1.Elderly homeless veterans
housing grant pilot program
(a)The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall jointly establish a pilot
program to award grants to nonprofit organizations to provide homeless veterans
with non-transitional housing.
(b)
(1)The Secretaries
may award two grants under this section to nonprofit organizations that provide
housing to homeless veterans or assist homeless veterans to find
housing.
(2)In
selecting the nonprofit organizations under paragraph (1), the Secretaries
shall ensure that such organizations operate in separate geographical
locations.
(3)To be eligible for a grant under this
section, a nonprofit organization shall submit to the Secretaries an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as
the Secretaries may require.
(c)Number and
amount of grant
(1)The Secretaries—
(A)may award two
grants under this section; and
(B)may not award more
than one grant to a single nonprofit organization.
(2)A
grant awarded under this section may not exceed $25,000,000.
(d)
(1)A nonprofit
organization may use a grant awarded under this section to—
(A)purchase real property within a single
geographical area to be used to provide up to 200 eligible homeless veterans
with non-transitional housing; and
(B)refurbish or
renovate such property.
(2)Eligible
homeless veteransA homeless
veteran is eligible for housing provided pursuant to this section if the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines that the homeless veteran—
(A)has—
(i)been continuously
homeless for a year or more; or
(ii)during the last three years, had at least
four separate, distinct, and sustained periods during which the veteran lived
or resided on the streets, in an emergency shelter for homeless persons, or a
combination of both;
(B)has a condition that limits the veteran’s
ability to work or perform activities of daily living, including conditions
related to—
(i)a diagnosable substance abuse
disorder;
(ii)a serious mental
illness;
(iii)a developmental disability; or
(iv)a chronic
physical illness or disability; and
(C)has attained the
age of 55.
(e)
(1)The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide case
management for homeless veterans who receive housing assistance pursuant to
this section. The Secretary shall maintain a sufficient number of caseworkers
to ensure that the ratio of such homeless veterans to caseworkers does not
exceed 25 to 1.
(2)In
carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allow the non-profit
organization awarded a grant under this section to provide the case management
under paragraph (1) if the non-profit organization elects to provide such case
management.
(f)Not later than 180 days after the date on
which the pilot grant program terminates pursuant to subsection (i), the
Secretaries shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate
and House of Representatives a report on the pilot grant program that
includes—
(1)the number of
veterans served under the program;
(2)the types of
services offered under the program to such veterans;
(3)the amount of
money spent under the program on each such veteran;
(4)a recommendation as to the feasibility and
advisability of continuing the program; and
(5)any other
information the Secretaries consider appropriate.
(g)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry out this section
$50,000,000.
(h)In this section, the
term homeless veteran means a veteran who is homeless (as that
term is defined in section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 11302(a))).
(i)The pilot grant program established under
subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is two years after the date on
which the Secretaries award a grant under such subsection.