[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 27, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49198-49200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17624]



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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 62

RIN 2900-AP61


Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its 
regulations that govern the Supportive Services for Veteran Families 
(SSVF) Program. This rulemaking would clarify VA's procedures for 
continuing to fund SSVF Program services in communities that have lost 
grants due to the non-renewal or termination of services of an existing 
award to a grantee by awarding non-renewed or deobligated funds to 
other existing SSVF grantees in or near the affected community. This 
award of non-renewed or deobligated funds would prevent potential 
access issues associated with grant termination. This rulemaking would 
also reduce the number of satisfaction surveys grantees are required to 
provide to participants in order to reduce the burden on grantees and 
participants.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to Director, Regulation 
Policy and Management (00REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response 
to ``RIN 2900-AP61--Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program.'' 
Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in 
the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1068, between the 
hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except 
holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an appointment. (This is not 
a toll-free number.) In addition, during the comment period, comments 
may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System at 
www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kuhn, National Center for 
Homelessness Among Veterans, Supportive Services for Veteran Families 
Program Office, 4100 Chester Avenue, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 
(877) 737-0111. (This is a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 38, section 2044, United States Code 
(U.S.C.), requires the Secretary to provide financial assistance to 
eligible entities to provide and coordinate the provision of supportive 
services for very low-income veteran families occupying permanent 
housing. The Secretary's implementing regulations are in 38 CFR part 
62, which established the SSVF Program. Through the SSVF Program, VA 
awards supportive services grants to private non-profit organizations 
or consumer cooperatives to provide or coordinate the provision of 
supportive services to very low-income veteran families who are 
residing in permanent housing and at risk of becoming homeless; lacking 
a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, at risk of 
remaining so but for grantee assistance, and scheduled to become 
residents of permanent housing within 90 days pending the location or 
development of housing suitable for permanent housing; or, after 
exiting permanent housing, are seeking other housing that is responsive 
to their needs and preferences. This proposed rulemaking would clarify 
existing VA policy regarding award of non-renewed or deobligated funds 
to other existing SSVF grantees in or near the affected community where 
the funds were originally used in order to maintain continuity in the 
services offered to these communities.

62.25 Selecting Grantees for Renewal or Non-Renewal of Supportive 
Services Grants

    Current Sec.  62.25 provides the process to select grantees 
applying for renewal of supportive services grants. Paragraph (a) of 
Sec.  62.25 of 38 CFR states that VA will score the grantee using the 
scoring criteria set forth in Sec.  62.24 as long as the grantee 
continues to meet the threshold requirements in Sec.  62.21. Paragraph 
(b) provides that VA will rank in order from highest to lowest the 
grantees who receive at least the minimum amount of total points and 
points per category in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). 
Lastly, paragraph (c) states that VA will use the grantee's ranking as 
the basis for selection for funding and fund the highest-ranked 
grantees for which funding is available. Although Sec.  62.25 does not 
expressly address the award of any non-renewed funds, it is VA's policy 
under this authority to offer to award non-renewed funds to other 
qualifying existing grantees within the same community applying the 
same criteria in this section when re-awarding non-renewed funds. 
Otherwise, the community that was served by the grantee may suffer an 
interruption in services to those who are homeless or at-risk of 
becoming homeless. We propose to amend Sec.  62.25 to expressly codify 
this current practice in the regulation. We propose to add a new 
paragraph (d) to state the process by which VA would, in its 
discretion, offer to award any non-renewed funds to other qualifying 
existing grantees. This process would be similar to the award of 
deobligated funds under the proposed revisions to Sec.  62.80(d)(2).

62.36 General Operation Requirements

    Section 62.36 establishes the operation requirements for grantees 
that provide supportive services. Paragraph (c) establishes the 
notifications a grantee must provide to participants before the grantee 
provides supportive services, which include that the services are paid 
for in whole or part by VA, the types of services available to the 
participant, and any restrictions or conditions on the receipt of the 
services. Paragraph (c) also states that a grantee must provide each 
participant with a satisfaction survey. This satisfaction survey helps 
VA evaluate the provision of supportive services by a grantee to a 
participant. The results of the satisfaction survey also assist VA in 
determining if future SSVF Program funds should be awarded to a 
grantee.
    Under current paragraph (c)(2), a satisfaction survey must be 
provided to the participant within 45 to 60 days of the participant's 
entry into the grantee's program, and also within 30 days prior to the 
participant's pending exit from the program. However, requesting two 
satisfaction surveys has resulted in poor response rates by 
participants and has created an unnecessary burden on the grantees and 
the participants. Therefore, we propose to reduce the number of 
satisfaction surveys by eliminating the survey that must be provided to 
the participant within 45 to 60 days of the participant's entry to the 
program. By reducing the number of satisfaction surveys, VA expects to 
reduce the burden to the grantees and the participants and, in turn, 
improve the response rate. We propose to amend paragraph (c)(2) to 
state that a ``grantee must provide each participant with a 
satisfaction survey, which the participant can submit directly to VA, 
within 30 days of such participant's pending exit from the grantee's 
program.''

