IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 582 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that children have 

a right to adequate housing. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2009 

Ms. WATERS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

children have a right to adequate housing. 

Whereas the House of Representatives is concerned about the 

depth of the economic recession and the growing number 

of homeless families and youth; 

Whereas children who are without adequate housing may be 

placed in unsafe and hazardous environments; 

Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has estimated that 28 percent of homeless 

families are unsheltered due to the lack of affordable 

housing and emergency shelter for families in communities throughout the United States; 


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•HRES 582 IH 

Whereas the gap between the availability of affordable housing and emergency shelter and family need jeopardizes 

the safety and well-being of homeless children; 

Whereas in the most recent one-night count of homelessness 

by the Urban Institute, nearly 200,000 children in families were homeless, with hundreds of thousands more 

children experiencing at least one night of homelessness 

over the course of a year, and millions more children living in substandard, overcrowded, or other precarious situations, placing such children at heightened risk of illness, serious injury, hunger, and educational delay; 

Whereas approximately 2,000,000 unaccompanied youth experience at least one night of homelessness over the 

course of a year; 

Whereas providing stable housing to homeless families dramatically improves family reunification as, according to 

the Family Unification Program of the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 94 percent of homeless 

families that were provided stable housing for 12 months 

were reunified, compared to 70 percent of homeless families who were not provided such stable housing; 

Whereas providing stable housing to homeless families improves family preservation as, according to the Family 

Unification Program of the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 90 percent of homeless families that 

were provided stable housing for 12 months remained intact, compared to 65 percent of homeless families who 

were not provided such stable housing; 

Whereas Congress has asserted a commitment to protecting 

children from neglect and abuse by authorizing and appropriating funds for the Child Abuse Prevention and 


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•HRES 582 IH 

Treatment Act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, and the Adoption and Safe Families 

Act of 1997; 

Whereas children are not only homeless within a family unit, 

but also as unaccompanied youth; 

Whereas many homeless unaccompanied youth experience 

child abuse, neglect, or both; 

Whereas many homeless unaccompanied youth avoid shelters 

and other services because they fear being taken into the 

foster care system; 

Whereas each year approximately 24,000 youth turn 18 or 21 

and consequently ‘‘age out’’ of foster care, often lacking 

the financial, social, and personal resources to live independently; 

Whereas in 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt declared that 

the United States had adopted a ‘‘second Bill of Rights,’’ 

including the right to a decent home; 

Whereas the United States signed the Universal Declaration 

of Human Rights in 1948, recognizing housing as a 

human right; 

Whereas the United States signed the International Covenant 

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1977 and the 

Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 and, although the United States has not yet ratified such treaties, it is committed to uphold the object and purpose of 

such treaties, including the right of children to adequate 

housing; and 

Whereas the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, 

signed by the United States in 1996, recognizes the right 

to adequate housing and the particular needs of children 


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•HRES 582 IH 

and youth for safe, healthy, and secure living conditions: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) children and youth have a right to adequate 

4 housing; 

5 (2) homelessness poses significant harm and 

6 costs to children and youth in the United States; 

7 (3) there are an unacceptably large number of 

8 children and youth in the United States who experi9 ence homelessness every year, often due to the lack 

10 of affordable housing for their families; 

11 (4) projects that provide services to parents and 

12 other caretakers to prevent possible homelessness of 

13 youth in crisis should be created and maintained; 

14 (5) programs at the Federal, State, and local 

15 levels that address the housing needs of low-income 

16 families should be developed and implemented; and 

17 (6) whenever it is in their best interests, chil18 dren have a right to be housed with their families. 

Æ 


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