WASHINGTON (Tuesday, May 6,
2008) – Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy today introduced
legislation to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth
Act (RHYA), a critical Federal grant program established to
help states and local communities address the needs of
runaway and homeless youths in both urban and rural areas.
One week after the Senate
Judiciary Committee, which Leahy chairs,
heard testimony from expert witnesses about the benefits
of the RHYA, Leahy introduced the Runaway and Homeless Youth
Protection Act, a bill to reauthorize and strengthen
programs and activities established by the RHYA. Originally
authorized in 1974, the RHYA established a competitive
Federal grant program for state programs to provide crisis
intervention, transitional living, and street outreach
programs. Leahy’s reauthorization legislation would double
the all-state minimum grant from $100,000 to $200,000. The
Vermont Coalition of Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs
coordinates grants under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act
to Vermont organizations.
Leahy has been a longtime
champion of the RHYA, and worked to reauthorize the Act in
1998 and again in 2003.
“The Runaway and Homeless
Youth Act is the way in which the Federal government helps
communities across the country protect some of our most
vulnerable children,” said Leahy. “These topics are
difficult but deserve our attention. Finding solutions to
this growing problem is an effort we can all support. I
urge all Senators to join us in support of its passage.”
Some studies estimate that
there are up to three million homeless youths across the
country. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act establishes
four critical grant programs: the Basic Center Program (BCP)
provides short-term emergency shelter and family
reunification services; the Transitional Living Program
provides longer-term residential services and life skills,
education and employment support to older homeless youth;
the Street Outreach Program provides crisis intervention and
services referrals to runaway and homeless youth at street
locations and drop-in center sites; and National Support
Activities, including a national runaway youth crisis line.
The Reconnecting Homeless and
Youth Act will:
·
Reauthorize and increase
authorization levels for programs under the Runaway and
Homeless Youth Act
·
Double the RHYA Basic Center
Program allotments for small states from $100,000 to
$200,000
·
Permit the Department of Health
and Human Services, which administers grants under the RHYA,
to redistribute unexpended funds from other BCP applicants
for a one-year grant period, after which the amount would be
returned to the BCP general pool for reallocation.
·
Requires the Department of
Health and Human Services to develop every five years a
national estimate of the prevalence of homeless youth
·
Allows extensions in length of
stay in basic centers from 14 days to up to 21 days, and in
transitional living projects from 18 months to 21 months
Leahy invited representatives
from
Spectrum Youth and Family Services, a Burlington,
Vermont, non-profit organization, to testify before the
Judiciary Committee last week about Spectrum’s efforts to
help homeless and runaway youths in Vermont. During the
April 29 hearing, he Committee also heard from youth
advocate and two-time Oscar nominee
Djimon Hounsou about the benefits of the RHYA, as well
as a representative from the
National Network for Youth.
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Statement Of Senator Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary
Committee,
On The Introduction Of The
“Runaway And Homeless Youth Protection Act"
May 6, 2008
Today, I am pleased to
introduce the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth
Protection Act of 2008 along with Senator Specter, the
ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. This
legislation would reauthorize and improve the Runaway and
Homeless Youth Act (RHYA). The programs authorized during
the past 30 years by the RHYA have consistently proven
critical to protecting and giving hope to our nation’s
runaway and homeless youth.
The prevalence of homelessness
among young people in America is shockingly high. The
problem is not limited to large cities. Its impact is felt
strongly in smaller communities and rural areas as well. It
affects our young people directly and reverberates
throughout our families and communities. That this problem
continues in the richest country in the world means that we
need to redouble our commitment and our efforts to safeguard
our nation’s youth. We need to support the dedicated people
in communities across the country who work to address these
problems every day.
On April 29, the Senate
Judiciary Committee held a hearing to focus the Senate’s
attention on these problems and to identify and develop
solutions to protect runaway and homeless youth. It was the
first Senate hearing on these matters in more than a
decade. We heard from a distinguished panel of witnesses,
some of whom spoke firsthand about the significant
challenges that young people face when they have nowhere to
go.
