Part A - Basic Center Grant Program

42 USC 5711 - Authority to make grants

(a) Grants for centers and services

(1) In general
The Secretary shall make grants to public and nonprofit">nonprofit private entities (and combinations of such entities) to establish and operate (including renovation) local centers to provide services for runaway and homeless youth and for the families of such youth.

(2) Services provided
Services provided under paragraph (1)

(A) shall be provided as an alternative to involving runaway and homeless youth in the law enforcement, child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice systems;

(B) shall include

(i) safe and appropriate shelter; and

(ii) individual, family, and group counseling, as appropriate; and

(i) street-based services;

(ii) home-based services for families with youth at risk of separation from the family;

(iii) drug abuse education and prevention services; and

(iv) at the request of runaway and homeless youth, testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

(b) Allotment of funds for grants; priority given to certain private entities

(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and in accordance with regulations promulgated under this subchapter, funds for grants under subsection (a) of this section shall be allotted annually with respect to the States on the basis of their relative population of individuals who are less than 18 years of age.

(2) The amount allotted under paragraph (1) with respect to each State for a fiscal year shall be not less than $100,000, except that the amount allotted to the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall be not less than $45,000 each.

(3) In selecting among applicants for grants under subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary shall give priority to private entities that have experience in providing the services described in such subsection.

42 USC 5712 - Eligibility; plan requirements

(a) Runaway and homeless youth center; project providing temporary shelter; counseling services
To be eligible for assistance under section 5711 (a) of this title, an applicant shall propose to establish, strengthen, or fund an existing or proposed runaway and homeless youth center, a locally controlled project (including a host family home) that provides temporary shelter, and counseling services to youth who have left home without permission of their parents or guardians or to other homeless youth.

(b) Provisions of plan
In order to qualify for assistance under section 5711 (a) of this title, an applicant shall submit a plan to the Secretary including assurances that the applicant

(1) shall operate a runaway and homeless youth center located in an area which is demonstrably frequented by or easily reachable by runaway and homeless youth;

(2) shall use such assistance to establish, to strengthen, or to fund a runaway and homeless youth center, or a locally controlled facility providing temporary shelter, that has

(A) a maximum capacity of not more than 20 youth, except where the applicant assures that the State where the center or locally controlled facility is located has a State or local law or regulation that requires a higher maximum to comply with licensure requirements for child and youth serving facilities; and

(B) a ratio of staff to youth that is sufficient to ensure adequate supervision and treatment;

(3) shall develop adequate plans for contacting the parents or other relatives of the youth and ensuring the safe return of the youth according to the best interests of the youth, for contacting local government officials pursuant to informal arrangements established with such officials by the runaway and homeless youth center and for providing for other appropriate alternative living arrangements;

(4) shall develop an adequate plan for ensuring

(A) proper relations with law enforcement personnel, health and mental health care personnel, social service personnel, school system personnel, and welfare personnel;

(B) coordination with McKinney-Vento school district liaisons, designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432 (g)(1)(J)(ii)), to assure that runaway and homeless youth are provided information about the educational services available to such youth under subtitle B of title VII of that Act [42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.]; and

(5) shall develop an adequate plan for providing counseling and aftercare services to such youth, for encouraging the involvement of their parents or legal guardians in counseling, and for ensuring, as possible, that aftercare services will be provided to those youth who are returned beyond the State in which the runaway and homeless youth center is located;

(6) shall develop an adequate plan for establishing or coordinating with outreach programs designed to attract persons (including, where applicable, persons who are members of a cultural minority and persons with limited ability to speak English) who are eligible to receive services for which a grant under subsection (a) of this section may be expended;

(7) shall keep adequate statistical records profiling the youth and family members whom it serves (including youth who are not referred to out-of-home shelter services), except that records maintained on individual runaway and homeless youth shall not be disclosed without the consent of the individual youth and parent or legal guardian to anyone other than another agency compiling statistical records or a government agency involved in the disposition of criminal charges against an individual runaway and homeless youth, and reports or other documents based on such statistical records shall not disclose the identity of individual runaway and homeless youth;

(8) shall submit annual reports to the Secretary detailing how the center has been able to meet the goals of its plans and reporting the statistical summaries required by paragraph (7);

(9) shall demonstrate its ability to operate under accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as required by the Secretary;

(10) shall submit a budget estimate with respect to the plan submitted by such center under this subsection;

(11) shall supply such other information as the Secretary reasonably deems necessary; and

(12) shall submit to the Secretary an annual report that includes, with respect to the year for which the report is submitted

(A) information regarding the activities carried out under this part;

(B) the achievements of the project under this part carried out by the applicant; and

(i) the number and the characteristics of the runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of family separation, who participate in the project; and

(ii) the services provided to such youth by the project.

(c) Applicants providing street-based services
To be eligible to use assistance under section 5711 (a)(2)(C)(i) of this title to provide street-based services, the applicant shall include in the plan required by subsection (b) of this section assurances that in providing such services the applicant will

(1) provide qualified supervision of staff, including on-street supervision by appropriately trained staff;

(2) provide backup personnel for on-street staff;

(3) provide initial and periodic training of staff who provide such services; and

(4) conduct outreach activities for runaway and homeless youth, and street youth.

(d) Applicants providing home-based services
To be eligible to use assistance under section 5711 (a) of this title to provide home-based services described in section 5711 (a)(2)(C)(ii) of this title, an applicant shall include in the plan required by subsection (b) of this section assurances that in providing such services the applicant will

(1) provide counseling and information to youth and the families (including unrelated individuals in the family households) of such youth, including services relating to basic life skills, interpersonal skill building, educational advancement, job attainment skills, mental and physical health care, parenting skills, financial planning, and referral to sources of other needed services;

(2) provide directly, or through an arrangement made by the applicant, 24-hour service to respond to family crises (including immediate access to temporary shelter for runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of separation from the family);

(3) establish, in partnership with the families of runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of separation from the family, objectives and measures of success to be achieved as a result of receiving home-based services;

(4) provide initial and periodic training of staff who provide home-based services; and

(5) ensure that

(A) caseloads will remain sufficiently low to allow for intensive (5 to 20 hours per week) involvement with each family receiving such services; and

(B) staff providing such services will receive qualified supervision.

(e) Applicants providing drug abuse education and prevention services
To be eligible to use assistance under section 5711 (a)(2)(C)(iii) of this title to provide drug abuse education and prevention services, an applicant shall include in the plan required by subsection (b) of this section

(1) a description of

(A) the types of such services that the applicant proposes to provide;

(B) the objectives of such services; and

(C) the types of information and training to be provided to individuals providing such services to runaway and homeless youth; and

(2) an assurance that in providing such services the applicant shall conduct outreach activities for runaway and homeless youth.

5712a to 5712c. Repealed. Pub. L. 102586, 3(g)(2)(A)(C), Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5025

Section 5712a, Pub. L. 93–415, title III, § 313, as added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7275(b), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4457, related to grants for a national communication system to assist runaway and homeless youth. See section 5714–11 of this title. Section 5712b, Pub. L. 93–415, title III, § 314, as added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7276, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4457, related to grants for technical assistance and training to public and private entities for establishment and operation of runaway and homeless youth centers. Section 5712c, Pub. L. 93–415, title III, § 315, as added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7277, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4457, related to authority of the Secretary to make grants for research, demonstration, and service projects.

42 USC 5712d - Repealed. Pub. L. 109162, title XI, 1172(b), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3123

Section, Pub. L. 93–415, title III, § 316, as added Pub. L. 103–322, title IV, § 40155, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1922, related to grants for prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation. A prior section 316 of Pub. L. 93–415 was renumbered section 313 of Pub. L. 93–415 and is classified to section 5713 of this title. Another prior section 316 of Pub. L. 93–415 was renumbered section 372 of Pub. L. 93–415 and is classified to section 5714b of this title. Another prior section 316 of Pub. L. 93–415 was renumbered section 382 of Pub. L. 93–415 and is classified to section 5716 of this title.

42 USC 5713 - Approval of applications

(a) In general
An application by a public or private entity for a grant under section 5711 (a) of this title may be approved by the Secretary after taking into consideration, with respect to the State in which such entity proposes to provide services under this part

(1) the geographical distribution in such State of the proposed services under this part for which all grant applicants request approval; and

(2) which areas of such State have the greatest need for such services.

(b) Priority
In selecting applications for grants under section 5711 (a) of this title, the Secretary shall give priority to

(1) eligible applicants who have demonstrated experience in providing services to runaway and homeless youth; and

(2) eligible applicants that request grants of less than $200,000.

42 USC 5714 - Grants to private entities; staffing

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to deny grants to private entities which are fully controlled by private boards or persons but which in other respects meet the requirements of this subchapter and agree to be legally responsible for the operation of the runaway and homeless youth center and the programs, projects, and activities they carry out under this subchapter. Nothing in this subchapter shall give the Federal Government control over the staffing and personnel decisions of facilities receiving Federal funds under this subchapter.