Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1469 To amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to meet the needs of homeless children, youth, and families, and honor the assessments and priorities of local communities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. PORTMAN, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to meet the needs of homeless children, youth, and families, and honor the assessments and priorities of local commu- nities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeless Children and 4 Youth Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1469 IS SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE MCKINNEY-VENTO HOME- 1 LESS ASSISTANCE ACT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The McKinney-Vento Homeless 3 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 103 (42 U.S.C. 11302)— 5 (A) in subsection (a)— 6 (i) in paragraph (5)(A)— 7 (I) by striking ‘‘are sharing’’ and 8 all that follows through ‘‘charitable 9 organizations,’’; 10 (II) by striking ‘‘14 days’’ each 11 place that term appears and inserting 12 ‘‘30 days’’; 13 (III) in clause (i), by inserting 14 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 15 (IV) by striking clause (ii); and 16 (V) by redesignating clause (iii) 17 as clause (ii); and 18 (ii) by amending paragraph (6) to 19 read as follows: 20 ‘‘(6) a child or youth defined as homeless under 21 any other Federal program who, without further ac- 22 tion by the Department of Housing and Urban De- 23 velopment, has been verified as homeless under any 24 other Federal program by the director, designee of 25 the director, or other person responsible for the im- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1469 IS plementation of a program established under this 1 Act or any other Federal statute.’’; 2 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘fleeing’’ 3 and all that follows through the period at the 4 end and inserting the following: ‘‘experiencing 5 or has experienced domestic violence, dating vi- 6 olence, sexual assault, stalking, or human traf- 7 ficking, or other dangerous or life threatening 8 conditions, which has made it unsafe to remain 9 in their current housing or caused homeless- 10 ness.’’; and 11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(f) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘child or youth defined as home- 14 less under any other Federal program’ has the 15 meaning given the term in section 401; and 16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘other Federal statute’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 401. 18 ‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—If the Secretary of 19 Housing and Urban Development promulgates rules, 20 issues guidance, or sets forth conditions in any applica- 21 tion, notice of funding availability, or other publication or 22 advisory regarding the provisions of this Act, the Sec- 23 retary shall ensure that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1469 IS ‘‘(1) any individual defined as ‘homeless’ under 1 subsection (a) or (b) is eligible for any program or 2 program component under this Act; and 3 ‘‘(2) all individuals defined as ‘homeless’ under 4 subsection (a) proposed to be served by an applicant, 5 and all proposed program components or housing or 6 service models, are given the same priority, points, 7 or weight.’’; 8 (2) in section 401 (42 U.S.C. 11360)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1)(C)— 10 (i) by striking clauses (ii) and (iv); 11 (ii) by redesignating clauses (iii), (v), 12 (vi), and (vii) as clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), and 13 (v), respectively; and 14 (iii) by striking the flush text fol- 15 lowing clause (v), as so redesignated; 16 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 17 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and 18 lives’’ and all that follows through ‘‘shel- 19 ter’’ and inserting ‘‘under any provision of 20 section 103’’; 21 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and liv- 22 ing or residing in a place not meant for 23 human habitation, a safe haven, or in an 24 emergency shelter continuously’’ and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1469 IS serting ‘‘under any provision of section 1 103’’; and 2 (iii) in clause (iii)— 3 (I) by striking ‘‘(or a minor head 4 of household if no adult is present in 5 the household)’’ and inserting ‘‘or a 6 minor head of household (if no adult 7 is present in the household),’’; and 8 (II) by inserting before the pe- 9 riod at the end the following: ‘‘, or 10 has child with a disability, as defined 11 in section 602 of the Individuals with 12 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 13 1401), or an infant or toddler with a 14 disability, as defined in section 632 of 15 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1432)’’; 16 (C) by striking paragraph (7); 17 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 18 through (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), re- 19 spectively; 20 (E) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(2) CHILD OR YOUTH DEFINED AS HOMELESS 23 UNDER ANY OTHER FEDERAL PROGRAM.—The term 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1469 IS ‘child or youth defined as homeless under any other 1 Federal program’ means— 2 ‘‘(A) a homeless child or youth, as defined 3 in section 725, including any parent or guard- 4 ian with whom the child or youth is living; and 5 ‘‘(B) a youth who— 6 ‘‘(i) is not more than 24 years of age; 7 ‘‘(ii) cannot live safely with a parent, 8 legal guardian, or relative; and 9 ‘‘(iii) has no other safe alternative liv- 10 ing arrangement.’’; 11 (F) in paragraph (9)(A), by inserting ‘‘any 12 provision of’’ before ‘‘section 103’’; 13 (G) by redesignating paragraphs (14) 14 through (33) as paragraphs (15) through (34), 15 respectively; 16 (H) by inserting after paragraph (13) the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(14) OTHER FEDERAL STATUTE.—The term 19 ‘other Federal statute’ includes— 20 ‘‘(A) the Runaway and Homeless Youth 21 Act (42 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.); 22 ‘‘(B) the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 23 et seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1469 IS ‘‘(C) the Child Care and Development 1 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 2 ‘‘(D) subtitle N of the Violence Against 3 Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14043e et 4 seq.); 5 ‘‘(E) section 330(h) of the Public Health 6 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(h)); 7 ‘‘(F) section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act 8 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 9 ‘‘(G) the Higher Education Act of 1965 10 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); and 11 ‘‘(H) the United States Housing Act of 12 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.).’’; 13 (I) in paragraph (32), as so redesignated, 14 by inserting ‘‘children under 5 years of age, 15 youth and young adults between 14 and 24 16 years of age,’’ after ‘‘status, or age),’’; 17 (J) in paragraph (33), as so redesignated, 18 by inserting ‘‘trafficking,’’ after ‘‘victims of’’; 19 and 20 (K) in paragraph (34), as so redesig- 21 nated— 22 (i) by inserting ‘‘victims of traf- 23 ficking,’’ after ‘‘assist’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1469 IS (ii) by striking ‘‘stalking victims’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘stalking’’; and 2 (iii) by inserting ‘‘trafficking,’’ after 3 ‘‘concerning’’; 4 (3) in section 402(f) (42 U.S.C. 11360a(f))— 5 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting 6 ‘‘considering the prevalence and needs of home- 7 less individuals, as defined under any provision 8 of section 103’’ after ‘‘involved’’; and 9 (B) in paragraph (3)(D)— 10 (i) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 11 the end; 12 (ii) by redesignating clause (vi) as 13 clause (vii); and 14 (iii) by inserting after clause (v) the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(vi) the submission of HMIS data to 17 the Secretary on at least an annual basis; 18 and’’; 19 (4) by inserting after section 408 (42 U.S.C. 20 11364) the following: 21 ‘‘SEC. 409. AVAILABILITY OF HMIS DATA. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The community-wide homeless 23 management information system (in this section referred 24 to as ‘HMIS’) data provided to the Secretary under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1469 IS tion 402(f)(3)(D)(vi) shall be made publically available on 1 the internet website of the Department of Housing and 2 Urban Development. 3 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED DATA.—The data publically available 4 under subsection (a) shall be updated on at least an an- 5 nual basis and shall include— 6 ‘‘(1) a cumulative count of the number of home- 7 less individuals and families, as defined under any 8 provision of section 103; 9 ‘‘(2) a cumulative assessment of the patterns of 10 assistance provided under subtitles B and C for each 11 geographic area involved; 12 ‘‘(3) a count of the number of homeless individ- 13 uals and families, as defined under any provision of 14 section 103, that are documented through the HMIS 15 by each collaborative applicant; and 16 ‘‘(4) a count of the number of homeless women, 17 as defined under any provision of section 103 and 18 both unaccompanied and accompanied, including a 19 breakout of the count by— 20 ‘‘(A) age range; 21 ‘‘(B) disability; and 22 ‘‘(C) length of time experiencing homeless- 23 ness.’’; 24 (5) in section 422 (42 U.S.C. 11382)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1469 IS (A) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking 1 ‘‘establish’’ and inserting ‘‘demonstrate local, 2 needs-based’’; and 3 (B) by striking subsection (j) and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In awarding grants 6 under subsection (a) and releasing a notification of fund- 7 ing availability under subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(1) without further action by the Department 9 of Housing and Urban Development, ensure that 10 any individual defined as ‘homeless’ under any provi- 11 sion of section 103 is eligible for any program or 12 program component under this Act; 13 ‘‘(2) ensure that homeless populations proposed 14 to be served by the applicant, and proposed program 15 components or housing or service models, are not 16 awarded different priority, points, or weight; and 17 ‘‘(3) ensure that scoring is based primarily on 18 the extent to which the applicant demonstrates that 19 the project and program components— 20 ‘‘(A) would meet the priorities identified in 21 the plan submitted under section 427(b)(1)(B); 22 and 23 ‘‘(B) are cost-effective in meeting the over- 24 all goals and objectives identified in that plan.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1469 IS (6) in section 424(d) (42 U.S.C. 11384(d)), by 1 striking paragraph (5); 2 (7) in section 425(c) (42 U.S.C. 11385(c)), by 3 striking ‘‘and (G) providing’’ and inserting ‘‘(G) pro- 4 viding transportation to employment, early care and 5 education programs, career and technical education 6 programs, and health and mental health care serv- 7 ices, and (H) providing’’; 8 (8) in section 426(b) (42 U.S.C. 11386(b))— 9 (A) in paragraph (4), by amending sub- 10 paragraph (D) to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(D) in the case of programs providing 12 housing or services to families or youth, they 13 will designate a staff person to be responsible 14 for ensuring that children and youth being 15 served in the program are— 16 ‘‘(i) enrolled in school and connected 17 to appropriate services in the community, 18 including Head Start, services provided 19 under part C of the Individuals with Dis- 20 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et 21 seq.), programs authorized under the Child 22 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 23 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), career and 24 technical education, and services provided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1469 IS by local educational agency liaisons des- 1 ignated under subtitle B of title VII of this 2 Act; and 3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an unaccompanied 4 youth, as defined in section 725, informed 5 of their status as an independent student 6 under section 480 of the Higher Education 7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv) and re- 8 ceive verification of such status for pur- 9 poses of the Free Application for Federal 10 Student Aid described in section 483 of 11 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1090); and’’; 12 (B) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘the ac- 13 tual compliance with the certifications required 14 under paragraph (4) and’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; 15 and 16 (C) in paragraph (7)— 17 (i) by inserting ‘‘and youth’’ after 18 ‘‘needs of children’’; 19 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or unaccompanied 20 youth’’ after ‘‘when families’’; 21 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and unaccompanied 22 youth’’ after ‘‘with children’’; and 23 (iv) by striking ‘‘such children’s’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘such children and youth’s’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1469.IS S1469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1469 IS (9) in section 427(b) (42 U.S.C. 11386a(b))— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 3 (I) in clause (vi), by adding 4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (II) in clause (vii), by striking 6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 7 (III) by striking clause (viii); 8 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 9 (I) by amending clause (iii) to 10 read as follows: 11 ‘‘(iii) how the recipient will collaborate 12 with local educational agencies, early care 13 and education programs, and institutions 14 of higher education to assist in the identi- 15 fication of and services to youth and fami- 16 lies who become or remain homeless, in- 17 cluding the steps the recipient will take to 18 inform youth and families of their eligi- 19 bility for services under part B of subt [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]