An Act To Support College Completion by Homeless Youth in Maine

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §10014  is enacted to read:

§ 10014.  Homeless youth

Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §12572, first ¶,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 471, §2, is further amended to read:

Any person who was in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services and resided in foster care or subsidized adoptive care or , was a minor ward of a subsidized permanency guardian as provided in Title 22, section 4038-D at the time that person graduated from high school or successfully completed a general educational development examination or its equivalent under section 257 or is a homeless youth as defined in section 10014, subsection 1, paragraph A may attend, as provided in this section, any state postsecondary educational institution free of tuition charges.

Sec. 3. Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause. In the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 429-A, in the chapter headnote, the words "tuition waiver at state postsecondary educational institutions for persons who have resided in foster care" are amended to read "tuition waiver at state postsecondary educational institutions for persons who have resided in foster care or are homeless youth" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.

summary

This bill requires institutions of higher education in the State to designate an existing staff member to serve as a liaison for homeless youth who are enrolled in that institution of higher education. The bill also requires institutions of higher education to give homeless youth priority for on-campus housing, develop a plan to provide homeless youth housing during school breaks and allow homeless youth who are enrolled part-time to access on-campus housing during the homeless youth's first year of school. The bill also expands the tuition waiver for state postsecondary educational institutions to include tuition waivers for homeless youth.