[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 479 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 479

  Designating November 2023 as ``National Homeless Children and Youth 
                           Awareness Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 29, 2023

  Mr. Manchin (for himself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Hassan, Ms. 
   Cantwell, Mr. Reed, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. 
  Blumenthal, Mr. Coons, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Ossoff) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  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, That the Senate--
            (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) designates November 2023 as ``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 during 
        November 2023.
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