Action Alert from the Mass. Coalition for the Homeless. Please click below to sign a petition in support of unaccompanied homeless youth!
https://secure2.convio.net/mch/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=126
Dear colleagues,
Please help us increase the number of signatures for the passage of House Bill 135 “An Act Providing Housing and Support Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth”. Please sign it and share it with your network. We are running out of time! We only have until July 31st to make sure that the bill, which right now is with the House Ways and Means Committee, will be moved to the Senate Ways and Means and continue the process until it becomes a law. If it is not approved, it will “die” in July and we would have to re-file it again in January.
Youth without homes can’t wait! Help us end youth homelessness by supporting House Bill 135: An Act Providing Housing and Support Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth.
Please join with me in working to end unaccompanied youth homelessness by supporting House Bill 135, An Act providing housing and support services to unaccompanied homeless youth.
This bill seeks to reduce youth homelessness and its adverse effects by funding a continuum of housing and support services geared specifically for unaccompanied youth and young adults under the age of 25. The goals of these efforts are to improve housing and residential stability, reduce the risk of harm and improve educational, physical and mental health outcomes for this population.
On August 12, 2013, the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities reported the bill out favorably, and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee but the work is far from over. I am writing to ask for your support to House Bill 135 by signing this petition directed to you Representative and Senator, and by asking them to speak to Legislative Leadership to request swift passage of this bill before the end of this legislative session.
The time to act is now! The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education estimates that nearly 6,000 high school students are experiencing homelessness and out on their own. While some youth are resilient and are able to overcome the ravages of poverty, homelessness increases a youth’s risk of dropping out of high school, exposure to violence, sexual exploitation and assault, HIV/AIDS, and many life-risking behaviors as a means of survival.
With your help thousands of youth will be able to have appropriate housing and services that will help them break the cycle of homelessness. Please take a minute and sign the petition:
https://secure2.convio.net/mch/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=126
Thank you for your advocacy!
The legislative advocacy team at the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
