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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 23, 2023 03:04 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Napoleon J. Nelson and Rep. Abby Major |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Prohibiting Transfers from State Housing into Homelessness |
In January 2020, about 13,000 Pennsylvanians were experiencing homelessness according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homelessness can be temporary or long-term and be caused by a variety of factors including substance use disorders, domestic violence, illness, unemployment, and scarce affordable housing. Solving homelessness has no simple solution, but there are steps Pennsylvania can take to alleviate the problem. Our bill, modeled off parts of Massachusetts and Washington state law, directs the Department of Human Services (DHS) to develop a plan that could ensure that no young person would graduate out of a state residential care program into homelessness. Consider, for instance, that 1,100 Pennsylvania youth age out of the foster system annually and lose access to the housing that it brings. Other young people are regularly released from juvenile detention centers or mental health facilities without stable housing. Nationally, an estimated 20% of young adults in foster care experience homelessness upon emancipation and formerly incarcerated individuals are nearly 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. It is imperative that we give these youth, and other people under the supervision of the state, a fair shot by ensuring they have stable housing as they begin a new stage in their lives. Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation to take on homelessness in Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as HB1330