On May 20, the House approved, 400-14, legislation that would give more money to programs aiding homeless and runaway youth. The Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children’s Protection Act (H.R. 1925) was approved on May 15, by voice vote, by the House Education and the Workforce Committee (see The Source, 5/16/03).
“With this bill, we will ensure the protection of runaway and homeless youth, keeping them off the streets and away from dangerous circumstances by providing both emergency shelter programs and long-term supportive assistance,” said Education and the Workforce Committee Chair John Boehner (R-OH).
Sponsored by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), H.R. 1925 authorizes $105 million for two separate acts through FY2008. The Missing Children’s Assistance Act supports and coordinates with law enforcement officials and families to locate and recover missing and exploited children. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act authorizes community-based programs to provide food, shelter, clothing, health care, and counseling to runaway and homeless children and their families. Under the bill, maternity group homes would be included in the category of community-based programs eligible for funding. These homes are defined as an “adult-supervised transitional living arrangement that provides pregnant or parenting youth and their children with a supportive and supervised living arrangement in which such pregnant or parenting youth are required to learn parenting skills, including child development, family budgeting, health and nutrition, and other skills to promote their long-term economic independence in order to ensure the well-being of their children.”
Both acts fund preventative and educational programs aimed at reducing the numbers of at-risk children. H.R. 1925 also would raise the authorization level of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from $10 million to $20 million for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
“Compared to the size of some of the other reauthorization bills that come out of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, some may say this is a small bill,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “But I think we should make no mistake about it. This bill will be a big deal to the youth and the thousands of homeless and runaway children who, by virtue of our actions today, will have a better opportunity to reclaim their lives with the federal support this bill provides.”
