[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6572 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6572

   To encourage States and units of general local government to use 
 amounts received under the community development block grant program 
  and the community mental health services and substance abuse block 
 grant programs to provide housing counseling and financial counseling 
  for individuals before their release from inpatient or residential 
     institutions for individuals with mental illness and periodic 
    evaluation of the appropriateness of such counseling after such 
                                release.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2008

Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Davis of Illinois, 
   Ms. Kaptur, and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To encourage States and units of general local government to use 
 amounts received under the community development block grant program 
  and the community mental health services and substance abuse block 
 grant programs to provide housing counseling and financial counseling 
  for individuals before their release from inpatient or residential 
     institutions for individuals with mental illness and periodic 
    evaluation of the appropriateness of such counseling after such 
                                release.

    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 ``Community Assistance Act for Persons 
with Mental Illness''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Many homeless individuals in the United States are 
        individuals who have been discharged from inpatient or 
        residential institutions for individuals with mental illness.
            (2) With proper predischarge housing counseling and related 
        services, many such individuals can be accommodated in existing 
        housing facilities.
            (3) Residential institutions for individuals with mental 
        illness are funded and operated by States and units of general 
        local government without direct Federal involvement.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x-8) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(4) Housing counseling.--The term `housing counseling' 
        means counseling furnished to an individual before the 
        individual's release from an inpatient or residential 
        institution for individuals with mental illness that includes 
        discussions with an accredited or experienced advisor from a 
        community-based non-profit organization on, and distribution to 
        such individual by such an advisor of, information about how 
        the application and grant processes work for Federal, State, 
        and local housing assistance, about selection preferences for 
        such housing assistance, about how rent is determined for 
        applicable public housing, and about the duration for which the 
        individual would be eligible to stay in such public housing. 
        Such counseling shall include information on any of the 
        following topics, as appropriate:
                    ``(A) Housing choice vouchers under section 8(o) of 
                the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
                1437f(o)).
                    ``(B) Direct housing subsidies.
                    ``(C) Non-profit housing.
                    ``(D) Public housing (as such term is defined in 
                section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
                (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
                    ``(E) Rent supplements and assistance programs.
                    ``(F) Co-operative housing.
                    ``(G) Permanent supportive housing.
                    ``(H) Private-sector housing affordable to the 
                individual.
                    ``(I) Tax credit programs.
                    ``(J) Local laws regarding renters' rights.
                    ``(K) Home mortgages.
                    ``(L) Mortgage refinancing.
                    ``(M) Home equity loans.
                    ``(N) Home repair loans.
                    ``(O) Property taxes.
                    ``(P) Other housing options for low-income 
                individuals or other applicable groups of individuals.
            ``(5) Financial counseling.--The term `financial 
        counseling' means counseling furnished to an individual before 
        the individual's release from a residential institution for 
        individuals with mental illness that includes discussions with 
        an accredited or experienced advisor from a community-based 
        non-profit organization on, and distribution to such individual 
        by such an advisor of, information about issues relating to 
        financial literacy and education to promote an understanding of 
        consumer, economic, and personal finance issues and concepts, 
        including the following, as appropriate:
                    ``(A) Saving for retirement.
                    ``(B) Managing credit.
                    ``(C) Long-term care.
                    ``(D) Estate planning.
                    ``(E) Predatory lending.
                    ``(F) Identity theft.
                    ``(G) Financial abuse schemes.
                    ``(H) Work incentives.
                    ``(I) Money management skills building.''.

SEC. 4. USE OF CERTAIN BLOCK GRANT FUNDS FOR HOUSING COUNSELING, 
              FINANCIAL COUNSELING, AND PERIODIC EVALUATION.

