State Legislative Activity in 2020
Homelessness is a growing concern for legislators, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. While homelessness is challenging for anyone, youth experiencing homelessness have their own unique challenges requiring special legislative attention. NCSL tracked 95 bills in 2020 that directly addressed youth homelessness. Bill topics included shelters and services, education, driver licenses, identification cards, vital records, funding, awareness and prevention, consent, and administration and councils. States also considered nine bills addressing housing, human trafficking, foster youth, and other related issues. Twelve of these bills were enacted, with Maryland and Washington enacting the most bills.
Shelters and Services
Fourteen states introduced 18 bills related to shelters and services for youth experiencing homelessness. Most often the bills sought to reduce barriers that youth experience in accessing resources. Numerous states considered revising minimum age requirements to access shelters and shelter services, and New York proposed legislation that would create and maintain a public database of available beds at residential facilities for youth experiencing homelessness. California considered increasing the number of days youth have access to shelter and introduced a bill establishing an internship pilot program for youth experiencing homelessness. Three of these bills were enacted.
Education
Thirteen states introduced 34 bills related to K-12 and post-secondary education for youth experiencing homelessness. Most of these bills focused on helping students meet graduation requirements and support students’ basic needs. States also considered establishing homeless and foster student liaison positions in public universities and colleges to help homeless students and students in foster care apply for financial aid and other assistance. Six bills related to educating youth experiencing homelessness were enacted.
Driver Licenses, Identification Cards, Vital Records
Ten states considered 10 bills designed to increase access to driver licenses, identification cards, and vital records for youth experiencing homelessness. Most of the bills included fee waivers for youth experiencing homelessness. Of the 10 bills considered, only one was enacted in 2020.
Funding
Eleven states introduced 20 bills to allocate funds for issues related to youth homelessness. These included funding for state agencies to provide services to unaccompanied homeless youth and specific initiatives such as Florida’s “Changing the Narratives' Ending Youth Homelessness Initiative.” States also considered appropriations for housing as part of their coronavirus response. Ultimately, three funding bills were enacted.
Awareness and Prevention
Four states introduced four bills and two resolutions to build awareness of youth homelessness. None of the bills were enacted; however, Pennsylvania adopted two resolutions designating a specific week and date to foster awareness of the issues that students experiencing homelessness face.
Consent
Seven states introduced 12 bills revising requirements for youth experiencing homelessness to consent to services. Some states considered lowering the age required to consent to shelter, mental health and physical health services. Three bills were enacted.
Administration and Councils
Nine states considered 14 bills that would make administrative changes to support youth facing homelessness. Some of these bills delineated compliance responsibilities, while others considered forming advisory committees that could inform state policymakers on a variety of issues, such as food and housing insecurity, youth empowerment and civic engagement. Two of the bills were enacted.
Housing
Pennsylvania and Illinois addressed housing for youth experiencing homelessness with two bills, neither of which was enacted. Both bills concerned housing accessibility for students in higher education settings.
Human Trafficking
Washington and Minnesota introduced four bills related to human trafficking of youth experiencing homelessness. None were enacted. These bills sought to bring awareness to human trafficking issues and allocate money to benefit sexually exploited youth.
Foster Youth
California, Missouri and Washington introduced three bills regarding foster youth experiencing homelessness. None of the bills were enacted. Washington considered extending foster care services to 18-year-olds who are enrolled in a secondary education program or secondary education equivalency program and can establish that their parents were not fulfilling their parental responsibilities before the youth reached age 18. The eligibility standard would not have required the youth to have been a dependent child under Washington's child abuse and neglect statutes.
NCSL tracks state legislation addressing youth homelessness in its Housing and Homelessness Legislation Database.