I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1724 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the financial aid 
process for homeless and foster care youth. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2019 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. LANGEVIN) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve 
the financial aid process for homeless and foster care 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 ‘‘Higher Education Ac-
cess and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) INDEPENDENT STUDENT.—Section 480(d)(1)(H) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087vv(d)(1)(H)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘during the school year in 
which the application is submitted’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘age 23 or younger’’ after 
‘‘unaccompanied youth’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘terms are’’ and inserting 
‘‘term is’’; 
(2) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, or a designee 
of the liaison’’ after ‘‘Act’’; 
(3) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a program fund-
ed under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act’’ 
and inserting ‘‘an emergency or transitional shelter, 
street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in 
center, or other program serving homeless youth,’’; 
and 
(4) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘program funded 
under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act (relating to emergency 
shelter grants)’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal TRIO pro-
gram or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness 
for Undergraduate program under chapter 1 or 2 of 
subpart 2 of part A,’’. 
(b) FOSTER CARE YOUTH.—Section 103 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(25) FOSTER CARE YOUTH.—The term ‘foster 
care youth’— 
‘‘(A) means children and youth whose care 
and placement are the responsibility of the 
State or Tribal agency that administers a State 
or Tribal plan under part B or E of title IV of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. 
and 670 et seq.), without regard to whether fos-
ter care maintenance payments are made under 
section 472 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672) on be-
half of such children and youth; and 
‘‘(B) includes individuals who were age 13 
or older when their care and placement were 
the responsibility of a State or Tribal agency 
that administered a State or Tribal plan under 
part B or E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. and 670 et seq.) 
and who are no longer under the care and re-
sponsibility of such a State or Tribal agency, 
without regard to any such individual’s subse-
quent adoption, guardianship arrangement, or 
other form of permanency outcome.’’. 
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SEC. 
3. 
STREAMLINING 
DETERMINATIONS 
AND 
VERIFICATION. 
Section 480(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(3) SIMPLIFYING THE DETERMINATION PROC-
ESS FOR UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.— 
‘‘(A) VERIFICATION.—A financial aid ad-
ministrator shall accept a determination of 
independence made by any individual author-
ized to make such determinations under clause 
(i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(H) in the ab-
sence of conflicting information. A documented 
phone call with, or a written statement from, 
one of the authorized individuals is sufficient 
verification when needed. For purposes of this 
paragraph, a financial aid administrator’s dis-
agreement with the determination made by an 
authorized individual shall not be considered 
conflicting information. 
‘‘(B) 
DETERMINATION
OF
INDEPEND-
ENCE.—A financial aid administrator shall 
make a determination of independence under 
paragraph (1)(H) if a student does not have, 
and cannot get, documentation from any of the 
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