[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3847 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3847

 To improve nutrition assistance for people experiencing homelessness, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2023

   Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Tlaib) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve nutrition assistance for people experiencing homelessness, 
                        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 bill may be cited as the ``Securing Unhoused Peoples' Program 
for Outreach Resources and Transportation For SNAP Act'' or the 
``SUPPORT For SNAP Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO CONNECT PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WITH 
              SNAP RESOURCES.

    The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 31. ENROLLMENT AND OUTREACH PILOT PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE 
              EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a State or local government agency;
                    ``(B) an Indian tribe or Tribal organization;
                    ``(C) a nonprofit organization, including a public 
                or nonprofit provider of services;
                    ``(D) a community-based organization;
                    ``(E) a continuum of care;
                    ``(F) a community action agency;
                    ``(G) a public housing agency; or
                    ``(H) a consortia of 2 or more entities under this 
                paragraph.
            ``(2) Public housing agency.--The term `public housing 
        agency' has the meaning given such term in section 3(b)(6) of 
        the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)).
            ``(3) Community action agency.--The term `community action 
        agency' means an eligible entity (which meets the requirements 
        of paragraph (1) or (2), as appropriate, of section 680(c)) of 
        subtitle B of title VI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
        of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.) that delivers multiple 
        programs, projects, and services to a variety of low-income 
        individuals and families.
            ``(4) Continuum of care.--The term `continuum of care' 
        means a collaborative applicant established and operating for a 
        geographic area for purposes of the Continuum of Care Program 
        under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.).
            ``(5) Pilot program.--The term `pilot program' means the 
        pilot program established under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the effective 
date of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Housing and Urban Development, shall establish a pilot program, to 
be known as the `Enrollment and Outreach Pilot Program for People 
Experience Homelessness', under which the Secretary shall award grants 
to eligible entities--
            ``(1) to raise awareness among homeless individuals of the 
        availability, eligibility requirements, application procedures, 
        and benefits of the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 
        including the excess shelter expense deduction and the 
        deduction for homeless households referenced in Section 
        5(e)(6);
            ``(2) to support homeless individuals in enrolling in that 
        program; and
            ``(3) to train outreach workers, caseworkers, and any other 
        appropriate employees in supporting homeless individuals, the 
        requirements of and application for the supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program, and other relevant matter as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under the pilot program, the 
Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that--
            ``(1) provide services to homeless individuals;
            ``(2) are located in jurisdictions that assume costs are 
        being incurred and do not require documentation in the case 
        record in affirming a standard homeless shelter deduction is 
        being allowed when implementing the standard homeless household 
        deduction under section 5(e)(6);
            ``(3) have experience implementing grants under the 
        Continuum of Care program under subtitle C of title IV of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et 
        seq.) or grants under the Emergency Solutions Grant program 
        under subtitle B of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et 
        seq.);
            ``(4) have experience implementing programs administered by 
        the Food and Nutrition Service; or
            ``(5) receive, plan to receive, or demonstrate an ability 
        to partner with a program that receives funding under the 
        Continuum of Care program under subtitle C of title IV of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et 
        seq.), grants under the Emergency Solutions Grant program under 
        subtitle B of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.), 
        or nutrition programs administered by the Secretary.
    ``(d) Eligible Activities.--An eligible entity receiving a grant 
under the pilot program shall use the grant to carry out 1 or more of 
the following activities:
            ``(1) Application assistance, including--
                    ``(A) eligibility prescreening;
                    ``(B) assistance completing an application for the 
                supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits;
                    ``(C) assistance obtaining application verification 
                documents;
                    ``(D) excess shelter expense deduction and the 
                deduction for homeless households deduction counseling;
                    ``(E) translation of materials and bilingual 
                accommodation; and
                    ``(F) improving State agency applications and 
                screening for the supplemental nutrition assistance 
                program to better capture potential eligibility of 
                homeless individuals.
            ``(2) Tailored information dissemination about the 
        supplemental nutrition assistance program, including through--
                    ``(A) community-based outreach workshops and 
                events;
                    ``(B) street outreach activities;
                    ``(C) a toll-free hotline to provide information 
                about Federal, State, and local food resources;
                    ``(D) informational websites and other social media 
                sites; and
                    ``(E) printed or digital informational content.
            ``(3) Transportation, including--
                    ``(A) transportation to or from a local office of 
                the supplemental nutrition assistance program; and
                    ``(B) administration of vouchers or similar items 
                for the transportation described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(4) Identification, implementation, analysis, and 
        dissemination of replicable and scalable models for increasing 
        enrollment in the supplemental nutrition assistance program 
        among households with homeless individuals.
            ``(5) Training for staff on supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program requirements and best practices for outreach 
        to homeless individuals.
    ``(e) Grants.--
            ``(1) Maximum amount.--A grant awarded under the pilot 
        program to an eligible entity for a fiscal year shall be not 
        less than $50,000, but not more than $500,000.
            ``(2) Duration.--An eligible entity may be awarded a grant 
        under the pilot program for not more than 5 years.
    ``(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the 
effective date of this section, and annually thereafter for the 
duration of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit a report to 
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate 
regarding the implementation of the pilot program, including--
            ``(1) an evaluation of the pilot program;
            ``(2) the number of awards made under the program;
            ``(3) description of projects conducted with funding under 
        the pilot program;
            ``(4) demographic information of homeless individuals 
        contacted or served with pilot programs funds; and
            ``(5) number of homeless individuals served by the 
        supplemental nutrition assistance program.
    ``(g) Funding.--
            ``(1) Authorization.--There is authorized to be 
        appropriated to carry out this section $12,500,000 for each of 
        the fiscal years 2024 through 2029.
            ``(2) Administrative costs.--Of the amounts made available 
        under paragraph (1), not more than 3 percent may be used by the 
        Secretary for administrative costs.
            ``(3) Technical assistance.--The Secretary, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall 
        provide technical assistance and publish best practices to 
        carry out this section and may use no more than 2 percent of 
        the amounts made available under paragraph (1) to do so.
            ``(4) Supplement not supplant.--As a condition of receiving 
        funds under this section, an eligible entity shall use funds 
        received under this section only to supplement the level of 
        State or local funds that would, in the absence of the receipt 
        of funds under this section, be available.''.
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