(B) A therapeutic residence under section
1772 of such title.
(C) Community residential care coordi-
nated by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
under section 1730 of such title.
(D) A setting for which the Secretary pro-
vides funds for a grant and per diem provider.
(E) Any program described in section 7 of
this Act.
SEC. 13. PROGRAMMATIC EXPANSIONS.
(a) ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.—The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop standards to
ensure that mental health services are available to vet-
erans in a manner similar to the manner in which primary
care is available to veterans who require services by ensur-
ing that each primary care health care facility of the De-
partment has a mental health treatment capacity.
(b) TRANSITIONAL HOUSING.—Effective October 1,
2001, section 12 of the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive
Service Programs Act of 1992 (38 U.S.C. 7721 note) is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 12. FUNDING.
‘‘(a) AMOUNTS FOR GRANT AND PER DIEM PRO-
GRAMS.—From amounts appropriated for ‘‘Medical Care’’
for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall expend not less
than $55,000,000 (as adjusted from time to time under
subsection (b)) to carry out the transitional housing grant
and per diem provider programs under sections 3 and 4
of this Act.
‘‘(b) PERIODIC INCREASES.—The amount in effect
under subsection (a) shall be increased for any fiscal year
by the overall percentage increase in the Medical Care ac-
count for that fiscal year from the preceding fiscal year.’’.
(c) COMPREHENSIVE HOMELESS SERVICES PRO-
GRAM.—(1) The Secretary shall provide for the establish-
ment of centers for the provision of comprehensive services
to homeless veterans under section 2(b) of the Homeless
Veterans Comprehensive Service Programs Act of 1992
(38 U.S.C. 7721 note) in at least each of the 20 largest
metropolitan statistical areas.
(2) Section 2(b) of the Homeless Veterans Com-
prehensive Service Programs Act of 1992 (38 U.S.C. 7721
note) is amended by striking ‘‘no more than eight dem-
onstration’’.
(d) OPIOID SUBSTITUTION THERAPY.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that opioid substitution therapy is
available at each Department of Veterans Affairs medical
center.
(e) PROGRAM EXPIRATION EXTENSION.—Sections
1771(b) and 1773(d) of title 38, United States Code, are
amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2001’’ and inserting
‘‘December 31, 2006’’.
SEC. 14. VARIOUS AUTHORITIES.
(a) EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.—The Secretary of
Veterans Affairs may authorize homeless veterans receiv-
ing care through vocational rehabilitation programs to
participate in the compensated work therapy program.
(b) SUPPORTED HOUSING FOR VETERANS PARTICI-
PATING IN COMPENSATED WORK THERAPIES.—The Sec-
retary may authorize homeless veterans in the com-
pensated work therapy program to be provided housing
through the therapeutic residence program under section
1772 of title 38, United States Code, or through grant
and per diem providers.
(c) STAFFING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall
ensure that there is assigned at each Veterans Benefits
Administration regional office at least one employee as-
signed specifically to oversee and coordinate homeless vet-
erans programs in that region, including the housing pro-
gram for veterans supported by the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development, housing programs supported
by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the homeless vet-
erans reintegration program of the Department of Labor,
the assessments required by section 1774 of title 38,
United States Code, the Comprehensive Homeless Pro-
gram, and such other duties relating to homeless veterans
as may be assigned. In any such regional office with at
least 140 employees, there shall be at least one full-time
employee assigned to such functions.
(d) COORDINATION OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES.—
(1) Section 4103A(c) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(11) Coordination of services provided to vet-
erans with training assistance provided to veterans
by entities receiving financial assistance under sec-
tion 738 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11448).’’.
(2) Section 4104(b) of such title is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(11);
(B) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (12) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(13) coordinate services provided to veterans
with training assistance for veterans provided by en-
tities receiving financial assistance under section 738
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 11448).’’.
SEC. 15. LIFE SAFETY CODE FOR GRANT AND PER DIEM
PROVIDERS.
(a) NEW GRANTS.—Section 3(b)(5) of the Homeless
Veterans Comprehensive Service Programs Act of 1992
(38 U.S.C. 7721 note) is amended by striking ‘‘, but fire
and safety’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in carrying out
the grant’’ and inserting ‘‘and the fire and safety require-
ments applicable under the Life Safety Code of the Na-
tional Fire Protection Association’’.
(b) PREVIOUS GRANTEES.—Section 4 of such Act is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) LIFE SAFETY CODE.—(1) Except as provided in
paragraph (2), a per diem payment (or in-kind assistance
in lieu of per diem payments) may not be provided under
this section to a grant recipient unless the facilities of the
grant recipient meet the fire and safety requirements ap-
plicable under the Life Safety Code of the National Fire
Protection Association.
‘‘(2) During the five-year period beginning on the
date of the enactment of the Heather French Henry
Homeless Veterans Assistance Act, paragraph (1) shall
not apply to an entity that received a grant under section
3 before that date if the entity meets fire and safety re-
quirements established by the Secretary.
