118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
Designating November 2023 as “National Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month”.
November 28, 2023
Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. McGarvey, Ms. Bush, Ms. Caraveo, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Trone, Ms. Scholten, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Ms. Tokuda) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
Designating November 2023 as “National Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month”.
Whereas in the United States, public schools identified approximately 1,200,000 enrolled homeless children and youth during the 2021 to 2022 school year;
Whereas an estimated 1,000,000 children younger than 6 years of age in 2020 to 2021, and approximately 4,200,000 youth and young adults in 2017, experienced homelessness, with many of those children, youth, and young adults staying on couches, in motels, in shelters, or outside;
Whereas infants experiencing homelessness are at a higher risk for certain illnesses and health conditions;
Whereas families experiencing homelessness are more likely to experience involvement in the child welfare system and difficulty with school attendance;
Whereas, in 2021, high school students experiencing homelessness were nearly twice as likely to have seriously considered suicide or made a suicide plan and more than 3 times as likely to have made a suicide attempt within the past year;
Whereas individuals without a high school degree or general educational development certificate are over 4.5 times more likely to report homelessness than their peers who completed high school, making lack of education the leading risk factor for homelessness;
Whereas, in 2018, the high school graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness was 68 percent, compared to 80 percent for low-income students and 85.5 percent for all students;
Whereas the rate of youth homelessness is the same in rural, suburban, and urban areas;
Whereas 29 percent of unaccompanied homeless youth between 13 and 25 years of age have spent time in foster care, compared to approximately 6 percent of all children;
Whereas homelessness among children and youth is a complex issue that often occurs with deep poverty, low education and employment levels, substance misuse and use disorders, mental health disorders, lack of affordable housing, and family conflict; and
Whereas awareness of child and youth homelessness must be heightened to encourage greater support for effective programs to help children and youth overcome homelessness: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
(1) supports the efforts of businesses, governments, organizations, educators, and volunteers dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless children and youth;
(2) applauds the initiatives of businesses, governments, organizations, educators, and volunteers that—
(A) use time and resources to raise awareness of child and youth homelessness, the causes of child and youth homelessness, and potential solutions; and
(B) work to prevent homelessness among children and youth;
(3) supports the designation of a “National Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month”; and
(4) encourages businesses, governments, organizations, educators, and volunteers to continue to intensify their efforts to address homelessness among children and youth.