Maryland House Bill 0911 was introduced by the Judiciary committee  on February 08, 2019.  Initially the bill was titled Unaccompanied Minors in Need of Shelter-Consent to Shelter and Supportive Services.  This legislation was drafted to produce a law that would allow unaccompanied youth under the age of 18 to sign for themselves for housing and services with certain conditions.  While in committee and reviewed  by both the House and Senate as cross bill SB 0930 the proposed bill was altered as both the House and Senate wanted a further study on the issues at hand.   The revised bill called for a Workgroup to be formed with the intent to model legislation that would outline the needs, regulations and oversight of the law.   Both Cindy Morgan and Nancy Wilson representing Steadfast attended the final workshop to provide Steadfast’s support of the bill.  

Steadfast will be hosting the first non profit roundtable concerning youth homelessness in Frederick County. The goal of the roundtable will be to discuss challenges facing homeless youth as well as services needed and how those services are being met by local and state government departments as well as non profit organizations. It will also serve as a chance for the non profits to build relationships and support for all. The unaccompanied youth is a tough group to gather information on for many reasons.” It is important that we, together, get a better understanding of the extent of youth homelessness in Frederick County and the services needed to help those youth” stated Cindy Morgan Founder and Executive Director of Steadfast. ” As an organization we felt that this was the best way for us to better define Steadfast and how we can best serve the community and work with other organizations.” The Roundtable will be held on Wednesday, October 16, 2019.