Fwd: New Bill Alert: Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2025

[Darla Bardine]

Good afternoon,

I am thrilled to share that the bipartisan, bicameral Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2025 (RHYTPA) was introduced today by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Don Bacon (R-NE-02). Joining them as original cosponsors are Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03).

This critical legislation reauthorizes and updates the current Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) program, which is the primary federal funding stream that supports community-based programs for youth, young adults, and young parent families experiencing homelessness and/or human trafficking. 

RHYA programs: 

• Connect young people with housing and services including education, employment, family reunification, healthcare, and more.

• Prevent child welfare and juvenile justice involvement as well as provide support to young people exiting these systems.

• Prevent sexual exploitation and trafficking of young people as well as provide housing and services to survivors.

RHYTPA makes critical updates to the RHYA, including:

• More than doubles the authorized appropriations levels to $317.5 million to accommodate longer length of stays in short-term housing for minors, longer grant cycles, a new preventative services program, and the increased cost to provide services (last authorization increase was over ten years ago).

• Creates a new youth homelessness prevention program to fund services that prevents young people in their community from experiencing homelessness.

• Extends the allowable length of stay in short-term crisis housing for minors from 21 to 30 days (or longer as state law allows).

• Increases the eligible age for transitional living and maternity group home programs from 22 to 25 years old, while still prioritizing youth under 22 years old and allowing the RHYA provider discretion over service provision for youth ages 22 to 25.

National Network for Youth applauds our Congressional champions and their dedication to preventing and ending homelessness and trafficking for youth, young adults, and young parents. Read the Senate Press Release.

Resources:

• Webinar: Strengthening Support for Youth: Learn About RHYTPA on June 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM ET. Registration link
  

• RHYTPA Take Action Page 

• RHYTPA Fact Sheet

• RHYTPA Section by Section

• RHYTPA Endorsers

• RHYTPA Social Media Toolkit
  

Thank you for your partnership in this work. 

Sincerely,

Darla

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: National Network for Youth <nn4y...@nn4youth.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Subject: New Bill Alert: Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2025
To: Darla Bardine <darla....@nn4youth.org>

Congress has introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to prevent and end youth homelessness.

View in Browser Tuesday, June 10, 2025 This email was also posted as a blog post on our website. Was this email forwarded to you? Stay up to date on this issue along with others impacting youth homelessness providers by signing up for our listserv. Congress Introduces the Bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2025! On June 10, 2025, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Don Bacon (R-NE-02) introduced the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2025 (RHYTPA). Joining them as original cosponsors are Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03). This critical legislation reauthorizes and updates the current Runaway and Homeless Youth Act program, which is the primary federal funding stream that supports community-based programs for youth, young adults, and young parent families experiencing homelessness and/or human trafficking. These programs connect young people with housing and services including education, employment, family reunification, healthcare, and more. Learn About RHYTPA at Our Upcoming Webinar Strengthening Support for Youth: Learn About RHYTPA Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern (1:00 PM Central | 12:00 PM Mountain | 11:00 AM Pacific) Join us for an in-depth webinar on this bipartisan legislation that reauthorizes and strengthens federal programs serving youth experiencing homelessness and those at risk of trafficking. This webinar will cover how RHYTPA will update the important Runaway and Homeless Youth Act program and what you can do to help advocate for its passage Register Today Take Action to Support RHYTPA! This important bill can only pass with a strong show of support from young people, youth providers, and allies from across the country. You can do two easy things right now to help RHYTPA become law: Have your organization endorse RHYTPA. Complete this short form to add your organization to our endorsement list for RHYTPA. We share this list with Members of Congress and their staff so they can see how much support there is for this bill. Send a message to your Members of Congress. Complete this take action form to send a pre-drafted email to all three of your federal Representatives to express your support for RHYTPA. It is very important for Members of Congress to know that their constituents care about this bill. To learn more about RHYTPA and how you can get involved in helping it pass, visit our Take Action Center. If you have any questions or would like to take further action, please email trinady...@nn4youth.org. Sign Up for Listserv ❤️ Donate National Network for Youth 741 8th Street SE  | Washington, District of Columbia 20003 202-783-7949 | nn4y...@nn4youth.org National Network For Youth 741 8th Street SE Washington, DC 20003 United States unsubscribe