Judy Biggert Congresswoman - 13th District of Illinois

 
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10/24/2008 12:00:00 AM
The Naperville Sun, 10/24/08: Legislation aims to help homeless kids

The Naperville Sun
October 24, 2008
By Paige Winfield


Legislation aims to help homeless kids
Change in law will help agencies better place children


Placing runaway teens in alternative housing will be easier for NCO Youth & Family Services and similar organizations if proposed federal legislation targeting homelessness becomes law, an agency official said.
 
Currently, minors are not considered homeless under the law, making it difficult for the Naperville-based agency to immediately provide them with housing instead of referring them back to their families or to the state.
 
But the proposed changes expand the definition to include those under 18 by the HEARTH (Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing) Act. The change would direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to modify its definition of homeless as it applies to children.
 
The new definition allows service agencies to count minors as homeless, giving workers more freedom to place them in transitional housing.
 
Now, NCO staff can place youths in housing where they can receive support needed to reconnect with their families, said Debbie Carr, NCO's director of residential programs.
 
Carr said the new definition makes it significantly easier for the nonprofit group to help kids running away from troubled homes.
 
"Kids on the street, we're (able) to house them," Carr said. "They're stable; they're getting the support they need."
 
The legislation was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale. The House passed the bill Oct. 2, and Biggert said it will likely win approval in the Senate next month.
 
Biggert joined the heads of several area homeless and runaway youth organizations Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove to mark the partial passage of HEARTH and the success of two related pieces of legislation that she also recently co-sponsored.
 
The Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act is a re-authorization bill that strengthens federal funding for homeless and runaway youths, while another resolution recognizes November as National Runaway Prevention Month. The House approved both measures last month.
 
Homelessness is on the rise, Biggert said, noting that DuPage PADS has seen a 23 percent increase in the number of homeless children whose families sought aid. The economic downturn and growing numbers of foreclosures are putting more children at risk of homelessness, she said.
 
Biggert said she also had a personal reason for working on homelessness legislation.
 
"One of the reasons I got into this was one of my friends ... her child went out on the street, and they never found out what happened," she said. "I always thought, what a terrible thing, to not know what happened to your child."

   
       
            
 
Washington, DC Office
1034 Longworth House Office Building
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Phone: 202-225-3515
Fax: 202-225-9420
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Willowbrook, IL 60527
Phone: 630-655-2052
Fax: 630-655-1061
 

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