HR3856-119

What This Bill Does

The Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act is a broad reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. It updates findings to emphasize trauma, substance use disorders, health and behavioral challenges, disproportionate homelessness among youth of color, LGBTQ youth, youth without high school credentials, child-welfare-involved youth, justice-involved youth, and pregnant or parenting youth, and the need for positive youth development, national prevalence reporting, safe housing, caring adults, education, job skills, and services outside welfare and law enforcement systems. It updates basic center and transitional living programs, including five-year grants, maternity group homes, and service coordination. It expands the national communications system beyond telephone to online and social media. It updates coordinating, training, research, and other activities to emphasize safety and well-being. It replaces and updates sexual abuse and trafficking prevention and street outreach authority with five-year grants to public and nonprofit entities for street-based services for runaway, homeless, and street youth at risk of sexual abuse, exploitation, or trafficking. It creates waiver authority through the Family and Youth Services Bureau for up to three years when conflicting or duplicative requirements, natural disasters, public health emergencies, financial crises, or other circumstances prevent effective service delivery and the waiver protects youth health, safety, and well-being. It adds nondiscrimination protections based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, while allowing necessary sex-specific programming with comparable services. It creates optional additional five-year prevention services grants for successful basic center or transitional living programs, prioritizing entities requesting no more than $75,000 per year. It authorizes $200 million for fiscal year 2026 and such sums for 2027-2030 for core programs, reserves at least 90 percent for basic center and transitional living programs, provides $2 million for section 345 in fiscal years 2025, 2028, and 2030, and authorizes $50 million for part E prevention services in fiscal year 2026 and such sums thereafter. It also sets minimum and maximum grant amounts depending on appropriated funding.

Who Benefits and How

Homeless youth communities benefit from expanded shelter, outreach, transitional living, prevention, and trafficking-prevention services. LGBTQ youth communities benefit from explicit nondiscrimination protections and recognition of disproportionate homelessness risk. Pregnant youth families benefit from continued maternity group home and transitional living support. Basic center grantees benefit from reauthorization, grant-duration updates, and higher funding levels. Street outreach providers benefit from five-year grants for sexual-abuse and trafficking prevention services.

Who Bears the Burden and How

FYSB staff must administer reauthorized grants, waivers, nondiscrimination enforcement, and funding reservations. Runaway and homeless youth grantees must comply with nondiscrimination rules and comparable-service requirements. HHS grant reviewers must evaluate prevention-service plans, waiver requests, and minimum grant amounts. Federal taxpayers fund the $200 million core authorization and $50 million prevention-services authorization for fiscal year 2026. Programs using sex-specific services must provide comparable services to youth who cannot participate in those programs.

Key Provisions

• Reauthorizes Runaway and Homeless Youth Act core programs at $200 million for fiscal year 2026 and such sums through 2030.
• Extends and updates basic center, transitional living, maternity group home, and street outreach grants.
• Expands the national communications system to online and social media channels.
• Creates waiver authority for conflicting or duplicative requirements that impede youth services.
• Adds nondiscrimination protections for race, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability.
• Creates optional five-year prevention services grants with priority for requests of not more than $75,000 per year.
• Authorizes $50 million for prevention services in fiscal year 2026 and such sums through 2030.