I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4941 

To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to establish within the 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration a Center 

for Unhoused Individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2023 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. 

MCGARVEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, and Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration a Center for Unhoused Individuals, 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Access to 

5 Treatment and Housing Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘PATH Act 

6 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CENTER FOR UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS. 

2 Part B of title V of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 290bb et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘Subpart 4—Center for Unhoused Individuals 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520O. CENTER FOR UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Ad8 ministration a Center for Unhoused Individuals (in this 

9 section referred to as the ‘Center’) to lead Federal efforts 

10 to improve and expand access to mental and behavioral 

11 health services for unhoused individuals. The Center shall 

12 be headed by a director (in this section referred to as the 

13 ‘Director’) appointed by the Secretary from among indi14 viduals with extensive experience or academic qualifica15 tions in the provision of mental and behavioral health serv16 ices to unhoused individuals. 

17 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Director of the Center shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) develop and promote policies that expand 

19 access to mental and behavioral health services for 

20 unhoused individuals; 

21 ‘‘(2) develop and promote policies that support 

22 housing services for unhoused individuals that have, 

23 or likely have, at least one mental and behavioral 

24 health condition; 

25 ‘‘(3) facilitate coordination among— 


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1 ‘‘(A) Federal, State, and local entities that 

2 serve unhoused individuals; and 

3 ‘‘(B) entities that provide mental and be4 havioral health services; and 

5 ‘‘(4) provide technical assistance to entities re6 ceiving a grant under section 520O–1 regarding the 

7 use of Federal funds to best support mental and be8 havioral health services for unhoused individuals. 

9 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In 

10 carrying out the duties under subsection (b), the Director 

11 may make grants to and enter into contracts and coopera12 tive agreements with public and nonprofit private entities. 

13 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 520O–1. MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH RE17 SPONSE GRANTS FOR UNHOUSED INDIVID18 UALS. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

20 with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

21 shall establish a grant program under which the Secretary 

22 will award grants to eligible entities to improve mental and 

23 behavioral health and housing services for unhoused indi24 viduals, including through— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the expansion and improvement of mental 

2 and behavioral health services for unhoused individ3 uals; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the expansion and improvement of housing 

5 services for individuals experiencing, or likely experi6 encing, mental and behavioral health conditions. 

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 

8 grant under this section if such entity is— 

9 ‘‘(1) a State (as defined in section 534); 

10 ‘‘(2) a municipality or other unit of local gov11 ernment; or 

12 ‘‘(3) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4 of 

13 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist14 ance Act). 

15 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity may use funds re16 ceived through a grant under this section to increase ac17 cess to mental and behavioral health services for unhoused 

18 individuals, including through— 

19 ‘‘(1) expanding access to evidence-based sub20 stance use disorder treatment and recovery activities 

21 and services for unhoused individuals; 

22 ‘‘(2) increasing access to medication-assisted 

23 treatment for unhoused individuals who are also ex24 periencing opioid use disorder; 


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1 ‘‘(3) implementing and expanding harm reduc2 tion strategies and services through programs that 

3 serve unhoused individuals; 

4 ‘‘(4) reducing opioid and synthetic opioid or 

5 fentanyl overdose deaths among unhoused individ6 uals; 

7 ‘‘(5) implementing and expanding evidence8 based substance use disorder prevention strategies 

9 among unhoused individuals; 

10 ‘‘(6) expanding and increasing care coordina11 tion for unhoused individuals experiencing a mental 

12 and behavioral health condition; 

13 ‘‘(7) expanding access to and increasing the 

14 number of health care professionals who treat 

15 unhoused individuals experiencing at least one men16 tal and behavioral health condition; 

17 ‘‘(8) establishing and expanding housing pro18 grams targeting unhoused individuals experiencing 

19 mental and behavioral health conditions; 

20 ‘‘(9) expanding access to mental and behavioral 

21 health diagnostic services for unhoused individuals; 

22 ‘‘(10) supporting and expanding the mental and 

23 behavioral health care workforce that treats 

24 unhoused individuals; and 


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1 ‘‘(11) supporting and expanding evidence-based 

2 mental health training for non-health care profes3 sionals that interface frequently with unhoused indi4 viduals, such as law enforcement personnel and first 

5 responders. 

6 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made avail8 able to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 

9 Secretary shall distribute a portion of such amount 

10 to eligible entities selected to receive a grant under 

11 this section on the basis of a formula developed by 

12 the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIZATION.—The formula developed 

14 by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall prioritize 

15 eligible entities located in regions that— 

16 ‘‘(A) experience high rates of homelessness 

17 and housing instability; and 

18 ‘‘(B) experience above-average housing 

19 costs. 

20 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

23 2029. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 520O–2. DEFINITIONS. 

25 ‘‘In this subpart: 


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1 ‘‘(1) MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH.—The 

2 term ‘mental and behavioral health’ means the 

3 health of an individual as it pertains to mental ill4 ness, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and substance use 

5 disorders. 

6 ‘‘(2) UNHOUSED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

7 ‘unhoused individual’ has the meaning given the 

8 term ‘homeless individual’ in section 103(a) of the 

9 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.’’. 

Æ 


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