July 2016
Responses from Federal Partners to Policy Recommendations from Youth Advocates In 2015, youth advocates from the Campion Advocacy Fund, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), the National Network for Youth (NN4Y), and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) developed and submitted a memorandum to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) outlining a series of proposed policy recommendations to address barriers faced by youth experiencing homelessness across multiple federal programs and key outcome areas. Federal partners have reviewed the recommendations and developed responses on proposed next steps, including opportunities for continued collaboration with A Way Home America (AWHA). This document does not represent a complete summary of activities to address youth homelessness at the federal level, but highlights work already underway, clarifies existing policy, and identifies potential action areas moving forward.
Improved Access to Housing, Employment, & Education Barrier Identified: Minors are often unable to access Department of Labor (DOL) programs without parental consent Recommendation: DOL should revise Exhibit 1-1 of its Policy and Requirements Handbook to permit unaccompanied youth under 18 to participate with the signature of a parent or legal guardian and remove all parental consent requirements for programs directed to serving youth in order to increase access to federally funded employment program’s targeted to minors and transition aged youth (18-24). Agency Response: Current legislation does not allow for revision of Exhibit 1-1. Clarification regarding participation in Job Corps, including participation for unaccompanied youth under 18, is outlined below. Young people who are school dropouts, runaways, foster youth, parents, or homeless are welcome to apply to the Job Corps program. Youth who are age 18 or older at time of application, or who are legally emancipated (if younger than 18), are considered adults, and do not require a custodial parent or guardian’s signature/approval for enrollment. Unemancipated minors (ages 16 and 17) may not, by law, be enrolled into the Job Corps program without the documented approval of a custodial parent or legal guardian. Unemancipated minors who are homeless are required to seek the assistance of staff (e.g. licensed social workers) at local social services agencies or other youth-serving organizations who must, as appropriate and within their licensing authority, provide a letter or other documentation confirming their approval of a minor being enrolled in Job Corps. The letter or documentation must specify the name of a responsible contact at the agency or organization in the event of an emergency, decisions requiring the confirmation of a parent/guardian, and/or decisions and information related to the travel and location of the minor student. This requirement also extends to homeless youth participating in the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) Programs of the Family & Youth Services Bureau (FSYB) if it is within the RHY program’s legal authority to assist youth who are unemancipated minors or who do not have a court-appointed guardian. Finally, this requirement applies only to the Job Corps program, and not to any other youth formula-funded or discretionary grant programs of the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
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July 2016
Barrier Identified: Minors with juvenile justice involvement often face significant barriers to obtaining employment and housing. Recommendation: The Department of Justice (DOJ) should work with federal, state, and local entities to ensure that the impact of juvenile records on housing and employment is limited. Agency Response: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) seeks to support successful reentry into the community, including access to housing and employment for justice-involved youth. In FY17, OJJDP transferred $1.7 M to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support the sealing and expungement of records for juveniles ages 16-24 residing in Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). Funding also provides youth access to civil legal services to address issues related to outstanding fees and fines and obtaining access to housing and employment. Recommendation: DOJ should issue policy that minor victims of sex trafficking or labor trafficking should be referred to community-based services, instead of being detained or processed through the juvenile-justice system. Agency Response: Through funding and targeted initiatives, OJJDP has worked to address the issue of child exploitation and sex trafficking. In FY15, OJJDP sponsored publication of the report, "Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States," which examines current approaches to addressing commercial sexual exploitation of children, identifies causes and consequences for both victims and offenders, and highlights recommendations to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes. As a follow-up to the report, a series of guides were published for the healthcare and legal sector as well as a guide for providers of victim and support services. The report and guides can be found at http://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/csec_program.html. Additionally, OJJDP is willing to explore research on the incidence and impact of juvenile labor trafficking, including the capacity of law enforcement and other juvenile justice stakeholders to identify and respond to juvenile trafficking victims. Recommendation: HUD should revise its regulations and issue guidance to ensure that juvenile-justice involved youth whose families are in public housing are not forced into homelessness as a result of federal, state, or local policies. Agency Response: HUD agrees that it is important to implement strategies that help youth who have juvenile justice histories gain access to affordable housing and stable employment. HUD recently received $1.7M from OJJDP to help local communities’ efforts to expunge the records of youth through age 24. HUD will be issuing a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for PHAs to partner with local legal organizations to help youth access public housing and to help remove barriers to employment.
