[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 671 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 671
To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents
access for unaccompanied homeless youth.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2025
Mr. Connolly (for himself, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Ansari) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents
access for unaccompanied homeless youth.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Vital Documents Access for
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON VITAL DOCUMENTS
ACCESS FOR UNACCOMPANIED HOMELESS YOUTH; REPORTS.
(a) Interagency Task Force.--
(1) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this section, the covered Secretaries and
the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall,
jointly, establish the Interagency Task Force on Vital
Documents Access for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (referred to
in this section as the ``Task Force'') to coordinate efforts
and share best policies and practices to increase vital
documents access for unaccompanied homeless youth.
(2) Membership.--
(A) In general.--The Task Force shall be composed
of--
(i) the Chair of the Task Force;
(ii) the Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration;
(iii) the covered Secretaries;
(iv) three directors of State departments
of human services, or equivalent State
officials, of whom--
(I) one shall be appointed by the
President;
(II) one shall be appointed by the
majority leader of the Senate, with the
concurrence of the minority leader of
the Senate; and
(III) one shall be appointed by the
majority leader of the House of
Representatives, with the concurrence
of the minority leader of the House of
Representatives; and
(v) three representatives from national
nonprofit organizations that work on youth
homelessness, who shall be appointed by the
President.
(B) Requirements for certain members.--The members
of the Task Force appointed under clauses (iv) and (v)
of subparagraph (A) shall each--
(i) have not attained the age of 30; and
(ii) have lived-in experience for youth
homelessness.
(C) Terms.--Each member shall serve for the
duration of the Task Force.
(D) Vacancy.--In the case of a vacancy on the Task
Force, such vacancy shall be filled not later than 30
days after arising and in the manner in which the
original appointment was made.
(E) Staff.--
(i) Chair.--The Chair of the Task Force
shall be chosen, jointly, by the Commissioner
of the Social Security Administration and the
covered Secretaries and shall lead the Task
Force in executing the duties described in
paragraph (3).
(ii) Support personnel.--The Task Force may
appoint additional support personnel as it
considers appropriate to assist in executing
the duties described in paragraph (3).
(3) Duties.--Beginning on the last day of the first fiscal
quarter after the date on which the Task Force is established
under paragraph (1), and quarterly thereafter, the Task Force
shall meet to--
(A) assess and discuss--
(i) the progress each Task Force member has
made on increasing vital documents access for
unaccompanied homeless youth;
(ii) each policy and practice implemented
by a Task Force member that increased vital
documents access for unaccompanied homeless
youth;
(iii) each challenge faced by a Task Force
member while working towards increasing vital
documents access for unaccompanied homeless
youth; and
(iv) each method used by a Task Force
member to refine each policy and practice
implemented to improve vital documents access
for unaccompanied homeless youth;
(B) establish a framework for collecting data on
the effectiveness of each policy and practice
implemented by a Task Force member to increase vital
documents access for unaccompanied homeless youth;
(C) using the data collected under subparagraph
(B)--
(i) formulate policies and practices to
increase vital documents access for
unaccompanied homeless youth; and
(ii) evaluate the success of each such
policy and practice in increasing such access;
and
(D) develop policies and practices that can be
implemented by Federal, State, and local agencies to
improve vital documents access for unaccompanied
homeless youth.
(b) Reports.--
(1) Initial report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than one year after the
date on which the Task Force is established under
subsection (a)(1), the covered Secretaries and the
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
shall, jointly, submit to Congress an initial report on
how to increase vital documents access for
unaccompanied homeless youth.
(B) Elements.--The initial report required under
subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
(i) The covered Secretaries shall, jointly,
provide--
(I) a detailed analysis of each
challenge that unaccompanied homeless
youth without vital documents face in
accessing all programs under the
separate and joint administrative
jurisdictions of the covered
Secretaries, including programs related
to housing assistance, homelessness
prevention, health care, child welfare,
or other social services;
(II) any recommendations for
legislation and administrative action
the covered Secretaries determine
appropriate to increase access to each
such program by unaccompanied homeless
youth without vital documents,
including enhanced training
requirements for agency staff and
increased collaboration between the
agencies of the covered Secretaries;
(III) a list of each State and
local policy that increased vital
documents access for unaccompanied
homeless youth, as determined by the
covered Secretaries, and
recommendations for legislation and
administrative action to expand such
State and local policy; and
(IV) a detailed assessment of each
such policy identified by the covered
Secretaries under subclause (III) and
any suggestion the covered Secretaries
determine appropriate to expand or
replicate each such policy within the
Federal Government.
(ii) The Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration shall provide--
(I) a detailed assessment of each
policy related to issuing social
security cards to unaccompanied
homeless youth, including any
discretion the Commissioner has to
waive any documentation requirement in
the social security card application
process;
(II) any recommendation the
Commissioner determines appropriate to
increase social security card access
for unaccompanied homeless youth,
including enhanced training
requirements for Administration staff
on how to better assist unaccompanied
homeless youth;
(III) any proposal for issuing new
educational materials, or expanding
upon existing materials, to assist
unaccompanied homeless youth with the
social security card application
process;
(IV) a plan to enhance outreach and
collaboration efforts among Federal,
State, and local agencies, as well as
community-based organizations, to
increase social security card access
for unaccompanied homeless youth; and
(V) any recommendation that the
Commissioner determines appropriate for
State legislation and administrative
action to increase social security card
access for unaccompanied homeless
youth.
(2) Final report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than three years after
the date on which the Task Force is established under
subsection (a)(1), the Task Force shall submit to
Congress a final report.
(B) Elements.--The final report required under
subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
(i) Each change undertaken by a Task Force
member based on recommendations made in the
initial report under paragraph (1).
(ii) The effectiveness of each change
described in clause (i) in increasing vital
documents access for unaccompanied homeless
youth.
(iii) A detailed assessment of the merits
of making the Task Force permanent.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered secretaries.--The term ``covered Secretaries''
means--
(A) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
and
(B) the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(2) Unaccompanied homeless youth.--The term ``unaccompanied
homeless youth'' means an individual who is--
(A) a homeless child or youth (as defined in
section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)); and
(B) not in the physical custody of a parent or
guardian.
(3) Vital documents.--The term ``vital documents''--
(A) means any State or Federal document issued to
an individual that can be used to establish the
identity of such individual; and
(B) includes a social security card and a birth
certificate.
(d) Termination.--The Task Force shall terminate on the date that
is three years after the date on which the Task Force is established
under subsection (a)(1).
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