I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1925

To reauthorize programs under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and 

the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2003

Mr. GINGREY (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, 

Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. PORTER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. BURNS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL

To reauthorize programs under the Runaway and Homeless 

Youth Act and the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Runaway, Homeless, 

5 and Missing Children Protection Act’’. 
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1 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO RUN2 AWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH 

3 ACT 

4 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 

5 Section 302 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5701) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 302. FINDINGS. 

8 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

9 ‘‘(1) juveniles who have become homeless or 

10 who leave and remain away from home without pa11 rental permission, are at risk of developing, and 

12 have a disproportionate share of, serious health, be13 havioral, and emotional problems because they lack 

14 sufficient resources to obtain care and may live on 

15 the street for extended periods thereby endangering 

16 themselves and creating a substantial law enforce17 ment problem for communities in which they con18 gregate; 

19 ‘‘(2) many such young people, because of their 

20 age and situation, are urgently in need of temporary 

21 shelter and services, including services that are lin22 guistically appropriate and acknowledge the environ23 ment of youth seeking these services; 

24 ‘‘(3) in view of the interstate nature of the 

25 problem, it is the responsibility of the Federal Gov-
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1 ernment to develop an accurate national reporting 

2 system to report the problem, and to assist in the 

3 development of an effective system of care (including 

4 preventive and aftercare services, emergency shelter 

5 services, extended residential shelter, and street out6 reach services) outside the welfare system and the 

7 law enforcement system; 

8 ‘‘(4) to make a successful transition to adult9 hood, runaway youth, homeless youth, and other 

10 street youth need opportunities to complete high 

11 school or earn a general equivalency degree, learn 

12 job skills, and obtain employment; and 

13 ‘‘(5) improved coordination and collaboration 

14 between the Federal programs that serve runaway 

15 and homeless youth are necessary for the develop16 ment of a long-term strategy for responding to the 

17 needs of this population.’’. 

18 SEC. 102. RECOGNITION OF STATE LAW RELATING TO CA19 PACITY LIMITATION ON ELIGIBLE RUNAWAY 

20 AND HOMELESS YOUTH CENTERS. 

21 Section 312(b)(2)(A) of the Runaway and Homeless 

22 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)(2)(A)) is amended by in23 serting after ‘‘youth’’ the following: ‘‘, except where the 

24 applicant assures that the State where it is located has 

25 a State or local law or regulation that requires a higher 
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1 maximum to comply with licensure requirements for chil2 dren and youth serving facilities’’. 

3 SEC. 103. MATERNITY GROUP HOMES. 

4 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 322(a)(1) of the Runaway 

5 and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)(1)) is 

6 amended—

7 (1) by inserting after ‘‘group homes,’’ the fol8 lowing: ‘‘including maternity group homes,’’; and 

9 (2) by inserting after ‘‘use of credit,’’ the fol10 lowing: ‘‘parenting skills (as appropriate),’’. 

11 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 322 of the Runaway and 

12 Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this part, the term ‘maternity 

15 group home’ means a community-based, adult-supervised 

16 transitional youth living arrangement that provides preg17 nant or parenting teens and their children with a sup18 portive and supervised living arrangement in which such 

19 pregnant or parenting teens are required to learn par20 enting skills, including child development, family budg21 eting, health and nutrition, and other skills to promote 

22 their long-term economic independence in order to ensure 

23 the well-being of their children.’’.
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1 SEC. 104. LIMITED EXTENSION OF 540-DAY SHELTER ELIGI2 BILITY PERIOD. 

3 Section 322(a)(2) of the Runaway and Homeless 

4 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)(2)) is amended by in5 serting after ‘‘days’’ the following: ‘‘, except that a youth 

6 in a program under this part who is under the age of 18 

7 years on the last day of the 540-day period may, if other8 wise qualified for the program, remain in the program 

9 until the earlier of the youth’s 18th birthday or the 180th 

10 day after the end of the 540-day period’’. 

11 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 (a) OTHER THAN PART E.—Section 388(a)(1) of the 

13 Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 5751(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘years 2000, 2001, 

15 2002, and 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘year 2003, $105,000,000 

16 for fiscal year 2004, and such sums as may be necessary 

17 for fiscal years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008’’. 

18 (b) PART E.—Section 388(a)(4) of the Runaway and 

19 Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5751(a)(4)) is amended 

20 by striking ‘‘2000, 2001, 2002, and’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

21 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008’’. 

22 (c) PART B ALLOCATION.—Section 388(a)(2)(B) of 

23 the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 5751(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘not less than 20 

25 percent, and not more than 30 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘45 

26 percent and, in those fiscal years in which continuation 
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1 grant obligations and the quality and number of appli2 cants for parts A and B warrant, not more than 55 per3 cent’’.

