Runaway and Homeless Youth Act

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) Programs help prevent exploitation of youth on the streets and support reconnection to their families, schools, employment, and housing options. RHYA programs include the Basic Center Program, the Transitional Living Program, and the Street Outreach Program.

LATEST NEWS:
In July, the House passed fiscal year (FY) 2010 legislation calling for $117 million for RHYA programs, $2 million above both President Obama's proposal and the FY 2009 level. On July 30, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation including approximately $115 million for RHYA programs. The full Senate is expected to vote on the legislation in the coming weeks.

More Information about RHYA Programs
The Family and Youth Services Bureau, part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, administers the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs. RHYA programs include:

• The Basic Center Program, which provides financial assistance to meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their families, including emergency shelter, reunification when possible, food, clothing, counseling, and facilitating access to health care;
• The Transitional Living Program, which supports projects that provide long-term residential services to homeless youth ages 16 to 21 for up to 18 months; and
• The Street Outreach Program, which provides funds to private and nonprofit agencies performing outreach efforts designed to move youth off the streets.

In late 2008, Congress passed legislation improving the RHYA programs. The new law made the following improvements to existing law:

• Increased authorization levels to fund Basic Center Programs at $150 million and Street Outreach Programs at $30 million;
• Increased the amounts given to states with small populations (increased from $50,000 to $100,000);
• Required that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conduct an incidence study to get better data on the number of homeless youth nationally;
• Required that the Government Accounting Office to do a review of the Administration’s application and peer-review process;
• Increased the length of stay in shelter from 14 to 21 days and in the Transitional Housing Program from 18 months to 21 months;
• Required that HHS complete "performance standards" for all RHYA programs to create a floor of expectations and guidelines to programs;
• Required that HHS ensure that funded programs are implemented from a "positive youth development" perspective.