Amendment #600 to H3400

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission

[Sponsors] Representatives O’Day of West Boylston, Khan of Newton, Fox of Boston, Sciortino of Medford, Binienda of Worcester, Brownsberger of Belmont, Forry of Boston, Atkins of Concord move to amend the bill by adding at the end thereof the following section:

“Section XXX.   Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a special commission for the purpose of studying and making recommendations concerning services for unaccompanied homeless youth under eighteen years of age with the goal of ensuring a comprehensive and effective response to the unique needs of this population. The focus of the commission’s study shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of the barriers to serving unaccompanied youth under eighteen years of age; an assessment of the impact of mandated reporting requirements on unaccompanied youths’ access to services and the state’s ability to identify and connect with unaccompanied youth; and proposals to reduce identified barriers to serving this population, including but not limited to extending the time for certain categories of mandated reporters to file reports and/or establishing special licensure provisions to allow service providers to serve homeless youth under eighteen years of age. The commission, in formulating its recommendations, shall take account of the best policies and practices in other states and jurisdictions.

The commission shall include the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human services or  designee, the Commissioner of Department of Children and Families or   designee, the Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or   designee, the Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care or   designee,  the Undersecretary for the Department of Housing and Community Development or   designee, two members of the Senate, two members of the House of Representatives, three youth who have experienced homelessness, a representative from each of the following organizations: Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Children’s League of Massachusetts, Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Department of Children and Families Care,  Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Education, The Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership, the Massachusetts Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, and the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, and seven persons to be appointed by the Governor, five of whom shall be unaccompanied youth service providers.

The commission shall submit a report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representative and the President of the Senate, the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities no later than 9 months after the passage of this outside section setting forth the commission’s conclusions on how to improve access to services for unaccompanied homeless youth under 18 years of age, together with any recommendations for regulatory or legislative action with a timeline for implementation, cost estimates and finance mechanisms.  Thereafter, the commission submit a report annually by December 31 of each year to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representative and the President of the Senate, the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities detailing the extent of homelessness among unaccompanied youth within the Commonwealth and the progress made toward implementing the commission’s recommendations along with other efforts to address the needs of this population.”