HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 1577 Homeless Youth
SPONSOR(S): Health & Human Services Committee, Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, Woodson
and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 1708
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee 14 Y, 0 N, As CS Woodruff Brazzell
2) Health & Human Services Committee 20 Y, 0 N, As CS Woodruff Calamas
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Homeless youth, often referred to as unaccompanied youth, are individuals under the age of 18 who lack
parental, foster, or institutional care. Each year, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience
homelessness in the United States. Unaccompanied youth, because of their disability of nonage and
finances, face particular challenges, such as accessing routine health care. During the 2019-20 school year,
6,926 of Florida’s students were unaccompanied homeless youth.
An unaccompanied homeless youth who is 16 or older and meets the federal definition of an
“unaccompanied homeless youth” may become certified to receive certain benefits, including obtaining an
identification card at no cost, the ability to petition the court to have the disabilities of nonage removed, and
to consent to certain medical treatment.
CS/CS/HB 1577 addresses the needs of homeless children and young adults. Specifically, the bill:
requires district school boards to issue a certified unaccompanied homeless youth a card that
includes information on his or her rights and available benefits, and allows health care providers to
accept the issued card as proof of the young adult’s status as a certified unaccompanied homeless
youth.
expands the Keys-to-Independence program to unaccompanied homeless youth who meet certain
requirements.
waives fees for copies of a birth certificate for certified unaccompanied homeless youth and young
adults who aged out of foster care.
requires postsecondary institutions to have liaisons to assist former foster children and young adults
and those experiencing homelessness to help students with issues related to the use of a tuition and
fee exemption.
requires postsecondary institutions to retain original documents on a student’s tuition and fee
exemption, and prohibits additional request for such documentation.
and directs the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to evaluate the
effectiveness of campus liaisons.
amends the definition of which students qualify for a tuition and fee exemption as homeless children
and youth to align with federal law.
requires any student determined to be an unaccompanied homeless child or youth for a tuition and
fee exemption for a preceding year to be presumed homeless for subsequent years unless an
institution has conflicting information.
The bill has no fiscal impact on state government or local governments.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2022.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Homeless Youth and Children
Unaccompanied youth are homeless individuals under the age of 18 who lack parental, foster, or
institutional care.1 Each year, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience
homelessness in the United States.2 Unaccompanied youth, because of their disability of nonage3 and
finances, face particular challenges in accessing routine health care. They disproportionately suffer
high rates of mental illness, substance abuse, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. 4
As of January 2020, Florida had an estimated 27,487 individuals experiencing homelessness on any
given day.5 Of that total, 2,294 were family households, 2,436 were Veterans, 1,331 were
unaccompanied young adults (aged 18-24), and 5,182 were individuals experiencing chronic
homelessness.6
During the 2019-20 school year, an estimated 79,781 of Florida’s public school students experienced
homelessness over the course of a year.7 Of that total, 6,926 were unaccompanied homeless youth.
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Act) was originally authorized in 1987 and re-
authorized in December 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Act is designed to address the
challenges that homeless children and youth face in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.
Under the Act, state educational agencies (SEAs) must ensure that each homeless child or youth has
equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as
other children and youth.8 SEAs and local educational agencies (LEAs) must review and undertake
steps to revise laws, regulations, practices, or policies that may act as barriers to the identification,
enrollment, attendance, or success in school of homeless children and youth.9
The Act defines an “unaccompanied homeless youth” as an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence and is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian, and includes
children that are:
Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar
reason;
Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative
adequate accommodations;
1 National Coalition for Homeless, Youth Homelessness, https://nationalhomeless.org/issues/youth/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).
2 Morton, M.H., Dworsky, A., Samuels, G.M., & Patel, S. (2018). Missed opportunities: Youth homelessness in rural America. Chicago,
IL. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
3 Disability of nonage refers to a minor’s lack of legal ability to enter into binding contracts. However, minors who meet cert ain
conditions can be granted the same rights as adults through a court process of having the disabilities of nonage removed; See
s.743.015, F.S.
