Ease ID obtainability for homeless youth in Minnesota.

 

The purpose for this bill is because Minnesota allows anyone 24 and younger to get a standardized identification card

(ID) as long as you’re homeless. However homeless youth face many challenges when trying to get IDs in Minnesota such as

lack of parental consent as it’s necessary for some sort of guardian consent to get an ID. Many homeless youth may also

struggle with finding a residency to get their ID shipped to them as that is a requirement for shipping IDs. Homeless

youth should have the option to obtain IDs easily because IDs are a requirement for some jobs and some places even

require an ID to make purchases or enter places.

 

Identification is such an important thing in our everyday lives. In fact you need identification for almost every

important thing you do throughout your life. According to the State Index On Youth Homelessness IDs open up access to

housing, financial aid, healthcare and transportation. For every 1000 youth under 18 in Minnesota 1.5 are homeless and

that number slightly increases to 1.6 per 1000 youth between 18-24. A verified ID can really change life trajectories

for homeless youth.

 

Financial aid: Money that is given or lended to students to help pay for education expenses.

State index: or Fragile State Index ranks countries and states by fragility (Easily broken or damaged).

Standrazided: Something that is established to a standard set of rules.

Administrative - Related to the running of a business or company.

Trajectories - a curved path that often leads to a path of events.

 

Funding would be used from the Health and Human Services Department. It is essential that homeless youth get an ID to

access many medical services and health care. 1-2.5 million dollars are funded towards this bill each year to help

homeless youth obtain IDs easier. Depending on the amount of homeless youth without IDs every year the amount would

vary.

 

Agencies will establish compliance for processing homeless youth identification applications. Failure of this may result

in administrative review and corrective action.

 

This bill will be enacted on July 1st of 2026