38 U.S.C. § 2032 — Therapeutic housing

(a) The Secretary^* may operate residences and facilities as “therapeutic housing” in connection with compensated work therapy programs.

(b) For residential housing used under this section, the Secretary may use procurement procedures for buying, leasing, or otherwise acquiring it that the Secretary considers suitable to speed the opening and operation of transitional housing and protect the United States’ interests.

(c) A residence or facility may operate as transitional housing for veterans described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 1710(a) under these conditions:

(1) Only those veterans and a house manager may live there.

(2) Every resident except the house manager must make payments that help cover food and lodging expenses and the residence’s operating costs during the resident’s stay.

(3) To support the housing’s therapeutic and rehabilitative goals:

(A) residents may not use alcohol or any controlled substance or item;

(B) a resident who violates that rule may be expelled; and

(C) each resident must agree to drug testing or other measures the Secretary prescribes to ensure compliance.

(4) When establishing and operating the housing, the Secretary must consult appropriate representatives of the community where it is located. The Secretary must comply with zoning, building-permit, and similar requirements that apply to other real property used for similar purposes in that community.

(5) The residence or facility must meet State^* and community fire and safety requirements that apply to other real property used for similar purposes in the community. Federal-government building fire and safety requirements do not apply to this property.

(d) The Secretary must set qualifications for house managers of transitional-housing units under this section. The Secretary may provide a house manager free room and subsistence in addition to, or instead of, paying a fee for the manager’s services.

(e)(1) The Secretary may operate as transitional housing:

(A) suitable residential property acquired after a default on a loan made, guaranteed, or insured under chapter 37;

(B) suitable space in a facility under the Secretary’s authority that is no longer used for acute hospital care or for housing medical-center employees; and

(C) any other suitable residential property the Secretary buys, leases, or otherwise acquires.

(2) For property under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary must:

(A) transfer administrative jurisdiction within the Department^* from the Veterans Benefits Administration to the Veterans Health Administration; and

(B) transfer from the General Post Fund to the Loan Guaranty Revolving Fund under chapter 37 an amount, not more than what the Secretary paid for the property, that represents what the Secretary believes could be obtained by selling the property to a nonprofit organization or State for use as a shelter for homeless veterans.

(3) For residential property obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development under this section, the Secretary may not pay that Department more than the amount the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would charge to sell the property to a nonprofit organization or State for use as a shelter for homeless people. The payment must come from the General Post Fund.

(f) The Secretary must prescribe:

(1) a procedure for setting reasonable payment rates for people living in transitional housing; and

(2) appropriate limits on how long those people may live there.

(g) The Secretary may dispose of property acquired for this section. Put the proceeds into the General Post Fund.

(h) Deposit funds the Department receives under this section into the General Post Fund. The Secretary may distribute from that fund amounts needed to acquire, manage, maintain, and dispose of real property for this program. For each fiscal year, the Secretary must operate the program so that these expenditures do not exceed the proceeds credited to the fund under this section by more than $500,000. Account separately for the program and its receipts, and state them in the documents accompanying the President’s budget for each fiscal year.