The bill amends RCW 43.330.705 to establish an office of homeless youth prevention and protection programs within "the department." The office is led by a director who is supervised by the department director or the director's designee, and it sets measurable goals to reduce the number of homeless youth and young adults and to increase permanency rates by reducing the length and occurrences of homelessness caused by separation from family or a legal guardian. The office is given procedural responsibilities: coordinating funding, policy, and practice related to homeless youth; gathering data and outcome measures; initiating data‑sharing agreements; developing recommendations and timelines to address funding, policy, and practice gaps tied to the five key components in RCW 43.330.700; producing reports; increasing system integration to prevent state systems from discharging youth into homelessness; developing county and statewide measures (including dependency status, family reunification status, housing status, program participation, and runaway status); and developing a comprehensive plan to identify youth experiencing homelessness, promote family stability, and work to eliminate youth and young adult homelessness. The office must regularly consult with an advisory committee that is staffed by the department. The advisory committee is to be appointed by the governor except for legislative members appointed by the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate, and must include representatives from identified categories (advocates; at least two legislators; parent advocates; youth or young adult representatives; at least one law enforcement representative; service providers; at least two individuals over age 25 who experienced youth homelessness or involvement with a publicly funded system of care; at least two representatives of populations disproportionately affected; and other knowledgeable stakeholders). The text preserves a provision allowing a young adult who turns 25 during their term to complete that term. This is a modification of existing law that creates a new office and new procedural duties and advisory structure; it does not create new criminal offenses or change penalties in the provided text. The extracted material leaves some important items unclear: which specific state department is meant by "the department" is not named; the five key components in RCW 43.330.700 and the definition of a "publicly funded system of care" in RCW 43.330.720 are referenced but not included; portions of the text show apparent deletions or strikeouts so timing or prior provisions are uncertain; and the exact total number or prior composition of the advisory committee is not stated. Document dates shown are pref filed 12/22/25, read first time 01/12/26, and referred to the Committee on Early Learning & Human Services.

If enacted, the bill creates a permanent office inside an unnamed state department to lead and coordinate efforts to prevent and reduce youth and young adult homelessness. That office would take on new responsibilities: setting measurable goals to reduce homelessness and increase permanency, collecting and sharing outcome data, developing recommendations and timelines to fix funding and policy gaps, working to stop state systems from discharging young people into homelessness, and creating county and statewide measures and a comprehensive plan. An advisory committee staffed by the department and appointed by the governor and legislative leaders would guide those efforts, and youth members who turn 25 can finish their terms. The most affected party is the department that must host and run the new office and advisory committee, which implies added staffing and operating responsibilities and likely new costs, though the bill text provided does not specify any funding source or appropriation. Service providers, counties, and other state systems dealing with youth homelessness will likely face more coordination and data-sharing expectations, but key details are unclear from the text: the specific department named, the five key components referenced, the definition of a publicly funded system of care, the final advisory committee size, and any timeline or budget for implementation are not included.