I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6307 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot program to 

build tiny homes for homeless veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Mr. KILMER (for himself and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot 

program to build tiny homes for homeless veterans, 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 ‘‘Tiny Homes for Home5 less Veterans Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON TINY HOMES FOR HOMELESS 

7 VETERANS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In 2009, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

2 announced a plan to end veteran homelessness by 

3 the end of fiscal year 2015. 

4 (2) While the Department of Veterans Affairs 

5 did not reach such goal, the Department continues 

6 to focus on reducing the number of veterans experi7 encing homelessness. 

8 (3) As of January 2020, the Department of 

9 Housing and Urban Development estimated there to 

10 be 37,252 homeless veterans. 

11 (4) At the start of January 2020, 21 out of 

12 every 10,000 veterans in the United States were ex13 periencing homelessness. 

14 (5) Veterans constitute about six percent of the 

15 population of the United States but eight percent of 

16 the country’s homeless population. 

17 (6) The leading causes of homelessness among 

18 veterans are post-traumatic stress disorder, social 

19 isolation, unemployment, and substance abuse. 

20 (7) Individual transitional housing units im21 prove personal safety for veterans and reduce risks 

22 associated with close quarters living in a shelter. 

23 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter VII of chap2 ter 20 of title 38, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 2068. Pilot program on tiny homes for homeless 

5 veterans. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

7 out a pilot program (in this section referred to as the ‘Pro8 gram’) to make grants to facilitate the creation of five vil9 lages of tiny homes— 

10 ‘‘(1) across the United States with associated 

11 supportive services to allow veterans to build and 

12 live in the homes, maintain social connections with 

13 each other, learn skills, and receive critical coun14 seling; and 

15 ‘‘(2) to build the homes such that the homes 

16 are energy efficient with low carbon footprints. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—(1) The Secretary may 

18 award a grant under the Program to any entity eligible 

19 for grants and per diem payments under sections 2011 

20 and 2012 of this title, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) a non-profit organization described in sec22 tion 501(c)(3) or section 501(c)(19) of the Internal 

23 Revenue Code of 1986; and 

24 ‘‘(B) a State or local government. 


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1 ‘‘(2) To be eligible for a grant under the Program, 

2 an entity specified in paragraph (1) shall submit to the 

3 Secretary an application at such time, in such form, and 

4 containing such information as the Secretary determines 

5 appropriate, including the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) A description of the long-term goals and 

7 objectives for the proposed project. 

8 ‘‘(B) A description of the village that the entity 

9 intends to build under the grant. 

10 ‘‘(C) A list of all supportive services that the 

11 entity intends to provide under the grant. 

12 ‘‘(D) The number of veterans that the village 

13 will be capable of housing at any given time. 

14 ‘‘(E) A description of factors that an entity will 

15 use to screen veterans who will build and reside in 

16 the housing. 

17 ‘‘(F) A description of how the entity will evalu18 ate the performance of such entity under the grant. 

19 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE USES.—A recipient of a grant award20 ed under the Program shall use grant funds for the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(1) Construction of the village. 

23 ‘‘(2) Supportive job skills services, including— 

24 ‘‘(A) reading and comprehending blue25 prints; 


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1 ‘‘(B) preparing foundation, framing, and 

2 exterior siding; 

3 ‘‘(C) learning general tiny home design 

4 concepts; 

5 ‘‘(D) installing finish woods, windows, 

6 doors, trim, baseboards, and stairs; 

7 ‘‘(E) creating custom multifunctional fur8 niture specifically designed for tiny home living; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(F) cooking skills. 

11 ‘‘(3) Supportive counseling services, located in 

12 the village or in the local community with transpor13 tation to the community provided to the veterans, in14 cluding— 

15 ‘‘(A) case management services (pursuant 

16 to section 2022 of this title); 

17 ‘‘(B) financial management; 

18 ‘‘(C) counseling for addiction issues; 

19 ‘‘(D) educational opportunities; 

20 ‘‘(E) anger management; and 

21 ‘‘(F) career and employment resources. 

22 ‘‘(4) Any other use the Secretary determines 

23 appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(d) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall publish a Notice 

2 of Funding Opportunity on the internet website 

3 Grants.gov, or such successor website, for the Program. 

4 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro5 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to an entity speci6 fied in subsection (c) that proposes to carry out the project 

7 facilitated with grant funds to create LEED-certified 

8 units. 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—(1) During each year beginning in 

10 the second year after being awarded a grant, each grantee 

11 shall submit to the Department a report on the activities 

12 of the grantee under the Program during the calendar 

13 year preceding the report, including the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The degree to which the grantee made 

15 progress toward meeting the long-term goals and ob16 jectives described in the application of the grantee 

17 and the performance by the grantee of the covered 

18 benchmarks described in the application. 

19 ‘‘(B) The demographic data of veterans partici20 pating in the Program. 

21 ‘‘(C) The details regarding the progress of such 

22 veterans toward achieving the ability to maintain 

23 housing and live independently, increasing skill levels 

24 and income, and obtaining greater self-determina25 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Any other matter the Secretary deter2 mines appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(2) During the fourth year of the Program, the Sec4 retary shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations 

5 and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep6 resentatives a report comparing the outcomes of grantees 

7 under the Program to the outcomes of grantees under 

8 other grant and per diem payment programs that do not 

9 contain individual homes and a community center with 

10 supportive services, including the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) The average amount of time a veteran 

12 stayed in a tiny home. 

13 ‘‘(B) The percentage of veterans who exit the 

14 village to permanent housing. 

15 ‘‘(C) The percentage of veterans who exit the 

16 village with competitive employment. 

17 ‘‘(D) The percentage of veterans who have a 

18 negative exit from the village. 

19 ‘‘(E) Any other matter the Secretary deter20 minates appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the 

22 amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

23 for grant and per diem payments for each of fiscal years 

24 2022 through 2027, $10,000,000 may be used to carry 

25 out the program. 


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1 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—The Secretary may not award a grant 

2 under the Program after the day that is six years after 

3 the date of the enactment of the Tiny Homes for Homeless 

4 Veterans Act. 

5 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘community center’ means a 

7 building of approximately 2,000 square feet where 

8 the veterans can gather for socialization and to re9 ceive supportive services. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘cross-laminated timber’ means a 

11 thermally modified wood product that is mildew-, 

12 rot-, and bug-resistant. 

13 ‘‘(3) The term ‘negative exit’, with respect to a 

14 veteran participating in the Program, means an in15 stance under which a veteran leaves the Program be16 cause such veteran violated the rules of the Program 

17 (excluding exits because of threatened or actual vio18 lence to self or others), failed to comply with the re19 quirements of the Program, or left the Program 

20 without consulting staff. 

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ means each State of the 

22 United States, the District of Columbia, each com23 monwealth, territory or possession of the United 

24 States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 


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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘tiny home’ means an individual 

2 housing unit for one person of approximately 240 

3 square feet or an individual housing unit for a fam4 ily of approximately 340 square feet. 

5 ‘‘(6) The term ‘village’ means the community of 

6 tiny homes and the community center.’’. 

7 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 

9 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec10 tion 2067 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 2068. Pilot program on tiny homes for homeless veterans.’’. 

11 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall carry 

12 out section 2068 of such title, as added by subsection (b), 

13 not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

14 of this section. 

Æ 


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