Today, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced the availability of $800 million to identify and provide wraparound services to children and youth experiencing homelessness. With $200 million being made immediately available to states and the remaining $600 million being available as soon as June.
This is funding that, with the generous support of donors and members, we were able to advocate for in the American Rescue Plan.
The unmet needs of youth experiencing homelessness are immense and require us to think boldly and do things differently. Education plays a central role in stabilizing our youth and creating pathways out of homelessness. While we are thankful for the U.S. Department of Education’s work to support the needs of students experiencing homelessness, we hope that the Biden Harris Administration will continue to work to address the longstanding inequities that impact America’s youth homelessness crisis. ~ Darla Bardine, Executive Director, NN4Y
In summary, after reserving $1 million of the $800 million for national activities, including technical assistance, the Department will award the remaining $799 million to State educational agencies (SEAs) as follows:
- $199,750,000 will be made available to States now. This first disbursement is designed to provide funding to States immediately as a supplement to their McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) funds so that States can address urgent needs of homeless children and youth—including academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs—and so States and local educational agencies (LEAs) can increase capacity by hiring staff, dedicating resources, and planning partnerships with community-based organizations, among other strategies.
- $599,250,000 will be made available as soon as June after the Department completes necessary regulations to change EHCY’s required competitive subgrant process for the second allocation of funding. The Department anticipates that the new regulation would require States to distribute funds that they will receive in the second phase to LEAs via a formula that uses the LEA’s allocation under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and the number of identified homeless children and youth in 2018-19.
To see the complete list of state allocations, click here and see the programmatic, fiscal, and reporting requirements of these funds, click here.
We are grateful to the bipartisan group of senators banded together to ensure funding was provided to support students experiencing homelessness. NN4Y looks forward to continuing to work with the 117th Congress and the Biden Administration to secure more funding and break down silos between systems to create a future where no young person in America spends even one day homeless. ~ Darla Bardine, Executive Director, NN4Y