Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act of 2020

To authorize supplemental funding for supportive housing for the elderly, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act of 2020 2. Supplemental funding for supportive housing for the elderly (a) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated $1,202,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for assistance for supportive housing for the elderly, of which— (1) $845,000,000 shall be for rental assistance under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 ( 12 U.S.C. 1701q 42 U.S.C. 1437f (A) projects for which assistance is provided under a project rental assistance contract under section 202(c)(2) of the Housing Act of 1959 ( 12 U.S.C. 1701q(c)(2) (B) projects for which a direct loan under section 202 of such Act was made and for which assistance is provided under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f (C) projects for which project-based assistance is provided under such section 8 in which more than 80 percent of tenants are 62 years of age or older; (2) $50,000,000 shall be for installation of, and service fees for, wireless internet services in projects and individual units described in paragraph (1); (3) $7,000,000 for a 1-year extension of the Supportive Services Demonstration (SSD) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, authorized under the heading Housing for the Elderly Public Law 113–76 (4) $300,000,000 shall be for grants under section 676 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 ( 42 U.S.C. 13632 (b) Eligibility of supportive housing for persons with disabilities Subsection (a) of section 676 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 ( 42 U.S.C. 13632(a) (G), and (H) and (G) (c) Service coordinators (1) Hiring In the hiring of staff using amounts made available pursuant to this section for costs of providing service coordinators, grantees shall consider and hire, at all levels of employment and to the greatest extent possible, a diverse staff, including by race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status. Each grantee shall submit a report to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development describing compliance with the preceding sentence not later than the expiration of the 120-day period that begins upon the termination of the emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4121 (2) One-time grants Grants made using amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a) for costs of providing service coordinators shall not be renewable. (3) One-year availability Any amounts made available pursuant to this section for costs of providing service coordinators that are allocated for a grantee and remain unexpended upon the expiration of the 12-month period beginning upon such allocation shall be recaptured by the Secretary.

Summary: Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act of 2020 This bill authorizes additional assistance for supportive housing for the elderly. Among other things, the bill authorizes additional rental assistance for low-income elderly persons and additional grants to certain federally assisted housing projects to provide service coordinators to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency.