Multi-million dollar funding request aims to help homeless youth program

To serve the continuing homeless youth population, lawmakers could add an additional $25 million per year to fund the Homeless Youth Act.

Sponsored by Rep. Heather Keeler (DFL-Moorhead), HF3661 would increase base funding for the program, which is currently at $5.6 million per year. The bill would also fund $300,000 to study the prevalence of pregnancy and parenting among homeless youth.

The bill calls for a $50 million appropriation, but Keeler told the House Preventing Homelessness Division Wednesday that she would amend the bill to make the funding increase $50 million per biennium.

“It’s an increase in investment because this issue is increasing across the state,” Keeler said.

The division approved the bill on a 7-3 party-line vote and referred it to the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.

The Homeless Youth Act, established in 2006, covers a person age 24 and under.

Beth Holger, chief executive officer of The Link, said 4,879 unaccompanied youth ages 10 to 24 are homeless each day in Minnesota. Holger said the cost to care for all unaccompanied youth under the age of 24 is just under $1 billion every two years.

“We actually thought about asking for the full billion, but then we really thought about our capacity,” Holger said. “We have to get shelters for minors licensed, for example, and that process takes about a year. We have to hire staff in a labor shortage. So, what we decided to do was, even though the need is $500 million a year, we’re going to start by asking for an increase of $25 million towards that. I can tell you we absolutely can put it to use right away.”

“At this point, I guess I’m going to have to be a no because I’m not clear exactly what the request or what the need is,” said Rep. John Petersburg (R-Waseca).

Additionally, the bill would add guidance and restrictions for the grants. For example, a grant reduction would be prohibited unless the “recipient has failed to meet performance measures or has used grant money improperly.” Grant money could also be carried over from the first to the second year of a contract.

Its companion, SF3263, is sponsored by Sen. D. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) and awaits action by the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee.

A 9-0 vote was given to the Keeler-sponsored HF3599, which would appropriate $20 million to the Health Department for the safe harbor for exploited youth program that provides grants to assist sexually exploited youth. The bill would also fund $300,000 for a study to find the prevalence of survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking. It has no Senate companion.