62.80 Withholding, Suspension, Deobligation, Termination, and Recovery 
of Funds by VA

    Current paragraph (a) of Sec.  62.80 states that VA will recover 
from grantees any SSVF funds that are not used in accordance with the 
SSVF Program requirements. In addition, paragraph (b)

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of Sec.  62.80 provides that if a grantee fails to comply with these 
requirements, VA may withhold further payment, suspend the supportive 
services grant, or prohibit the grantee from incurring additional 
obligations of supportive services grant funds, pending corrective 
action by the grantee or a decision to terminate the grant. Paragraph 
(c) of Sec.  62.80 provides the circumstances under which VA may 
terminate a grant in whole or in part, including: When a grantee 
materially fails to comply with the terms and conditions of a grant 
award, the grantee consents to termination, or the grantee notifies VA 
of its intent to terminate the grant. Paragraph (d) of Sec.  62.80 
establishes the circumstances under which VA may deobligate amounts 
approved for use by a grantee. The SSVF Program has a robust monitoring 
and compliance program to ensure that community agencies awarded VA 
grant funds perform in accordance with their grant agreements. As part 
of these oversight responsibilities, SSVF Program funds may be 
deobligated for several reasons, including: The activity for which 
funding was approved is not provided, the approved amounts have not 
been expended within one year from the date the agreement was signed, 
or other circumstances as set forth in the agreement, for example, if 
the grantee goes bankrupt. Under Sec.  62.80(d)(2), VA has 
discretionary authority to re-advertise in a Notice of Funding 
Availability (NOFA) the availability of funds that have been 
deobligated, or to award deobligated funds to applicants who previously 
submitted applications in response to the most recently published SSVF 
Program NOFA. Under this authority, it is VA's current policy that VA 
could award deobligated funds to existing SSVF grantees in or near the 
impacted community of those grantees so long as those grantees applied 
to the most recently published NOFA applicable to the geographic area 
at issue, or in the case of multi-year awards, the most recently 
published NOFA to which the grantee applied applicable to the 
geographic area at issue. This policy is designed to prevent potential 
access issues associated with grant termination. Otherwise, in the case 
of deobligated funds, it is possible that no SSVF Program services 
would be available in the affected communities for months before VA is 
able to publish a NOFA in the Federal Register to make available the 
funds to qualified grantees. This rulemaking would clarify this policy 
in the regulation.
    We would amend Sec.  62.80(d) by revising paragraph (d)(2). The 
proposed revision to Sec.  62.80(d)(2) would state that VA may award 
deobligated or non-renewed funds to a qualified existing SSVF grantee 
serving the community where the deobligation or non-renewal occurred. A 
grantee who is currently serving the affected community would be better 
able to address the needs of the community because the grantee is 
already working within that community. VA understands that there may be 
more than one grantee in a community that is qualified to receive the 
deobligated funds. We would, therefore, first offer to award the 
deobligated or non-renewed funds to the grantee with the highest grant 
score (based on existing grantees most recent scores) that has the 
capacity to provide immediate services to the affected community. The 
requirement that the grantee be able to immediately offer services 
would be made in order to make certain that the grantee who is offered 
the funds is quickly able to address the needs of the impacted 
community and reduce added delays in providing services. However, such 
grantee may not want to take on the added funds or responsibilities. In 
such case, VA would offer the funds to the next qualified grantee in 
rank order until all funds are awarded. There may be instances where 
there are no other grantees serving the community where the 
deobligation occurred. In such circumstances, VA would offer to award 
the deobligated funds to qualified grantees in rank order who serve the 
adjacent community, subject to the grantee's agreement to use the funds 
to serve the community where the deobligation occurred. We would add 
the requirement that the funds must be used in the community where the 
funds were deobligated because the deobligated funds are offered as a 
means of providing continuous services to the affected community, not 
to add more funds to a community that is already funded otherwise.

Effect of Rulemaking

    The Code of Federal Regulations, as proposed to be revised by this 
proposed rulemaking, would represent the exclusive legal authority on 
this subject. No contrary rules or procedures would be authorized. All 
VA guidance would be read to conform with this proposed rulemaking if 
possible or, if not possible, such guidance would be superseded by this 
rulemaking.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Although this action contains provisions constituting collections 
of information at 38 CFR 62.36, under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), no new or proposed revised collections of 
information are associated with this proposed rule. The information 
collection requirements for Sec.  62.36 are currently approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB 
control number 2900-0757.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Secretary hereby certifies that this proposed rule would not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 601-612). This proposed rule would only impact those entities 
that choose to participate in the SSVF Program. Small entity applicants 
will not be affected to a greater extent than large entity applicants. 
Small entities must elect to participate, and it is considered a 
benefit to those who choose to apply. To the extent this proposed rule 
would have any impact on small entities, it would not have an impact on 
a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 
605(b), this rulemaking would be exempt from the initial and final 
regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.