Barrier Identified: Significant legal advocacy is often required to ensure that youth are able to access critical services which can prevent homelessness. Recommendation: Expand and improve counsel for adolescents in foster care. A large number (39%) of the states do not require counsel for all foster children. Agency Response: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) does not have the statutory authority to require that all adolescents in foster care have access to high quality legal counsel, but we do encourage it. In fact, ACF believes that all children in the child welfare system should have high quality legal representation. To that end, the ACF's Children's Bureau (CB) funded a five-year randomized control trial study testing a bestpracticed informed legal representation model for children in foster care. The results will soon be available. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
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July 2016 CB also funds the Court Improvement Program, a grantee received by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. A main purpose of the grant is to continuously improve the quality of legal representation for children in the child welfare system. Based on research findings in both of these efforts, ACF will be issuing a statement of principles identifying the need for high quality representation for all children in care. The document will use research to identify best practice, articulate standards, and encourage state officials to support the right to counsel for all kids in care. OJJDP supports the needs of justice-involved youth who are also under care of the child welfare or foster care system. In FY15, OJJDP funded the Court-Appointed Special Advocates Membership and Accreditation Program. This program seeks to expand the national membership and accreditation program for state and local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) that OJJDP developed in collaboration with the National CASA Association. Training and technical assistance is available to support existing and new local and state CASA programs across the nation and support CASA services in communities where representation rates are low, the numbers of abused and neglected children are high, and service systems do not meet the needs of families and children. In addition, the program provides training and technical assistance in volunteer advocate recruitment and retention, volunteer advocate training, diversity, data collection and reporting, sustainability, and program standards. Recommendation: The Legal Services Corporation, AmeriCorps/VISTA, and DOJ should allocate resources to create and strengthen legal services to homeless youth of all ages. A handful of programs exist to provide civil legal services to homeless youth, but they are few and far between. Efforts to focus on special populations (veterans, for example) have been successful. Such a model should be applied to homeless youth. Agency Response: In FY13, OJJDP supported the development of the Juvenile Indigent Defense National Clearinghouse, which improves indigent defense representation and the overall level of systemic advocacy by providing the juvenile defense bar with ongoing training, technical support, capacity-building assistance, and leadership opportunities. In FY15, OJJDP funded the Enhancing Youth Access to Justice Initiative which includes three categories of funding to support access to legal representation to justice-involved youth. Category 1 provides planning grants to states and tribal jurisdictions to engage in the development and implementation of a collaborative juvenile indigent defense system utilizing standards provided by the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) to increase state coordination with juvenile defense delivery. Category 2 provides education and technical assistance to defenders on adolescent development, the developing brain, recent advances in neuroscience, and the impact that trauma caused by exposure to violence has on human development and well-being. Category 3 supports the development of state or regional resource centers/hubs that will assist state, tribal and local juvenile defense systems with collecting and analyzing data and leveraging resources.
Barrier Identified: Unaccompanied homeless youth ages 22 and 23 do not qualify as independent students for the purposes of applying for financial aid. Recommendation: In the context of unaccompanied homeless youth, the Department of Education (ED) should follow the statute’s clear intention and the Dear Colleague letter and revise its definition of “youth” to include students 23 years of age or younger. The Department should also revise the 2017 FA. Agency Response: ED is aware of the issue and is considering what further actions to take based on the Government Accountability Office report (16-343) on Actions Needed to Improve Access to Federal Financial Assistance for Homeless and Foster Youth issued on 5/19/16.
Barrier: Public school personnel lack the capacity and training to identify homeless youth, as well as the resources to meet homeless youths’ educational and service needs.
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July 2016 Recommendation: ED should provide additional guidance to states on the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as it relates to homeless students, including: 1) State monitoring of all Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and inclusion of McKinney-Vento monitoring into ongoing Title I and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) monitoring, 2) Define the standards for determining that a liaison is able to carry out their duties, including standards for adequate time to perform duties and training, these standards should also reflect size of the LEA and the number of identified homeless students, and 3) Define minimum standards for State Education Agencies (SEA) and LEA policies and practices to ensure that liaisons participate in professional development and other technical assistance activities. Agency Response: ED is planning to issue non-regulatory guidance that will address these issues in July 2016. Recommendation: ED should provide additional guidance to LEAs regarding the Title I homeless reservation, under 20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(6) so that local Title I plans describe the amount of funding reserved under 1113(c)(3)(A), the method used to determine the amount, how the amount is related to the number and needs of homeless children in the LEA, the collaborative role of the LEA’s McKinney-Vento liaison in determining the amount of funds reserved and services provided, and the procedures used to ensure that the reservation was made prior to all other allowable expenditures and transfers by the LEA. Agency Response: ED is planning to issue non-regulatory guidance that will address these issues in July 2016.
Improved Outcomes from Child Welfare Barrier: Some homeless youth are not being served by either child welfare or homeless youth programs, despite requirements in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Recommendation: ACF should review compliance with CAPTA requirements to ensure that states are implementing programs to address the needs of homeless youth. HHS should clarify the following issues: when child welfare agencies are responsible for meeting the needs of unaccompanied homeless minors; when RHYA programs are responsible; and which entity, if any, is responsible when neither will or can provide assistance to a minor child who has no parent or legal guardian willing or capable of parenting the child or who lacks appropriate housing or supervision and is not in the physical care of a parent. Agency Response: ACF will review the requirements to comply with CAPTA and clarify responsibility for child welfare and RHYA programs in the various scenarios outlined in this recommendation. However, it is important to note that ACF does not have the authority to direct states to serve unaccompanied minors experiencing homelessness. We are also very interested in working with AWHA to convene child welfare and RHY leaders across the country to discuss the appropriate role for child welfare without necessarily officially placement youth in foster care. For example, we plan to host a listening session focused on child welfare and homelessness in coordination with HUD at our National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in September 2016 and we would be happy to collaborate with AWHA. We also plan to issue policy briefs and information memorandums in the coming months that will highlight best practices by child welfare agencies who are proactively addressing the needs of homeless youth (including some lessons we are learning from our Youth At-Risk of Homelessness grantees). Recommendation: HHS should develop technical assistance products outlining how child welfare resources can be effectively used to meet the needs of unaccompanied minor children, including strategies that do not require children to be placed under the custody of child welfare agencies, as well as the needs of those youth who have become homeless after exiting foster care.
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July 2016 Agency Response: ACF’s technical assistance efforts will continue to focus on how to engage and serve homeless youth effectively. New technical assistance tools specific to transition planning for foster youth will also be issued in the coming months. These tools will address housing, employment, health, etc. in order to prevent homelessness. Federal child welfare funding is focused on youth who are in the direct care and responsibility of the state. This makes it difficult for states to serve youth who are not in foster care. As stated previously, ACF welcomes to opportunity to convene child welfare leaders throughout the nation to discuss how child welfare can play a role. In the case of when youth run away from foster care and become homelessness, ACF developed an Information Memo (IM) to help guide how child welfare agencies and RHY providers can work together. For instance child welfare agencies are encouraged to develop policies and procedures to ensure the safety of the child, including policies that encourage youth to seek shelter, rather than stay on the streets to avoid placement. The IM also provides guidance as to how the state child welfare agency can pay for the youth’s stay in the RHY shelter and claim federal reimbursement.
Barrier: Runaway and homeless minors often avoid contacting RHYA programs, enrolling in school, or accessing other services because they fear the programs will have to report them to their parents, child welfare, or juvenile justice agencies. Recommendation: ACF and DOJ should examine how federal and state laws and regulations that require runaway and homeless youth providers to report suspected abuse and neglect deter vulnerable unaccompanied youth (including youth who may be trafficked) from accessing critical safety services delivered by runaway and homeless youth providers. The same inquiry should be conducted in collaboration with the ED regarding mandated reporters in schools and youths’ access to education. ACF/DOJ/ED should develop recommendations on how to mitigate the potential deterring impacts of mandated reporting without jeopardizing the safety of children. Where possible, ACF should allow exceptions to mandatory reporting for homeless youth when it is determined by ordinarily designated mandatory reporters that to report would deter the youth from accessing vital services. Agency Response: Requirements as to who is a mandatory reporter, including other runaway and homeless youth providers are determined by state law. All States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have state statutes identifying persons who are required to report suspected child maltreatment to an appropriate agency, such as child protective services, a law enforcement agency, or a State’s toll-free child abuse reporting hotline. Federal statue also requires child abuse reporting on federal lands and within federal buildings. For more information about these laws see: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/manda.pdf. To better inform our work, our Family Violence Prevention and Services program is currently involved in research with partners on the impact of mandated reporting on help-seeking among domestic violence survivors which can provide learnings for other populations that face violence and trauma including trafficking victims and homeless youth. We also welcome a dialogue with AWHA regarding your thoughts on the specific barriers created by reporting abuse or neglect within runaway and homeless youth programs.
Barrier: Limited child welfare resources are directed to serve minor-aged youth experiencing homelessness. Recommendation: Child welfare agencies should use their authority under Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act 42 USC 5106 (a)(b)(2)(E) to direct resources to ensuring that unaccompanied homeless minors are safely and appropriately housed outside of the being formally involved in the child welfare system. Specifically, these resources should be directed to create or bolster existing community based services such as emergency and transitional housing programs for minor youth. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
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July 2016 Agency Response: Based on federal statute, ACF does not have the authority to direct state child welfare agencies to use their Title IV-B and IV-E to bolster existing community based services such as emergency and transitional housing programs for minor youth. To clarify, CAPTA 42 USC 5106 (a)(b)(2)(E) requires states to submit an assurance or certification that programs and training funded through CAPTA address the unique needs of unaccompanied homeless youth. However, ACF does not have the authority to force states to use their CAPTA funding for specific purposes. States use CAPTA funds for a variety of child abuse and neglect prevention activities. CAPTA allocations are far too small to effectively prevent child abuse and neglect. In fact, some states receive less than $200,000 in CAPTA funds per year to prevent all forms of child abuse and neglect. CAPTA also requires states to certify that homeless youth are eligible under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act. While this certification is indeed a federal requirement, ACF does not have the authority to require states to serve homeless youth with Title IV-E and IV-B funds. Eligibility does not necessarily result in services. States determine the specific circumstances and level of custody required in order to serve provide services to children under their programs.
Increased Income Supports Barrier: Some homeless youth are having difficulty obtaining income supports such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Recommendation: HHS should review barriers to income supports faced by homeless youth and young adults, and promulgate rules or issue guidance to address these barriers. Agency Response: TANF assistance is generally for families in which children are residing in the home. There are limited circumstances where it is possible to provide help for a young person not living with their family. As detailed in ACF’s 2013 Information Memorandum on the Use of TANF Funds to Serve Homeless Families and Families at Risk of Experiencing Homelessness, we encourage TANF jurisdictions to implement interventions that connect families, including young adults and youth, that are homeless or at-risk of experiencing homelessness, to a range of benefits and services, such as permanent housing, supportive services, and employment services. We have also emphasized the importance of summer jobs programs. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), states used TANF funds to create the largest subsidized jobs effort since the 1970s, including a significant youth employment component, and TANF agencies and workforce agencies successfully partnered for summer jobs efforts. Since that time, we have encouraged state and local efforts in this area through a set of letters, technical assistance, webinars, and other initiatives. We emphasize that states, localities, and tribes can use TANF funds to fund their summer efforts, and that there can be valuable partnerships with community action agencies. In terms of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), since 2010, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has permitted youth who were nearing discharge from foster care to apply for SSI benefits up to 90-days in advance of such a transition. In concept, permitting early application allows disabled youth to receive income from the SSI program upon termination of other income supports derived from his or her placement in foster care. We are in the planning stages of a pilot that will extend to 180-days the advance filing period for such youth and will examine the outcomes from the pilot one-year after initiation. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
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July 2016
Increased Access to Health Care Barrier: Minors face barriers in applying for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. Recommendation: HHS should promulgate rules that allow certification of homelessness as evidence of tax independence for purposes of accessing health care through the ACA. In addition, the rules should also create an exception, for homeless minors, to the requirement that only adults can apply on-line. Agency Response: Homeless youth do not need to provide evidence of tax independence in order to access health care through the ACA. An individual needs to be either a tax filer or tax dependent in order to receive premium tax credits for coverage in a qualified health plan, but there is no tax filing requirement related to Medicaid or coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A child’s financial eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP is generally based on the household income of the tax filer(s) claiming that child as a tax dependent. It is reasonable to expect that parents of homeless youth may not be providing support for them or claiming them as tax dependents, in which case the parent’s household income would not be counted toward the child’s eligibility. To apply for health coverage online or by phone through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM), individuals must be age 18 or over. However, individuals under age 18 may be able apply in person or by phone with the Medicaid or CHIP agency in their state. Additionally, per regulations at 45 CFR 155.20 and 42 CFR 435.907, an individual acting responsibly on behalf of the applicant may file online for a child under 18. This means that a social worker, case manager, guardian, relative, or other adult in contact with the youth can assist the child in applying for coverage. Youth can also work with navigators for assistance in applying for coverage: https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/.
Barrier: Many unaccompanied homeless youth are unaware of their right to enroll in and gain health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) regardless of being minors. Recommendation: HHS must work with states to develop strategies to increase outreach to, and enrollment of, unaccompanied homeless youth in Medicaid as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1396w-3(b)(1)(F). Specifically, technical assistance and trainings must be provided for those who encounter and engage unaccompanied youth; including, McKinney-Vento Act educational liaisons, RHY programs, and Certified Enrollment/Application Counselors. HHS should include trainings on assisting homeless youth in accessing health services once they are enrolled, including mental/behavioral health. At the NN4Y March 2015 Summit on Youth Homelessness, HHS indicated it would provide these technical assistance and trainings. Agency Response: Outreach and enrollment efforts targeted to uninsured children are a high priority for HHS, with a total of $124M devoted to outreach and enrollment grantees across 4 cycles of grant initiatives since 2009. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) includes a number of provisions increasing outreach funding and activities to enroll eligible but uninsured children in coverage, with a particular focus on those who may be hardest to reach. This emphasis includes subgroups of children, such as teens and youth, that exhibit lower than average health coverage rates. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 appropriated $40M to continue the outreach and enrollment efforts initiated and specified by CHIPRA. Most recently, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) extended the Outreach and Enrollment Program through FY17. It provided an additional $40M of funds, of which $32M is dedicated to a fourth cycle of general outreach and enrollment grants, $4M is dedicated to a third cycle of outreach and enrollment of children who are American Indian/Alaska Native, and $4M is dedicated to the National Enrollment Campaign.
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July 2016 HHS released a fact sheet on Heath Coverage for Homeless and At-Risk Youth through the ACA. It describes eligibility, what services are covered, and how to help youth sign up. https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/198441/HomelessHealth.pdf
Reductions in Juvenile Justice Involvement Barrier: Delivery of status offense warrants or searches of particular youth in schools and RHYA programs exacerbate trauma for homeless youth. Recommendation: DOJ, HHS, and ED should provide guidance to local law enforcement about best practices for working with local schools and RHYA grantees providers to mitigate the deterrent and disrupting effect of their presence in these spaces while still fulfilling their legal duties. Agency Response: HHS/ACF would be happy to work with DOJ on this guidance document. OJJDP is interested in learning more about barriers to reporting abuse or neglect for homeless youth. Following a review of documentation, OJJDP is willing work with federal partners to explore options for how to best address this concern for justice-involved youth who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. Recommendation: HHS should provide guidance to RHY providers about best practices for with local law enforcement and local schools to mitigate the deterrent and disrupting effect of law enforcement presence in these spaces while still fulfilling their legal duties. Agency Response: HHS/ACF is open to providing such guidance. We would appreciate more specific input from service providers and advocates to better understand what would be most useful. Recommendation: ED should provide guidance to LEAs about best practices for working with law enforcement to mitigate the deterrent and disrupting effect of their presence in school spaces while still fulfilling their legal duties. Agency Response: ED has issued supportive school discipline guidance in 2014. It also maintains a supportive school discipline website, a National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments, and a Supportive School Discipline e-Digest that can disseminate information on this issue.
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