42 U.S.C. § 11408 — Rural housing stability grant program

(a) Establishment. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development must establish and operate a rural housing stability grant program. The Secretary may give grants to eligible organizations instead of grants under part C to pay the Federal share of costs for—(1) rehousing or improving the housing of homeless^* people and families or people and families in the worst housing situations in the area; (2) stabilizing housing for people and families in immediate danger of losing it; and (3) improving the ability of the community’s lowest-income residents to afford stable housing.

(b) Use of funds. (1) An eligible organization may use a grant in rural areas for—(A) rent, mortgage, or utility help after two months of nonpayment to prevent eviction, foreclosure, or loss of utility service; (B) security deposits, first-month rent at a new^* location, and moving help; (C) short-term emergency lodging in motels or shelters, directly or through vouchers; (D) building new units for transitional or permanent housing^* for homeless people and families and people and families at risk of homelessness^*; (E) buying or repairing a structure for supportive services^* or transitional or permanent housing, other than emergency shelter, for those people and families; (F) leasing property not owned by the recipient^* or project sponsor^* for such housing or supportive services; (G) rental assistance for transitional or permanent housing, including tenant-based^* or project-based^* assistance; (H) operating costs^* for housing units assisted under this subchapter; (I) repairs such as insulation, window, door, and roof repairs needed to make premises habitable; (J) comprehensive coordinated support services using and supplementing community networks, including—(i) outreach; (ii) case management; (iii) housing counseling; (iv) budgeting; (v) job training and placement; (vi) primary health care; (vii) mental-health services; (viii) substance-abuse treatment^*; (ix) child care; (x) transportation; (xi) emergency food and clothing; (xii) family-violence services; (xiii) education; (xiv) moving services; (xv) entitlement assistance; and (xvi) referrals to veterans’ and legal services; and (K) costs of using Federal inventory-property programs to house homeless families, including the program under subchapter V and the Single Family Property Disposition Program under section 1710(g) of title 12. (2) An organization may use no more than 20 percent of funds transferred under subsection (l)(1) in a fiscal year for capacity building, including operating costs and staff retention.

(c) Award of grants. (1)(A) For each fiscal year, at least 50 percent of funds transferred under subsection (l)(1) must be available for eligible organizations serving communities with fewer than 10,000 people. (B) Within that set-aside, priority goes to organizations serving communities with fewer than 5,000 people. (2) The Secretary must prioritize organizations serving communities not currently receiving significant Federal assistance under this chapter. (3) Organizations in one State^* may not receive more than 10 percent in total of the funds transferred under subsection (l)(1) for that year.

(d) Application. To receive a grant, an organization must apply at the time, in the manner, and with the information the Secretary requires. At minimum the application must include—(1) the target population and geographic area^*; (2) the types of assistance; (3) assurance that the assistance closely matches identified needs; (4) existing assistance for the target population, including Federal, State, and local programs, and how the organization will coordinate with and expand it or provide assistance not available in the immediate area; (5) an agreement to collect data on projects, assistance, the number and characteristics of people served, and causes of homelessness; (6) how homeless people and families or the community’s lowest-income people and families will participate through jobs, volunteer service, or otherwise in providing, operating, and repairing housing assisted under this section, in providing services assisted under this section, and in providing services for occupants of housing assisted under this section; (7) community consultations about the most important uses of money, including potential beneficiaries; and (8) the extent and nature of homelessness and the worst housing situations in the community.

(e) Eligible organizations. Eligible organizations include private nonprofit entities and county and local governments.

(f) Matching funding. (1) An eligible organization must identify matching contributions from sources other than a grant under this part, available in the area, equal to at least 25 percent of project^* or activity funds. Leasing grants are exempt. (2) Services provided by another entity count as in-kind matching only if a memorandum of understanding documents that they will be provided. (3) Matching may be funding for any activity in subsection (b), or, subject to paragraph (2), in-kind services for any such activity.

(g) Selection criteria. The Secretary must establish criteria including—(1) potential beneficiaries’ participation in assessing need and importance; (2) how strongly the project addresses the community’s most harmful housing situations; (3) collaboration with others in the community; (4) the organization’s performance in improving housing, considering the severity of barriers faced; (5) for prior recipients, improvement in homelessness and the worst housing situations since funding began; (6) need under the formula in section 11386a(b)(2); and (7) other relevant criteria the Secretary determines.

(h) Evaluation. (1) Within 18 months after funding first becomes available under the 2009 Act’s title IV amendments, the Secretary must evaluate whether the program meets subsection (a)’s goals in the served area and what assistance rural areas need. (2) Within 24 months after that funding first becomes available, the Secretary must send Congress the evaluation and recommendations for Federal administrative or legislative changes needed to improve rural communities’ ability to meet those goals.

(i) Technical assistance. The Secretary must help eligible organizations develop programs under this section and access other Federal resources for homeless people in rural areas. The help may be provided through regional workshops, directly, or through grants or contracts with nongovernmental entities.

(j) Termination of assistance. If a person or family receiving assistance violates the organization’s assistance-program requirements, the organization may end assistance through a formal process established by the organization that recognizes the due-process rights of individuals receiving the assistance and may include a hearing.

(k) Definitions. (1) “Program” means the rural housing stability grant program established here. (2) “Rural area” and “rural community” mean—(A) an area or community none of whose part is within an area the Office of Management and Budget designates as a standard metropolitan statistical area; (B) an area or community within a metropolitan statistical area, or considered part of one, located in a county where at least 75 percent of the population is rural; or (C) an area or community in a State with population density below 30 people per square mile in the most recent decennial census, at least 1.25 percent of whose total acreage is under Federal jurisdiction, if no metropolitan city^*, as defined in section 5302, in that State is the grant’s sole beneficiary. This section does not otherwise define the quoted terms. (3) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

(l) Program funding. (1) The Secretary must determine the total funding attributable under section 11386a(b)(2) to the needs of each geographic area that applies. The Secretary must transfer those amounts from the Community Homeless Assistance Program and combine them for grants under this section, but must transfer at least 5 percent of part C’s available money. Money transferred but not used because too few applications were received must be transferred for grants under part C. (2) A fiscal-year payment still unobligated at year-end remains available to the recipient for the same purposes during the next fiscal year. The Secretary must recover any amount still unobligated at the end of that second fiscal year and redistribute it to another eligible organization.

(m) Determination of funding source. For any fiscal year, besides funds awarded under part B, subchapter funds used in a city or county may be awarded only under part C or part D.