Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (S.2012/H.R.3856)

On June 10, 2025, the bipartisan, bicameral Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (RHYTPA) (S.2012/H.R.3856) was introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Don Bacon (R-NE-02). Joining them as original cosponsors are Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03).

RHYTPA reauthorizes and updates the federal Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) program. RHYA is the only federal funding for community-based organizations to:

• Provide housing and supportive services to young people ages 14 to 22 who have no safe living arrangements with family or otherwise.
• Prevent young people from experiencing trafficking and identify and serve those who have.
• Connect young people to education, employment, and other services that support their wellbeing.

RHYA became law in 1974 as Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act to provide youth-specific community-based services as an alternative to involvement in policing and incarceration systems for youth status offenders (a noncriminal act that is a violation of the law because of the youth’s age, e.g. running away, staying out past curfew, truancy).

For over 50 years, RHYA has served young people without safe living arrangements, including those who are experiencing homelessness, exiting child welfare or incarceration systems, or exiting trafficking situations.

The National Network for Youth was founded in 1974, the same year as RHYA. We are proud to commemorate these milestones together because our histories are intertwined. NN4Y has been at the forefront of every expansion and improvement to the RHYA over the decades.

• Prioritizing outreach to survivors of sexual abuse, exploitation, and/or trafficking to connect them to supportive services.
• Requiring staff training on human trafficking, trauma, sexual abuse, and assault.
• Extending transitional housing and supportive services to survivors of sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
• Allowing RHYA grantees the option of applying for an additional $75,000 to provide services to prevent young people and families in their community from experiencing homelessness.
• Extending the allowable length of stay in short-term crisis housing for minors from 21 to 30 days (or longer as state law allows).
• Increasing the eligible age for transitional housing services from 22 to 25 years old, while still prioritizing youth under 22 years old.

Complete the short form to add your organization to our endorsement list for RHYTPA. We share this list with Members of Congress and their staff so they can see how much support there is for this bill.

Complete the take action form on this page to send a pre-drafted email to all three of your federal Representatives to express your support for RHYTPA. It is very important for Members of Congress to know that their constituents care about this bill.

If you have any questions or would like to take further action, please email trinady.maddock@nn4youth.org.

Nearly one in five youth experiencing homelessness has also experienced trafficking for sex, labor, or both. This is especially prevalent among unsheltered youth—the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 24 percent of youth living on the streets exchanged sex for money, and an additional 27.5 percent did so for a place to stay.

Providing our young people with housing, basic necessities, and supportive services can prevent them from being exploited and can support those who, tragically, have already been. For over 50 years, RHYA providers have been at the forefront of ending trafficking in American communities. RHYTPA strengthens their ability to prevent human trafficking and serve survivors.

The experience of homelessness as a young person can have severe long-term consequences, negatively impacting an individualʼs ability to maintain stable housing as an adult. Cities across the country that have conducted surveys of their chronically homeless adult constituents found that many of them first experienced homelessness as a young person. Across studies, 25 percent first experienced homelessness before the age of 18, and an additional 25 percent first experienced homelessness between the ages of 18 to 24.

This data highlights that the experience of homelessness for many chronically homeless adults first began when they were under the age of 25. Knowing this, it becomes clear that increasing investments in housing and support services that target young people aged 25 and under are necessary to prevent and reduce chronic adult homelessness.

Complete this form to send the pre-drafted email to all three of your federal Representatives to express your support for the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (RHYTPA). It is very important for Members of Congress to know that their constituents care about this bill.

You can personalize your message by including examples of your work or the need in your area. Please feel free to share this link with anyone who would like to support RHYTPA in becoming a law!