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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10522 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10522

  To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents 
                access for unaccompanied homeless youth.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2024

 Mr. Connolly 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 2024''.

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 under 
                        paragraph (3).
                            (ii) Support personnel.--The Task Force may 
                        appoint additional support personnel as it 
                        considers appropriate to assist in executing 
                        the duties described under 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).
                                 <all>
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