Vital Documents Access for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Act of 2025
H.R. 671 would create a temporary, interagency Task Force on Vital Documents Access for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth, to be in place for three years. The Task Force would be jointly led by the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) along with the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA). Its purpose is to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts—sharing policies and best practices—to help unaccompanied homeless youth obtain vital documents (like birth certificates and Social Security cards) that are needed to access housing, health care, social services, education, and other programs. The Task Force would include three state directors of human services or equivalents, and three representatives from national nonprofit groups that work on youth homelessness, all with lived experience and under age 30. It would meet quarterly, collect data on policy effectiveness, and propose policy changes for federal, state, and local agencies. The bill requires an initial report to Congress within one year detailing challenges and recommendations across multiple programs, plus SSA-specific analysis on Social Security card access for these youths. A final report due three years after establishment would evaluate changes made, their effectiveness, and consider whether to make the Task Force permanent. The act defines key terms (covered Secretaries, unaccompanied homeless youth, vital documents) and sets that the Task Force terminates three years after its start unless Congress acts to continue or modify it.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and membership
- 2- Creates the Interagency Task Force on Vital Documents Access for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth within 90 days of enactment.
- 3- Composition includes the SSA Commissioner, HUD and HHS Secretaries, three state directors of human services (appointed by the President and Senate/House leaders with House and Senate concurrence), and three representatives from national youth homelessness nonprofits (appointed by the President).
- 4- Certain members (state officials and nonprofit representatives) must be under age 30 and have lived experience with youth homelessness.
- 5- The Chair is chosen jointly by the SSA Commissioner and the covered Secretaries.
- 6Task Force duties
- 7- Meet beginning at the end of the first fiscal quarter after establishment and quarterly thereafter.
- 8- Assess progress, policies, challenges, and refinements related to increasing vital documents access for unaccompanied homeless youth.
- 9- Develop a data collection framework to measure policy effectiveness.
- 10- Formulate and evaluate policies and practices to improve access, and develop implementation guidance for federal, state, and local agencies.
- 11Reporting requirements
- 12- Initial report due within one year: analyzes cross-agency challenges across housing, homelessness prevention, health care, child welfare, and other social services; recommends legislation or administrative actions; catalogs effective state/local policies and how to expand or replicate them; SSA-specific analysis of Social Security card issuance and outreach.
- 13- Final report due within three years: describes implemented changes, assesses their effectiveness, and evaluates the merits of making the Task Force permanent.
- 14Definitions
- 15- Covered Secretaries: HUD Secretary and HHS Secretary.
- 16- Unaccompanied homeless youth: homeless or unaccompanied child/youth as defined by the McKinney-Vento Act and not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.
- 17- Vital documents: any document (state or federal) that proves identity, including a Social Security card and a birth certificate.
- 18Termination and potential permanence
- 19- The Task Force terminates three years after establishment unless Congress acts to continue or modify it, with the final report evaluating whether permanence is warranted.