119-hr671

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 671 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 671

 To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents 
 access for unaccompanied homeless youth.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 23, 2025

 Mr. Connolly (for himself, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Ansari) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to 
 be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish an interagency task force to increase vital documents 
 access for unaccompanied homeless youth.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Vital Documents Access for 
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON VITAL DOCUMENTS 
 ACCESS FOR UNACCOMPANIED HOMELESS YOUTH; REPORTS.

    (a) Interagency Task Force.--

    (1) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
 of the enactment of this section, the covered Secretaries and 
 the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall, 
 jointly, establish the Interagency Task Force on Vital 
 Documents Access for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (referred to 
 in this section as the ``Task Force'') to coordinate efforts 
 and share best policies and practices to increase vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied homeless youth.

    (2) Membership.--
        (A) In general.--The Task Force shall be composed 
 of--
            (i) the Chair of the Task Force;
            (ii) the Commissioner of the Social 
 Security Administration;
            (iii) the covered Secretaries;
            (iv) three directors of State departments 
 of human services, or equivalent State 
 officials, of whom--
            (I) one shall be appointed by the 
 President;
            (II) one shall be appointed by the 
 majority leader of the Senate, with the 
 concurrence of the minority leader of 
 the Senate; and
            (III) one shall be appointed by the 
 majority leader of the House of 
 Representatives, with the concurrence 
 of the minority leader of the House of 
 Representatives; and
            (v) three representatives from national 
 nonprofit organizations that work on youth 
 homelessness, who shall be appointed by the 
 President.
        (B) Requirements for certain members.--The members 
 of the Task Force appointed under clauses
            (iv) and
            (v) of subparagraph
        (A) shall each--
            (i) have not attained the age of 30; and
            (ii) have lived-in experience for youth 
 homelessness.
            (C) Terms.--Each member shall serve for the 
 duration of the Task Force.
            (D) Vacancy.--In the case of a vacancy on the Task 
 Force, such vacancy shall be filled not later than 30 
 days after arising and in the manner in which the 
 original appointment was made.
        (E) Staff.--
            (i) Chair.--The Chair of the Task Force 
 shall be chosen, jointly, by the Commissioner 
 of the Social Security Administration and the 
 covered Secretaries and shall lead the Task 
 Force in executing the duties described in 
 paragraph

    (3) .
            (ii) Support personnel.--The Task Force may 
 appoint additional support personnel as it 
 considers appropriate to assist in executing 
 the duties described in paragraph

    (3) .

    (3) Duties.--Beginning on the last day of the first fiscal 
 quarter after the date on which the Task Force is established 
 under paragraph

    (1) , and quarterly thereafter, the Task Force 
 shall meet to--
        (A) assess and discuss--
            (i) the progress each Task Force member has 
 made on increasing vital documents access for 
 unaccompanied homeless youth;
            (ii) each policy and practice implemented 
 by a Task Force member that increased vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied homeless 
 youth;
            (iii) each challenge faced by a Task Force 
 member while working towards increasing vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied homeless 
 youth; and
            (iv) each method used by a Task Force 
 member to refine each policy and practice 
 implemented to improve vital documents access 
 for unaccompanied homeless youth;
        (B) establish a framework for collecting data on 
 the effectiveness of each policy and practice 
 implemented by a Task Force member to increase vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied homeless youth;
            (C) using the data collected under subparagraph
        (B) --
            (i) formulate policies and practices to 
 increase vital documents access for 
 unaccompanied homeless youth; and
            (ii) evaluate the success of each such 
 policy and practice in increasing such access; 
 and
            (D) develop policies and practices that can be 
 implemented by Federal, State, and local agencies to 
 improve vital documents access for unaccompanied 
 homeless youth.

    (b) Reports.--

    (1) Initial report.--
        (A) In general.--Not later than one year after the 
 date on which the Task Force is established under 
 subsection

    (a)

    (1) , the covered Secretaries and the 
 Commissioner of the Social Security Administration 
 shall, jointly, submit to Congress an initial report on 
 how to increase vital documents access for 
 unaccompanied homeless youth.
        (B) Elements.--The initial report required under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall include the following:
            (i) The covered Secretaries shall, jointly, 
 provide--
            (I) a detailed analysis of each 
 challenge that unaccompanied homeless 
 youth without vital documents face in 
 accessing all programs under the 
 separate and joint administrative 
 jurisdictions of the covered 
 Secretaries, including programs related 
 to housing assistance, homelessness 
 prevention, health care, child welfare, 
 or other social services;
            (II) any recommendations for 
 legislation and administrative action 
 the covered Secretaries determine 
 appropriate to increase access to each 
 such program by unaccompanied homeless 
 youth without vital documents, 
 including enhanced training 
 requirements for agency staff and 
 increased collaboration between the 
 agencies of the covered Secretaries;
            (III) a list of each State and 
 local policy that increased vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied 
 homeless youth, as determined by the 
 covered Secretaries, and 
 recommendations for legislation and 
 administrative action to expand such 
 State and local policy; and
            (IV) a detailed assessment of each 
 such policy identified by the covered 
 Secretaries under subclause
            (III) and 
 any suggestion the covered Secretaries 
 determine appropriate to expand or 
 replicate each such policy within the 
 Federal Government.
            (ii) The Commissioner of the Social 
 Security Administration shall provide--
            (I) a detailed assessment of each 
 policy related to issuing social 
 security cards to unaccompanied 
 homeless youth, including any 
 discretion the Commissioner has to 
 waive any documentation requirement in 
 the social security card application 
 process;
            (II) any recommendation the 
 Commissioner determines appropriate to 
 increase social security card access 
 for unaccompanied homeless youth, 
 including enhanced training 
 requirements for Administration staff 
 on how to better assist unaccompanied 
 homeless youth;
            (III) any proposal for issuing new 
 educational materials, or expanding 
 upon existing materials, to assist 
 unaccompanied homeless youth with the 
 social security card application 
 process;
            (IV) a plan to enhance outreach and 
 collaboration efforts among Federal, 
 State, and local agencies, as well as 
 community-based organizations, to 
 increase social security card access 
 for unaccompanied homeless youth; and
            (V) any recommendation that the 
 Commissioner determines appropriate for 
 State legislation and administrative 
 action to increase social security card 
 access for unaccompanied homeless 
 youth.

    (2) Final report.--
        (A) In general.--Not later than three years after 
 the date on which the Task Force is established under 
 subsection

    (a)

    (1) , the Task Force shall submit to 
 Congress a final report.
        (B) Elements.--The final report required under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall include the following:
            (i) Each change undertaken by a Task Force 
 member based on recommendations made in the 
 initial report under paragraph

    (1) .
            (ii) The effectiveness of each change 
 described in clause
            (i) in increasing vital 
 documents access for unaccompanied homeless 
 youth.
            (iii) A detailed assessment of the merits 
 of making the Task Force permanent.
            (c) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Covered secretaries.--The term ``covered Secretaries'' 
 means--
        (A) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; 
 and
        (B) the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

    (2) Unaccompanied homeless youth.--The term ``unaccompanied 
 homeless youth'' means an individual who is--
        (A) a homeless child or youth (as defined in 
 

section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 
 Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)); and
        (B) not in the physical custody of a parent or 
 guardian.

    (3) Vital documents.--The term ``vital documents''--
        (A) means any State or Federal document issued to 
 an individual that can be used to establish the 
 identity of such individual; and
        (B) includes a social security card and a birth 
 certificate.
            (d) Termination.--The Task Force shall terminate on the date that 
is three years after the date on which the Task Force is established 
under subsection

    (a)

    (1) .
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