I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2955 

To amend the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to ensure that recipients 

of assistance under that Act provide services to sexual and gender minority youth in a manner that is culturally competent, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Ms. MOORE (for herself and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to ensure 

that recipients of assistance under that Act provide services to sexual and gender minority youth in a manner 

that is culturally competent, 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 and Home5 less Youth Inclusion Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CULTURAL COMPETENCY OF SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

2 (a) BASIC CENTERS.—Section 312(b) of the Run3 away and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (6) by inserting after ‘‘cul6 tural minority’’ the following: ‘‘, persons who are in 

7 a minority category related to sexual orientation or 

8 gender identity or expression,’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (7) by inserting after ‘‘serv10 ices),’’ the following: ‘‘including demographics on the 

11 sexual orientation and gender identity or expression 

12 of the youth it serves,’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

14 at the end; 

15 (4) in paragraph (13) by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(14) shall serve youth in a manner that is cul19 turally competent.’’. 

20 (b) TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAMS.—Section 

21 322(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (15) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (16) by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

26 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(17) to serve youth in a manner that is cul2 turally competent.’’. 

3 (c) SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Sec4 tion 351 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–41) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible 

7 to receive grants under subsection (a), an applicant shall 

8 certify to the Secretary that the applicant has systems in 

9 place to ensure that the applicant provides services to all 

10 youth in a culturally competent manner.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL FINDING. 

12 (a) FINDING.—Section 302 of the Runaway and 

13 Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5701) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

15 end; 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para17 graph (7); and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(6) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

21 youth comprise an estimated 3 to 5 percent of the 

22 youth population of the United States but such 

23 youth account for up to 40 percent of the homeless 

24 youth population of the United States; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL PURPOSES. 

2 Section 311(a)(2)(C) of the Runaway and Homeless 

3 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5711(a)(2)(C)) is amended— 

4 (1) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (2) in clause (iv) by striking the period at the 

6 end and inserting a semicolon; and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(v) family assessment, intervention, 

9 and reunification services for families of 

10 sexual and gender minority youth; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) providing resources for families 

12 of sexual and gender minority youth who 

13 may be struggling with understanding or 

14 accepting the sexual orientation or gender 

15 identity or expression of the individual.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. REPORT REQUIREMENT. 

17 Section 345(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–25(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(3) that includes data on the demographics of 

23 such individuals, including whether such individuals 

24 are sexual and gender minority youth; and 

25 ‘‘(4) that does not disclose the identity of indi26 vidual runaway or homeless youth.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. INCLUSION OF NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT 

2 IN RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH ACT. 

3 Part F of title III of the Runaway and Homeless 

4 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714a et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 390. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 

8 shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, reli9 gion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender iden10 tity or expression, or disability, be excluded from partici11 pation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to dis12 crimination under— 

13 ‘‘(1) any program or activity funded in whole or 

14 in part with funds made available under this title; or 

15 ‘‘(2) any program or activity funded in whole or 

16 in part with funds appropriated for grants, agree17 ments, and other assistance administered with funds 

18 made available under this title. 

19 ‘‘(b) DISCRIMINATION.—The authority of the Attor20 ney General and the Office of Justice Programs to enforce 

21 this section shall be the same as it is under section 809 

22 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

23 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3789d). 

24 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

25 Nothing in this section may be construed, interpreted, or 

26 applied to supplant, displace, preempt, or otherwise diminVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:41 Aug 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2955.IH H2955

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1 ish the responsibilities and liabilities under other State or 

2 Federal civil rights law, whether statutory or common.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Section 387 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 5732a) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through 

7 (8) as paragraphs (9) through (12), respectively; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

9 (4) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraph (1) as para11 graph (2); 

12 (4) by inserting after ‘‘In this title:’’ the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(1) CULTURALLY COMPETENT.—The term 

15 ‘culturally competent’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) having a defined set of values and 

17 principles and demonstrate behaviors, attitudes, 

18 policies, and structures that enable effective 

19 working relationships with individuals of diverse 

20 backgrounds, including sexual and gender mi21 nority youth; and 

22 ‘‘(B) having the demonstrated capacity 

23 to— 

24 ‘‘(i) value diversity; 

25 ‘‘(ii) conduct self-assessment; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) manage the dynamics of dif2 ference; 

3 ‘‘(iv) acquire and institutionalize cul4 tural knowledge; and 

5 ‘‘(v) adapt to diversity and cultural 

6 contexts of a community.’’; 

7 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as redesig8 nated by paragraph (3) of this section) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(3) GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION.—The 

11 term ‘gender identity or expression’ means an indi12 vidual’s gender-related identity, appearance, or be13 havior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or 

14 behavior differs from that which is traditionally as15 sociated with the individual’s physiology or assigned 

16 sex at birth.’’; and 

17 (6) by inserting after paragraph (6) (as redesig18 nated by paragraph (2) of this section) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(7) SEXUAL AND GENDER MINORITY

21 YOUTH.—The term ‘sexual and gender minority 

22 youth’ means a runaway or homeless youth covered 

23 under this Act who is in a minority category related 

24 to sexual orientation or gender identity or expres25 sion. 


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1 ‘‘(8) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘sexual 

2 orientation’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or 

3 bisexuality.’’. 

Æ 


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