The Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2025 updates federal homeless assistance programs to better serve children, teens, and young adults. The main changes expand who qualifies as homeless and make sure they get equal access to help.

Right now, the law says someone is homeless if they've been without stable housing for 14 days. This bill changes that to 30 days, giving more people time to qualify for assistance. It also broadens the definition to include young people up to age 24 who can't safely live with their parents or guardians and have nowhere else to go. The bill recognizes that people fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other dangerous situations need help, and it makes sure they're treated the same as other homeless people when applying for services.

The bill requires communities to share detailed information about their homeless populations—including breakdowns by age, gender, disability status, and how long people have been homeless—so the government can track progress and identify what's working. It also makes sure that programs serving homeless families and youth connect kids to school, early childhood programs, disability services, and career training. For unaccompanied teens, the bill ensures they learn about financial aid for college and get the paperwork they need to apply. Overall, this law aims to make sure no homeless child or young person falls through the cracks by giving them consistent access to housing and services across different federal programs.