Helping to Encourage Real Opportunities (HERO) for Youth Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The HERO for Youth Act modifies the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. It removes the narrow summer-only framing for qualified youth workers and adds a school-year category for youth employed not more than 20 hours per week between September 16 and April 30 while regularly attending secondary school. It also adds disconnected youth as a target group: individuals ages 16 to 24 who self-certify that they were not regularly attending secondary, technical, or postsecondary school during the prior six months, were not regularly employed during that period, and lack enough basic skills to be readily employable, plus certain eligible foster children ages 16 to 20 who were in foster care during the 12 months ending on the hiring date. The changes apply to individuals who begin work after enactment.
Who Benefits and How
Employers hiring in-school youth benefit from Work Opportunity Tax Credit eligibility for school-year jobs of no more than 20 hours per week. Disconnected youth benefit because employers receive a tax incentive to hire young people who have been out of school, out of work, and lacking basic skills. Foster youth benefit because eligible foster children ages 16 to 20 become part of the disconnected-youth WOTC category. Designated local agencies benefit from clearer certification standards for disconnected youth and foster youth.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers bear revenue loss from expanding WOTC eligibility to more youth hires. IRS administrators must update section 51 guidance, forms, and employer instructions for disconnected youth and school-year youth. Designated local agencies must certify the new disconnected-youth and foster-youth categories. Employers claiming the credit must verify hours, school attendance, age, self-certification, foster status, and hiring dates.
Key Provisions
- Expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit from summer youth to qualifying school-year youth working no more than 20 hours per week.
- Adds disconnected youth ages 16 to 24 who were recently out of school, out of work, and not readily employable due to basic-skills gaps.
- Adds certain foster youth ages 16 to 20 who were in foster care during the 12 months before hiring.
- Applies the amended credit rules to individuals who begin work after enactment.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit beyond summer youth by covering limited-hour in-school youth during the school year and disconnected youth ages 16 to 24, including certain foster youth ages 16 to 20.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Youth Employment, Foster Care
Primary Purpose
Expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit beyond summer youth by covering limited-hour in-school youth during the school year and disconnected youth ages 16 to 24, including certain foster youth ages 16 to 20.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Employers hiring in-school youth
- Disconnected youth
- Foster youth
- Designated local agencies
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers
- IRS administrators
- State workforce agencies
- Employers claiming youth credits
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Kelly of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology