October 30, 2008, Washington, DC. The National Network for Youth, the nation's leading advocacy and service organization for runaway and homeless youth, is celebrating a major victory in fulfilling its members' missions to help more than a million youth each year overcome homelessness and related problems. On September 25 and 26 the Senate and House respectively passed S. 2982, the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008. The President signed the legislation on October 8.

The act renews and significantly strengthens provisions of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. The Act authorizes funding assistance for street outreach, shelters, and transitional living facilities for homeless youth in hundreds of communities and provides the national framework for those efforts. These services help to save the lives and futures of these young people, and they help to avert problems that would otherwise cost millions in taxpayer dollars.

The National Network for Youth represents more than 200 of the 400 organizations that provide these services for youth. The Network was the leading national advocate for the reauthorization. As part of celebrating the success of the reauthorization effort and the continuation of national help to these youth in need, the Network is recognizing three national legislators who helped ensure its passage.

Honorees include Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Reps. Judith Biggert (R-IL) and John Yarmuth (D-KY). Senator Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, took the lead in moving the key legislative package through the Senate and ensuring an affirmative vote to continue the key programs. Reps. Biggert and Yarmuth provided leadership in the House of Representatives to ensure that the legislation moved efficiently through the Committee and the full House with substantial support from that body.

Senator Leahy will be honored National Network's annual symposium in Washington, DC in late January 2009. Rep. Biggert will be honored later this fall at a National Network event in suburban Chicago area, attended by national representatives and Chicago area Network organizations.

Rep. John Yarmuth was honored in Louisville, KY, at a National Network for Youth Celebration event on Thursday, October 30, at 10:00 a.m. at the YMCA Safe Place Services.

Board members, staff, and youth from area Network member organizations attended the celebration. Sandy Bowen, Executive Director of National Safe Place and a member of the Network's national board, joined Terry Modglin, Public Policy Director for the Network, in presenting an award to Rep. Yarmuth. They were joined by those providing shelter services for runaway and homeless youth in the Louisville area, including the local Volunteers of America programs and YMCA Safe Place Services.

Rep. Yarmuth authored the reauthorization and introduced it with 27 cosponsors. He then shepherded the bill through a complicated legislative process to win its enactment. The reauthorization renews federal support for the hundreds of programs across the US that serve America's most vulnerable youth through basic center shelters that provide refuge from victimization and complementary supportive services, street outreach that helps to ensure youths' safety and survival, and transitional living programs that help young people move toward productive adulthoods. The great majority of the youth served by these programs are victims of physical and/or sexual abuse; many have been thrown or pushed out of their homes.

Ms. Bowen noted Rep. Yarmuth's "abiding commitment and effective legislative leadership" in ensuring continuation of these life-saving programs. She added, "John Yarmuth has demonstrated unusual skill as a first-term Congressman in moving this vital legislation through a complex and challenging legislative session. We are proud of his work."

Victoria Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of the National Network for Youth, also praised Rep. Yarmuth's achievement: "John Yarmuth is an extraordinary advocate for these abandoned young people. His work in crafting this reauthorization not only makes these programs available for five more years but provides a desperately needed base for an increase in funding to 400 organizations across the nation. What is more, it makes the entire system fairer and more efficient. We are also grateful for his leadership in related legislation that provides protections, options, and opportunities for these youth."

The Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008 authorized the Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs for the next five years. The Act increased the authorized amounts available for such programs and placed a significant amount of emphasis on implementing the positive youth development approach to its programming. Runaway and homeless youth programs have hailed the Act's reauthorization as a significant legislative victory.

The National Network for Youth has been serving the youth of America for more than 30 years by championing the needs of runaway, homeless and other disconnected youth. It does this through advocacy, innovation and services provided by its more than 200 national and local member organizations in every state, creating neighborhoods of support for the next generation.

National Safe Place is a network of more than 17,000 public and business locations around the nation that link young people in crisis with local youth service agencies. By offering safe haven and links to help, Safe Place programs extend the reach of youth shelters.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Act Reauthorization

Issue Status

The final version of S. 2982 was passed by the U.S. on September 25, 2008. The House passed the Senate version of the bill on September 26th under unanimous consent. The President signed the legislation and it became Public Law on October 8, 2008.

The original version of the House bill, H.R. 5524,the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008, was introduced on March 4, 2008, by Representative John Yarmuth (D-KY) joined by Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) and 26 other co-sponsors. On May 6, 2008, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 2982, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Protection Act of 2008, which was later changed to the title in the original House bill.

Summary of Legislation

Funding

RHYA Project Admission and Length of Stay Criteria

RHYA Applicant Eligibility, Use of Funds, and Funding Conditions

Federal Program Management

National Activities

Why this Matters

RHYA is the Sole Federal Law Targeted to Unaccompanied Youth. Congress first enacted the RHYA in 1974 and has regularly reauthorized it to ensure a basic level of support for unaccompanied youth regardless of their state of origin or residence. Few states have established funding streams targeted to unaccompanied youth.

RHYA Projects are Facing Overwhelming Unmet Need. The basic living needs of too many of our nation's unaccompanied youth are not being met. In 2007, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs served over 740,000 homeless youth, yet only seven percent of those unaccompanied homeless youth were provided shelter or transitional housing through Basic Center and Transitional Living Programs.

RHYA Projects are Cost Effective Alternatives to Custodial Care and Arrest. The average federal cost of serving a youth in a basic center of $1,282 and in a transitional living project of $14,726 are far below the minimum cost of serving youth through the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, with annual costs ranging from $25,000 - $55,000 per youth. Law enforcement officials are the referral source for 20 percent of youth entering basic centers.

RHYA Projects Use Federal Funds to Leverage Community Resources.RHYA projects succeed due to partnerships created among families, schools, community-based organizations, faith communities, law enforcement agencies, businesses, and volunteers.

RHYA Projects Raise the Achievement Level of Unaccompanied Youth. The last federally-funded evaluations of the Basic Center Program and the Transitional Living Program found that they produced positive outcomes for participating youth in the following areas:

Family Strengthening

Education

Employment

Background

Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs have the purposes of preventing victimization and ensuring basic safety of unaccompanied children and youth and ensuring youths' access to family reunification, housing, education, employment training, health care, and other social services.

The RHYA Basic Center Program provides grants to community-based, faith-based, and public organizations to support family strengthening efforts, including counseling, home-based services for families with children at risk of separation from the family, and emergency and respite shelter (no greater than 21 days) for youth under the age of 18. The average age of children entering a basic center is 15 years. In FY 2006 328 BCP grantees supported 37,648 children and youth at an average cost of $1,282 in federal funds per young person.

The RHYA Transitional Living Program provides grants to community-based, faith-based, and public organizations to support longer-term residential services (up to 21 months) and life skill supports to youth ages 16 through 21 who are unable to return home safely. TLPs assist youth in successfully transitioning into responsible adulthood and self-sufficiency and connecting them to education, workforce, and other supports. The average age of youth entering a transitional living project is 18 years, eight months. In FY 2006 207 TLP grantees supported 2,683 youth at an average cost of $14,726 in federal funds per youth. This program includes maternity group homes, which are residential arrangements for pregnant and parenting youth who are fleeing from abusive homes. Maternity group homes assist these youth in accessing housing, prenatal care, parenting classes, child care, and educational services.

The RHYA Street Outreach Program provides grants to community-based and faith-based organizations to support street-based outreach and education to homeless children and youth who have been sexually abused or who are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. In FY 2006 140 SOP grantees reached 402,207 youth at an average cost of $37 in federal funds per contact.

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act also authorizes funds for the National Runaway Switchboard, a national communications system for runaway youth and their families; training and technical assistance for grantees; an information clearinghouse; a management information system; research and evaluation; and peer monitoring of grantees.

Congress first enacted the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act in 1974 as Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

Media coverage

Watch videos of media coverage on our media page

On the evening of September 26, four days prior to the expiration of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, the House passed legislation to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act after intense negotiations within the Senate.

The package in which it was included failed by eight votes right before the Senate adjourned for August recess. When Congress reconvened, the National Network for Youth met with Senator Coburn to advance the bill before it expired. Senator Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, championed this legislation. This is a strong bill which includes an authorization level of $140 million for the consolidated account (currently $105 million) and $25 million for the Street Outreach Program. Currently, the current appropriation for RHYA programs is $113 million. The new ceiling is $52 million higher than its current appropriation, a generous amount that NN4Y members can advocate for over the next five years.

September 2008 - Click to Read

Click to Read

Click to read

NN4Y is proud to announce its first ever cooperative meeting with the American Bar Association. The ABA meeting in Seattle is being generously supported by Casey Family Programs and we have local law firm support, along with nearly 200 attendees committed.

We hope to learn from each other on issues surrounding youth homelessness and aging out, as well as how to work within the legal system to make a real impact for the youth we serve. All of these people are on board to help and we believe good things will come of this partnership for youth across the country.

Click here for more info

On behalf of National Network for Youth, academy award nominated actor Djimon Hounsou testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Mr. Hounsou joined Mark Redmond, executive director of Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington, Vermont; former homeless youth Michael Hutchins; Jerome Kilbane, executive director, Covenant House Philadelphia; and National Network for Youth CEO Victoria Wagner in an effort to inform congress of the great need to support and fund programs for the millions of homeless and runaway youth throughout the country.

"The backbone of this nation's runaway and homeless youth network are the RHY programs throughout the country," says Ms. Wagner. "Without these agencies and their programs, these youth have no where to go. During fiscal year 2007 alone, RHY programs served over 740,000 disconnected youth."

National Network for Youth is proud to announce a collaborative effort with YouthNoise.org to register young voters in 2008. Youth in our programs number in the thousands, and that many voters can make a difference: it can shape the tone of the conversation, make our issues their issues, and become a force for change for runaway and homeless youth across the nation.

Please visit YouthNoise.org's website to find out more, and be sure to register to vote (and tell your friends to also!).

Click to Read

National Network for Youth honored VIRGIN MOBILE with the Golden Pen Award in addition to recognizing REPRESENTATIVE RUBEN HINOJOSA and XM RADIO as Champions of Runaway and Homeless Youth at the "Champions of Youth" dinner at the National Network for Youth's annual Symposium 2008: A Blueprint for the Future, on Tuesday, January 29, 2008, at 6:30PM at The Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St, NW, Washington, DC. Also honored were: