Women’s and Family Protection Act of 2025
H.R. 3319, the Women's and Family Protection Act of 2025, would expand how homelessness and domestic violence are defined under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and create a more targeted funding program for shelters and related services. Key changes include adding new qualitative categories for where people may be considered homeless, explicitly recognizing women and survivors of gender-based violence within domestic violence definitions, and directing targeted grant funding to private nonprofit organizations that serve women, children, pregnant women, and other high-need populations. The bill also emphasizes trauma-informed, gender-focused services and requires reporting and coordination with state, local, tribal entities and existing housing programs. In practical terms, the bill broadens who can be served and strengthens the focus on women, families, and survivors of gender-based violence by expanding definitions and creating a set-aside-style funding mechanism within the Emergency Solutions Grants program. It aims to improve access to shelter, housing relocation and stabilization, and a range of supportive services (mental health, substance use treatment, childcare, employment assistance, and trauma services) for the populations most affected by homelessness and violence. The Secretary would oversee definitions, program requirements, evaluation, and technical assistance, with an emphasis on trauma-informed approaches and cross-system coordination.
Key Points
- 1Definition changes to homelessness and domestic violence: The bill adds language allowing individuals to be considered homeless if they reside in indigenous, rural, or marginalized communities (as defined by the Secretary); it also expands the unaccompanied youth/young adult language and strongly emphasizes recognizing women, women with children, survivors, and others at risk of gender-based violence within the domestic violence definition.
- 2Title II: Women’s and Families’ Emergency Shelter Program—set-aside for high-need populations: The bill authorizes grants to private nonprofit organizations serving high-need populations, including women and children who are homeless and pregnant, chronically homeless individuals, families and youth, victims of gender-based violence or trauma, seniors, and other survivors or those with histories of gender-based violence or trauma; grants are administered under the Emergency Solutions Grants framework.
- 3Eligible activities and services: Grants may cover operating costs, outpatient services (mental health, substance use, etc.), supportive services (childcare, employment services, case management, food, therapy, trauma counseling, victim services), housing relocation and stabilization, and other designated services the Secretary may specify.
- 4Evaluation and metrics: Grant recipients must submit evaluations with specific, unduplicated counts (e.g., number of women, children, seniors, victims of gender-based violence served; number of homeless individuals/families receiving relocation/stabilization; number placed in transitional or permanent housing) and documentation of coordination with state/local/tribal entities and Continuum of Care networks.
- 5Technical assistance and cross-program coordination: The Secretary would provide technical assistance on gender-based violence considerations, trauma-informed service delivery, staff training, and coordination with HUD programs (Part B ESG and Part C CoC entities) and health/social services programs at the federal, state, and local levels.