Treatment and Homelessness Housing Integration Act of 2024

The bill orders the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to set up a demonstration (test) program within 180 days of becoming law. Through this program, the Secretary may award up to 10 grants to local homeless service networks called Continuums of Care. These grants are to help refer qualified participants to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics for behavioral health, mental health, and substance use disorder treatment. To receive a grant, a Continuum of Care must be in one of the five states with the highest number of homeless individuals per person, as decided by HUD, and must be located within 50 miles of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic. The bill defines who counts as a “qualified participant.” This includes people getting supportive housing through the Continuum of Care Program, people who qualified for supportive housing by receiving Social Security disability insurance or Supplemental Security Income, and people considered homeless individuals with a disability under the McKinney‑Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The bill authorizes $50 million for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to run this demonstration program. Up to 10 percent of this money may be set aside by the Secretary to provide technical help to eligible entities and to prepare a final report. After the program ends, HUD must send a report to Congress that includes performance measures and the number of qualified participants who receive certain disability‑related benefits.

This bill focuses on people who are homeless or in supportive housing and who also have mental health, behavioral health, or substance use challenges. By connecting homeless housing systems with Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, it aims to make it easier for these individuals to get treatment while they are in or seeking stable housing. The demonstration program would only take place in five high‑need states and in areas close to these clinics, so its reach would be limited at first. The required report to Congress could provide data on how well this kind of coordinated housing and treatment approach works, including for people receiving disability‑related benefits. How these results might affect future national policy is not stated in the bill and is unclear.

• Creates a HUD demonstration program to link homeless services with Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics for treatment referrals.
• Limits the program to no more than 10 grants awarded to eligible Continuums of Care.
• Restricts eligibility to Continuums of Care in the five states with the highest homeless counts per capita and located within 50 miles of a qualifying clinic.
• Defines qualified participants to include people in supportive housing, people who qualified via disability‑related Social Security benefits, and homeless individuals with a disability under McKinney‑Vento.
• Authorizes $50 million total for fiscal years 2025–2029 to carry out the demonstration.
• Allows HUD to use up to 10% of the authorized funds for technical assistance and for preparing the final report.
• Requires HUD to submit a report to Congress within 180 days after the program ends, including performance measures and counts of participants receiving certain disability benefits.

• Up to 10% of the total funding can be diverted from direct grant support to technical assistance and report preparation, which slightly reduces funds available for local activities.
• The bill’s definition of qualified participants includes people who are eligible due to disability benefits even if they are not currently in supportive housing, which may broaden the target group beyond those already in homeless programs.
• The program’s focus on states with the highest per‑capita homelessness may exclude some large states with high total numbers of homeless individuals but lower per‑capita rates.