PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2] · R–TN
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 24, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-17 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Recovery First Housing Act would require sponsors receiving covered homeless-assistance funds to offer substance use treatment to people they admit to emergency shelters, transitional housing, or permanent housing when the sponsor determines that they have a substance use disorder. Treatment would include a gradual transition to less intensive care. The proposal includes an exception for sponsors admitting unaccompanied minors.
This Act may be cited as the Recovery First Housing Act.
Any project sponsor receiving funds under this title to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing shall offer substance use disorder treatment, including step-down treatment, to each person with a substance use disorder as determined by the project sponsor that such project sponsor admits to such emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing.
Subsection (a) shall not apply to a project sponsor who admits a person who is an unaccompanied minor.
a structured, phased approach designed to transition unhoused individuals or individuals requiring medical intervention from intensive care to less intensive, community-based, outpatient services
Section 2 would add a treatment-offer requirement to Title IV, subtitle A, of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Covered sponsors would determine which admitted people have a substance use disorder and would have to offer those people treatment, including step-down treatment. This language requires an offer; it does not expressly require people to accept treatment.
Title IV, subtitle A, of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amending by adding at the end the following: 409. Drug and alcohol treatment requirement
Any project sponsor receiving funds under this title to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing shall offer substance use disorder treatment, including step-down treatment, to each person with a substance use disorder as determined by the project sponsor that such project sponsor admits to such emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing.
The exception is written for a sponsor who admits an unaccompanied minor. It does not expressly say whether the exemption applies only to treatment offered to that minor or to the sponsor's obligations more broadly.
(b) Exception Subsection (a) shall not apply to a project sponsor who admits a person who is an unaccompanied minor.
Qualifying substance use treatment would have to be evidence-based and delivered by a licensed provider.
The term substance use disorder treatment means an evidence-based substance use disorder intervention that— (A) is delivered by a licensed provider;
Treatment would have to provide an appropriate level of care from the listed options: medically supervised withdrawal management, residential treatment, intensive or other outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment when clinically indicated, recovery housing with clinical support, or step-down treatment.
(B) provides an appropriate level of care consisting of medically supervised withdrawal management, residential treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment where clinically indicated, recovery housing with clinical support, or step-down treatment.
“Step-down treatment” would mean a structured, phased approach designed to transition people from intensive care to less intensive, community-based outpatient services. Its stated aims are recovery, stability, and self-sufficiency for people without housing or needing medical intervention; the definition does not establish that those outcomes will occur.
The term step-down treatment means a structured, phased approach designed to transition unhoused individuals or individuals requiring medical intervention from intensive care to less intensive, community-based, outpatient services to promote recovery, stability, and self-sufficiency.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 24, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on September 17, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-24T15:03:54Z. 2026-09-17: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2026-09-17: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-17. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what other versions or accompanying materials contain.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark disclosures and accompanying materials are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
A targeted exemption is identified below. Its classification does not imply that it is unjustified.
Sponsors admitting an unaccompanied minor would receive an express exemption from the treatment-offer requirement. This is a targeted exception within the bill's main policy. The wording does not clarify whether relief is limited to the minor's treatment or extends to the sponsor's obligations more broadly.
Any project sponsor receiving funds under this title to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing shall offer substance use disorder treatment, including step-down treatment, to each person with a substance use disorder as determined by the project sponsor that such project sponsor admits to such emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing.
(b) Exception Subsection (a) shall not apply to a project sponsor who admits a person who is an unaccompanied minor.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 24, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI