Law & Policy
- The state allows youth in foster care to access extended foster care services to age 21 under limited circumstances.
- State law provides youth experiencing homelessness some contract rights.
- The state allows unaccompanied youth under 18 to apply for health insurance coverage on their own.
Systems
- There is a current state plan to end homelessness that contains a youth-specific strategy component.
Environment
- The state promotes safe and inclusive environments in child welfare programs by providing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Law & Policy
- Enact and fund a state law similar to the federal RHYA to provide key intervention and emergency services for youth experiencing homelessness.
- Reduce opportunities for contact between youth experiencing homelessness and the criminal and juvenile justice systems by declassifying running away as a status or delinquent offense.
- Allow shelters to take in youth experiencing homelessness with a delay or waiver of notification requirements.
- Implement a grievance process for students experiencing homelessness that complies with federal law and allow students to earn partial and alternative school credits.
Systems
- Create a state entity - such as an Office of Homeless Youth Services - that focuses solely on designing, implementing, and evaluating youth homelessness programs.
- Create an Interagency Council on Homelessness that mirrors the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), providing a multi-sectoral approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness.
Environment
- Organize and maintain a self-governing youth action board or council to inform youth homelessness policy within the state.
- Require training about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, healthy sexual development, or issues specific to LGBTQ youth for staff working in runaway and homeless youth systems.
- Promote safe and inclusive environments in juvenile justice and runaway and homeless youth programs by providing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Ban controversial and ineffective service provision that includes conversion therapy.