1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Bridge to End Homelessness Act of 2019”.
Bridge to End Homelessness Act of 2019
A BILL
To establish a grant program to provide temporary housing to homeless individuals, and for other purposes.
2. Temporary housing grant program
Establishment— The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this Act referred to as the “Secretary”) shall establish a competitive grant program to provide grants to eligible entities under subsection (b) to provide interim housing to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Eligibility— To be eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall—
be a governmental entity at the county, city, regional, or locality level;
submit a plan for targeted outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness within the jurisdiction of the entity or a partner of the entity; and
submit to the Secretary an application that includes a plan and assurances to provide for—
identifying unused property or land that—
is located within the entity’s jurisdiction or partner entity’s jurisdiction; and
will be converted into a facility for interim housing for such individuals;
furnishing such facility with on-site mental health, employment, substance use disorder, and wellness resources, except that for services that cannot be furnished on-site, the plan shall provide for direct linkage to transportation services to appointments for such services;
accommodation of service animals and pets at such facility;
permanent, on-site supervision of such facility;
coordination of such facility with public services agencies and law enforcement; and
keeping the administrative entity for the local Continuum of Care under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) informed.
Requirements— Each entity provided a grant under this section shall—
employ trauma-informed principles;
employ a Housing First approach that prioritizes permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness; and
provide connections to permanent housing as a part of any case management provided.
Grant funds— An entity provided a grant under this section shall receive—
not more than $10,000,000 in the first year of the grant, to remain available until expended, for costs of acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or repurposing of a property to be used as an interim housing facility; and
not more than $2,000,000 in each of the 5 subsequent years for costs associated with providing services at such facility.
Partnerships— An entity may enter into a partnership with providers of services for the interim housing facility established with grant amounts under this section, including local health agencies, medical, mental health, and substance use treatment providers, employment services providers, housing providers, and such other service providers as necessary.
Measures of outcomes—
Development— The Secretary shall develop measures of outcomes to be applied by recipients of grants under this section in evaluating the effectiveness of programs carried out under this section.
Annual submission of data— Each eligible entity described in subsection (b) that receives a grant under this section shall annually submit to the Secretary a report that includes data to evaluate the success of the program carried out by the entity based on whether such program is achieving the purposes of the program. Such reports shall utilize the measures of outcomes under paragraph (1) in a reasonable manner to demonstrate the progress of the program in achieving such purposes.
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act—
for fiscal year 2020, $100,000,000; and
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.