Reducing Veteran Homelessness Act of 2020
This bill modifies certain Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs and services for homeless veterans, including by authorizing the VA to increase the per diem rate for grant recipients that provide services to homeless veterans.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4858 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4858
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Honoring America's
Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, to make
certain enhancements to grants awarded by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs and contracts between the Secretary and entities that provide
services to homeless veterans, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23 (legislative day, October 19), 2020
Mrs. Loeffler (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Honoring America's
Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, to make
certain enhancements to grants awarded by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs and contracts between the Secretary and entities that provide
services to homeless veterans, 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 ``Reducing Veteran Homelessness Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO GRANTS AWARDED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS TO ENTITIES THAT PROVIDE SERVICES TO HOMELESS
VETERANS.
(a) Rates for Per Diem Payments.--Section 2012(a)(2)(B) of title
38, United States Code, is amended by striking clause (i) and inserting
the following new clause (i):
``(i)(I) Except as provided in clause (ii), and subject to the
availability of appropriations, the Secretary may adjust the rate for
such per diem payments.
``(II) Any adjustment made under this clause--
``(aa) may not result in a rate that--
``(AA) is lower than the rate in effect under this
paragraph as in effect immediately preceding the date
of the enactment of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness
Act of 2020; or
``(BB) exceeds the rate that is 115 percent of the
rate authorized for State homes for domiciliary care
under subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 1741 of this
title, as the Secretary may increase from time to time
under subsection (c) of that section; and
``(bb) may be determined on the basis of locality.''.
(b) Reimbursement for Use of Homeless Management Information
System.--Section 2012(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end
the following paragraph:
``(4) The Secretary may reimburse the recipient of a grant under
section 2011, 2013, or 2061 of this title for fees charged to that
grant recipient for the use of the homeless management information
system described in section 402(f) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (Public Law 100-77; 42 U.S.C. 11360a(f))--
``(A) in amounts the Secretary determines to be reasonable;
and
``(B) if the Secretary determines that the grant recipient
is unable to obtain information contained in such system
through other means and at no cost to the grant recipient.''.
SEC. 3. CONTRACTS RELATING TO CASE MANAGERS FOR HOMELESS VETERANS IN
SUPPORTED HOUSING PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 304 of the Honoring America's Veterans and
Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-154; 38
U.S.C. 2041 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``The Secretary'';
and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(2)(A) The director of each covered medical center shall seek to
enter into one or more contracts or agreements described in paragraph
(1).
``(B) Any contract or agreement entered into under subparagraph (A)
may require that each case manager employed by an eligible entity has
credentials equivalent to the credentials required for a case manager
of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
``(C)(i) The Secretary may waive the requirement under subparagraph
(A) with respect to a covered medical center if the Secretary
determines that fulfilling such requirement is infeasible.
``(ii) If the Secretary grants a waiver under clause (i), the
Secretary shall, not later than 90 days after granting the waiver,
submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report
containing--
``(I) an explanation of the determination made under clause
(i);
``(II) a plan to increase the number of case managers of
the Department; and
``(III) a plan for the covered medical center to increase
use of housing vouchers allocated to that medical center under
the program described in paragraph (1).
``(D) In this paragraph, the term `covered medical center' means a
medical center of the Department with respect to which the Secretary
determines that--
``(i) 15 percent of all housing vouchers allocated to that
medical center under the program described in paragraph (1)
during the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which such
determination was made were unused due to a lack of case
management services provided by the Secretary; and
``(ii) one or more case manager positions have been vacant
for at least nine consecutive months immediately preceding the
date of such determination.''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(2)--
(A) in the matter before subparagraph (A), by
striking ``, including because--'' and inserting a
period; and
(B) by striking subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect on the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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