Assemblymember Watts Sponsors Bill to Assist Homeless Youth

Excerpts from coverage in the Nevada Current:

Arash Ghafoori, the executive director for the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, said the state’s current law only allows medical providers to serve unaccompanied youth once they’ve been homeless for four months, and puts limits on what medical professionals can provide help. 

Assembly Bill 197, heard during the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, seeks to clarify current law and remove the four-month wait period.

The bill would allow the director of a nonprofit working with the youth, a school social worker or an attorney working with the minor to submit a statement to a medical provider affirming “the minor is living separately from his or her parents or legal guardian.” 

The proposal also expands the type of health care provided to include behavioral, mental health and dental. 

“This bill really has the ability to save lives,” said Democratic Assemblyman Howard Watts, who sponsored AB 197.