GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SEC. 1103. GENERAL PROVISIONS. Subtitle A of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11361 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 403 (as so redesignated by section 1101(2) of this division) the following new sections:“SEC. 404. PREVENTING INVOLUNTARY FAMILY SEPARATION.“(a) In General.—After the expiration of the 2-year period that begins upon the date of the enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009, and except as provided in subsection (b), any project sponsor receiving funds under this title to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing to families with children under age 18 shall not deny admission to any family based on the age of any child under age 18.“(b) Exception.—Notwithstanding the requirement under subsection (a), project sponsors of transitional housing receiving funds under this title may target transitional housing resources to families with children of a specific age only if the project sponsor—“(1) operates a transitional housing program that has a primary purpose of implementing an evidence-based practice that requires that housing units be targeted to families with children in a specific age group; and“(2) provides such assurances, as the Secretary shall require, that an equivalent appropriate alternative living arrangement for the whole family or household unit has been secured. “SEC. 405. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.“(a) In General.—The Secretary shall make available technical assistance to private nonprofit organizations and other nongovernmental entities, States, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and counties that are not urban counties, to implement effective planning processes for preventing and ending homelessness, to improve their capacity to prepare collaborative applications, to prevent the separation of families in emergency shelter or other housing programs, and to adopt and provide best practices in housing and services for persons experiencing homeless.“(b) Reservation.—The Secretary shall reserve not more than 1 percent of the funds made available for any fiscal year for carrying out subtitles B and C, to provide technical assistance under subsection (a).” .