‘‘(B) coordinating all programs and activi-
ties of the Department relating to veterans; 
‘‘(C) serving as a liaison for the Depart-
ment with the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
including establishing and maintaining relation-
ships with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 
‘‘(D) serving as a liaison for the Depart-
ment, and establishing and maintaining rela-
tionships with officials of State, local, regional, 
and nongovernmental organizations concerned 
with veterans; 
‘‘(E) providing information and advice re-
garding— 
‘‘(i) sponsoring housing projects for 
veterans assisted under programs adminis-
tered by the Department; or 
‘‘(ii) assisting veterans in obtaining 
housing or homeless assistance under pro-
grams administered by the Department; 
‘‘(F) preparing the annual report under 
section 8 of such Act; and 
‘‘(G) carrying out such other duties as may 
be assigned to the Special Assistant by the Sec-
retary or by law.’’.
SEC. 3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR VERY LOW-INCOME 
VETERAN FAMILIES. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this section are— 
(1) to expand the supply of permanent housing 
for very low-income veteran families; and 
(2) to provide supportive services through such 
housing to support the needs of such veteran fami-
lies. 
(b) AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development shall, to the extent amounts 
are made available for assistance under this section 
and the Secretary receives approvable applications 
for such assistance, provide assistance to private 
nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives 
to expand the supply of supportive housing for very 
low-income veteran families. 
(2) NATURE OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance 
provided under paragraph (1)— 
(A) shall be available for use to plan for 
and finance the acquisition, construction, recon-
struction, or moderate or substantial rehabilita-
tion of a structure or a portion of a structure 
to be used as supportive housing for very low- 
income veteran families in accordance with this 
section; and
(B) may also cover the cost of real prop-
erty acquisition, site improvement, conversion, 
demolition, relocation, and other expenses that 
the Secretary determines are necessary to ex-
pand the supply of supportive housing for very 
low-income veteran families. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—In meeting the require-
ment of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 
with— 
(A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
(B) the Special Assistant for Veterans Af-
fairs, as such Special Assistant was established 
under section 4(g) of the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development Act. 
(c) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under this 
section shall be made available in the following forms: 
(1) PLANNING
GRANTS.—Assistance may be 
provided as a grant for costs of planning a project 
to be used as supportive housing for very low-income 
veteran families. 
(2) CAPITAL
ADVANCES.—Assistance may be 
provided as a capital advance under this paragraph 
for a project, such advance shall— 
(A) bear no interest;
(B) not be required to be repaid so long as 
the housing remains available for occupancy by 
very low-income veteran families in accordance 
with this section; and 
(C) be in an amount calculated in accord-
ance with the development cost limitation estab-
lished pursuant to subsection (i). 
(3) PROJECT RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—Assistance 
may be provided as project rental assistance, under 
an annual contract that— 
(A) obligates the Secretary to make 
monthly payments to cover any part of the 
costs attributed to units occupied (or, as ap-
proved by the Secretary, held for occupancy) by 
very low-income veteran families that is not met 
from project income; 
(B) provides for the project not more than 
the sum of the initial annual project rentals for 
all units so occupied and any initial utility al-
lowances for such units, as approved by the 
Secretary; 
(C) provides that any contract amounts 
not used by a project in any year shall remain 
available to the project until the expiration of 
the contract;
(D) provides that upon the expiration of 
each contract term, the Secretary shall adjust 
the annual contract amount to provide for rea-
sonable project costs, and any increases, includ-
ing adequate reserves, supportive services, and 
service coordinators, except that any contract 
amounts not used by a project during a con-
tract term shall not be available for such ad-
justments upon renewal; and 
(E) provides that in the event of emer-
gency situations that are outside the control of 
the owner, the Secretary shall increase the an-
nual contract amount, subject to reasonable re-
view and limitations as the Secretary shall pro-
vide. 
(d) TENANT RENT CONTRIBUTION.—A very low-in-
come veteran family shall pay as rent for a dwelling unit 
assisted under this section the highest of the following 
amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar: 
(1) 30 percent of the veteran family’s adjusted 
monthly income. 
(2) 10 percent of the veteran family’s monthly 
income. 
(3) If the veteran family is receiving payments 
for welfare assistance from a public agency and a
part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with 
the veteran family’s actual housing costs, is specifi-
cally designated by such agency to meet the veteran 
family’s housing costs, the portion of such payments 
which is so designated. 
(e) TERM OF COMMITMENT.— 
(1) USE LIMITATIONS.—All units in housing as-
sisted under this section shall be made available for 
occupancy by very low-income veteran families for 
not less than 15 years. 
(2) CONTRACT TERMS FOR PROJECT RENTAL 
ASSISTANCE.— 
(A) INITIAL TERM.—The initial term of a 
contract entered into under subsection (c)(3) 
shall be 60 months. 
(B) EXTENSION.—The Secretary shall, 
subject only to the availability of amounts pro-
vided in appropriation Acts, renew the contract 
entered into under subsection (c)(3) for 10 con-
secutive one-year terms, the first such term be-
ginning upon the expiration of such 60-month 
period. 
(C) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO MAKE 
EARLY
COMMITMENTS.—In order to facilitate 
the orderly extension of expiring contracts, the
Secretary may make commitments to extend ex-
piring contracts during the year prior to the 
date of expiration. 
(f) APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Amounts made available 
under this section shall be allocated by the Secretary 
among approvable applications submitted by private 
nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives. 
(2) CONTENT OF APPLICATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Applications for assist-
ance under this section shall be submitted by an 
applicant in such form and in accordance with 
such procedures as the Secretary shall estab-
lish. 
(B) REQUIRED
CONTENT.—Applications 
for assistance under this section shall contain— 
(i) a description of the proposed hous-
ing; 
(ii) a description of the assistance the 
applicant seeks under this section; 
(iii) a description of— 
(I) the supportive services to be 
provided to the persons occupying 
such housing;
(II) the manner in which such 
services will be provided to such per-
sons, including, in the case of frail el-
derly persons (as such term is defined 
in section 202 of the Housing Act of 
1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q)), evidence of 
such residential supervision as the 
Secretary determines is necessary to 
facilitate the adequate provision of 
such services; and 
(III) the public or private sources 
of assistance that can reasonably be 
expected to fund or provide such serv-
ices; 
(iv) a certification from the public of-
ficial responsible for submitting a housing 
strategy for the jurisdiction to be served in 
accordance with section 105 of the Cran-
ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 12705) that the proposed 
project is consistent with the approved 
housing strategy; and 
(v) such other information or certifi-
cations that the Secretary determines to be
necessary or appropriate to achieve the 
purposes of this section. 
(3) REJECTION.—The Secretary shall not reject 
any application for assistance under this section on 
technical grounds without giving notice of that rejec-
tion and the basis therefore to the applicant. 
(g) INITIAL
SELECTION
CRITERIA
AND
PROC-
ESSING.— 
(1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 
establish selection criteria for assistance under this 
section, which shall include— 
(A) criteria based upon— 
(i) the ability of the applicant to de-
velop and operate the proposed housing; 
(ii) the need for supportive housing 
for very low-income veteran families in the 
area to be served; 
(iii) the extent to which the proposed 
size and unit mix of the housing will en-
able the applicant to manage and operate 
the housing efficiently and ensure that the 
provision of supportive services will be ac-
complished in an economical fashion; 
(iv) the extent to which the proposed 
design of the housing will meet the service-
connected disability needs of very low-in-
come veteran families; 
(v) the extent to which the applicant 
has demonstrated that the supportive serv-
ices identified pursuant to subsection 
(f)(2)(B)(iii) will be provided on a con-
sistent, long-term basis; 
(vi) the extent to which the proposed 
design of the housing will accommodate the 
provision of supportive services that are ex-
pected to be needed, either initially or over 
the useful life of the housing, by the very 
low-income veterans the housing is in-
tended to serve; 
(vii) the extent to which the applicant 
has ensured that a service coordinator will 
be employed or otherwise retained for the 
housing, who has the managerial capacity 
and responsibility for carrying out the ac-
tions described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 
subsection (h)(2)(A); and 
(viii) such other factors as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate to en-
sure that funds made available under this 
section are used effectively;
(B) a preference in such selection for ap-
plications proposing housing to be reserved for 
occupancy by very low-income veteran families 
who are homeless (as such term is defined in 
section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302)); and 
(C) criteria appropriate to consider the 
need for supportive housing for very low-income 
veteran families in nonmetropolitan areas and 
by Indian tribes. 
(2) DELEGATED PROCESSING.— 
(A) DELEGATION
TO
STATE
OR
LOCAL 
HOUSING AUTHORITY.—In issuing a capital ad-
vance under this subsection for any project for 
which financing for the purposes described in 
subsection (b)(2) is provided by a combination 
of a capital advance under subsection (c)(2) 
and sources other than this section, within 30 
days of award of the capital advance, the Sec-
retary shall delegate review and processing of 
such projects to a State or local housing agency 
that— 
(i) is in geographic proximity to the 
property;
(ii) has demonstrated experience in 
and capacity for underwriting multifamily 
housing loans that provide housing and 
supportive services; 
(iii) may or may not be providing low- 
income housing tax credits in combination 
with the capital advance under this section; 
and 
(iv) agrees to issue a firm commit-
ment within 12 months of delegation. 
(B) PROCESSING
BY
SECRETARY.—The 
Secretary shall retain the authority to process 
capital advances in cases in which no State or 
local housing agency has applied to provide del-
egated processing pursuant to this paragraph or 
no such agency has entered into an agreement 
with the Secretary to serve as a delegated proc-
essing agency. 
(C) PROCESSING
FEES.—An agency to 
which review and processing is delegated pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A) may assess a reason-
able fee which shall be included in the capital 
advance amounts and may recommend project 
rental assistance amounts in excess of those ini-
tially awarded by the Secretary. The Secretary