II 

Calendar No. 773 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5524 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2008 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To amend the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to 

authorize appropriations, 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 ‘‘Reconnecting Home5 less Youth Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Section 302 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 5701) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

10 (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively, and 

11 (2) inserting after paragraph (2) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) services to such young people should be de2 veloped and provided using a positive youth develop3 ment approach that ensures the young person a 

4 sense of— 

5 ‘‘(A) safety and structure; 

6 ‘‘(B) belonging and membership; 

7 ‘‘(C) self-worth and social contribution; 

8 ‘‘(D) independence and control over one’s 

9 life; and 

10 ‘‘(E) closeness in interpersonal relation11 ships;’’. 

12 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR CENTERS AND SERVICES. 

13 Section 311 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 5711) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B)(i) by inserting be16 fore the semicolon the following: 

17 ‘‘provided for a continuous period not to 

18 exceed 15 days, except that such shelter 

19 may be provided for a continuous period 

20 not to exceed 21 days if the State where 

21 the center is located has an applicable 

22 State or local law or regulation that per23 mits a length of stay in excess of such 15 

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1 ments for child and youth serving facili2 ties’’, 

3 (2) in subsection (b)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 

7 (B) and to the extent that sufficient funds 

8 are available, the’’, 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and in10 serting ‘‘$150,000’’, 

11 (iii) by striking ‘‘$45,000’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘$70,000’’, and 

13 (iv) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(B) For fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the 

16 amount allotted under paragraph (1) with respect to 

17 a State for a fiscal year shall be not less than the 

18 amount alotted with respect to such State for fiscal 

19 year 2008.’’, 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

21 paragraph (4), and 

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(3) Whenever the Secretary determines that 

25 any part of the amount allotted under paragraph (1) 


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1 with respect to a State will not be obligated before 

2 the end of the fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot 

3 such part under paragraph (1) with respect to the 

4 remaining States for obligation for such fiscal 

5 year.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. BASIC CENTER GRANT PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY. 

7 Section 312(b) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end, 

11 (2) in paragraph (12) by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

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

14 ‘‘(13) shall develop an adequate emergency pre15 paredness and management plan.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. TRANSITIONAL LIVING GRANT PROGRAM ELIGI17 BILITY. 

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

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 2714-2(a)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘indirectly’’ the 1st place it 

22 appears and inserting ‘‘by contract’’, and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘and services’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘, and to provide, directly or indirectly, 

25 services’’, 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘except that a youth’’ and 

3 inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘except that in the case of— 

5 ‘‘(i) a youth’’, 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘such youth may’’ after 

7 ‘‘program,’’, and 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘period;’’ and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘period; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a program that is located in a 

12 State that has an applicable State or local 

13 law or regulation that permits a length of 

14 stay in excess of such 540-day period in 

15 compliance with licensure requirements for 

16 child and youth serving facilities, a youth 

17 may remain in such program throughout a 

18 continuous period not to exceed 635 

19 days;’’, 

20 (3) in paragraph (14) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end, 

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

23 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

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


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1 ‘‘(16) to develop an adequate emergency pre2 paredness and management plan.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. RESEARCH, EVALUATION, DEMONSTRATION, AND 

4 SERVICE PROJECTS. 

5 Section 343 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5714-23)) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

9 (1)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘special consideration’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘priority’’, and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘relating to’’ and in13 serting ‘‘focused on’’, 

14 (B) in paragraph (8)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘quality’’ after ‘‘ac16 cess to’’, 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘mental’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘behavioral’’, and 

19 (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, 

20 (C) in paragraph (9) by striking the period 

21 at the end and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘, including educational and workforce programs 

23 with outcomes such as decreasing the secondary 

24 school drop-out rate, increasing diploma or equiva25 lent attainment rates, or increasing placement and 


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1 retention in postsecondary education or advanced 

2 workforce training; or’’, and 

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

4 ‘‘(10) programs, including innovative programs, 

5 that assist youth in obtaining and maintaining safe 

6 and stable housing, and may include programs with 

7 supportive services that continue after program com8 pletion.’’, and 

9 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(c) In selecting among applicants for grants under 

12 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) give priority to applicants who have experi14 ence working with runaway youth or homeless youth; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(2) ensure that the applicants selected— 

17 ‘‘(A) are geographically representative of 

18 different regions of the United States; and 

19 ‘‘(B) carry out projects that serve diverse 

20 populations of runaway or homeless youth.’’. 

21 SEC. 7. ESTIMATE OF INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE OF 

22 YOUTH HOMELESSNESS. 

23 Part D of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 5714-21–5714-24) is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 345. PERIODIC ESTIMATE OF INCIDENCE AND PREVA2 LENCE OF YOUTH HOMELESSNESS. 

3 ‘‘(a) PERIODIC ESTIMATE.—Not later than 2 years 

4 after the effective date of this section, and at 5-year inter5 vals thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the 

6 United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, shall 

7 prepare and submit to the Committee on Education and 

8 Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

9 on Judiciary of the Senate, and make public, a report— 

10 ‘‘(1) by using the best quantitative and quali11 tative social science research method available, con12 taining an estimate of the incidence and prevalence 

13 of runaway and homeless individuals who are less 

14 than 26 years of age and not less than 13 years of 

15 age; and 

16 ‘‘(2) that includes with such estimate an assess17 ment of the characteristics of such individuals. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONTENT.—The report required by subsection 

19 (a) shall include— 

20 ‘‘(1) the results of conducting a survey of, and 

21 direct interviews with, a representative sample of 

22 runaway and homeless individuals who are less than 

23 26 years of age and not less than 13 years of age, 

24 to determine past and current— 

25 ‘‘(A) socioeconomic characteristics of such 

26 individuals; 


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1 ‘‘(B) barriers to such individuals obtain2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(i) safe, quality, and affordable hous4 ing; 

5 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive and affordable 

6 health insurance and health services; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) incomes, public benefits, sup8 portive services, and connections to caring 

9 adults; and 

10 ‘‘(C) such other information that the Sec11 retary determines, in consultation with States, 

12 units of local government, and national non13 governmental organizations concerned with 

14 homelessness, may be useful. 

15 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—If the Secretary enters into 

16 any contract with a non-Federal entity for purposes of car17 rying out subsection (a), such entity shall be a nongovern18 mental organization, or an individual, determined by the 

19 Secretary to have appropriate expertise in quantitative 

20 and qualitative social science research.’’. 

21 SEC. 8. SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAM. 

22 Section 351(b) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–41(b)) is amended by inserting 

24 ‘‘public and’’ after ‘‘priority to’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. NATIONAL HOMELESS YOUTH AWARENESS CAM2 PAIGN. 

3 The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 5701 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating part F as part G, and 

6 (2) by inserting after part E the following: 

7 ‘‘PART F—NATIONAL HOMELESS YOUTH 

8 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 

9 ‘‘SEC. 361. NATIONAL HOMELESS YOUTH AWARENESS CAM10 PAIGN. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, directly or 

12 through grants or contracts, conduct a national homeless 

13 youth awareness campaign (referred to in this section as 

14 the ‘national awareness campaign’) in accordance with 

15 this section for purposes of— 

16 ‘‘(1) increasing awareness of individuals of all 

17 ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and geographic lo18 cations, of the issues facing runway and homeless 

19 youth, the resources available for these youth, and 

20 the tools available for the prevention of youth run21 away and homeless situations; and 

22 ‘‘(2) encouraging parents, guardians, educators, 

23 health care professionals, social service professionals, 

24 law enforcement officials, and other community 

25 members to seek to prevent runaway youth and 


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1 youth homelessness by assisting youth in averting or 

2 resolving runaway and homeless situations. 

3 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to carry 

4 out this section for the national awareness campaign may 

5 be used only for the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) The dissemination of educational informa7 tion and materials through various media, including 

8 television, radio, the Internet and related tech9 nologies, and emerging technologies. 

10 ‘‘(2) Partnerships, including outreach activities, 

11 with national organizations concerned with youth 

12 homelessness, community-based youth service orga13 nizations (including faith-based organizations), and 

14 government organizations related to the national 

15 awareness campaign. 

16 ‘‘(3) In accordance with applicable laws and 

17 regulations, the development and placement of public 

18 service announcements in telecommunications media, 

19 including the Internet and related technologies and 

20 emerging technologies, that educate the public on 

21 the issues facing runaway and homeless youth (or 

22 youth considering running away) and on the oppor23 tunities that adults have to assist such youth. 

24 ‘‘(4) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the na25 tional awareness campaign. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS.—None of the funds made avail2 able under subsection (b) may be obligated or expended 

3 for any of the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) To supplant pro bono public service time 

5 donated by national or local broadcasting networks, 

6 advertising agencies, production companies, or other 

7 pro bono work for the national awareness campaign. 

8 ‘‘(2) For partisan political purposes, or express 

9 advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly iden10 tified candidate, clearly identified ballot initiative, or 

11 clearly identified legislative or regulatory proposal. 

12 ‘‘(3) To fund advertising that features any 

13 elected officials, persons seeking elected office, cabi14 net level officials, or other Federal employees em15 ployed in positions in schedule C of part 213 of title 

16 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (January 1, 

17 2008), as amended from time to time. 

18 ‘‘(4) To fund advertising that does not contain 

19 a primary message intended to educate the public on 

20 the issues facing runaway and homeless youth (or 

21 youth considering running away) or on the opportu22 nities for adults to help such youth. 

23 ‘‘(5) To fund advertising that solicits contribu24 tions to support the national awareness campaign. 


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1 ‘‘(d) FINANCIAL AND PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT2 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall perform— 

3 ‘‘(1) audits and reviews of costs of the national 

4 awareness campaign pursuant to section 304C of the 

5 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 

6 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254d); and 

7 ‘‘(2) an audit to determine whether the costs of 

8 the national awareness campaign are allowable 

9 under section 306 of such Act (41 U.S.C. 256). 