4 SEC. 106. PART A PLAN COORDINATION ASSURANCES. 

5 Section 312(b)(4)(B) of the Runaway and Homeless 

6 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)(4)(B)) is amended by strik7 ing ‘‘personnel’’ and all that follows through the semicolon 

8 and inserting ‘‘McKinney-Vento school district liaisons, 

9 designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKin10 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432 

11 (g)(1)(J)(ii)), to assure that runaway and homeless youth 

12 are provided information about the educational services 

13 available to such youth under subtitle B of title VII of 

14 that Act;’’. 

15 SEC. 107. PART B PLAN COORDINATION AGREEMENT. 

16 Section 322(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)) is amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 

19 end of paragraph (13); 

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(15) to coordinate services with McKinney25 Vento school district liaisons, designated under sec-
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1 tion 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Home2 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), 

3 to assure that runaway and homeless youth are pro4 vided information about the educational services 

5 available to such youth under subtitle B of title VII 

6 of that Act.’’. 

7 SEC. 108. PART B PLAN DEVELOPMENT. 

8 Section 322(a)(7) of the Runaway and Homeless 

9 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)(7)) is amended to read 

10 as follows: 

11 ‘‘(7) to develop an adequate plan to ensure 

12 proper referral of homeless youth to social service, 

13 law enforcement, educational (including post-sec14 ondary education), vocational, training (including 

15 services and programs for youth available under the 

16 Workforce Investment Act of 1998), welfare (includ17 ing programs under the Personal Responsibility and 

18 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), legal 

19 service, and health care programs and to help inte20 grate and coordinate such services for youths;’’. 

21 SEC. 109. REPORT ON STRATEGIES TO END YOUTH HOME22 LESSNESS. 

23 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 

25 Services, in consultation with the United States Inter-
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1 agency Council on Homelessness, shall submit to the Con2 gress a report on strategies to end youth homelessness. 

3 SEC. 110. EVALUATION ON HOUSING SERVICES AND STRAT4 EGIES. 

5 Section 386 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5732) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION ON HOUSING SERVICES AND

9 STRATEGIES.—The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation 

10 of such programs funded under part B of this Act to re11 port on long-term housing outcomes for youth 12 to 18 

12 months after exiting the program. The evaluation of any 

13 such program should provide information on housing serv14 ices available to youth upon exiting the program, including 

15 assistance in locating and retaining permanent housing 

16 and referrals to other residential programs. In addition, 

17 the evaluation should identify housing models and place18 ment strategies that prevent future episodes of homeless19 ness.’’. 

20 SEC. 111. AGE LIMIT FOR HOMELESS YOUTH. 

21 Section 387(3)(A)(i) of the Runaway and Homeless 

22 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5732a(3)(A)(i)) is amended by in23 serting after ‘‘of age’’ the following: ‘‘, or, in the case of 

24 a youth seeking shelter in a center under part A, not more 

25 than 18 years of age’’.
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1 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO 

2 MISSING CHILDREN’S ASSIST3 ANCE ACT

4 SEC. 201. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 

5 Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5771) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

8 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

9 ‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are ab10 ducted or removed from the control of a parent hav11 ing legal custody without such parent’s consent, 

12 under circumstances which immediately place the 

13 child in grave danger; 

14 ‘‘(2) many missing children are at great risk of 

15 both physical harm and sexual exploitation; 

16 ‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law en17 forcement officials have neither the resources nor 

18 the expertise to mount expanded search efforts; 

19 ‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved 

20 from one locality to another, requiring the coopera21 tion and coordination of local, State, and Federal 

22 law enforcement efforts; 

23 ‘‘(5) the National Center for Missing and Ex24 ploited Children—
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1 ‘‘(A) serves as the national resource center 

2 and clearinghouse; 

3 ‘‘(B) works in partnership with the De4 partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of In5 vestigation, the Department of the Treasury, 

6 the Department of State, and many other agen7 cies in the effort to find missing children and 

8 prevent child victimization; and 

9 ‘‘(C) operates a national and increasingly 

10 worldwide network, linking the Center online 

11 with each of the missing children clearinghouses 

12 operated by the 50 States, the District of Co13 lumbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with Scot14 land Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 

15 Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL head16 quarters in Lyon, France, and others, which en17 able the Center to transmit images and infor18 mation regarding missing children to law en19 forcement across the United States and around 

20 the world instantly.’’. 

21 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) ANNUAL GRANT TO NATIONAL CENTER FOR

23 MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN.—Section 404(b)(2) 

24 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 5773(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years 
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1 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 

2 2003 and $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

3 through 2008’’. 

4 (b) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a) of the Missing 

5 Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended 

6 by striking ‘‘2000 through 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘2003 

7 through 2008’’. 

8 SEC. 203. CREATION OF CYBER TIPLINE. 

9 Section 404(b)(1) of the Missing Children’s Assist10 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(1)) is amended—

11 (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 after the semicolon at the end; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 

14 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(H) coordinate the operation of a cyber 

18 tipline to provide online users an effective 

19 means of reporting Internet-related child sexual 

20 exploitation in the areas of—

21 ‘‘(i) distribution of child pornography; 

22 ‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for 

23 sexual acts; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) child prostitution.’’.

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