About the Webinar

Unaccompanied homeless youth face significant barriers to accessing housing and health care without parental consent. This webinar explores state legislative efforts to address those barriers, featuring examples of recent wins and ongoing campaigns across the country.

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Inside The Webinar

Many young people experiencing homelessness on their own are already doing the work of adulthood. They find somewhere safe to sleep, work, get to school, and seek health care. Yet many state laws still require a parent’s consent before they can stay in a shelter, sign a lease, or see a doctor. Darla Bardine, Executive Director of the National Network for Youth (NN4Y), described the disconnect: a young person can be living independently in practice while lacking the legal authority or an accessible process to meet their basic needs.

In this SchoolHouse Connection webinar, presenters looked at how states are closing that gap in three areas: shelter, housing, and health care. Oregon presenters walked through a state law that has allowed certain minors to contract for housing since 1993, and a proposal to expand it. Michigan presenters discussed Senate Bill (SB) 1124, which would allow unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness to consent to medically necessary care. Reflections from a SchoolHouse Connection scholar were read throughout the session. They grounded the conversation in what it means when age, documentation, or the lack of a supportive adult puts resources out of reach.

The question presenters kept returning to was whether a young person can actually use the resource a law creates.

“Through no fault of their own, children and youth are put into survival mode when they should be safe and stably housed and focused on school.” — Savina Zuniga

Key Takeaways

• Young people on their own are already managing adult responsibilities, but the law doesn’t always recognize that. Bardine described young people who are finding somewhere safe to sleep, buying food, working, getting to school, arranging transportation, and seeking health care. Some are also raising their own children or caring for siblings. They may earn wages but face barriers to opening a bank account. They may also be asked for a parent’s signature, records, or help they cannot safely obtain. These rules vary by state, age, service, and circumstance, and there are important exceptions. One is federal education law, which allows immediate school enrollment without a guardian.

“A missed appointment or an unfinished application may reflect competing survival demands rather than a lack of interest in receiving help.” — Darla Bardine

• Homelessness and foster care are different systems. Bardine explained that lacking housing and experiencing poverty does not automatically equal neglect. Homelessness itself does not and should not trigger a mandatory report. Some young people have run into barriers when seeking help from child welfare. Others try to stay hidden because of earlier negative experiences with services. Some experienced homelessness after leaving foster care.
• Federal resources are split across three departments, and none of them guarantees a bed nearby. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funds Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs, including basic centers that provide short-term emergency shelter, typically for minors. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the largest funding stream but has the narrowest eligibility, and very few minors are able to access HUD-funded housing. The U.S. Department of Education supports school access, stability, transportation, and school-based homeless liaisons through the McKinney-Vento Act. Bardine noted that more communities lack youth-specific housing and services than have them.
• States take different approaches to consent for shelter. Elliot Williams, Senior Manager, State Policy at SchoolHouse Connection, highlighted four examples:
  • Indiana lets shelters serve a young person without a parent’s consent. The shelter must notify the Department of Child Services, which then notifies the parent. The law doesn’t specify an age.
  • Colorado sets the age at 15 and requires notice to a parent, guardian, or law enforcement. There are exceptions, such as when notice isn’t in the young person’s best interest.
  • Virginia requires direct involvement of a school homeless liaison.
  • Utah sets the age at 15 and goes beyond a place to sleep. Its law also covers basic needs, transportation, and help with school enrollment and attendance.
• Oregon’s housing contract law has had its greatest impact through host homes. Adam Jenkins, Systems Change Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program, explained Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 109.697. The law allows unemancipated 16- and 17-year-olds to contract for housing and necessary utilities. Under specific conditions, it also covers pregnant and parenting minors under 16. These contracts do not require parental consent and cannot be overturned by a parent or guardian.
  • The statute has been most useful in host home projects, where vetted community members lease space to young people. Rent is often structured around shared goals, such as completing school. Shelters and transitional living programs face childcare licensing requirements that host homes are exempt from, which makes the law harder for them to use. Youth advocate Savina Zuniga shared how the law made it possible for her to sign a rental agreement with a host family, which also helped her build a rental history.

“If the statute didn’t exist, I don’t know what alternative solutions I would have been able to use. Maybe I would have dropped out.” — Savina Zuniga

• Oregon advocates are working to expand who the law covers. Jay Greenfield is Program Manager at Punx with Purpose, a transitional service in Salem, Oregon, for youth ages 11 to 18 experiencing homelessness. He shared that advocates are working with State Representative Lesly Muñoz to amend ORS 109.697 so it covers all unaccompanied homeless or at-risk minors living apart from parents or guardians. As of October 22, 2026, this is a proposal for Oregon’s upcoming legislative session.
• Most states allow unaccompanied minors to consent to their own medical care, but many still do not. Rodd Monts, Director of State Policy at SchoolHouse Connection, said SHC has worked on bills in several states over the last five years. Two have passed: Florida in 2022 and Vermont in 2026. He pointed to progress in Wisconsin and Michigan as reasons for optimism. Eligibility criteria and the range of services covered vary from state to state.
• Michigan’s SB 1124 is focused on medically necessary care. Nick Haas is Legislative Director for Michigan Senator John Cherry, who sponsored SB 1124. Haas said the Senator sees the bill as a common-sense fix, so that young people can consent to something as simple as a strep test. To address stakeholder concerns, the Senator’s office borrowed New Mexico’s statutory definition of “medically necessary.” They also made clear the bill does not cover elective or cosmetic procedures.
• As of October 22, 2026, the bill has passed committee and is pending before the full Michigan Senate. Haas said the Senator is optimistic about Senate passage before the end of the year and expects that to build momentum for passage in both chambers in 2027.