10 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Secretary shall include in each 

11 report submitted under section 382 a summary of the na12 tional awareness campaign that describes— 

13 ‘‘(1) the activities undertaken by the national 

14 awareness campaign; 

15 ‘‘(2) steps taken to ensure that the national 

16 awareness campaign operates in an effective and ef17 ficient manner consistent with the overall strategy 

18 and focus of the national awareness campaign; and 

19 ‘‘(3) each grant made to, or contract entered 

20 into with, a particular corporation, partnership, or 

21 individual working on the national awareness cam22 paign.’’. 

23 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

24 Section 387 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 5732a) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

2 (A) in clause (i)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘not more than’’ each 

4 place it appears and inserting ‘‘less than’’, 

5 and 

6 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘age’’ the last 

7 place it appears the following: 

8 ‘‘, or until attaining a higher maximum 

9 age if the State where the center is located 

10 has an applicable State or local law or reg11 ulation that permits such higher maximum 

12 age in compliance with licensure require13 ments for child and youth serving facili14 ties’’, and 

15 (B) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘age;’’ and in16 serting the following: 

17 ‘‘age and either— 

18 ‘‘(I) less than 22 years of age; or 

19 ‘‘(II) an age exceeding 22 years 

20 of age as of the expiration of the max21 imum period of stay permitted under 

22 section 322(a)(2)(ii) if such individual 

23 commences such stay before attaining 

24 22 years of age;’’, and 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

2 (7) as paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively. 

3 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 Section 388(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 5751(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

9 be appropriated to carry out this title (other than 

10 parts E and F, and section 345) $150,000,000 for 

11 fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary 

12 for fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.’’, 

13 (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(4) PART E.—There are authorized to be ap16 propriated to carry out part E $30,000,000 for fis17 cal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary 

18 for fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.’’, and 

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

20 ‘‘(5) PART F.—There is authorized to be appro21 priated to carry out part F $3,000,000 for each of 

22 the fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. 

23 ‘‘(6) SECTION 345.—There are authorized to be 

24 appropriated to carry out section 345 such sums as 


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1 may be necessary for fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011, 

2 2012, and 2013.’’. 

3 SEC. 12. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. 

4 The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 5701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 390. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PERFORMANCE STAND9 ARDS.—Not later than 1 year after the effective date of 

10 this section, the Secretary shall establish by rule perform11 ance standards applicable to public and nonprofit private 

12 entities and agencies that receive grants under sections 

13 311, 321, and 351. 

14 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PERFORMANCE STAND15 ARDS.—The Secretary shall integrate performance stand16 ards established under subsection (a) into the Secretary’s 

17 processes for grant-making, monitoring, and evaluation 

18 for programs under sections 311, 321, and 351. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall consult 

20 with representatives of public and private entities and 

21 agencies that receive grants under this title, statewide and 

22 regional nonprofit organizations (and combinations of 

23 such organizations) that receive grants under this title, 

24 and national nonprofit organizations concerned with youth 


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1 homelessness in developing the performance standards re2 quired by subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall pro4 vide an opportunity for public comment concerning the es5 tablishment of the performance standards required by sub6 section (a) before issuing rules to establish such stand7 ards, and shall maintain an official record of such public 

8 comment.’’. 

9 SEC. 13. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

10 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

11 a study of, and make findings and recommendations relat12 ing to, the process for making grants under parts A, B, 

13 and E of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, with re14 spect to— 

15 (1) the written responses made by the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services to (and any other 

17 methods for communicating with) grant applicants 

18 who are do not receive a grant under part A, B, or 

19 E of such Act, to determine if the information pro20 vided in such responses to such applicants is con21 veyed clearly, 

22 (2) the structure of the grant application and 

23 associated documents (including announcements that 

24 grants are available under such parts), to determine 

25 if such application is structured so that the appliVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:24 Jun 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5524.PCS H5524

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1 cant has a clear understanding of what is required 

2 in each provision to successfully complete the appli3 cation, including a clear explanation of terminology 

4 required to be used by the applicant throughout the 

5 document, 

6 (3) the peer review process (if any) used to re7 view grant applications (including the selection of 

8 peer reviewers) and the oversight of the peer review 

9 process by employees of the Department of Health 

10 and Human Services, as well as the extent to which 

11 such employees make funding determinations based 

12 on the comments and scores of the individuals who 

13 perform peer reviews, 

14 (4) the typical time frame and the process used 

15 by such employees, including employee responsibil16 ities, for responding to applicants and the efforts 

17 taken to communicate with applicants when there is 

18 a delay of decisions on applications or when funds 

19 to carry out this title are not appropriated before 

20 the beginning of the then current fiscal year, and 

21 (5) the plans for and implementation of, where 

22 practicable, the new training and technical assist23 ance programs and their effect on the grant applica24 tion process. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

3 submit a report to the Committee on Education and Labor 

4 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

5 Judiciary of the Senate, containing a summary of the re6 sults of the study conducted under subsection (a), together 

7 with the findings and recommendations made by the 

8 Comptroller General based on such results. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 9, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 773 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5524 

AN ACT 

To amend the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 

to authorize appropriations, and for other purposes. 

JUNE 10, 2008 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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