34 U.S.C. § 11212: Eligibility; plan requirements

To be eligible for assistance under section 11211(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. 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; 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 a ratio of staff to youth that is sufficient to ensure adequate supervision and treatment; 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; proper relations with law enforcement personnel, health and mental health care personnel, social service personnel, school system personnel, and welfare personnel; 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 the return of runaway and homeless youth from correctional institutions; 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; 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) may be expended; 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; 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); shall demonstrate its ability to operate under accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as required by the Secretary; shall submit a budget estimate with respect to the plan submitted by such center under this subsection; shall supply such other information as the Secretary reasonably deems necessary; information regarding the activities carried out under this part; the achievements of the project under this part carried out by the applicant; and the number and the characteristics of the runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of family separation, who participate in the project; and the services provided to such youth by the project; and shall develop an adequate emergency preparedness and management plan. provide qualified supervision of staff, including on-street supervision by appropriately trained staff; provide backup personnel for on-street staff; provide initial and periodic training of staff who provide such services; and conduct outreach activities for runaway and homeless youth, and street youth. 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; 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); 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; provide initial and periodic training of staff who provide home-based services; and caseloads will remain sufficiently low to allow for intensive (5 to 20 hours per week) involvement with each family receiving such services; and staff providing such services will receive qualified supervision. the types of such services that the applicant proposes to provide; the objectives of such services; and the types of information and training to be provided to individuals providing such services to runaway and homeless youth; and an assurance that in providing such services the applicant shall conduct outreach activities for runaway and homeless youth.