Bridge to End Homelessness Act of 2019

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4936 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4936

 To establish a grant program to provide temporary housing to homeless 
                  individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 31, 2019

Mrs. Napolitano (for herself and Mr. Cisneros) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a grant program to provide temporary housing to homeless 
                  individuals, 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 ``Bridge to End Homelessness Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY HOUSING GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
(in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a 
competitive grant program to provide grants to eligible entities under 
subsection (b) to provide interim housing to individuals experiencing 
homelessness.
    (b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), an entity shall--
            (1) be a governmental entity at the county, city, regional, 
        or locality level;
            (2) submit a plan for targeted outreach to individuals 
        experiencing homelessness within the jurisdiction of the entity 
        or a partner of the entity; and
            (3) submit to the Secretary an application that includes a 
        plan and assurances to provide for--
                    (A) identifying unused property or land that--
                            (i) is located within the entity's 
                        jurisdiction or partner entity's jurisdiction; 
                        and
                            (ii) will be converted into a facility for 
                        interim housing for such individuals;
                    (B) furnishing such facility with on-site mental 
                health, employment, substance use disorder, and 
                wellness resources, except that for services that 
                cannot be furnished on-site, the plan shall provide for 
                direct linkage to transportation services to 
                appointments for such services;
                    (C) accommodation of service animals and pets at 
                such facility;
                    (D) permanent, on-site supervision of such 
                facility;
                    (E) coordination of such facility with public 
                services agencies and law enforcement; and
                    (F) keeping the administrative entity for the local 
                Continuum of Care under subtitle C of title IV of the 
                McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 
                et seq.) informed.
    (c) Requirements.--Each entity provided a grant under this section 
shall--
            (1) employ trauma-informed principles;
            (2) employ a Housing First approach that prioritizes 
        permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness; and
            (3) provide connections to permanent housing as a part of 
        any case management provided.
    (d) Grant Funds.--An entity provided a grant under this section 
shall receive--
            (1) not more than $10,000,000 in the first year of the 
        grant, to remain available until expended, for costs of 
        acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or repurposing of a 
        property to be used as an interim housing facility; and
            (2) not more than $2,000,000 in each of the 5 subsequent 
        years for costs associated with providing services at such 
        facility.
    (e) Partnerships.--An entity may enter into a partnership with 
providers of services for the interim housing facility established with 
grant amounts under this section, including local health agencies, 
medical, mental health, and substance use treatment providers, 
employment services providers, housing providers, and such other 
service providers as necessary.
    (f) Measures of Outcomes.--
            (1) Development.--The Secretary shall develop measures of 
        outcomes to be applied by recipients of grants under this 
        section in evaluating the effectiveness of programs carried out 
        under this section.
            (2) Annual submission of data.--Each eligible entity 
        described in subsection (b) that receives a grant under this 
        section shall annually submit to the Secretary a report that 
        includes data to evaluate the success of the program carried 
        out by the entity based on whether such program is achieving 
        the purposes of the program. Such reports shall utilize the 
        measures of outcomes under paragraph (1) in a reasonable manner 
        to demonstrate the progress of the program in achieving such 
        purposes.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 2020, $100,000,000; and
            (2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
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