Title: Prevent Homelessness Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Prevent Homelessness Act of 2020
This bill establishes the Housing Stabilization Fund to provide annual grants for nonprofit organizations and state and local governments that assist homeless individuals and families through the Continuum of Care Program. Grants must be used to provide emergency housing assistance for extremely low-income families.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8674 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8674

To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emergency housing 
  assistance to extremely low-income renters and homeowners, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 23, 2020

  Mr. Ted Lieu of California introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emergency housing 
  assistance to extremely low-income renters and homeowners, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Prevent Homelessness Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. HOUSING STABILIZATION FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
acting through the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs of the 
Office of Community Planning and Development, shall establish and 
administer a fund to be known as the Housing Stabilization Fund.
    (b) Grants.--Amounts in the Fund shall be available, to the extent 
provided in advance in appropriations Acts, only for making annual 
grants under this section, in the amount determined pursuant to 
subsection (f), to continua of care to provide short-term assistance 
under emergency housing assistance programs that the Secretary 
determines, pursuant to applications under subsection (e), meet the 
requirements of subsection (c).
    (c) Emergency Housing Assistance Program Requirements.--An 
emergency housing assistance program shall be considered to meet the 
requirements of this subsection only if the program--
            (1) is carried out by a continuum of care or other agency, 
        organization, or entity selected by a continuum of care;
            (2) operates within the geographical area served by the 
        continuum of care;
            (3) provides financial assistance only on behalf of 
        extremely low-income families who--
                    (A) are unable to meet housing-related obligations 
                (as described in subsection (d) of this section) due to 
                a financial hardship, which shall include the 
                situations described in clause (i) of section 
                3(a)(3)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
                U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3)(B)(i)), a family or health crisis, 
                unexpected expenses, unsafe or unhealthy living 
                conditions, and such other situations as the Secretary 
                may provide; and
                    (B) provide evidence of such inability to meet 
                housing related obligations, which may include past-due 
                utilities or rent notices, eviction notices, and such 
                other evidence as the Secretary may provide, except 
                that a continuum of care may, in consultation with the 
                Secretary, provide for additional manners of 
                identifying inability to meet housing related 
                obligations in situations in which such notices are not 
                available;
            (4) provides for coordination with any local homeless 
        prioritization criteria, including the Coordinated Entry System 
        or any other evidence-based analytic targeting tool, applicable 
        within the area in which the program will be carried out, in 
        accordance with such requirements as the Secretary shall 
        provide; and
            (5) meets such other requirements as the Secretary may 
        establish.
    (d) Eligible Financial Assistance.--Amounts from grants under this 
section for an emergency housing assistance program shall be used to 
provide financial assistance only to meet housing-related obligations, 
including--
            (1) rent due, including amounts past due, except that such 
        assistance may not--
                    (A) be provided for a family for more than 8 months 
                (whether consecutive or not) within the preceding 12 
                months; and
                    (B) may not exceed on a monthly basis the amount 
                that the Secretary determines is reasonable in 
                comparison with rents charged for comparable dwelling 
                units located in the same area in the private, 
                unassisted local market;
            (2) mortgage payments due, including amounts past due, 
        except that such assistance may not be provided for a household 
        for more than 8 months (whether consecutive or not) within the 
        preceding 12 months and may not exceed on a monthly basis such 
        amount as the Secretary shall determine;
            (3) utility payments due, including amounts past due;
            (4) housing repairs necessary to make the premises 
        habitable, including installing insulation, window repair, door 
        repair, roof repair, and other repairs;
            (5) costs of obtaining services for behavioral, emotional, 
        and mental health issues, domestic violence issues, child 
        welfare issues, employment counseling, substance abuse 
        treatment, or other services;
            (6) costs of obtaining housing counseling or advice, 
        including outreach, mediation, and case management;
            (7) costs of obtaining legal assistance relating to 
        eviction, foreclosure, and other issues relating to a family 
        retaining its housing; and
            (8) other short-term costs the payment of which increase 
        housing stability for an extremely low-income family, including 
        costs for gas, groceries, automotive repair, public 
        transportation, furniture, application fees, reunification 
        services, and such other costs as the Secretary may provide.
    (e) Applications.--The Secretary shall require, for a continuum of 
care to receive a grant under this section for a fiscal year, that the 
continuum of care submit to the Secretary, and the Secretary approve, 
an application containing such information as the Secretary considers 
necessary to ensure that grant amounts are used in accordance with this 
section.
    (f) Amount of Grants.--
            (1) Allocation.--
                    (A) Fiscal year 2021.--For fiscal year 2021, any 
                amounts made available from the Fund for grants under 
                this section shall be allocated for grants to continua 
                of care according to the formula established pursuant 
                to paragraph (2).
                    (B) Succeeding fiscal years.--For each fiscal year 
                thereafter, of any amounts made available from the Fund 
                for grants under this section--
                            (i) 80 percent shall be allocated for 
                        grants to continua of care according to the 
                        formula established pursuant to paragraph (2); 
                        and
                            (ii) 20 percent shall be allocated for 
                        grants to continua of care according to a 
                        competition pursuant to paragraph (3).
            (2) Formula.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall, by 
                regulation, establish a formula for use to allocate 
                amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal year, in 
                accordance with paragraph (1), for continua of care 
                whose applications for such year for such assistance 
                have been approved pursuant to subsection (e).
                    (B) Factors.--The formula required by subparagraph 
                (A) shall be designed to take into consideration, for 
                the area served by a continuum of care--
                            (i) the extent of the population that are 
                        extremely low-income families, including the 
                        homeless population that is unsheltered, who 
                        are severely cost-burdened by housing-related 
                        costs, including obligations described in 
                        subsection (d); and
                            (ii) such other factors as the Secretary 
                        may provide.
                The Secretary shall determine data to be used for the 
                factors considered under the formula based on the most 
                recently conducted Point-In-Time Homeless Count 
                administered by the Secretary.
            (3) Competition.--The Secretary shall, by regulation, 
        establish a competition for use to allocate amounts in the Fund 
        for grants for a fiscal year for continua of care pursuant to 
        paragraph (1)(B)(ii), which shall be based on measurable 
        criteria that--
                    (A) to the greatest extent possible, are required 
                to be collected and reported to the Department of 
                Housing and Urban Development or any other Federal 
                agency under other provisions of law already in effect 
                or otherwise do not impose new burdens on continua of 
                care;
                    (B) provide for targeting of assistance made 
                available under an emergency housing assistance program 
                to households having the lowest incomes;
                    (C) encourage the leveraging of other non-Federal 
                funds for providing assistance under an emergency 
                housing assistance program;
                    (D) encourage emergency housing assistance programs 
                assisted with grants under this section to provide 
                preventive assistance to avoid homelessness; and
                    (E) encourage problem-solving and diversion 
                methods, including the applicant's capacity and 
                interest in providing innovative delivery of housing 
                stability interventions and connecting households to 
                other public benefits that promote housing stability.
    (g) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            (1) Continuum of care.--The term ``continuum of care'' 
        means a collaborative applicant established and operating for a 
        geographic area for purposes of the Continuum of Care Program 
        under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.).
            (2) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Housing 
        Stabilization Fund established under subsection (a).
            (3) Extremely low-income family.--The term ``extremely low-
        income family'' has the meaning given such term in section 3(b) 
        of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated for the Fund $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 
through 2025.
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