WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today delivered the keynote address at the National Network for Youth’s National Summit on Youth Homelessness and announced the reintroduction of a bipartisan bill to combat youth homelessness and trafficking.

Heitkamp joined U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in reintroducing the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act to continue funding for grants to communities across the nation to prevent and respond to youth and young adult homelessness and trafficking.

A study from the Covenant House found that nearly one in five homeless youth were victims of human trafficking, with 15 percent having been trafficked for sex, 7.4 percent trafficked for labor and three percent trafficked for both. The study also showed that almost 27 percent of the runaway and homeless youth population identify as LGBTQ. 

This week, the Senate is expected to pass Heitkamp’s bipartisan Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, anti-human trafficking legislation to crack down on websites like Backpage.com that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking.

“Youth homelessness is an urgent problem in rural and urban areas alike, and our bipartisan bill is an important step in the effort to provide the resources necessary to help these children who find themselves without a permanent home or on the streets,” Heitkamp said. “We know that children and teenagers who run away or resort to couch surfing are at greater risk of being trafficked and exploited, and they lack the support networks and wrap-around services they need to succeed. We must provide them every with opportunity to reach their full potential in a safe and supportive environment. This support must include protections and services for all runaway and homeless youth, especially our LGBTQ youth who are some of the most vulnerable – that is why I’ll continue fighting to make sure the non-discrimination provision is in our bill.”

Last fall, a report from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago found that 4.2 million young people experienced homelessness in America over a 12-month period, including young people who have slept on the streets or in shelters, as well as those who were kicked out of their homes, couch surfed, or had temporary accommodations with friends or family.

Homelessness is just as much of a challenge in rural communities as it is in urban communities, the study found. In predominantly rural counties, 9.2 percent of young adults reported some level of homelessness while, in predominantly urban counties, the prevalence rate was 9.6 percent.

Heitkamp has been a vocal advocate to combat human trafficking, especially of minors. Last year, Heitkamp and Collins reintroduced their Stop, Observe, Ask and Respond (SOAR) to Health and Wellness Act to help make sure health care providers – including doctors, nurses, and social workers – have the training they need to help identify and protect victims of human trafficking. Homeless youth are at heightened risk for trafficking and exploitation.

Heitkamp and Collins have both long worked to combat human trafficking. In 2015, they worked to pave a bipartisan, compromise path forward for the successful passage of the Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Act. Now law, the bill will help provide stronger assistance to victims of human trafficking, increase resources to law enforcement and victims services organizations, and implement stricter punishments for perpetrators of these crimes. 

Heitkamp is continuing to push the Senate protect runaway and homeless youth, some of the most susceptible targets of human traffickers, and successfully secured landmark anti-human trafficking protections for children in schools in the No Child Left Behind reform legislation. 

Heitkamp also introduced legislation to help address and mitigate the detrimental impact exposure to trauma can have on children and families – particularly those in Native American communities – as they grow and develop. According to a 2015 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) study, 58 percent of all American children had witnessed or been a victim of crime in the previous year. Studies have shown that when children experience multiple traumatic experiences, like violence, abuse, neglect, or trafficking, it can lead to a lifetime of negative impacts including higher risk for heart disease and lung cancer, as well as suicide.

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