“If you let those conditions fester, if you let those conditions become more chronic illnesses, you’re talking about more expensive care, you’re talking about trips to the emergency room.” — Nick Haas

• Without a clear way to consent, routine care can become emergency care. Dr. Rachel Hollander, a pediatrician in Flint, Michigan, gave two examples from her practice:
  • A teenager came to the emergency department with an asthma attack. He had left an unsafe home without his inhalers, and the attack could have been prevented with access to his medication and routine care.
  • Another young person came in after running out of a needed medication. That young person could not be treated because no parent was available to consent, and the delay affected school, sleep, and daily life.

“When young people cannot access routine care, manageable health problems can become emergencies.” — Dr. Rachel Hollander

• Providers want a clear pathway, and young people need to be able to trust it. Dr. Hollander emphasized that pediatricians are not trying to circumvent parental consent; they want to partner with parents. When no parent or stable guardian is available, though, providers need a clear legal pathway to treat common illnesses, manage chronic conditions, provide medications and vaccines, and make sure follow-up happens. She added that turning a young person away when they try to get care adds barriers and erodes trust in a medical system many already struggle to trust.

“Youth experiencing homelessness face significant barriers that myself and many other adults could not imagine handling, but yet we expect a child or an adolescent to do that.” — Dr. Rachel Hollander

• Removing the legal barrier is only the first step. Bardine and Williams closed with eight principles for policy that works for young people on their own:
  • Recognize the reality of youth on their own.
  • Inform policy with youth who have lived experience and with advocates.
  • Address the actual legal barrier.
  • Provide meaningful access.
  • Make eligibility and verification clear.
  • Give providers guidance.
  • Balance safeguards with autonomy.
  • Build in feedback so states can respond to unintended consequences.

“Bottom line is that policy isn’t finished just because a bill passes.” — Elliot Williams

• Williams cautioned against bringing parental consent back under a different name in the name of safety.

“Success means that a young person can actually get the document, the housing, the care, or the service that they need.” — Darla Bardine

Questions That Came Up

Attendees asked practical questions about putting state consent laws into practice for young people on their own, including:

• Where the national estimate of 4.2 million young people experiencing homelessness comes from, and whether more recent research is available
• Whether Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs serve only young people who have run away, or also those who were kicked out by a parent or caregiver
• What protections exist for minors who sign a lease under Oregon’s law and are later evicted
• How to recruit host home volunteers, especially in rural areas
• How a young person would show they are eligible under Michigan’s SB 1124 if they lack identification or proof of housing status
• Whether “medically necessary” care includes mental health treatment
• What happens when a hospital or provider refuses to accept a young person’s consent documentation and no parent can be reached
• How to find which state laws allow unaccompanied youth to consent to health care
• How schools can watch for signs of trafficking or abduction while still immediately enrolling students experiencing homelessness who lack documents
• How to support unaccompanied children under age 12, such as young children living with relatives without legal paperwork

Presenters

• Adam Jenkins – Systems Change Coordinator, Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program, Oregon Department of Human Services
• Darla Bardine – Executive Director, National Network for Youth
• Jay Greenfield – Program Manager, Punx with Purpose
• Savina Zuniga – Youth Advocate
• Senator John Cherry – Michigan Legislature
• Rachel Hollander, MD – Pediatrician and Alice Hamilton Scholar, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• Rodd Monts – Director, State Policy, SchoolHouse Connection
• Elliot Williams – Senior Manager, State Policy, SchoolHouse Connection

Helpful Resources

• Youth On Their Own: Who unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness are, why they may be on their own, what they need, and how schools and communities can support them.
• Policy Brief: Reforming State Laws for Youth Experiencing Homelessness on Their Own: How state laws can help unaccompanied youth access housing, health care, education, and other essential services.
• Minor Medical Consent Laws by State: Rights for Minors & Unaccompanied Youth: A state-by-state guide to where minors living on their own can consent to their own health care.
• State Laws on Minor Consent for Housing and Related Services: A summary of state laws giving unaccompanied youth under 18 legal rights to housing, shelter, and basic services.
• Take Action: Improve Access to Medical Care for Michigan’s Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Urge Michigan lawmakers to support SB 1124.
• I Am Here: Vital Document Legal Hotline for Youth: NN4Y’s free national hotline to help youth experiencing homelessness obtain IDs, birth certificates, and other vital documents.
• SchoolHouse Connection Scholarship Program: Support for students moving out of high school and into and through postsecondary education. Applications open in January.
• Join the SchoolHouse Connection Slack community to ask questions and share resources with SHC staff and peers across the country.
• Sign up for SchoolHouse Connection’s newsletter for news, resources, and upcoming webinars.