§2022A Legal services for homeless veterans and veterans at risk for homelessness

Summary

Provides money, when Congress funds it, for grants to groups that give legal help to homeless veterans and veterans who might become homeless. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must set and publish rules for these grants in the Federal Register. When making the rules, the Secretary must think about rural areas, trust lands, and U.S. territories, and talk with groups that work with homeless veterans, including veterans service organizations and the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Veterans Legal Corps. A group can get a grant only if it is a public or nonprofit group that can run the program, shows it has enough money to do the work, agrees to follow the grant rules, and can meet the rules. Grants must pay for legal help with housing (like evictions and foreclosures), family law (like child support and divorce), getting benefits and income support, criminal defense for problems tied to homelessness (like warrants or fines), requests to change military discharge records under 10 U.S.C. 1553, and other legal help the Secretary allows. At least 10 percent of funds each year must go to legal help for women veterans. Grants should be spread fairly across regions, including rural areas, trust lands, Native Americans, and tribal groups. At least once every two years, the Secretary must report to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees with the number helped, the services and legal issues handled, and an analysis of how well and how cost-efficient the services were.