4 Yvonne Vissing, Homeless Children and Youth: An Examination of Legal Challenges and Directions, 13 J.L. Society 455, 504 (201 2).
5 United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Florida Homelessness Statistics, https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-
statistics/fl.
6 Id.
7 Florida Department of Education, District Homeless Record Counts, (Nov. 18, 2020),
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/19996/urlt/2019-2020-Homeless-Student-Counts-ADA-COMPLIANT.pdf.
8 U.S. Department of Education, Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program, non -Regulatory Guidance (Aug. 2018),
https://oese.ed.gov/files/2020/07/160240ehcyguidanceupdated082718.pdf.
9 Id.
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Living in emergency or transitional shelters or are abandoned in hospitals;
Utilizing for a primary nighttime residence a place that is a public or private but not designated
for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train
stations, or similar settings; and
Migratory children living in circumstances described above. 10
Children and youth that meet the definition of an “unaccompanied homeless youth” have a right to
services under the Act. Such services include receiving transportation to and from school, remaining at
the school of origin for the duration of the homelessness if in the child’s best interest, participating in all
available education programs and extracurricular activities, and receiving any school services for which
the youth meets eligibility criteria.11
The Act requires all LEAs to designate an appropriate staff person as a local homeless liaison. 12 Local
homeless liaisons must ensure, in part, that homeless children and youth, including unaccompanied
homeless youth, are identified by school personnel and through coordination activities with other
entities. Each school district has at least one homeless liaison.13
Certified Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Florida law provides a mechanism for unaccompanied homeless youth to become certified to receive
certain services. Section 743.067, F.S., allows a youth who is an unaccompanied homeless youth to
become certified as such if he or she is 16 years of age or older and is:
Found by a school district’s liaison for homeless children and youths to be an unaccompanied
homeless youth eligible for services pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act;
or
Believed to qualify as an unaccompanied homeless youth, as the term is defined in the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by:
o The director of an emergency shelter program funded by the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development;
o The director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center 14 or transitional living program
funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; or
o A continuum of care lead agency.15
There is a standardized form that must be used when one of the enumerated individuals above certifies
an unaccompanied homeless youth.16
Once certified, an unaccompanied homeless youth may use the certification form to:
Apply, at no charge, for an identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and
Motor Vehicles.
Petition the circuit court to have the disability of nonage removed.
Consent to medical, dental, psychological, substance abuse, and surgical diagnosis and
treatment, including preventive care for himself or herself, or a child, if the unaccompanied
homeless youth is unmarried, is the parent of the child, and has actual custody of the child. 17
10 42 U.S.C. s. 11434a.
11 42 U.S.C. s. 11432.
12 Supra note 8.
13 Florida Department of Education, Florida McKinney-Vento Program District Contact Directory,
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/19996/urlt/Title-IX-District-Contact-List-11-05-21-ADA-COMPLIANT.pdf.
14 The U.S., Department of Health and Human Services, Family and Youth Services Burau, funds the Basic Youth Center Program
which provide youth up to age 18 with emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling, and referrals for health care . U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Family and Youth Services Bureau, Basic Center Program Fact Sheet, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/fysb/fact-
sheet/basic-center-program-fact-sheet (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).
15 S. 743.067(2)(a), F.S.
16 S. 743.067(2)(a), F.S.
17 S. 743.067(2)(b) and (3), F.S.
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A health care provider may accept the written certification form as proof of the minor’s status as a
certified unaccompanied homeless youth and may keep a copy of the certificate in the youth’s medical
file.18
Currently, the certified unaccompanied homeless youth only receives a copy of the certification form
as proof that he or she has been certified pursuant to s. 743.067, F.S.
Keys-to-Independence
The Keys-to-Independence program is a state-funded program designed to remove barriers to
obtaining a driver license for foster youth and former foster youth.19 The program pays the cost of driver
education, licensure and other costs incidental to licensure and motor vehicle insurance for children in
out-of-home care who have successfully completed a driver education program.20 Program services are
provided to eligible youth to the extent funding permits.
Young adults in extended foster care under s. 39.6251, F.S., or receiving services through the
postsecondary education services and supports programs under s. 409.1451(2), F.S., are eligible to
participate in the Keys-to-Independence program.
In SFY 2020-21, there were 2,659 young adults enrolled in the Keys-to-Independence program.21 Over
6,200 young adults have been enrolled in the program since it began in December 2017.
Birth Certificates
The Florida Department of Health (DOH), Office of Vital Statistics, maintains all vital records for Florida.
Florida law provides that certified copies of original birth certificates or a new or amended certificate, or
affidavits thereof, are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1), F.S. 22 Certified
copies of an original birth certificate or a new or amended certificate may be issued by DOH upon
request and payment of a fee by a person who is named as the child on the birth certificate, if that
person is of legal age, is a certified unaccompanied homeless youth, or is a minor who has had the
disabilities of nonage removed.23
DOH charges a $20 fee for each certified copy of a Florida birth record and $16 for additional copies,
when requested at the same time. All fees are paid by the person requesting the record, are due and
payable at time services are requested, and are nonrefundable, unless when a search is conducted
and no vital record is found.24
Current law requires DOH to waive all fees for a certified copy of a birth certificate issued for purposes
of an inmate acquiring a state identification card before release pursuant to s. 994.605(7), F.S., and for
a juvenile offender who is in the custody or under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice
and receives services under s. 985.461, F.S. Current law does not allow DOH to waive fees when a
certified homeless youth or former foster youth requests a copy of his or her birth certificate.
18 S. 743.067(2)(c), F.S.
19 S. 409.1454, F.S.
20 S. 409.1454(2), F.S.
21 Florida Department of Children and Families, 2022 Agency Bill Analysis for HB 1577 (Jan. 20, 2022).
22 S. 382.025(1), F.S.
23 S. 382.025(1)(a)1., F.S.
24 Id.
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Postsecondary Education
Campus Liaisons
Section 409.1452, F.S., requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to work in
collaboration with the Board of Governors, the Florida College System, and the Department of
Education to address the need for a comprehensive support structure in the academic arena to assist
current or former foster youth in making the transition from a structured care system into an
independent living setting.
To accomplish this, campus coaching positions provide current and former foster youth with dedicated,
on-campus support. DCF determines which state universities or colleges offer a campus coaching
position based on departmental demographic data indicating the greatest need. 25 The campus
coaching positions are employees of the educational institutions. The Chancellors of the Florida
College System and the Board of Governors must report annually to DCF specific data about the
children and young adults served by the campus coaches.
Seven out of 12 Florida universities and seven out of 28 Florida colleges have a campus-based coach
identified on campus.26
Tuition and Fee Exemption
Section 1009.25(1)(f), F.S., allows homeless students to be exempt from paying tuition and fees at a
school district that provides workforce education programs, Florida College System institution, or state
university. To qualify for the exemption, the homeless student must either:
lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; or
have primary nighttime residence in a public or private shelter designed to provide temporary
residence, transitional living program, or a place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a
regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
Recent changes made by federal law allow any student who is determined to be an unaccompanied
homeless youth for a preceding award year to be presumed homeless for each subsequent year at the
same institution unless the student informs the institution that circumstances have changed or the
institution has specific conflicting information otherwise. 27 This eliminates the requirement that
unaccompanied homeless youths’ status be redetermined every year.
The definition in s. 1009.25(1)(f), F.S., is inconsistent with the federal definition of homeless children
and youth. Current law is also silent on whether documentation must be provided to prove eligibility for
a tuition and fee exemption each year.
Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill addresses the needs of certified unaccompanied homeless youth, children and young adults
experiencing homelessness, and children and you