Public Law 111-22/Division B/Title II

TITLE II—EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANTS PROGRAM

SEC. 1201. GRANT ASSISTANCE.

Subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.) is amended—

(1) by striking the subtitle heading and inserting the following:

``subtitle B—Emergency Solutions Grants Program´´;

(2) by striking section 417 (42 U.S.C. 11377);

(3) by redesignating sections 413 through 416 (42 U.S.C. 11373–6) as sections 414 through 417, respectively; and

(4) by striking section 412 (42 U.S.C. 11372) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 412. Grant assistance.

``The Secretary shall make grants to States and local governments (and to private nonprofit organizations providing assistance to persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, in the case of grants made with reallocated amounts) for the purpose of carrying out activities described in section 415.

``SEC. 413. Amount and allocation of assistance.

``(a) In general.—Of the amount made available to carry out this subtitle and subtitle C for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate nationally 20 percent of such amount for activities described in section 415. The Secretary shall be required to certify that such allocation will not adversely affect the renewal of existing projects under this subtitle and subtitle C for those individuals or families who are homeless.

``(b) Allocation.—An entity that receives a grant under section 412, and serves an area that includes 1 or more geographic areas (or portions of such areas) served by collaborative applicants that submit applications under subtitle C, shall allocate the funds made available through the grant to carry out activities described in section 415, in consultation with the collaborative applicants.´´; and

(5) in section 414(b) (42 U.S.C. 11373(b)), as so redesignated by paragraph (3) of this section, by striking ``amounts appropriated´´ and all that follows through ``for any´´ and inserting ``amounts appropriated under section 408 and made available to carry out this subtitle for any´´.

SEC. 1202. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended by striking section 415 (42 U.S.C. 11374), as so redesignated by section 1201(3) of this division, and inserting the following new section:

``SEC. 415. Eligible activities.

``(a) In general.—Assistance provided under section 412 may be used for the following activities:

``(1) The renovation, major rehabilitation, or conversion of buildings to be used as emergency shelters.

``(2) The provision of essential services related to emergency shelter or street outreach, including services concerned with employment, health, education, family support services for homeless youth, substance abuse services, victim services, or mental health services, if—

``(A) such essential services have not been provided by the local government during any part of the immediately preceding 12-month period or the Secretary determines that the local government is in a severe financial deficit; or

``(B) the use of assistance under this subtitle would complement the provision of those essential services.

``(3) Maintenance, operation, insurance, provision of utilities, and provision of furnishings related to emergency shelter.

``(4) Provision of rental assistance to provide short-term or medium-term housing to homeless individuals or families or individuals or families at risk of homelessness. Such rental assistance may include tenant-based or project-based rental assistance.

``(5) Housing relocation or stabilization services for homeless individuals or families or individuals or families at risk of homelessness, including housing search, mediation or outreach to property owners, legal services, credit repair, providing security or utility deposits, utility payments, rental assistance for a final month at a location, assistance with moving costs, or other activities that are effective at—

``(A) stabilizing individuals and families in their current housing; or

``(B) quickly moving such individuals and families to other permanent housing.

``(b) Maximum allocation for emergency shelter activities.—A grantee of assistance provided under section 412 for any fiscal year may not use an amount of such assistance for activities described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a) that exceeds the greater of—

``(1) 60 percent of the aggregate amount of such assistance provided for the grantee for such fiscal year; or

``(2) the amount expended by such grantee for such activities during fiscal year most recently completed before the effective date under section 1503 of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009´´..´´.

SEC. 1203. PARTICIPATION IN HOMELESS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM.

Section 416 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11375), as so redesignated by section 1201(3) of this division, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

``(f) Participation in HMIS.—The Secretary shall ensure that recipients of funds under this subtitle ensure the consistent participation by emergency shelters and homelessness prevention and rehousing programs in any applicable community-wide homeless management information system.´´.

SEC. 1204. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION.

Section 418 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11378) is amended by striking ``5 percent´´ and inserting ``7.5 percent´´.

SEC. 1205. GAO STUDY OF ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.

Not later than the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this division, the Comptroller General of the United States shall—

(1) conduct a study to examine the appropriate administrative costs for administering the program authorized under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.); and

(2) submit to Congress a report on the findings of the study required under paragraph (1).