Title: HEALS Act
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Help End Abusive Living Situations Act or the HEALS Act
This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take specified measures to improve services provided to survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including by authorizing any defunded transitional housing projects to reapply for funding.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2230 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2230

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 14, 2017

  Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Ms. Heitkamp) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    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 term ``domestic violence 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;
            (2) the term ``homeless'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 11302);
            (3) the terms ``homeless individual with a disability'', 
        ``permanent housing'', ``tenant-based'', ``transitional 
        housing'', and ``victim service provider'' have the meanings 
        given those terms in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360);
            (4) the term ``rapid re-housing project'' means supportive 
        services and short- or medium-term tenant-based rental 
        assistance, as necessary, to help a homeless individual or 
        family, with or without a disability, move as soon as possible 
        into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing; 
        and
            (5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Housing 
        and Urban Development.

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

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall take the following measures to improve services 
provided to survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking:
            (1) Equal consideration.--For purposes of scoring 
        applicants in the notice of funding availability for the 
        Continuum of Care program authorized under subtitle C of title 
        IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
        11381 et seq.) in any fiscal year, the Secretary shall give 
        equal consideration to--
                    (A) rapid re-housing projects;
                    (B) projects that provide permanent supportive 
                housing; and
                    (C) domestic violence projects that maximize client 
                choice, including transitional housing that provide 
                services and help participants to secure permanent 
                housing.
            (2) Transitional housing projects.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall authorize any 
                defunded transitional housing project to reapply for 
                funding.
                    (B) Treatment as rapid re-housing project.--The 
                Secretary shall consider a program receiving funds 
                under section 40299 of the Violence Against Women Act 
                of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12351) to be a rapid re-housing 
                project if the program--
                            (i) provides not less than 6 months of 
                        housing assistance to survivors; and
                            (ii) meets other criteria established by 
                        the Secretary.
            (3) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall develop--
                    (A) measurable criteria upon which applicants are 
                evaluated to demonstrate their collaboration with 
                victim service providers to develop local policy 
                priorities focused on survivors of domestic violence, 
                dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, 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
                    (B) mechanisms that promote the provision of 
                technical assistance and support for programs to 
                improve outcomes instead of reallocating or not 
                awarding funds.
            (4) Research agenda.--The Secretary shall develop a 
        research agenda that focuses on survivors of domestic violence, 
        dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and the housing 
        modalities that best support them, especially the critical 
        safety concerns and the link between trauma and residential 
        stability.

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

    Section 427(b)(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11386a(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by redesignating clauses (vii) and (viii) as 
                clauses (viii) and (ix), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after clause (vi) the following:
                            ``(vii) success in addressing the safety 
                        needs of homeless survivors of domestic 
                        violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
                        stalking;'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in clause (iv)(VI), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
                    (C) by inserting after clause (iv)(VI) the 
                following:
                            ``(v) how the recipient will measure the 
                        success of the victim service providers in 
                        meeting the housing, safety, and trauma needs 
                        of victims of domestic violence, dating 
                        violence, sexual assault, or stalking, with an 
                        explanation of how the recipient will allow 
                        flexibility on other metrics that may be 
                        impacted by the needs of survivors; and'';
            (3) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by striking ``, and'' at the 
        end;
            (4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as subparagraph (H); 
        and
            (5) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following:
                    ``(G) success of the recipient in meeting the 
                housing, safety, and trauma needs of survivors of 
                domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                stalking, including access to safe housing; and''.

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 to address the 
        housing needs of survivors of domestic violence, dating 
        violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and
            (2) the increase in the allocation of resources for 
        domestic violence projects beginning after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
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