Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act of 2025
The Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act of 2025 establishes a federal, time-limited pilot led by the Department of Health and Human Services to provide housing-focused support and cash stipends to young homeless individuals under age 30. Over 36 months, eligible participants will receive a combination of housing navigation, financial coaching, workforce development, education services, and legal/tenant-education supports, plus a cash payment designed to cover housing-related costs. The program aims to study how direct cash payments interact with housing stability, economic outcomes, health, and public service costs, and to evaluate whether expanding the approach is feasible. Key elements include: creation of a participant database (with privacy protections), selection of up to 105,000 eligible youth from the database (emancipated minors or ages 18–29), random division into a cash-payment group and a non-cash group, and ongoing evaluation by an External Partner and the National Youth Economic Advisory Council. The bill also sets up governance, data-sharing rules with privacy safeguards, and periodic reporting to Congress. Importantly, program payments are structured to not count as income for federal benefits, nor affect public charge determinations, and the act directs that gross income for tax purposes should not include these payments.
Key Points
- 1What the program does: Establishes a 36-month pilot to provide housing-focused assistance plus monthly cash payments (minimum $1,400 or an adjusted fair market rent) to eligible homeless youth and young adults, with non-financial supports to improve housing stability and economic outcomes.
- 2Participant identification and selection: Creates a nationwide database of homeless individuals (restricted to necessary identifying data and verified for accuracy). Up to 105,000 eligible participants (emancipated minors or ages 18–29) will be selected based on criteria designed to reflect the population and geography of homelessness, with no use of citizenship/immigration status in selection.
- 3Cash-payment design and grouping: Participants are randomly split into two groups; one group receives cash program payments monthly for 36 months. Payment methods include cash, electronic transfer, prepaid card, or other Secretary-approved options. The monthly amount is the greater of $1,400 or the adjusted fair-market rent (determined by ZIP code and Council modifications). A lump-sum option allows up to half of the payment-receiving group to take the first 12 months as a single lump sum.
- 4Non-cash supports: All participants receive housing navigation services, financial coaching, workforce development, educational attainment support, landlord-tenant education, and access to services funded under the McKinney-Vento Act, plus additional services as recommended.
- 5Privacy and data protection: The bill emphasizes privacy, restricting data in the database to essential items, prohibiting citizenship or SSN data, and allowing sharing only in non-identifiable form for research. The database must be destroyed within 30 days after the Council terminates, and misuse can incur penalties.
- 6Oversight and evaluation: An External Partner (a qualified organization with experience in cash-transfer research and randomized trials) will be selected within 270 days to oversee data collection and study design. The National Youth Economic Advisory Council (a diverse body including youth services groups, civil rights organizations, LGBTQ+ representatives, researchers, and HUD/DOE liaisons) will advise on program design and administration. Interim and final reports to Congress are required, with final conclusions on expansion feasibility and direct cash transfer potential.
- 7Legal and fiscal framing: Program payments are not counted as gross income for tax purposes; they do not affect eligibility for federal, state, or local benefits, nor immigration public-charge determinations. The act also notes that certain welfare-time restrictions (like the 1996 welfare law) do not apply to this pilot.
- 8Relationship to other programs: The Secretary (Health and Human Services) administers the pilot, but the bill references coordination with the McKinney-Vento Act for identifying homeless individuals and linking services through other federal agencies (Education, Agriculture, HUD) for identifying beneficiaries and data sharing.