Tlaib Introduces Bill to Address Youth Homelessness
DETROIT —Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) reintroduced the Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act. This bill establishes a new way to address youth homelessness in our country. The legislation will launch a pilot program providing direct cash assistance to emancipated minors and young adults under 30 years old experiencing homelessness in the amount of $1,400, or the adjusted fair market rent, for 36 months. It then studies the effects of the program on housing benefits and health outcomes, among other impacts.
This bill is being introduced in tandem with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman’s Homes for Young Adults Act which would create a new entitlement under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937—the Housing Choice Voucher program—specifically targeted at unhoused young people.
“Now, more than ever, we need federal programs that address the growing housing crisis. Youth homelessness is at an all-time high while the Trump Administration is slashing federal support and gutting the Department of Housing and Urban Development. By providing direct cash assistance, we can address our housing crisis with the urgency this moment demands,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “This bill came directly from young people with lived experience who helped craft the bill to ensure that it meets the real needs of our unhoused neighbors. In the richest country in the history of the world, it’s time to eradicate homelessness. The Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act brings us closer to that goal.”
In a given year, over 3.5 million young adults and roughly 700,000 young people experience some form of homelessness, with specific groups facing a much higher risk than others. Black young people, for example, have an 83 percent greater risk of being unhoused, while LGBTQ+ youth have a 120 percent higher likelihood of experiencing homelessness compared to others. From 2023-2024, the number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness increased 10 percent, reaching an all-time high.
Recent studies providing cash assistance to unhoused people have found that they improved housing and employment outcomes, did not lead to increased substance abuse, and saved money by reducing reliance on the shelter system. However, the study of cash assistance is relatively rare in the U.S., and recent studies of cash assistance to address homelessness have been small, geographically targeted, and have not specifically focused on young people. It is time to demonstrate the benefits of direct cash assistance for young people experiencing homelessness, which is why the Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act is needed. More importantly, participants in past cash assistance programs have described the impact as life changing. Cash assistance provides individuals with the freedom to make their own choices about how to address their unique circumstances.
This legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Hank Johnson Jr. (GA-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).
This legislation is endorsed by A Way Home America, Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, Homeless Action Network of Detroit, Detroit Justice Center, Ruth Ellis Center, MiSide Community Impact Network, Out-Wayne CoC, National Coalition for the Homeless, National Homelessness Law Center, Center for Popular Democracy, Funders Together to End Homelessness, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, RESULTS, Community Solutions, Campion Advocacy Fund, Corporation for Supportive Housing, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, United Church of Christ, The Ali Forney Center, Strong Able Youth Speaking Out – SaySo, Point Source Youth, Youth Collaboratory, Young People to the Front Research and Policy Lab, Youth Attention Center, Larkin Street Youth Services, Mockingbird Society, Defender Association of Philadelphia, African Communities Together (ACT), Northeastern Pennsylvania Youth Shelter, Elevate Youth Services, Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Hawaii Youth Services Network, and NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness.
“As the Executive Director of A Way Home America, an organization that places great value on lived experiences, I am sincerely honored to stand at the forefront of national advocacy, fervently championing the cause of direct cash transfers,” said Marcella Middleton, Executive Director, A Way Home America. “Our shared ambition is to proactively prevent the hardships faced by our most vulnerable youth, while simultaneously offering them the essential ingredients of stability, empowerment, and a promising future.”
“The Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act is a much-needed first step in tackling the persistent issue of housing insecurities, significantly how unhoused individuals are disproportionately affected by the criminal legal system,” said Nancy A. Parker, Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center. “Our current system continues to ignore the root causes of houselessness, relying instead on policing, prisons, and jails, rather than implementing policies that address the intersection of poverty and housing unaffordability and inaccessibility in this country. This bill marks a long-overdue shift from punitive measures to a more equitable and compassionate approach to real justice and real housing-first approaches.”
The full text of the bill is available here.
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