Our witnesses demonstrated
that young people can overcome harrowing obstacles and
create new opportunities when given the chance. One witness
went from living as a homeless youth in his teens to earning
two Oscar nominations as a distinguished actor. Another
witness is working with homeless youth at the same Vermont
organization that enabled him to stop living on the streets
and is on his way to great things. Our witness panel gave
useful and insightful suggestions on how to improve the
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to make it more effective.
We have included many of these recommendations in our bill.
The Justice Department
estimated that 1.7 million young people either ran away from
home or were thrown out of their homes in 1999. Another
study suggested a number closer to 2.8 million in 2002.
Whether the true number is one million or five million,
young people become homeless for a number of reasons,
ranging from abandonment to running away from an abusive
home to having no place to go after being released from
state care. An estimated 40 to 60 percent of homeless
children are expected to experience physical abuse, and 17
to 35 percent experience sexual abuse while on the street,
according to a report by the Department of Health and Human
Services. Homeless youth are also at greater risk of mental
health problems. While many receive vital services in their
communities, others remain a hidden population, on the
streets of our big cities and in rural areas like Vermont.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth
Act is the way in which the Federal Government helps
communities across the country protect some of our most
vulnerable children. It was first passed the year I was
elected to the Senate. We have reauthorized it several
times since then, and working with Senator Specter and
Senators on both sides of the aisle, I hope that we will do
so again this year. While some have tried to end these
programs, a bipartisan coalition has worked to preserve and
continue the good that is accomplished through them. I
remember Senator Specter’s efforts early in his Senate
career to preserve these programs when he chaired the
Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. The
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and the programs it funds
provide a safety net that helps give young people a chance
to build lives for themselves, and helps reunite youngsters
with their families. Given the increasingly difficult
economic conditions being experienced by so many families
around the country, it is time to recommit ourselves to
these principles and programs.
Under the Runaway and Homeless
Youth Act, every State receives a Basic Center grant to
provide housing and crisis services for runaway and homeless
youth and their families. Community-based groups around the
country can also apply for funding through the Transitional
Living Program and the Sexual Abuse Prevention/Street
Outreach grant program. The transitional living program
grants are used to provide longer-term housing to homeless
youth between the ages of 16 and 21, and to help them become
self-sufficient. The outreach grants are used to target
youth susceptible to engaging in high-risk behaviors while
living on the street.
Our bill makes improvements to
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act reauthorizations of past
years. It doubles funding for states by instituting a
minimum of $200,000, which will allow states to better meet
the diverse needs of their communities. This bill also
requires the Department of Health and Human Services to
develop performance standards for grantees. Providing
program guidelines would level the playing field for
bidders, ensure consistency among providers, and increase
the effectiveness of the services under the Runaway and
Homeless Youth Act. In addition, our legislation develops
an incidence study to better estimate the number of runaway
and homeless youth and to identify trends. The incidence
study would provide more accurate estimates of the runaway
and homeless youth population and would help lawmakers make
better policy decisions and allow communities to provide
better outreach.
In my home state of Vermont,
the Vermont Coalition for Runaway and Homeless Youth, the
New England Network for Child, Youth, and Family Services,
and Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington all
receive grants under these programs and have provided
excellent services. In one recent year, the street outreach
programs in Vermont served nearly 10,000 young people.
The overwhelming need for
services is not limited to any one state or community. Many
transitional living programs are forced to turn away young
people seeking shelter. We heard testimony of an exemplary
program within blocks of our nation’s Capitol that has a
waiting list as long as a year. This is unacceptable. The
needs in our communities are real, and reauthorizing the law
will allow these programs to expand their enormously
important work.
These topics are difficult but deserve our attention.
Finding solutions to this growing problem is an effort we
can all support. I thank Senator Specter for joining with
me and urge all Senators to support prompt passage of this
bill.
I ask unanimous consent that
the full bill text be printed in the Record.
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