Contact your US Senators in Support of these Important Bills

The Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (RHYTPA) of 2019 (H.R. 5191/S. 2916)​

This act needs to be reintroduced in the 117th Congress to enact critical changes that would increase young people’s ability to access pathways to independence, socioeconomic mobility, and success. RHYTPA would help to achieve these goals by making key updates to the existing program, such as:  

• Extending the allowable length of stays in Basic Center Programs from 21 to 30 days (or longer as state law allows) and increasing the number of allowable beds to 20.
• Ensuring Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion assistance.  
• Increasing age eligibility for services up to the age of 25 in Transitional Living Programs.
• Comprehensive nondiscriminatory practices across all RHYA funded programs.​

Help Elevate the Emergency Family
​Stabilization Act, S. 220.  

• Creates a new emergency funding stream through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for local agencies that currently receive ACF grants, or have experience in serving children, families, and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, as defined by the education subtitle of the McKinney-Vento Act.
• Provides $800 million in direct flexible funding to meet the unique needs of children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness in the wake of the coronavirus. 

Contact your PA Senators:
US Senator Robert Casey:    http://www.casey.senate.gov/contact and @SenBobCasey
US Senator Patrick Toomey: Email Senator Toomey | Senator Pat Toomey (senate.gov) and @SenToomey 

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Youth Conference

Mother and child working on a paper craft at People's Emergency Center.