Help End Abusive Living Situations Act
Bill: H.R.5785 | Sponsor: Rep. O'Halleran, Tom (D-AZ)
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Help End Abusive Living Situations Act or the HEALS Act
This bill modifies factors the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must consider when awarding grants under the Continuum of Care Program, which provides funding for nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families.
Specifically, when awarding Continuum of Care grants, HUD must (1) consider the needs of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; (2) consider transitional housing projects on an even basis with any other project; and (3) score applicants for grants without prioritizing or deprioritizing rapid-rehousing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, or short-term emergency shelter projects based solely on those project categories.

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to improve 
 services for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
                assault, or stalking and their families.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Help End Abusive Living Situations 
Act'' or the ``HEALS Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``dating violence'', ``domestic violence'', 
        ``sexual assault'', and ``stalking'' have the meanings given 
        those terms in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women 
        Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a));
            (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Housing 
        and Urban Development;
            (3) the term ``victim service provider'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360); and
            (4) the term ``victim service provider project'' means a 
        project administered by a victim service provider designed to 
        meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence, dating 
        violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their families.

SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING HOUSING RESOURCES PROTECTIONS FOR SURVIVORS OF 
              DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR 
              STALKING.

    (a) Notice of Funding Availability.--Subtitle C of title IV of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 422 (42 U.S.C. 11382)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
                        inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Scoring.--For purposes of scoring applicants in the 
        notice of funding availability, the Secretary shall neither 
        prioritize nor deprioritize the following categories of 
        projects solely on the basis of the category:
                    ``(A) Rapid re-housing.
                    ``(B) Permanent supportive housing.
                    ``(C) Transitional housing.
                    ``(D) Short-term emergency shelter.''; and
            (2) in section 428(d)(2) (42 U.S.C. 11386b(d)(2))--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
                    ``(C) transitional housing for various populations, 
                including, for survivors of domestic violence, dating 
                violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 
                families, projects providing transitional or permanent 
                housing that provide trauma-informed services, maximize 
                client choice, and address the special needs of those 
                survivors; and''.
    (b) Strategic Plan.--In the next strategic plan required after the 
date of enactment of this Act under section 306 of title 5, United 
States Code, the Secretary shall include as a goal or objective--
            (1) responding, including allocating appropriate resources, 
        to the housing needs of survivors of domestic violence, dating 
        violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their families; and
            (2) collaborating with the Office of Violence Against Women 
        of the Department of Justice to ensure that there is no 
        conflict between the rapid re-housing requirements of that 
        Office and of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
    (c) Evaluation.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop--
            (1) in accordance with the selection criteria under section 
        427(b)(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 11386a(b)(1)), as amended by section 4, measurable 
        criteria upon which applicants for a grant under section 
        subtitle C of title IV of that Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) 
        are evaluated to demonstrate their local policy priorities 
        focused on survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, 
        sexual assault, or stalking and their families, including 
        survivor-centered coordinated entry processes that 
        appropriately assess and prioritize those survivors and take 
        into account the safety and confidentiality needs of those 
        survivors and their families; and
            (2) mechanisms that promote the provision of technical 
        assistance and support for programs to improve outcomes and 
        maintain grant funding.
    (d) Research Agenda.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a research agenda 
that--
            (1) works and collaborates with the Family Violence 
        Prevention and Services Program of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services and the Office of Violence Against Women of the 
        Department of Justice; and
            (2) focuses on survivors of domestic violence, dating 
        violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their families, 
        concentrating on the housing modalities that best support them 
        and the mechanisms that best facilitate their efforts to secure 
        housing, while also paying attention to the critical safety 
        concerns and the link between trauma and residential stability.

SEC. 4. INCREASING ACCESS TO SAFE SHELTER FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC 
              VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING.

    Section 427 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11386a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B)(iv)(I), by inserting ``, 
                including survivors of domestic violence, dating 
                violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 
                families'' after ``subpopulations'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (C)--
                            (i) in clause (iii), by striking ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (iv), by adding ``and'' at 
                        the end; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) meets the safety and trauma needs of 
                        survivors of domestic violence, dating 
                        violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 
                        families, including access to safe shelter;'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (D) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 
                subparagraph (H); and
                    (E) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the 
                following:
                    ``(G) the extent to which the assistance to be 
                provided within the geographic area will meet the 
                safety and trauma needs of survivors of domestic 
                violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking 
                and their families, including access to safe shelter; 
                and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Equal Consideration of Transitional Housing Projects.--In 
awarding funds to recipients under this subtitle, the Secretary shall 
consider transitional housing projects on an even basis with any other 
project of a qualified applicant.''.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on--
            (1) the trends in allocating resources beginning after the 
        date of enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and 
        Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-22; 123 
        Stat. 1663) to address the housing needs of survivors of 
        domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking 
        and their families; and
            (2) the increase in the effectiveness of those resources 
        for promoting self-sufficiency and assisting survivors in 
        finding employment beginning after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
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