    (a) Use of Funds Under Existing Program Permitted.--Funds made 
available to States and units of general local government under the 
community development block grant program under title I of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), and 
under the block grant programs for community mental health services and 
for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse under part B of 
title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x et seq.), 
may be used for purposes of providing housing counseling and financial 
counseling (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (3) and (4), 
respectively, of section 1919 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300x-8), as added by section 3) for individuals before their 
release from inpatient or residential institutions for individuals with 
mental illness and for purposes of biannual evaluations of the 
appropriateness of such counseling provided for such individuals 
following such release.
    (b) Sense of Congress About Using Funds for This Purpose.--It is 
the sense of Congress that States and units of general local government 
should use a reasonable portion of the funds described in subsection 
(a) to provide for housing counseling, financial counseling, and 
biannual evaluations described in such subsection.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974 
              AND PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    (a) Statement of Projected Use of Funds and Reports by Recipients 
of Community Development Block Grant Funds.--
            (1) Statement of projected use of funds to include funds 
        used for housing counseling and financial counseling.--Section 
        104(a)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 
        (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new sentence: ``Each statement of projected use of 
        funds required under this paragraph shall include a specific 
        statement of the portion of funds received under section 106 
        that are expected to be used pursuant to section 4(a) of the 
        Community Assistance Act for Persons with Mental Illness to 
        provide housing counseling and financial counseling (as such 
        terms are defined in section 1919 of the Public Health Service 
        Act) for individuals before their release from inpatient or 
        residential institutions for individuals with mental illness 
        and for biannual evaluations of the appropriateness of such 
        counseling provided for such individuals following such 
        release.''.
            (2) Reports on housing counseling and financial counseling 
        provided.--Section 104(e) of the Housing and Community 
        Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(e)) is amended by 
        inserting after the third sentence the following new sentences: 
        ``The report shall include a specific statement of the portion 
        of funds received by the grantee under section 106 that were 
        used pursuant to section 4(a) of the Community Assistance Act 
        for Persons with Mental Illness to provide housing counseling 
        and financial counseling (as such terms are defined in section 
        1919 of the Public Health Service Act) for individuals before 
        their release from inpatient or residential institutions for 
        individuals with mental illness, a description of the housing 
        counseling and financial counseling provided, a specific 
        statement of the portion of such funds used to evaluate 
        biannually the appropriateness of such counseling provided for 
        such individuals following such release, and a description of 
        the type of the evaluations made. The report shall also include 
        recommendations for the further improvement of such counseling 
        and such biannual evaluations.''.
    (b) State Plan and Reports by States Receiving Block Grants for 
Community Mental Health Services and for Prevention and Treatment of 
Substance Abuse.--
            (1) Inclusion of housing counseling and financial 
        counseling in state plan for comprehensive community-based 
        mental health systems.--The second sentence of section 
        1912(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x-
        2(b)(1)) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``housing counseling (as defined 
                in section 1919(4)), financial counseling (as defined 
                in section 1919(5),'' after ``medical and dental 
                care,''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, including individuals who are 
                released from inpatient or residential institutions,'' 
                after ``support services to be provided to 
                individuals''.
            (2) Reports on housing counseling and financial counseling 
        provided.--Section 1942(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300x-52(a)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), at the end by striking at the 
                end ``and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), at the end by striking the 
                period and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) with respect to a grant under section 1911, the 
        number of individuals in the State who were transitioned out of 
        inpatient or residential institutions for individuals with 
        mental illness, the housing counseling and financial counseling 
        furnished to such individuals for purposes of such transition 
        into the community, and the number of such individuals who 
        returned to such an institution after being released from such 
        institution and the reasons for such return.''.
    (c) Reports by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 
Secretary of Health and Human Services.--
            (1) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each submit to 
        the Congress a report describing the projected use of funds 
        received under the applicable block grant program referred to 
        in section 4(a) for fiscal year 2010 to provide housing 
        counseling and financial counseling (as such terms are defined 
        in paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 1919 of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x-8), as added by section 3) for 
        individuals before their release from inpatient or residential 
        institutions for individuals with mental illness and biannual 
        evaluations of the appropriateness of such counseling provided 
        for such individuals following such release.
            (2) Not later than September 30, 2010, and annually 
        thereafter, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each submit to 
        the Congress a report describing the actual use of amounts 
        received under the applicable block grant program referred to 
        in section 4(a) for the previous 12-month period to provide the 
        housing counseling, financial counseling, and biannual 
        evaluation described in paragraph (1). Each such report shall 
        include--
                    (A) an analysis of the feasibility and desirability 
                of requiring, as a condition of receipt of funds under 
                the applicable block grant program, that each State and 
                unit of general local government either have a program 
                providing for such housing counseling, financial 
                counseling, and biannual evaluation or for the 
                development of a prerelease housing plan;
                    (B) an analysis of the feasibility and desirability 
                of requiring States and units of general local 
                government to reserve for such purpose a certain 
                portion or amount of the funds received under such 
                block grant program; and
                    (C) any recommendations of the applicable Secretary 
                for legislative changes in such block grant program.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall apply to grants made for periods beginning on or after October 1, 
2009.
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