Executive Order 12866 and 13563

    Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess the 
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, and other advantages; distributive impacts; 
and equity). Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory 
Review) emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and 
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility. 
Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) defines a 
``significant regulatory action,'' requiring review by OMB, unless OMB 
waives such review, as ``any regulatory action that is likely to result 
in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 
million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a 
sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 
environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal 
governments or communities; (2) Create a serious inconsistency or 
otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency; 
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user 
fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or (4) Raise novel

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legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's 
priorities, or the principles set forth in this Executive Order.''
    The economic, interagency, budgetary, legal, and policy 
implications of this regulatory action have been examined, and it has 
been determined not to be a significant regulatory action under 
Executive Order 12866. VA's impact analysis can be found as a 
supporting document at http://www.regulations.gov, usually within 48 
hours after the rulemaking document is published. Additionally, a copy 
of the rulemaking and its impact analysis are available on VA's Web 
site at http://www.va.gov/orpm/, by following the link for ``VA 
Regulations Published From FY 2004 Through Fiscal Year to Date.''

Unfunded Mandates

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and 
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by 
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for 
inflation) in any one year. This proposed rule would have no such 
effect on State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private 
sector.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance The Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance numbers and titles for the programs affected by 
this document are 64.009, Veterans Medical Care Benefits, and 64.033, 
VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program.

Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Gina S. 
Farrisee, Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, 
approved this document on July 19, 2016, for publication.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 62

    Administrative practice and procedure, Day care, Disability 
benefits, Government contracts, Grant programs--health, Grant 
programs--housing and community development, Grant programs--veterans, 
Heath care, Homeless, Housing, Indians--lands, Individuals with 
disabilities, Low and moderate income housing, Manpower training 
programs, Medicaid, Medicare, Public assistance programs, Public 
housing, Relocation assistance, Rent subsidies, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Rural areas, Social security, Supplemental 
Security Income (SSI), Travel and transportation expenses, Unemployment 
compensation.

    Dated: July 20, 2016.
Janet J. Coleman,
Chief, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs proposes to amend 38 CFR part 62 as follows:

PART 62--SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR VETERAN FAMILIES PROGRAM

0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  38 U.S.C. 501, 2044, and as noted in specific 
sections.

0
2. Amend Sec.  62.25 by adding paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  62.25  Selecting grantees for renewal of supportive services 
grants.

* * * * *
    (d) At its discretion, VA may award any non-renewed funds to an 
applicant or existing grantee. If VA chooses to award non-renewed funds 
to an applicant or existing grantee, funds will be awarded as follows:
    (1) VA will first offer to award the non-renewed funds to the 
applicant or grantee with the highest grant score under the relevant 
Notice of Fund Availability that applies for, or is awarded a renewal 
grant in, the same community as, or a proximate community to, the 
affected community. Such applicant or grantee must have the capacity 
and agree to provide immediate services to the affected community. 
Under this section 62.25, the relevant Notice of Fund Availability is 
the most recently published Notice of Fund Availability which covers 
the geographic area that includes the affected community, or for multi-
year grant awards, the Notice of Fund Availability for which the 
grantee received the multi-year award.
    (2) If the first such applicant or grantee offered the non-renewed 
funds refuses the funds, VA will offer to award the funds to the next 
highest-ranked such applicant or grantee, per the criteria in paragraph 
(d)(1) of this section, and continue on in rank order until the non-
renewed funds are awarded.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec.  62.36 by revising paragraph (c)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  62.36  General operation requirements.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) The grantee must provide each participant with a satisfaction 
survey, which the participant can submit directly to VA, within 30 days 
of such participant's pending exit from the grantee's program.
* * * * *
0
4. Amend Sec.  62.80 by revising paragraph (d)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  62.80  Withholding, suspension, deobligation, termination, and 
recovery of funds by VA.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (2) At its discretion, VA may re-advertise in a Notice of Fund 
Availability the availability of funds that have been deobligated under 
this section or award deobligated funds to an applicant or existing 
grantee. If VA chooses to award deobligated funds to an applicant or 
existing grantee, funds will be awarded as follows:
    (i) VA will first offer to award the deobligated funds to the 
applicant or grantee with the highest grant score under the relevant 
Notice of Fund Availability that applied for or was awarded funds in 
the same community as, or proximate community to, the affected 
community. Such applicant or grantee must have the capacity and agree 
to provide immediate services to the affected community. Under this 
section 62.80 the relevant Notice of Fund Availability is the most 
recently published Notice of Fund Availability which covers the 
geographic area that includes the affected community, or for multi-year 
grant awards, the most recently published Notice of Fund Availability 
which covers the geographic area that includes the affected community 
for which the grantee received the multi-year award.
    (ii) If the first such applicant or grantee offered the deobligated 
funds refuses the funds, VA will offer to award funds to the next 
highest-ranked such applicant or grantee, per to the criteria in 
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section, and continue on in rank order 
until all deobligated funds are awarded.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-17624 Filed 7-26-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8320-01-P