Last progress June 10, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 10, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Updates and reauthorizes the federal Runaway and Homeless Youth program by approving multi-year funding, setting grant sizes and priorities, and expanding program rules and protections. It requires longer grants (five years) for short-term shelters, sets standards and new requirements for transitional living and street outreach programs, adds data and reporting elements (including trafficking and demographic data), directs outreach and trauma‑informed care, and creates waiver and nondiscrimination rules to allow flexibility for the Family and Youth Services Bureau. The bill aims to strengthen services (shelter, counseling, education supports, job training, family reunification when safe), prioritize experienced providers and underserved youth, and improve federal coordination, monitoring, and student aid information for youth experiencing homelessness. Some funding amounts are specified for FY2026 with “such sums as may be necessary” for later years; several details (including text for a new prevention part and a national communications insertion) were not included in the provided excerpt.
Amends Section 388(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (34 U.S.C. 11280(a)) to read as shown in this section.
Authorizes $200,000,000 to be appropriated to carry out this title (other than parts E and F) for fiscal year 2026, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2030.
From the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not less than 90 percent to carry out parts A and B.
Of the amount reserved for parts A and B, 45 percent and, in fiscal years in which continuation grant obligations and the quality and number of applicants for parts A and B warrant not more than 55 percent, shall be reserved to carry out part B.
In each fiscal year, after reserving the amounts required for parts A and B, the Secretary shall use the remaining amount (if any) to carry out parts C and D (other than section 345).
Directly affected: runaway, homeless, and street‑connected youth (including youth who have experienced or are at risk of trafficking or sexual abuse), and organizations that provide shelter, transitional living, outreach, and related services. Program and operational impacts:
• Service providers: New and clearer program rules (trauma‑informed care, capacity and staffing limits, written transitional plans, emergency preparedness, FAFSA assistance) will raise service quality expectations and require administrative capacity to comply with reporting, recordkeeping, and certifications. Five‑year grants and explicit priorities for experienced providers increase funding stability for qualifying organizations but may disadvantage newer or smaller providers unless they meet selection priorities or receive capacity support.
• Youth served: Expanded program priorities (mental health, education and workforce supports, family reunification when safe, anti‑trafficking services) should improve access to comprehensive and trauma‑informed services. Attention to FAFSA and student aid independence may increase post‑secondary access for older youth.
• Federal agencies: The Family and Youth Services Bureau and partner agencies must implement expanded data collection, reporting, and coordination responsibilities, plus a new waiver and notification process. That will require staff time, guidance, and possibly system upgrades to handle new data fields (e.g., trafficking indicators) and appeals procedures.
• Local systems and partners: Coordination requirements and outreach expectations involve schools, workforce agencies, child welfare systems, and health providers; these partners may face increased collaboration requests and data‑sharing interactions.
• Funding and sustainability: Specified FY2026 amounts provide near‑term clarity, but later years are subject to appropriations described as "such sums as may be necessary," leaving future funding levels uncertain. Grant award size rules tied to a $200M appropriations threshold may change program scale if Congress funds the programs above or below that level.
• Administrative burden vs. benefits: Providers may experience an initial increase in administrative burden to meet new reporting and certification requirements, but multi‑year grants, clearer priorities, and nondiscrimination protections could promote more stable service delivery and improved program quality. The absence of the full text for the prevention part and national communications insert means potential prevention investments or new national coordination tools are not fully assessable from the excerpt.
Updated 2 days ago
Last progress June 10, 2025 (8 months ago)