‘‘(3) From amounts available for purposes of this sec-
tion pursuant to section 12, not less than $5,000,000 shall
be used only for grants to assist entities covered by para-
graph (2) in meeting the Life Safety Code of the National
Fire Protection Association.’’.
SEC. 16. TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS PILOT PRO-
GRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a three-year pilot pro-
gram of transitional assistance grants to eligible homeless
veterans. The pilot program shall be established at not less
than three nor more than six regional offices of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs and shall include at least
one regional office located in a large urban area and at
least one regional office serving primarily rural veterans.
The maximum number of veterans who may participate
in the pilot program is 600.
(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is eligible for
a transitional assistance grant under this section if the
veteran is physically present in the geographic area of a
regional office which is participating in the pilot program
and the veteran—
(1) is a veteran of a period of war or, if not a
veteran of a period of war, meets the minimum serv-
ice requirements specified in section 5303A of title
38, United States Code;
(2) is being released, or within the preceding 60
days was released, from an institution, including a
hospital, a penal institution, a homeless shelter, or
a facility of a grant and per diem provider;
(3) is a homeless veteran or was a homeless vet-
eran before institutionalization; and
(4) had less than marginal income for the pre-
ceding three months.
(c) DURATION OF GRANT ASSISTANCE.—An eligible
veteran may be provided a transitional assistance grant
under this section for no more than three months.
(d) EXCEPTION TO LIMITATION ON GRANT ASSIST-
ANCE.—(1) A veteran who receives transitional assistance
under this section and who while in receipt of such assist-
ance has a claim pending with the Secretary for service-
connected disability compensation or nonservice-connected
pension shall, notwithstanding subsection (c), continue to
be provided transitional assistance under this section after
the period prescribed in subsection (c) until the earlier of
(A) the date on which a decision on the claim is made
by the regional office, or (B) the end of the six-month
period beginning on the date of expiration of eligibility
under subsection (c).
(2) An extension of transitional assistance under
paragraph (1) shall be terminated if, as determined by the
Secretary, the veteran, without good cause, fails to cooper-
ate in establishing the pending claim or if the gross
monthly income of the veteran for a month exceeds twice
the amount of transitional assistance benefits payable to
the veteran for that month. The effective date of such a
termination shall be the last day of the month following
the month in which the extension under paragraph (1) is
terminated under the preceding sentence.
(3) Claims of veterans receiving benefits under this
subsection shall receive expedited consideration by the re-
gional office.
(e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—(1) The monthly amount
of a grant provided under this section to an eligible vet-
eran shall be the amount of monthly pension that would
be payable to that veteran under chapter 15 of title 38,
United States Code, if the veteran had a permanent and
total nonservice-connected disability.
(2) Once eligibility for a grant under this section has
been established, the amount of the grant shall be deter-
mined without regard to the veteran’s income, other than
as provided in subsection (d)(2).
(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER BENEFITS.—If ret-
roactive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs
are payable to a veteran with respect to a month for which
the veteran received a transitional assistance grant under
this section, the amount of such retroactive benefit pay-
able for such month shall be reduced (but not below zero)
by the amount of the grant under this section paid for
that month. No reduction may be made by the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs from an amount otherwise due a vet-
eran for any other month to offset an amount paid under
this section for a previous month.
(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘veteran’’ means a person who
served in the active military, naval, or air service (as
defined in section 101 of title 38, United States
Code) and who was discharged or released from any
such period of service under conditions other than
dishonorable.
(2) The term ‘‘marginal income’’, with respect
to a veteran, means income below the poverty stand-
ard (as determined by the Bureau of the Census) for
a family of the size of the veteran’s family.
SEC. 17. ASSISTANCE FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS.
(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall carry out a program to make technical assist-
ance grants to nonprofit community-based groups with ex-
perience in providing assistance to homeless veterans in
order to assist such groups in applying for grants relating
to addressing problems of homeless veterans.
(b) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the amount
of $750,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005
to carry out the program under this section.
SEC. 18. HOME LOAN PROGRAM FOR MANUFACTURED
HOUSING.
Section 3712(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘With respect to a veteran who, as determined by the Sec-
retary, is homeless, the Secretary may waive any otherwise
applicable requirement under this chapter that a purchase
of a manufactured home include ownership or purchase
of a lot by the veteran to which the home is to be perma-
nently affixed.’’.
SEC. 19. EXTENSION OF HOMELESS VETERANS REINTEGRA-
TION PROGRAM.
Section 4111(d)(1) of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by striking subparagraphs (C) and (D) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(C) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.
‘‘(D) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
‘‘(E) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.
‘‘(F) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.
‘‘(G) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’.
SEC. 20. USE OF REAL PROPERTY.
Section 8122(d) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by inserting before the period at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘and is not suitable for use for the provision of
services to homeless veterans by the Department or by an-
other entity under an enhanced-use lease of such property
under section 8162 of this title’’.
Æ