Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Representative Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
Introduced
Summary
Broaden homelessness definitions and public HMIS data. The Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2025 would expand who counts as homeless under the McKinney‑Vento Act and require HUD to publish more Homeless Management Information System data to improve coordination with schools and local services.
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- Makes it easier for children and families to qualify by adding survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking, and by accepting homelessness verification from other federal programs.
- Clarifies age and independence rules for unaccompanied youth, requires housing programs to designate staff who connect youth to school, Head Start, early intervention, childcare, and career and technical education, and ensures youth are informed about independent student status for higher education.
- Requires HMIS data be posted on HUD's website at least annually with geographic counts, demographic breakouts, cumulative counts, and patterns of assistance. It also shifts grant decisions toward local needs, cost‑effectiveness, and prevents prioritizing one subpopulation or housing model without local data justification.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
More homeless help for youth and survivors
If enacted, this bill would expand who counts as homeless. A youth age 24 or younger who cannot live safely with a parent or guardian and has no other safe alternative would be treated as homeless. If another federal program verifies a child or youth is homeless, HUD would accept that verification without extra HUD action. The bill would also explicitly include families where a child has a disability and add several federal programs to the list used for cross-program verification.
Longer temporary sharing rule for families
If enacted, this bill would change the temporary-sharing test used to decide homelessness from 14 days to 30 days. That means some households who were staying temporarily with others could now meet the McKinney‑Vento homelessness definition. The change would take effect when the bill becomes law.
Youth in local needs assessments
If enacted, recipients would have to include youth specifically in local needs assessments. Communities with a centralized or coordinated assessment system would use separate, age‑appropriate criteria for children under 5, school‑age children, unaccompanied youth and young adults ages 14–24, and families. Plans must describe partnerships with schools, early childhood programs, housing developers, youth providers, and mental health organizations to find safe options and divert youth to age‑appropriate housing.
Staff to enroll youth in school
If enacted, programs that provide housing or services to families or youth would have to name a staff person to help children and youth enroll in school and connect to Head Start, IDEA part C, child care, career and technical education, and LEA liaisons. Programs must inform unaccompanied youth about independent student status under the Higher Education Act and provide FAFSA verification. The Secretary would consider actual compliance when evaluating grant applicants.
Public homeless data and annual report
If enacted, HUD would publish community HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) data on its website and update it at least once a year. Public data would include cumulative counts of people and families served, assistance patterns by area, counts by collaborative applicant, and breakouts by age, disability, and length of homelessness. HUD would also submit an annual consolidated report to Congress within four months after each fiscal year ends that includes HMIS data and analysis of duplicative reporting.
Local plans decide grant priorities
If enacted, the bill would require HUD to treat anyone defined as homeless as eligible without extra HUD action. HUD would also be barred from giving extra points or bonuses for specific populations or program types unless an applicant's local plan and data justify that priority. Scoring would focus on community plans and cost‑effectiveness and encourage proven strategies while limiting national or formulaic favoritism.
Transportation help to jobs and services
If enacted, this bill would explicitly allow programs to provide transportation to employment, early care and education, career and technical training, and health and mental health services. Programs serving homeless people would be able to fund or provide these rides as part of supportive activities. The bill does not set new funding levels for these transportation services.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
NY • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Bynum, Janelle S. [D-OR-5]
OR • D
Sponsored 12/3/2025
Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3]
IL • D
Sponsored 12/3/2025
Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5]
NJ • D
Sponsored 12/15/2025
Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]
VA • D
Sponsored 2/11/2026
Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11]
MI • D
Sponsored 2/24/2026
Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]
MI • D
Sponsored 4/20/2026
Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3]
NV • D
Sponsored 4/29/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov