‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—A request made under subsection 
(a) shall be provided to the Secretary in writing and 
shall— 
‘‘(1) detail each provision within this title for 
which the grantee seeks relief; 
‘‘(2) describe how a waiver from such provision 
will, by itself, improve delivery of services to run-
away and homeless youth; and 
‘‘(3) certify that the health, safety, and well- 
being of runaway and homeless youth served 
through assistance received under this title will not 
be compromised as a result of the waiver. 
‘‘(c) 
NOTIFICATION
OF
APPROVAL
OR
DIS-
APPROVAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 
after the receipt of a waiver request made under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall inform the grant-
ee of approval or disapproval of the request. 
‘‘(2) DISAPPROVAL.—If the request is dis-
approved, the Secretary shall inform the grantee, the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the 
Committee on Education and Workforce of the 
House of Representatives of the reasons for the dis-
approval and give the grantee the opportunity to 
amend the request or appeal the decision. 
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‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—If the request is approved, 
the Secretary shall grant a waiver and, not later 
than 30 days after granting such waiver, notify and 
submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary 
of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 
Workforce of the House of Representatives that de-
scribes— 
‘‘(A) each specific provision waived; 
‘‘(B) the reason given by the grantee for 
the need for a waiver; and 
‘‘(C) the expected impact of the waiver on 
youth served under this program. 
‘‘(d) EXTERNAL CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall 
not require or impose any new or additional requirements 
in exchange for receipt of a waiver if such requirements 
are not specified in this title. 
‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall terminate 
approval of a request for a waiver authorized under this 
section if the Secretary determines, after notice and op-
portunity for a hearing, that the performance of a grantee 
who was granted relief under this section has been inad-
equate, or if such relief is no longer necessary to achieve 
its original purposes. 
‘‘(f) WAIVER EXTENSION.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may grant 
an extension to an existing waiver authorized under 
this section for a period of not more than 1 year 
upon a request for a waiver extension from the 
grantee. 
‘‘(2) EXTENSION REQUEST.—A request for a 
waiver extension described under paragraph (1) shall 
be submitted to the Secretary not later than 30 days 
before the expiration date of the existing waiver, and 
shall re-certify the provisions in subsection (b) and 
explain the need for additional time of relief from 
such provisions provided in this title. 
‘‘(g) RESTRICTIONS.—Nothing in this title shall be 
construed as authorizing the Secretary to permit a grantee 
to alter the eligibility requirements for eligible youth. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing 
the Secretary to waive anything related to the Secretary’s 
authority under this title.’’; 
(7) in section 386(a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘3 consecutive’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘5 consecutive’’ both places it appears; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, acting through the As-
sociate Commissioner of the Family and Youth 
Services Bureau,’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; and 
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(C) by inserting ‘‘ or virtually when appro-
priate,’’ after ‘‘on-site,’’; 
(8) in section 386A— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘Reconnecting Home-
less Youth Act of 2008’’ and inserting 
‘‘Runaway and Homeless Youth and Traf-
ficking Prevention Act of 2025’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘371,’’ after ‘‘sec-
tions’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘371,’’ 
after ‘‘sections’’; 
(9) by inserting after section 386A the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 386B. NONDISCRIMINATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 
shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the bene-
fits of, or be subjected to discrimination under this title 
on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, 
national origin, sex, gender identity (as defined in section 
249(c) of title 18, United States Code), sexual orientation, 
or disability. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—If sex-segregation or sex-specific 
programming is necessary to the essential operation of a 
program, nothing in this section shall prevent any such 
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program or activity from considering the sex of an indi-
vidual. In such circumstances, grantees may meet the re-
quirements of this section by providing comparable serv-
ices to individuals who cannot participate in the sex-seg-
regated or sex-specific programming. 
‘‘(c) DISQUALIFICATION.—The Secretary shall en-
force this section pursuant to section 654 of the Head 
Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9849). The provisions of such section 
relating to the procedure for review of an action taken by 
the Secretary shall apply. 
‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed as supplanting, displacing, preempting, or 
otherwise limiting the responsibilities and liabilities under 
other Federal or State civil rights laws with respect to dis-
crimination on a basis described in subsection (a).’’; 
(10) in section 387— 
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (4), 
(5), (6), (7), and (8), as paragraphs (9), (6), 
(7), (8), (11), and (13), respectively; 
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(1) CULTURALLY
AND
LINGUISTICALLY
AP-
PROPRIATE.—The term ‘culturally and linguistically 
appropriate’, with respect to services, has the mean-
ing given the term ‘culturally and linguistically ap-
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