I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1925
To reauthorize programs under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and 
the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 1, 2003
Mr. GINGREY (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, 
Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. PORTER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. BURNS) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce 
A BILL 
To reauthorize programs under the Runaway and Homeless 
Youth Act and the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, 
and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Runaway, Homeless, 
and Missing Children Protection Act’’.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO RUN-
AWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH 
ACT 
SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 
Section 302 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5701) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 302. FINDINGS. 
‘‘The Congress finds that—
‘‘(1) juveniles who have become homeless or 
who leave and remain away from home without pa-
rental permission, are at risk of developing, and 
have a disproportionate share of, serious health, be-
havioral, and emotional problems because they lack 
sufficient resources to obtain care and may live on 
the street for extended periods thereby endangering 
themselves and creating a substantial law enforce-
ment problem for communities in which they con-
gregate; 
‘‘(2) many such young people, because of their 
age and situation, are urgently in need of temporary 
shelter and services, including services that are lin-
guistically appropriate and acknowledge the environ-
ment of youth seeking these services; 
‘‘(3) in view of the interstate nature of the 
problem, it is the responsibility of the Federal Gov-
ernment to develop an accurate national reporting 
system to report the problem, and to assist in the 
development of an effective system of care (including 
preventive and aftercare services, emergency shelter 
services, extended residential shelter, and street out-
reach services) outside the welfare system and the 
law enforcement system; 
‘‘(4) to make a successful transition to adult-
hood, runaway youth, homeless youth, and other 
street youth need opportunities to complete high 
school or earn a general equivalency degree, learn 
job skills, and obtain employment; and 
‘‘(5) improved coordination and collaboration 
between the Federal programs that serve runaway 
and homeless youth are necessary for the develop-
ment of a long-term strategy for responding to the 
needs of this population.’’. 
SEC. 102. RECOGNITION OF STATE LAW RELATING TO CA-
PACITY LIMITATION ON ELIGIBLE RUNAWAY 
AND HOMELESS YOUTH CENTERS. 
Section 312(b)(2)(A) of the Runaway and Homeless 
Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)(2)(A)) is amended by in-
serting after ‘‘youth’’ the following: ‘‘, except where the 
applicant assures that the State where it is located has 
a State or local law or regulation that requires a higher
grant obligations and the quality and number of appli-
cants for parts A and B warrant, not more than 55 per-
cent’’.
SEC. 106. PART A PLAN COORDINATION ASSURANCES. 
Section 312(b)(4)(B) of the Runaway and Homeless 
Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5712(b)(4)(B)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘personnel’’ and all that follows through the semicolon 
and inserting ‘‘McKinney-Vento school district liaisons, 
designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKin-
ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432 
(g)(1)(J)(ii)), to assure that runaway and homeless youth 
are provided information about the educational services 
available to such youth under subtitle B of title VII of 
that Act;’’. 
SEC. 107. PART B PLAN COORDINATION AGREEMENT. 
Section 322(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 
end of paragraph (13); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(15) to coordinate services with McKinney-
Vento school district liaisons, designated under sec-
tion 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Home-
less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), 
to assure that runaway and homeless youth are pro-
vided information about the educational services 
available to such youth under subtitle B of title VII 
of that Act.’’. 
SEC. 108. PART B PLAN DEVELOPMENT. 
Section 322(a)(7) of the Runaway and Homeless 
Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–2(a)(7)) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(7) to develop an adequate plan to ensure 
proper referral of homeless youth to social service, 
law enforcement, educational (including post-sec-
ondary education), vocational, training (including 
services and programs for youth available under the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998), welfare (includ-
ing programs under the Personal Responsibility and 
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), legal 
service, and health care programs and to help inte-
grate and coordinate such services for youths;’’. 
SEC. 109. REPORT ON STRATEGIES TO END YOUTH HOME-
LESSNESS. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, in consultation with the United States Inter-
agency Council on Homelessness, shall submit to the Con-
gress a report on strategies to end youth homelessness. 
SEC. 110. EVALUATION ON HOUSING SERVICES AND STRAT-
EGIES. 
Section 386 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5732) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) EVALUATION
ON
HOUSING
SERVICES
AND 
STRATEGIES.—The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation 
of such programs funded under part B of this Act to re-
port on long-term housing outcomes for youth 12 to 18 
months after exiting the program. The evaluation of any 
such program should provide information on housing serv-
ices available to youth upon exiting the program, including 
assistance in locating and retaining permanent housing 
and referrals to other residential programs. In addition, 
the evaluation should identify housing models and place-
ment strategies that prevent future episodes of homeless-
ness.’’. 
SEC. 111. AGE LIMIT FOR HOMELESS YOUTH. 
Section 387(3)(A)(i) of the Runaway and Homeless 
Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5732a(3)(A)(i)) is amended by in-
serting after ‘‘of age’’ the following: ‘‘, or, in the case of 
a youth seeking shelter in a center under part A, not more 
than 18 years of age’’.
TITLE 
II—AMENDMENTS 
TO 
MISSING CHILDREN’S ASSIST-
ANCE ACT
SEC. 201. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 
Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5771) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 
‘‘The Congress finds that—
‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are ab-
ducted or removed from the control of a parent hav-
ing legal custody without such parent’s consent, 
under circumstances which immediately place the 
child in grave danger; 
‘‘(2) many missing children are at great risk of 
both physical harm and sexual exploitation; 
‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law en-
forcement officials have neither the resources nor 
the expertise to mount expanded search efforts; 
‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved 
from one locality to another, requiring the coopera-
tion and coordination of local, State, and Federal 
law enforcement efforts; 
‘‘(5) the National Center for Missing and Ex-
ploited Children—
‘‘(A) serves as the national resource center 
and clearinghouse; 
‘‘(B) works in partnership with the De-
partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation, the Department of the Treasury, 
the Department of State, and many other agen-
cies in the effort to find missing children and 
prevent child victimization; and 
‘‘(C) operates a national and increasingly 
worldwide network, linking the Center online 
with each of the missing children clearinghouses 
operated by the 50 States, the District of Co-
lumbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with Scot-
land Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 
Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL head-
quarters in Lyon, France, and others, which en-
able the Center to transmit images and infor-
mation regarding missing children to law en-
forcement across the United States and around 
the world instantly.’’. 
SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) ANNUAL GRANT
TO NATIONAL CENTER
FOR 
MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN.—Section 404(b)(2) 
of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5773(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years
2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 
2003 and $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
through 2008’’. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a) of the Missing 
Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘2000 through 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘2003 
through 2008’’. 
SEC. 203. CREATION OF CYBER TIPLINE. 
Section 404(b)(1) of the Missing Children’s Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(1)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon at the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(H) coordinate the operation of a cyber 
tipline to provide online users an effective 
means of reporting Internet-related child sexual 
exploitation in the areas of—
‘‘(i) distribution of child pornography; 
‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for 
sexual acts; and 
‘‘(iii) child prostitution.’’.
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