Portman, Feinstein introduce fed bill to protect homeless youth

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., today introduced the Homeless Children and Youth Act, a bill to expand the definition of homelessness used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The change would allow more than 1 million homeless children and families nationwide to access federal housing assistance programs.

In its 2013 point-in-time survey, HUD counted 222,197 households that included at least one child as homeless, while data from the Department of Education show that more than 1.2 million children nationwide are homeless.

In Ohio, 23,748 children experienced homelessness last year, while HUD counted only 4,714 households that includes at least one child as homeless. Due to the narrow HUD definition, only one in five homeless children in Ohio is eligible for federal housing programs.

By expanding the definition of homelessness, the bill would make vulnerable children living in precarious situations eligible for federal homeless assistance programs.