Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs

What this funds

The Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) programs were authorized as part of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-415) and the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P. L. 103-322). The RHY Act was further amended by the Justice for Victims Trafficking Act of 2015 (P. L. 114-22) to add trafficking victims to the populations served. These programs help provide shelter and supportive services to runaway and homeless youth along with street-based services to runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, prostitution, sexual exploitation, and severe forms of trafficking in persons. The RHY programs administer grants to public and private organizations to establish and operate youth emergency shelters and transitional living programs. These programs were reauthorized by the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008 (P. L. 110-378) through FY 2013 and more recently reauthorized by the The Basic Center Program (BCP) provides grants to community-based public and private agencies for the provision of outreach, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, counseling, family reunification and reconnection, and aftercare services to runaway and homeless youth and their families. BCPs can provide up to 21 days of shelter for as many as 20 youth at each facility, with an exception in those jurisdictions that require a higher limit in order to be licensed as a BCP. Funds are allocated among the states using a formula based on the population of youth under age 18 as a proportion of the national population. BCPs provide youth with an opportunity to receive individual and family counseling, education, employment assistance, and behavioral health and physical health services. The Transitional Living Program (TLP), including the Maternity Group Home (MGH) program, provides grants to public and private organizations to conduct outreach and provide community-based, adult- supervised group homes, host homes, and supervised apartments for youth ages 16 to 21 who cannot safely live with their families. For the MGH program, the funding provides shelter and comprehensive supportive services to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting homeless youth to promote long-term economic independence in order to ensure the well-being of the youth and their young families. Youth entering a TLP or MGH under the age of 18 are eligible for up to 21 months of service or to remain until they reach the age of 18, whichever is longer. All youth between the ages 18 and 21 are eligible for up to 18 months of TLP services, which may be extended to 21 months in extenuating circumstances. Services attainment skills, and physical and behavioral health care. These services are designed to help youth who are homeless develop the skills necessary to make a successful transition to independence and self- The Service Connection for Youth on the Streets funds outreach to runaway and homeless youth on the streets or in areas that increase the risk of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and other forms of victimization. The goal of the program is to help young people get off the streets and into safe settings. Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 70 Grantees also provide support services that aim to move youth into shelter or stable housing and to help The RHY programs also fund the National Communications System (NCS) for Runaway and Homeless Youth. The NCS provides free hotline and online crisis support services that are available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year throughout the United States and U.S. Territories. As part of their services, the NCS program connects youth who have run away and are experiencing homelessness with their families, legal guardians, and service providers. The NCS program also provides prevention counseling and identifies resources for youth in crisis. In addition, the NCS develops and disseminates prevention resources to minimize runaway incidents and youth homelessness nationwide. In FY 2024, the NCS engaged in over 175,000 interactions through its hotline, online, and offline services to provide crisis support and resources to over 26,000 youth and concerned adults. The NCS collected voluntary data from the 26,000 youth and concerned adults engaging in crisis services. From the data collected, roughly 45 percent were interactions from youth in crisis and 33 percent of youth were already Of the individuals who contacted the NCS to obtain crisis support intervention services, 75 percent were youth; 22 percent were parents, family members, or other adults; and the remaining 3 percent were from a youth's friend or a social service agency. Family dynamics were the most common issue reported for youth at 72 percent. Economic challenges were the next highest reported issue at 35 percent, followed by transportation and mental health related issues, both at 23 percent, and emotional abuse at 21 percent. More than one category can be reported in an intervention. To assist in resolving the crisis, the NCS provided over 18,000 resources and referral options with crisis contacts. Starting in FY 2022, and every year since, Congress has included a General Provision to expand funding flexibility for research projects in ACF. All research funding provided for in the Appropriations Act can remain available for five years following appropriation. This has allowed for additional time for research and evaluation projects within the Basic Center Program. Funding for the program - net of any authorized changes such as transfers or reprogramming - for five Funding for this program is also used to pay salaries and benefits for federal employees, information technology support, grants paneling, and other related administrative costs. Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 71 The FY 2027 request for the RHY programs is $146.3 million, the same as the FY 2026 level. At this level, ACFC will provide funding to eligible public and private organizations to provide shelter and comprehensive supportive services to address the needs of youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and at risk of sexual abuse or exploitation. Services include the provision of emergency short-term shelter services, street outreach, and longer-term transitional living and maternity group home For FY 2027, it is estimated that 396 grants will be made, with an average award of $339,248 and a range Result / Target for Recent Target Target FY 2026 Target 4A Proportion of youth Result / (Summary of 90% 90% Maintain

Extracted from Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, p. 10. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

Contracts funded by this line

4 linked contracts. These are obligations — lifetime awarded money — and they are not comparable to the request above and are never added to it. No total is shown: an award linked to several lines is counted in full on each, so the sum would not be a fact.

Confidence mix · 4 medium

Linked contracts are a floor, not a census. Coverage is bounded by how distinctively a program is named and, for performer links, to RDT&E and Procurement — O&M and military construction publish no performers. Budget figures are FY2027 request dollars; contract figures are obligations. The two measure different things and must never be summed together.

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Answers come from the figures on this page and nothing else. These dollars are parsed from Health & Human Services's Congressional Justification and are approximate — confirm anything that matters against the cited page.