[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 582 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 582

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that children have 
                      a right to adequate housing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2009

 Ms. Waters submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that children have 
                      a right to adequate housing.

Whereas the House of Representatives is concerned about the depth of the 
        economic recession and the growing number of homeless families and 
        youth;
Whereas children who are without adequate housing may be placed in unsafe and 
        hazardous environments;
Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has estimated that 
        28 percent of homeless families are unsheltered due to the lack of 
        affordable housing and emergency shelter for families in communities 
        throughout the United States;
Whereas the gap between the availability of affordable housing and emergency 
        shelter and family need jeopardizes the safety and well-being of 
        homeless children;
Whereas in the most recent one-night count of homelessness by the Urban 
        Institute, nearly 200,000 children in families were homeless, with 
        hundreds of thousands more children experiencing at least one night of 
        homelessness over the course of a year, and millions more children 
        living in substandard, overcrowded, or other precarious situations, 
        placing such children at heightened risk of illness, serious injury, 
        hunger, and educational delay;
Whereas approximately 2,000,000 unaccompanied youth experience at least one 
        night of homelessness over the course of a year;
Whereas providing stable housing to homeless families dramatically improves 
        family reunification as, according to the Family Unification Program of 
        the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 94 percent of homeless 
        families that were provided stable housing for 12 months were reunified, 
        compared to 70 percent of homeless families who were not provided such 
        stable housing;
Whereas providing stable housing to homeless families improves family 
        preservation as, according to the Family Unification Program of the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development, 90 percent of homeless 
        families that were provided stable housing for 12 months remained 
        intact, compared to 65 percent of homeless families who were not 
        provided such stable housing;
Whereas Congress has asserted a commitment to protecting children from neglect 
        and abuse by authorizing and appropriating funds for the Child Abuse 
        Prevention and Treatment Act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare 
        Act of 1980, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997;
Whereas children are not only homeless within a family unit, but also as 
        unaccompanied youth;
Whereas many homeless unaccompanied youth experience child abuse, neglect, or 
        both;
Whereas many homeless unaccompanied youth avoid shelters and other services 
        because they fear being taken into the foster care system;
Whereas each year approximately 24,000 youth turn 18 or 21 and consequently 
        ``age out'' of foster care, often lacking the financial, social, and 
        personal resources to live independently;
Whereas in 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt declared that the United States 
        had adopted a ``second Bill of Rights,'' including the right to a decent 
        home;
Whereas the United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 
        1948, recognizing housing as a human right;
Whereas the United States signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social 
        and Cultural Rights in 1977 and the Convention on the Rights of the 
        Child in 1995 and, although the United States has not yet ratified such 
        treaties, it is committed to uphold the object and purpose of such 
        treaties, including the right of children to adequate housing; and
Whereas the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, signed by the United 
        States in 1996, recognizes the right to adequate housing and the 
        particular needs of children and youth for safe, healthy, and secure 
        living conditions: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) children and youth have a right to adequate housing;
            (2) homelessness poses significant harm and costs to 
        children and youth in the United States;
            (3) there are an unacceptably large number of children and 
        youth in the United States who experience homelessness every 
        year, often due to the lack of affordable housing for their 
        families;
            (4) projects that provide services to parents and other 
        caretakers to prevent possible homelessness of youth in crisis 
        should be created and maintained;
            (5) programs at the Federal, State, and local levels that 
        address the housing needs of low-income families should be 
        developed and implemented; and
            (6) whenever it is in their best interests, children have a 
        right to be housed with their families.
                                 <all>