I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 671 
To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents access 
for unaccompanied homeless youth. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2025 
Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. ANSARI) 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 consider-
ation 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vital Documents Ac-
cess for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE 
ON VITAL DOCUMENTS ACCESS FOR UNAC-
COMPANIED 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 So-
cial Security Administration shall, jointly, establish 
the Interagency Task Force on Vital Documents Ac-
cess for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (referred 
to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to coordinate 
efforts and share best policies and practices to in-
crease 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 depart-
ments of human services, or equivalent 
State officials, of whom— 
(I) one shall be appointed by the 
President; 
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(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
MEM-
BERS.—The members of the Task Force ap-
pointed under clauses (iv) and (v) of subpara-
graph (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 
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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 Com-
missioner of the Social Security Adminis-
tration and the covered Secretaries and 
shall lead the Task Force in executing the 
duties described in paragraph (3). 
(ii) SUPPORT PERSONNEL.—The Task 
Force may appoint additional support per-
sonnel as it considers appropriate to assist 
in executing the duties described in para-
graph (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 quar-
terly thereafter, the Task Force shall meet to— 
(A) assess and discuss— 
(i) the progress each Task Force 
member has made on increasing vital docu-
ments access for unaccompanied homeless 
youth; 
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(ii) each policy and practice imple-
mented by a Task Force member that in-
creased vital documents access for unac-
companied homeless youth; 
(iii) each challenge faced by a Task 
Force member while working towards in-
creasing vital documents access for unac-
companied homeless youth; and 
(iv) each method used by a Task 
Force member to refine each policy and 
practice implemented to improve vital doc-
uments 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 unaccom-
panied homeless youth; 
(C) using the data collected under sub-
paragraph (B)— 
(i) formulate policies and practices to 
increase vital documents access for unac-
companied homeless youth; and 
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(ii) evaluate the success of each such 
policy and practice in increasing such ac-
cess; 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 es-
tablished 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 re-
quired under subparagraph (A) shall include 
the following: 
(i) The covered Secretaries shall, 
jointly, provide— 
(I) a detailed analysis of each 
challenge that unaccompanied home-
less youth without vital documents 
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face in accessing all programs under 
the separate and joint administrative 
jurisdictions of the covered Secre-
taries, including programs related to 
housing assistance, homelessness pre-
vention, health care, child welfare, or 
other social services; 
(II) any recommendations for 
legislation and administrative action 
the covered Secretaries determine ap-
propriate to increase access to each 
such 
program 
by 
unaccompanied 
homeless youth without vital docu-
ments, including enhanced training re-
quirements for agency staff and in-
creased 
collaboration 
between 
the 
agencies of the covered Secretaries; 
(III) a list of each State and 
local policy that increased vital docu-
ments 
access 
for 
unaccompanied 
homeless youth, as determined by the 
covered Secretaries, and recommenda-
tions for legislation and administra-
tive action to expand such State and 
local policy; and 
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(IV) a detailed assessment of 
each such policy identified by the cov-
ered Secretaries under subclause (III) 
and any suggestion the covered Secre-
taries determine appropriate to ex-
pand 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 docu-
mentation 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 require-
ments for Administration staff on how 
to better assist unaccompanied home-
less youth; 
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(III) any proposal for issuing 
new educational materials, or expand-
ing 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 Fed-
eral, 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 administra-
tive action to increase social security 
card access for unaccompanied home-
less 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. 
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(B) ELEMENTS.—The final report required 
under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(i) Each change undertaken by a 
Task 
Force 
member 
based 
on 
rec-
ommendations 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 mer-
its of making the Task Force permanent. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COVERED SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered 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 in-
dividual who is— 
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(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 docu-
ments’’— 
(A) means any State or Federal document 
issued to an individual that can be used to es-
tablish 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). 
Æ 
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