Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2916 To reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 20, 2019 Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Runaway and Home- 4 less Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 6 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 7 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 8 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the amend- 9 ment or repeal shall be considered to be made to a provi- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2916 IS sion of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (34 U.S.C. 1 11201 et seq.). 2 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 3 Section 302 (34 U.S.C. 11201) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘share of, se- 5 rious health, behavioral, and emotional problems’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘share of, trauma, serious health, be- 7 havioral, social, and emotional problems, and sub- 8 stance use disorder,’’; 9 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘socially, 10 age, gender, developmentally, culturally and’’ before 11 ‘‘linguistically appropriate’’; 12 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 13 (6), as paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively; 14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(3) research has documented that youth expe- 17 rience homelessness as fluid, such that many youth 18 experience 2 to 3 different types of homelessness, in- 19 cluding couch surfing, emergency shelters, and stay- 20 ing on the streets;’’; 21 (5) in paragraph (4)(C), as redesignated by 22 paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘social contribution’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘self-advocacy’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2916 IS (6) in paragraph (4)(E), as redesignated by 1 paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and peer’’ before ‘‘rela- 2 tionships’’; 3 (7) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by para- 4 graph (3), by striking ‘‘outside the welfare system 5 and the law enforcement system’’ and inserting ‘‘, in 6 collaboration with public assistance systems, the law 7 enforcement system, and the child welfare system’’; 8 (8) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by para- 9 graph (3)— 10 (A) by inserting ‘‘a safe place to live, con- 11 nection to caring adults, and’’ after ‘‘youth 12 need’’; and 13 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 14 (9) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para- 15 graph (3)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘between the Federal pro- 17 grams that serve runaway and homeless youth 18 are’’ and inserting ‘‘at the Federal level’’; and 19 (B) by striking the period at the end and 20 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (10) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(8) runaway and homeless youth are at a high 23 risk of substance use disorder and becoming victims 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2916 IS of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking in 1 persons, and sex trafficking; 2 ‘‘(9) research has shown that— 3 ‘‘(A) the prevalence of homelessness among 4 youth and young adults is similar in rural and 5 urban communities; and 6 ‘‘(B) runaway and homeless youth pro- 7 grams, such as those funded under this Act, are 8 integral services that every community, regard- 9 less of size, should provide; and 10 ‘‘(10) runaway and homeless youth programs 11 provide expert adolescent services and are integral 12 community partners for the child welfare and juve- 13 nile justice systems.’’. 14 SEC. 4. BASIC CENTER GRANT PROGRAM. 15 (a) GRANTS FOR CENTERS AND SERVICES.—Section 16 311(a) (34 U.S.C. 11211(a)) is amended— 17 (1) in paragraph (1)— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in- 19 serting ‘‘Every 2 or 3 years, the Secretary’’; 20 (B) by striking ‘‘and operate’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘, operate, and maintain’’; 22 (C) by striking ‘‘services’’ and all that fol- 23 lows through the period at the end and insert- 24 ing ‘‘safe shelter and services, including trau- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2916 IS ma-informed services, for runaway and home- 1 less youth and, if appropriate, services for the 2 families of such youth, including (if appro- 3 priate) individuals identified by such youth as 4 family.’’; and 5 (D) by inserting ‘‘Grants shall be awarded 6 for a 5-year period.’’ after ‘‘by such youth as 7 family.’’; and 8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 9 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in- 10 serting the following: 11 ‘‘(A) shall be provided to runaway youth, 12 street youth, homeless youth, and youth at risk 13 of separation from his or her family or at risk 14 of becoming homeless;’’; 15 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 16 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘21 days; 17 and’’ and inserting ‘‘30 days or the max- 18 imum allowed by the State, whichever is 19 greater;’’; 20 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and insert- 21 ing the following: 22 ‘‘(ii) age, gender, developmentally, 23 and culturally and linguistically appro- 24 priate individual, family, and group coun- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2916 IS seling, as appropriate (including, if appro- 1 priate, counseling for individuals identified 2 by such youth as family); and’’; and 3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(iii) suicide prevention services; 6 and’’; and 7 (C) in subparagraph (C)— 8 (i) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘age, 9 gender, developmentally, and culturally and 10 linguistically appropriate, to the extent 11 practicable,’’ before ‘‘home-based services’’; 12 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 13 after the semicolon; 14 (iii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘dis- 15 eases.’’ and inserting ‘‘infections;’’; and 16 (iv) by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(v) trauma-informed and gender-re- 19 sponsive services for runaway or homeless 20 youth, including such youth who are vic- 21 tims of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, 22 trafficking in persons, or sex trafficking; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2916 IS ‘‘(vi) if safe and appropriate, supports 1 for youth and their parents, legal guard- 2 ians, or (if appropriate) those identified by 3 such youth as family, including— 4 ‘‘(I) an assessment of family en- 5 gagement to improve support for 6 youth (and if appropriate) reunify 7 youth; 8 ‘‘(II) strength-based interven- 9 tions; and 10 ‘‘(III) ongoing supportive serv- 11 ices.’’. 