Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2025

Expanded Definitions of Homelessness: The bill expands the definition of a homeless child or youth to include those who may be verified under other federal programs without requiring further action from HUD (Section 2(a)(1)(A)(i)).

Enhanced Protections for At-Risk Youth: The bill defines "child or youth defined as homeless under any other Federal program" to include those up to 24 years of age who cannot live safely with a parent, legal guardian, or relative and have no other safe alternative (Section 2(a)(2)(B)).

Improved Information Access: The act requires that community-wide homeless management information system (HMIS) data be made publicly available on the HUD website, updated annually (Section 2(a)(4)).

Specific Support for Children and Youth: Programs receiving funds must designate staff to ensure children and youth are enrolled in school and connected to appropriate community services, such as Head Start (Section 2(a)(5)(7) and Section 2(a)(5)(8)(A)).

Clearer Criteria for Assistance: The bill mandates that assistance systems use specific, age-appropriate criteria for assessing the needs of children under 5, school-age children, and unaccompanied youth (Section 2(a)(5)(C)(ii)).

Increased Complexity in Definitions: The bill introduces several new definitions and modifies existing ones across multiple sections of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Section 2).

Mandated Reporting Burdens: The Secretary is required to submit annual reports to Congress that include specific data points and information regarding duplicative data collection (Section 2(a)(11)).