary shall set aside, allocate, 

24 and distribute directly to eligible entities, from 

25 amounts made available for rental assistance 


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1 under this subsection, the amounts specified in 

2 subparagraph (B) for an eligible entity to pro3 vide a voucher for such assistance to a covered 

4 individual through a supportive and transitional 

5 housing program that provides treatment for 

6 opioid use disorders or other substance use dis7 orders (as applicable), job skills training, and 

8 such assistance for a period of 12 to 24 

9 months. 

10 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amount specified in 

11 this subparagraph is, for each of fiscal years 

12 2019 through 2023, the amount necessary to 

13 provide the lesser of— 

14 ‘‘(i) 0.5 percent of the total number of 

15 vouchers allocated under this subsection 

16 during the fiscal year ending immediately 

17 before the date of the enactment of this 

18 paragraph; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) 10,000 vouchers. 

20 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

21 An eligible entity shall provide an evidence22 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

23 And eligible entity shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) provide an evidence-based treat25 ment program and a job skills training 


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1 program for individuals recovering from an 

2 opioid use disorder or other substance use 

3 disorder, as applicable, that meet stand4 ards established by the Secretary.; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) demonstrate prior experience ad6 ministering rental assistance vouchers, dem7 onstrate prior experience administering 

8 transitional housing programs under the 

9 McKinney-Vento Homeless Act, or dem10 onstrate a partnership with a public hous11 ing agency or a housing program of a 

12 State, unit of local government, or Indian 

13 tribe (as such term is defined in section 4 

14 of the Native American Housing and Self15 Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

16 4103)) that ensures effective administration 

17 of rental assistance vouchers. 

18 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION.—To receive a rental 

19 assistance voucher under this paragraph, an eli20 gible entity shall submit an application to the 

21 Secretary that shall include— 

22 ‘‘(i) a description of the terms of 

23 treatment program, job skills training, and 

24 rental assistance to be provided to a cov25 ered individual, and assurances that such 


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1 description shall be communicated to cov2 ered individuals that receive vouchers pur3 suant to the demonstration program estab4 lished under this paragraph; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) a transitional plan that begins on 

6 the date on which a covered individual 

7 completes the treatment program of the el8 igible entity that includes information on 

9 additional treatment, job skills training, 

10 and housing resources and services avail11 able to such covered individual. 

12 ‘‘(E) SELECTION.—In selecting eligible en13 tities to receive rental assistance vouchers 

14 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) ensure that such eligible enti16 ties— 

17 ‘‘(I) are diverse; 

18 ‘‘(II) represent an appropriate 

19 balance of eligible entities located in 

20 urban and rural areas; and 

21 ‘‘(III) provide supportive and 

22 transitional housing programs in di23 verse geographic regions with high 

24 rates of mortality due to opioid use 

25 disorders or other substance use disVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5735.RH H5735

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1 orders, as applicable, based on data of 

2 the Centers for Disease Control and 

3 Prevention; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) consider— 

5 ‘‘(I) the success of each recipient 

6 eligible entity at helping individuals 

7 complete the treatment program of 

8 the eligible entity and refrain from 

9 opioid or other substance usage, as 

10 applicable; 

11 ‘‘(II) the type of job skills train12 ing program provided by the eligible 

13 entity; 

14 ‘‘(III) the percentage of partici15 pants in the job skills training pro16 gram that gain and maintain employ17 ment; 

18 ‘‘(IV) the percentage of partici19 pants in the treatment program of the 

20 eligible entity that— 

21 ‘‘(aa) do not relapse into 

22 opioid or other substance usage, 

23 as applicable; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) do not receive Federal 

25 assistance for treatment of an 


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1 opioid use disorder or other sub2 stance use disorder, as applica3 ble, after completion of the pro4 gram. 

5 ‘‘(F) TRANSFER OF VOUCHER.—Upon ter6 mination of the provision of rental assistance 

7 through a voucher to a covered individual, the 

8 eligible entity that initially offered such voucher 

9 may use such voucher to provide rental assist10 ance to another covered individual. 

11 ‘‘(G) DURATION.—The Secretary shall not 

12 make rental assistance available under this 

13 paragraph after the expiration of the 5-year pe14 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of 

15 this paragraph. 

16 ‘‘(H) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) BY THE ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—An 

18 eligible entity that receives a rental assist19 ance voucher under this paragraph shall 

20 submit to the Secretary— 

21 ‘‘(I) annually, the transitional 

22 plan described in subparagraph 

23 (D)(ii) and information on each cov24 ered individual’s housing upon termi25 nation of the provision of rental asVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5735.RH H5735

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1 sistance through a voucher to such 

2 covered individual in a manner that 

3 protects the privacy of such covered 

4 individual; and 

5 ‘‘(II) not later than 4 years after 

6 the date of the enactment of this 

7 paragraph, a plan describing the 

8 treatment and housing options for any 

9 covered individual assisted by such 

10 voucher who will not have completed 

11 the program before the day that is 5 

12 years after such date of enactment. 

13 ‘‘(ii) BY THE SECRETARY.—The Sec14 retary shall submit to Congress a report 

15 that analyzes the impact of rental assist16 ance provided under this paragraph— 

17 ‘‘(I) not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of the enactment of this 

19 paragraph; and 

20 ‘‘(II) not later than 4 years after 

21 the date of the enactment of this 

22 paragraph, that includes recommenda23 tions for the continuation or expan24 sion of the program established under 


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1 this paragraph and improving the 

2 process for providing such assistance. 

3 ‘‘(I) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘el5 igible entity’ means a nonprofit organiza6 tion that meets the criteria described 

7 under subparagraph (C). 

8 ‘‘(ii) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The 

9 term ‘covered individual’ means an indi10 vidual recovering from an opioid use dis11 order or other substance use disorder.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF RENTAL VOUCHER DEMONSTRATION 

13 PROGRAM. 

14 Effective the day that is 5 years after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act, paragraph (21) of section 8(o) 

16 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

17 1437f(o)), as added by this Act, is repealed. 

18 SEC. 4. RETURN OF VOUCHERS. 

19 An eligible entity that provided vouchers for rental 

20 assistance under paragraph (21) of section 8(o) of the 

21 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), 

22 as added by this Act, shall return any such vouchers to 

23 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on the 

24 day that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 554 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5735 

[Report No. 115–719] 

A BILL 

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 

disorders, and for other purposes. from opioid use disorders or other substance use transitional housing for individuals recovering section 8 housing vouchers for supportive and to establish a demonstration program to set aside 

JUNE 8, 2018 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H5735.RH H5735

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