12 (b) ELIGIBILITY; PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 13 312 (34 U.S.C. 11212) is amended— 14 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, to youth 15 who are at risk of separation from the family,’’ after 16 ‘‘guardians’’; 17 (2) in subsection (b)— 18 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘facility’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘project’’; 20 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 21 (i) by striking ‘‘facility’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘project’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘requires’’ and insert- 24 ing ‘‘allows’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2916 IS (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, or (if 1 appropriate) individuals identified by such 2 youth as family,’’ after ‘‘parents or legal guard- 3 ians’’; 4 (D) in paragraph (6)— 5 (i) by inserting ‘‘(which may include 6 the use of online resources in order to 7 reach and engage youth)’’ after ‘‘pro- 8 grams’’; and 9 (ii) by striking ‘‘cultural minority and 10 persons with limited ability to speak 11 English’’ and inserting ‘‘cultural minority, 12 persons with limited ability to speak 13 English, and runaway or homeless youth 14 who are victims of sexual abuse, sexual ex- 15 ploitation, trafficking in persons, or sex 16 trafficking’’; 17 (E) by striking paragraph (7) and insert- 18 ing the following: 19 ‘‘(7) shall keep adequate statistical records 20 profiling the youth and family members of such 21 youth whom the applicant serves, including demo- 22 graphic information on and the number of such 23 youth who— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2916 IS ‘‘(A) are not referred to out-of-home shel- 1 ter services; 2 ‘‘(B) are members of vulnerable or under- 3 served populations; 4 ‘‘(C) are victims of sexual abuse, sexual ex- 5 ploitation, trafficking in persons, or sex traf- 6 ficking; 7 ‘‘(D) are pregnant or parenting; 8 ‘‘(E) have been involved in the child wel- 9 fare system; and 10 ‘‘(F) have been involved in the juvenile jus- 11 tice system;’’; 12 (F) by striking paragraph (8) and insert- 13 ing the following: 14 ‘‘(8) shall ensure that— 15 ‘‘(A) the records described in paragraph 16 (7), on an individual runaway or homeless 17 youth, shall not be disclosed without the con- 18 sent of the individual youth and of the parent 19 or legal guardian of such youth or (if appro- 20 priate) an individual identified by such youth as 21 family, to anyone other than another agency 22 compiling statistical records or a government 23 agency involved in the disposition of criminal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2916 IS charges against an individual runaway or home- 1 less youth; and 2 ‘‘(B) reports or other documents based on 3 the statistics described in paragraph (7) shall 4 not disclose the identity of any individual run- 5 away or homeless youth;’’; 6 (G) in paragraph (12)— 7 (i) by striking subparagraph (B) and 8 inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(B) detailed information on how the cen- 10 ter has been able to meet the goals of its plans; 11 and’’; 12 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 13 (I) by striking clause (i) and in- 14 serting the following: 15 ‘‘(i) the number and characteristics of 16 runaway and homeless youth, and youth at 17 risk of family separation, who participate 18 in the project, including such information 19 on— 20 ‘‘(I) such youth (including run- 21 away and homeless youth, and youth 22 at risk of family separation) who are 23 victims of sexual abuse, sexual exploi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2916 IS tation, trafficking in persons, or sex 1 trafficking; 2 ‘‘(II) such youth who are preg- 3 nant or parenting; 4 ‘‘(III) such youth who have been 5 involved in the child welfare system; 6 and 7 ‘‘(IV) such youth who have been 8 involved in the juvenile justice system; 9 and’’; and 10 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 12 (H) in paragraph (13) by striking the pe- 13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘for natural disas- 14 ters, inclement weather, and mental health 15 emergencies;’’; and 16 (I) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(14) shall provide age, gender, develop- 18 mentally, and culturally and linguistically appro- 19 priate, to the extent practicable, services to runaway 20 and homeless youth; and 21 ‘‘(15) shall inform youth of their status as inde- 22 pendent students under section 480 of the Higher 23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv), provide 24 verification of such status for the purposes of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2916 IS Free Application for Federal Student Aid described 1 in section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1090), and assist youth in completing 3 this application at the youth’s request.’’; 4 (3) in subsection (d)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 6 (i) by inserting ‘‘age, gender, develop- 7 mentally, and culturally and linguistically 8 appropriate, to the extent practicable,’’ 9 after ‘‘provide’’; 10 (ii) by striking ‘‘families (including 11 unrelated individuals in the family house- 12 holds) of such youth’’ and inserting ‘‘fami- 13 lies of such youth (including unrelated in- 14 dividuals in the family households of such 15 youth and, if appropriate, individuals iden- 16 tified by such youth as family)’’; and 17 (iii) by inserting ‘‘suicide prevention,’’ 18 after ‘‘physical health care,’’; 19 (B) in paragraph (4)— 20 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including training 21 on trauma-informed and youth-centered 22 care’’ after ‘‘home-based services’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi- 24 colon; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 2916 IS (C) in paragraph (5)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 5 and’’; and 6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(C) youth are eligible for home-based 9 services when determined by the applicant to be 10 at risk of separation from the family; and’’; and 11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(f) ONLINE RESOURCES FOR OUTREACH.—An ap- 13 plicant may develop a plan, consistent with local needs, 14 for the use of online resources, if appropriate, in order 15 to reach and engage youth.’’. 16 (c) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—Section 313(b) 17 (34 U.S.C. 11213(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 18 (2) and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(2) eligible applicants that request grants— 20 ‘‘(A) of less than $225,000, if this title is 21 funded at less than $200,000,000 for the rel- 22 evant fiscal year; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 14 •S 2916 IS ‘‘(B) of less than $250,000, if this title is 1 funded at $200,000,000 or more for the rel- 2 evant fiscal year.’’. 3 SEC. 5. TRANSITIONAL LIVING GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) AUTHORITY FOR PROGRAM.—Section 321 (34 5 U.S.C [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]