I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 552 
To encourage States and units of general local government to use amounts 
received under the community development block grant program and 
the community mental health services and substance abuse block grant 
programs to provide housing counseling and financial counseling for 
individuals before their release from inpatient or residential institutions 
for individuals with mental illness and periodic evaluation of the appro-
priateness of such counseling after such release. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2011 
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To encourage States and units of general local government 
to use amounts received under the community develop-
ment block grant program and the community mental 
health services and substance abuse block grant pro-
grams to provide housing counseling and financial coun-
seling for individuals before their release from inpatient 
or residential institutions for individuals with mental ill-
ness and periodic evaluation of the appropriateness of 
such counseling after such release. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Assistance 
Act for Persons with Mental Illness’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Many homeless individuals in the United 
States are individuals who have been discharged 
from inpatient or residential institutions for individ-
uals with mental illness. 
(2) With proper predischarge housing coun-
seling and related services, many such individuals 
can be accommodated in existing housing facilities. 
(3) Residential institutions for individuals with 
mental illness are funded and operated by States 
and units of general local government without direct 
Federal involvement. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300x–8) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraphs: 
‘‘(3) HOUSING COUNSELING.—The term ‘hous-
ing counseling’ means counseling furnished to an in-
dividual before the individual’s release from an inpa-
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tient or residential institution for individuals with 
mental illness that includes discussions with an ac-
credited or experienced advisor from a community- 
based non-profit organization on, and distribution to 
such individual by such an advisor of, information 
about how the application and grant processes work 
for Federal, State, and local housing assistance, 
about selection preferences for such housing assist-
ance, about how rent is determined for applicable 
public housing, and about the duration for which the 
individual would be eligible to stay in such public 
housing. Such counseling shall include information 
on any of the following topics, as appropriate: 
‘‘(A) Housing choice vouchers under sec-
tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 
‘‘(B) Direct housing subsidies. 
‘‘(C) Non-profit housing. 
‘‘(D) Public housing (as such term is de-
fined in section 3(b) of the United States Hous-
ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 
‘‘(E) Rent supplements and assistance pro-
grams. 
‘‘(F) Co-operative housing. 
‘‘(G) Permanent supportive housing. 
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‘‘(H) Private-sector housing affordable to 
the individual. 
‘‘(I) Tax credit programs. 
‘‘(J) Local laws regarding renters’ rights. 
‘‘(K) Home mortgages. 
‘‘(L) Mortgage refinancing. 
‘‘(M) Home equity loans. 
‘‘(N) Home repair loans. 
‘‘(O) Property taxes. 
‘‘(P) Other housing options for low-income 
individuals or other applicable groups of indi-
viduals. 
‘‘(4) FINANCIAL COUNSELING.—The term ‘fi-
nancial counseling’ means counseling furnished to an 
individual before the individual’s release from a resi-
dential institution for individuals with mental illness 
that includes discussions with an accredited or expe-
rienced advisor from a community-based non-profit 
organization on, and distribution to such individual 
by such an advisor of, information about issues re-
lating to financial literacy and education to promote 
an understanding of consumer, economic, and per-
sonal finance issues and concepts, including the fol-
lowing, as appropriate: 
‘‘(A) Saving for retirement. 
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‘‘(B) Managing credit. 
‘‘(C) Long-term care. 
‘‘(D) Estate planning. 
‘‘(E) Predatory lending. 
‘‘(F) Identity theft. 
‘‘(G) Financial abuse schemes. 
‘‘(H) Work incentives. 
‘‘(I) Money management skills building.’’. 
SEC. 4. USE OF CERTAIN BLOCK GRANT FUNDS FOR HOUS-
ING COUNSELING, FINANCIAL COUNSELING, 
AND PERIODIC EVALUATION. 
(a) USE
OF FUNDS UNDER EXISTING PROGRAM 
PERMITTED.—Funds made available to States and units 
of general local government under the community develop-
ment block grant program under title I of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 
5301 et seq.), and under the block grant programs for 
community mental health services and for the prevention 
and treatment of substance abuse under part B of title 
XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x 
et seq.), may be used for purposes of providing housing 
counseling and financial counseling (as such terms are de-
fined in paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, of section 
1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x– 
8), as added by section 3) for individuals before their re-
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