[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2723 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2723

  To provide transitional housing assistance for victims of domestic 
                               violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 11 (legislative day, July 10), 2002

   Mr. Leahy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide transitional housing assistance for victims of domestic 
                               violence.

    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 ``Transitional Housing Assistance for 
Victims of Domestic Violence Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

    The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
shall award grants under this Act to organizations, States, units of 
local government, and Indian tribes (referred to in this Act as the 
``recipient'') to carry out programs to provide assistance to 
individuals, and the dependents of individuals--
            (1) who are homeless or in need of transitional housing or 
        other housing assistance as a result of fleeing a situation of 
        domestic violence; and
            (2) for whom emergency shelter services or other crisis 
        intervention services are unavailable or insufficient.

SEC. 3. TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.

    Grants awarded under this Act may be used for programs that 
provide--
            (1) short-term housing assistance, including rental or 
        utilities payments assistance and assistance with related 
        expenses such as payment of security deposits and other costs 
        incidental to relocation to transitional housing for persons 
        described in section 2; and
            (2) support services designed to enable an individual, or 
        dependent of an individual, who is fleeing a situation of 
        domestic violence to--
                    (A) locate and secure permanent housing; and
                    (B) integrate into a community by providing that 
                individual or dependent with services, such as 
                transportation, counseling, child care services, case 
                management, employment counseling, and other 
                assistance.

SEC. 4. DURATION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), an 
individual, or dependent of an individual, who receives assistance 
under this Act shall receive that assistance for not more than 18 
months.
    (b) Waiver.--The recipient of a grant under this Act may waive the 
restriction under subsection (a) for not more than an additional 6 
month period with respect to any individual, or dependent of an 
individual, who--
            (1) has made a good-faith effort to acquire permanent 
        housing; and
            (2) has been unable to acquire permanent housing.

SEC. 5. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this 
Act shall submit an application to the Attorney General at such time, 
in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall--
            (1) describe the activities for which assistance under this 
        Act is sought; and
            (2) provide such additional assurances as the Attorney 
        General determines to be essential to ensure compliance with 
        the requirements of this Act.
    (c) Application.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
require--
            (1) victims to participate in the criminal justice system 
        in order to receive services; or
            (2) domestic violence advocates to breach client 
        confidentiality.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    (a) Report to the Attorney General.--
            (1) In general.--A recipient of a grant under this Act 
        shall annually prepare and submit to the Attorney General a 
        report describing--
                    (A) the number of individuals and dependents 
                assisted under this Act; and
                    (B) the types of housing assistance and support 
                services provided under this Act.
            (2) Contents.--Each report prepared and submitted under 
        paragraph (1) shall include information regarding--
                    (A) the amount of housing assistance provided to 
                each individual, or dependent of an individual, 
                assisted under this Act and the reason for that 
                assistance;
                    (B) the number of months each individual, or 
                dependent of an individual, received assistance under 
                this Act;
                    (C) the number of individuals and dependents of 
                those individuals who--
                            (i) were eligible to receive assistance 
                        under this Act; and
                            (ii) were not provided with assistance 
                        under this Act solely due to a lack of 
                        available housing; and
                    (D) the type of support services provided to each 
                individual, or dependent of an individual, assisted 
                under this Act.
    (b) Report to Congress.--The Attorney General shall annually 
prepare and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a 
report that contains a compilation of the information contained in the 
report submitted under subsection (a).
    (c) Availability of Report.--In order to coordinate efforts to 
assist the victims of domestic violence, the Attorney General shall 
transmit a copy of the report submitted under subsection (b) to--
            (1) the Office of Community Planning and Development at the 
        United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
            (2) the Office of Women's Health at the United States 
        Department of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2006.
    (b) Limitations.--Of the amount made available to carry out this 
Act in any fiscal year, not more than 3 percent may be used by the 
Attorney General for salaries and administrative expenses.
    (c) Minimum Amount.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        unless all eligible applications submitted by any States, units 
        of local government, Indian tribes, or organizations within a 
        State for a grant under this Act have been funded, that State, 
        together with the grantees within the State (other than Indian 
        tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year, not less than 
        .75 percent of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal year 
        for grants pursuant to this Act.
            (2) Exception.--The United States Virgin Islands, American 
        Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be 
        allocated .25 percent of the total amount appropriated in the 
        fiscal year for grants pursuant to this Act.
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