HEARTH Act Section-by-Section Analysis

June 17, 2009  |  Publications

The HEARTH Act is the first significant reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs in nearly 20 years and allocates millions more to homelessness prevention, rapidly re-housing homeless families, and providing permanent supportive housing for homeless people with disabilities. It also modernizes and streamlines housing and services to more efficiently meet the needs of people seeking assistance. The bill, which was included as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, reauthorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs, which represent the largest federal investment in preventing and ending homelessness.

This document provides a section-by-section analysis of the federal law, explaining what each section means and how it deviates from the original McKinney-Vento legislation.