Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Expanding Service Coordinators Act”.
Expanding Service Coordinators Act
A BILL
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to expand certain service coordinator programs, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Expansion of covered service coordinator programs
In general— Section 671 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Prohibition on additional requirements—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a covered federally assisted housing project is eligible to receive amounts under this title to employ or retain a service coordinator, the Secretary may not subject such covered federally assisted housing project to any additional requirements in exchange for such amounts.”
Additional requirements for service coordinators— Subtitle E of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“678. Additional requirements
“(a) Funding for service coordinator training—An owner of a federally assisted housing project shall, each year, reserve not less than $2,500 of amounts received to carry out a covered service coordinator program for use by a service coordinator to access training in areas described in section 802(d)(4) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011(d)(4)).
“(b) Service coordinator training reporting requirement—A service coordinator operating pursuant to a covered service coordinator program shall, on an annual basis, submit to the Secretary information, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, with respect to training completed by the service coordinator in the preceding year.
“(c) Grant applications—The Secretary may not require an applicant for a grant under a covered service coordinator program to use all of the amounts available to the applicant prior to submitting an application for such grant.
“(d) Authorization of appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the operation of covered service coordinator programs and the continuation of existing congregate service grants for residents of federally assisted housing projects $225,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
“(e) Covered service coordinator program defined—The term covered service coordinator program means the service coordinator programs established pursuant to—
“(1) this subtitle;
“(2) section 802 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011);
“(3) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); and
“(4) section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f).”
Provision of services— Section 202(g)(3) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(g)(3)) is amended by inserting “, including with respect to the calculation of initial rents” after “eligible cost under subsection (c)(2)”.
Sec. 3 Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility
Section 455(m)(3)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting “public service as a service coordinator,” after “school-based services,”.
Sec. 4 Expansion of funding for services for public and Indian housing residents
Section 34 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437z–6) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Authorization of appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.”
Sec. 5 Study on rural service coordination
In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study regarding the coordination of the provision of supportive services (in this section referred to as “service coordination”) by one or more individuals (in this section referred to as a “service coordinator”) in rural covered federally assisted housing projects, which shall include the following:
An identification of the number of service coordinators that work in rural covered federally assisted housing projects.
An identification of the number of rural covered federally assisted housing projects that do not employ a service coordinator.
A description of the effect of service coordinators on the well-being of residents of rural covered federally assisted housing projects.
A comparison of the met and unmet needs of residents of rural covered federally assisted housing projects—
that employ a service coordinator; and
that do not employ a service coordinator.
A description of models of service coordination that are used in programs other than rural covered federally assisted housing projects.
A description of barriers, if any, to the operation of service coordinators in rural covered federally assisted housing projects.
A description of promising service coordination practices that should be explored for use by service coordinators in rural covered federally assisted housing projects, including the following:
Multi-site service coordination.
Part-time service coordination.
Remote service coordination.
Report— Upon completion of the study required under subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report regarding the results of such study.
Covered federally assisted housing defined— In this section, the term covered federally assisted housing means—
federally assisted housing, as such term is defined in section 683(2) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13641(2)); and
housing that is assisted under section 514, 515, 516, or 538 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486, or 1490p–2).
Sec. 6 HRSA grants for service coordinators
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a program to award 150 grants to eligible properties to fund service coordinators.
Grant period— A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of 3 years, and may be renewed.
Definitions— In this section:
Eligible property— The term “eligible property” means a housing project with respect to which a person has claimed a credit under section 42(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Service coordinator— The term “service coordinator” has the meaning given the term in section 671 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992.
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated in fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section $37,000,000.