III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 479 

Designating November 2023 as ‘‘National Homeless Children and Youth 

Awareness Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2023 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. REED, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. 

OSSOFF) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 

agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating November 2023 as ‘‘National Homeless Children 

and Youth Awareness Month’’. 

Whereas, in the United States, public schools identified approximately 1,200,000 enrolled homeless children and 

youth during the 2021 to 2022 school year; 

Whereas an estimated 1,000,000 children younger than 6 

years of age in 2020 to 2021, and approximately 

4,200,000 youth and young adults in 2017, experienced 

homelessness, with many of those children, youth, and 

young adults staying on couches, in motels, in shelters, 

or outside; 

Whereas infants experiencing homelessness are at a higher 

risk for certain illnesses and health conditions; 


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•SRES 479 ATS 

Whereas families experiencing homelessness are more likely 

to experience involvement in the child welfare system and 

difficulty with school attendance; 

Whereas, in 2021, high school students experiencing homelessness were nearly twice as likely to have seriously considered suicide or made a suicide plan and more than 3 

times as likely to have made a suicide attempt within the 

past year; 

Whereas individuals without a high school degree or general 

educational development certificate are over 4.5 times 

more likely to report homelessness than their peers who 

completed high school, making lack of education the leading risk factor for homelessness; 

Whereas, in 2018, the high school graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness was 68 percent, compared to 80 percent for low-income students and 85.5 

percent for all students; 

Whereas the rate of youth homelessness is the same in rural, 

suburban, and urban areas; 

Whereas 29 percent of unaccompanied homeless youth between 13 and 25 years of age have spent time in foster 

care, compared to approximately 6 percent of all children; 

Whereas homelessness among children and youth is a complex issue that often occurs with deep poverty, low education and employment levels, substance misuse and use 

disorders, mental health disorders, lack of affordable 

housing, and family conflict; and 

Whereas awareness of child and youth homelessness must be 

heightened to encourage greater support for effective programs to help children and youth overcome homelessness: 

Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 479 ATS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the efforts of businesses, govern3 ments, organizations, educators, and volunteers dedi4 cated to meeting the needs of homeless children and 

5 youth; 

6 (2) applauds the initiatives of businesses, gov7 ernments, organizations, educators, and volunteers 

8 that— 

9 (A) use time and resources to raise aware10 ness of child and youth homelessness, the 

11 causes of child and youth homelessness, and po12 tential solutions; and 

13 (B) work to prevent homelessness among 

14 children and youth; 

15 (3) designates November 2023 as ‘‘National 

16 Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month’’; 

17 and 

18 (4) encourages businesses, governments, organi19 zations, educators, and volunteers to continue to in20 tensify their efforts to address homelessness among 

21 children and youth during November 2023. 

Æ 


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