§ 11313 — Functions

(a) The Council shall— (1) not later than 12 months after May 20, 2009, develop, make available for public comment, and submit to the President and to Congress a National Strategic Plan to End Homelessness, and shall update such plan annually; (2) review all Federal activities and programs to assist homeless individuals; (3) take such actions as may be necessary to reduce duplication among programs and activities by Federal agencies to assist homeless individuals; (4) monitor, evaluate, and recommend improvements in programs and activities to assist homeless individuals conducted by Federal agencies, State and local governments, and private voluntary organizations; (5) provide professional and technical assistance (by not less than 5, but in no case more than 10, regional coordinators employed by the Council, each having responsibility for interaction and coordination of the activities of the Council within the 10 standard Federal regions) to States, local governments, and other public and private nonprofit organizations, in order to enable such governments and organizations to— (A) interpret regulations and assist in the application process for Federal assistance, including grants; (B) provide assistance on the ways in which Federal programs, other than those authorized under this chapter, may best be coordinated to complement the objectives of this chapter; (C) develop recommendations and program ideas based on regional specific issues in serving the homeless population; and (D) establish a schedule for biennial regional workshops to be held by the Council in each of the 10 standard Federal regions to further carry out and provide the assistance described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) and other appropriate assistance as necessary, of which— (i) not less than 5 such workshops shall be held by September 30, 1989; and (ii) at least 1 such workshop shall be held in each of the 10 Federal regions every 2 years, beginning on September 30, 1988; (6) encourage the creation of State Interagency Councils on Homelessness and the formulation of jurisdictional 10-year plans to end homelessness at State, city, and county levels; (7) annually obtain from Federal agencies their identification of consumer-oriented entitlement and other resources for which persons experiencing homelessness may be eligible and the agencies’ identification of improvements to ensure access; develop mechanisms to ensure access by persons experiencing homelessness to all Federal, State, and local programs for which the persons are eligible, and to verify collaboration among entities within a community that receive Federal funding under programs targeted for persons experiencing homelessness, and other programs for which persons experiencing homelessness are eligible, including mainstream programs identified by the Government Accountability Office in the reports entitled “Homelessness: Coordination and Evaluation of Programs Are Essential”, issued February 26, 1999, and “Homelessness: Barriers to Using Mainstream Programs”, issued July 6, 2000; (8) conduct research and evaluation related to its functions as defined in this section; (9) develop joint Federal agency and other initiatives to fulfill the goals of the agency; (9) 1 collect and disseminate information relating to homeless individuals; (10) prepare the annual reports required in subsection (c)(2); (11) prepare and distribute to States (including State contact persons), local governments, and other public and private nonprofit organizations, a bimonthly bulletin that describes the Federal resources available to them to assist the homeless, including current information regarding application deadlines and appropriate persons to contact in each Federal agency providing the resources; (12) develop constructive alternatives to criminalizing homelessness and laws and policies that prohibit sleeping, feeding, sitting, resting, or lying in public spaces when there are no suitable alternatives, result in the destruction of a homeless person’s property without due process, or are selectively enforced against homeless persons; and (13) not later than the expiration of the 6-month period beginning upon completion of the study requested in a letter to the Acting Comptroller General from the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee and several other members regarding various definitions of homelessness in Federal statutes, convene a meeting of representatives of all Federal agencies and committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate having jurisdiction over any Federal program to assist homeless individuals or families, local and State governments, academic researchers who specialize in homelessness, nonprofit housing and service providers that receive funding under any Federal program to assist homeless individuals or families, organizations advocating on behalf of such nonprofit providers and homeless persons receiving housing or services under any such Federal program, and homeless persons receiving housing or services under any such Federal program, at which meeting such representatives shall discuss all issues relevant to whether the definitions of “homeless” under paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 11302(a) of this title, as amended by section 1003 of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009, should be modified by the Congress, including whether there is a compelling need for a uniform definition of homelessness under Federal law, the extent to which the differences in such definitions create barriers for individuals to accessing services and to collaboration between agencies, and the relative availability, and barriers to access by persons defined as homeless, of mainstream programs identified by the Government Accountability Office in the two reports identified in paragraph (7) of this subsection; and shall submit transcripts of such meeting, and any majority and dissenting recommendations from such meetings, to each committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate having jurisdiction over any Federal program to assist homeless individuals or families not later than the expiration of the 60-day period beginning upon conclusion of such meeting. (b) In carrying out subsection (a), the Council may— (1) (2) publish a newsletter concerning Federal, State, and local programs that are effectively meeting the needs of homeless individuals. (1) Within 90 days after July 22, 1987, and annually thereafter, the head of each Federal agency that is a member of the Council shall prepare and transmit to the Congress and the Council a report that describes— (A) each program to assist homeless individuals administered by such agency and the number of homeless individuals served by such program; (B) impediments, including any statutory and regulatory restrictions, to the use by homeless individuals of each such program and to obtaining services or benefits under each such program; and (C) efforts made by such agency to increase the opportunities for homeless individuals to obtain shelter, food, and supportive services. (2) The Council shall prepare and transmit to the President and the Congress an annual report that— (A) assesses the nature and extent of the problems relating to homelessness and the needs of homeless individuals; (B) provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the activities and accomplishments of the Federal Government in resolving the problems and meeting the needs assessed pursuant to subparagraph (A); (C) describes the accomplishments and activities of the Council, in working with Federal, State, and local agencies and public and private organizations in order to provide assistance to homeless individuals; (D) assesses the level of Federal assistance necessary to adequately resolve the problems and meet the needs assessed pursuant to subparagraph (A); and (E) specifies any recommendations of the Council for appropriate and necessary legislative and administrative actions to resolve such problems and meet such needs. (d) If, in monitoring and evaluating programs and activities to assist homeless individuals conducted by other Federal agencies, the Council determines that any significant problem, abuse, or deficiency exists in the administration of the program or activity of any Federal agency, the Council shall submit a notice of the determination of the Council to the Inspector General of the Federal agency (or the head of the Federal agency, in the case of a Federal agency that has no Inspector General). (e) Not later than 90 days after November 7, 1988, the head of each Federal agency that is a member of the Council and responsible for administering a program under this chapter shall provide to the Council a timetable regarding program funding availability and application deadlines. The Council shall furnish such information to each State (including the State contact person).