FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Becker: Bill addresses homeless
youth issue, needs of foster children
(STATEHOUSE) –Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville) said there are an estimated 10,000 homeless children in Indiana and as many as 500 of them are in the Evansville area. Becker is sponsoring a bill from the Indiana House of Representatives containing a package of initiatives designed to combat Indiana’s homeless youth problem, help agencies enhance their services and improve the lives children who are homeless or in foster care.
House Bill 1165 will be heard by the full Senate on Thursday for its third reading.
“We need to do all we can to get homeless youth off the streets and into safe environments,” Becker said.
As vice chairman of a summer study committee examining the issue of missing children and charged with reducing the number of homeless youths in Indiana, Becker listened to concerns regarding homeless youth issues and possible solutions to those concerns.
Becker said because of current age criteria and laws requiring parental approval, many shelters do not house youth or provide services to those under the age of 18. Of Indiana’s 92 counties, only nine provide assistance to homeless children. HB 1165 would allow unaccompanied youths aged 16 to 18 to be provided food and shelter.
In addition, Becker said the bill sets the timeframe in which youth-serving shelters are required to notify parents of unaccompanied youth at a maximum of 72 hours. The 72 hour notification time-line complies with federal standards. Within 72 hours, shelters are to determine the needs of the child.
According to Becker, HB 1165 also:
- Requires the Indiana housing and community development authority to transport foster children to and from their foster homes and school if the student lives in an adjacent county;
- Requires each school district to appoint a liaison for homeless children in the district, with the goal of making sure those children have access to local resources, programs and services related to homelessness;
- Allows for a child, a child’s foster parents or a child’s guardian ad litem to request visitation with the child’s sibling if either children receive foster care;
- Provides for collection of data to determine the number of homeless youth in the state; and
- Allows the Department of Education to establish an office of Coordinator for Education of Homeless Children to facilitate education continuity for homeless and foster youths.
Becker said that Indiana’s overall homeless population is growing. Dr. Cynthia Smith, Executive Director of the Evansville Youth Service Bureau and an expert in homeless youth issues, estimates more than 500 youths in Evansville are homeless at any given time.
“Preventing homelessness, meeting the needs of vulnerable children without homes and protecting the many children in foster care homes cannot be solved with one, simple solution,” Becker said. “These proposed initiatives could help various agencies enhance their services and improve the lives of many children who are homeless and in foster care,” Becker said.
Sen. Becker represents Senate District 50, which includes portions of Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.
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