Between the 2020–21 and 2022–23 school years, the number of students experiencing homelessness increased by 25 percent, to 1.4 million.[1] With $800 million in pandemic relief funds, Congress in 2021 supplemented traditional funding for these students. States were to spend their allocations by January 31, 2025. To make informed choices going forward, state boards of education can now evaluate what outcomes the extra infusion produced.

Unstable living environments and moving from school to school impose stress, trauma, and other difficulties on students. Disruptions in transportation, new teachers, changes in peer relationships, and challenges accessing student records can affect their social and emotional health and limit engagement in learning and academic achievement. These students are more likely to be chronically absent, disciplined, and receive lower scores on standardized tests, and they are less likely to graduate.

Meanwhile, states and districts struggle to identify individual students experiencing homelessness. Thus, the extent of homelessness may be worse than the data indicates.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act has traditionally authorized federal funding for preK-12 students experiencing homelessness, providing them services and protecting their right to public education. During the pandemic, an extra infusion was available through the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief–Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) program, which allocated $800 million more to states’ existing funding level of about $101 million for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) programs, which was about $101 million in 2020.[2]

The funding came in two tranches during spring and summer 2021: ARP-Homeless 1 funds, which most states distributed to existing EHCY grantees who already had community relationships and structures for distributing funds, and ARP-Homeless 2. Many states used the second wave of funds to expand outreach through increased services, like summer enrichment programs, and making information more accessible via mobile apps and databases.[3] But all funds had to be committed for specific uses by September 30, 2024, and spent by January 31, 2025.

Outcomes

For many school districts, ARP-HCY was the first dedicated funding for students experiencing homelessness they had ever received. The funding helped more students. A program evaluation found that state-level technical assistance, guidance, and regional partnerships were crucial for administering the grant and improving student outcomes.[4]

Identification. Appropriately identifying students is the first step toward addressing student needs. With the relief funds, local education agencies (LEAs) were able to hire more staff, conduct more trainings, and partner with community-based organizations to identify students in unstable housing. Identification in school year 2022–23 returned to pre-pandemic rates, with 61 percent of LEAs increasing identification of students experiencing homelessness beyond levels identified in 2020–21.[5] Public schools overall identified 1.4 million students in 2022–23, a 14 percent increase from the previous school year. Many states reported even higher numbers for 2023–24.[6]

States funded a variety of programs. Districts in New Mexico, for example, established and trained regional coordinators and community navigators, which led to better identification in the first year of funding.[7] By increasing staff capacity and enhancing healthcare and food support through community-based organizations, Fairfax County Schools in Virginia increased identification by 80 percent between school years 2020–21 and 2022–23.[8]

Dr. T. Michelle Colson, a member of the District of Columbia State Board of Education and former homeless student liaison for the District of Columbia Public Schools, said the pandemic underscored how homelessness differs from family to family and student to student. “Many schools can sometimes fail to address homelessness because of the narrow range of students experiencing homelessness that the ‘standard’ definition captures,” Colson said.[9]

The District used the relief funds to support a competitive grant program for community-based, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness. DC increased their count from about 5,900 students in 2020–21 to 8,300 students the following year.

Chronic Absenteeism. Nearly half of students experiencing homelessness nationwide were chronically absent during the 2022–23 school year, compared with about 28 percent of all students and 36 percent of students who are economically disadvantaged.[10]

Students experiencing homelessness often struggle to return to their “school of origin”; hunger, a lack of clean clothes, and sickness make it harder. Thus, many states used relief funding to expand transportation options and promote the benefits of school attendance. Chronic absenteeism among students enrolled in subgrantee LEAs decreased by 5 percentage points between school years 2021–22 and 2022–23.[11]

In Alaska, some districts spent ARP-HCY funds on taxi vouchers to get vulnerable students to school.[12] In California, the community schools approach enabled certain districts to offer nonprofits the space for immigration services and language instruction, as well as a food pantry, clothing closet, and health clinic.

Graduation Rates. As a result of these efforts, the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate among students experiencing homelessness at subgrantee LEAs improved from 69.2 percent in school year 2020–21 to 72.4 percent in 2022–23, surpassing the districts’ pre-pandemic levels.[13] Further, they outperformed the 69 percent national rate for all students experiencing homelessness.

Lessons Learned

ARP-HCY was an unprecedented allocation of federal funding for students experiencing homelessness. Nonetheless, many states struggled to distribute or fully use these funds, and not all districts that wanted them could readily access funding.

Distributing the money in the window Congress allowed proved a burden for state liaisons, who also were overseeing their usual duties under McKinney-Vento. Turnover in the EHCY state coordinator ranks was nearly 50 percent from April 2021 to January 2024.[14] Consequently, LEAs often received late notification of funding availability or could not get answers to questions. Some local liaisons only learned that funds had been allocated to their LEA a year afterward and had to scramble to figure out the best way to use the resources in the time allotted. Some left funding on the table.

Coordination proved difficult for many. In a follow-up study with local liaisons, over 75 percent said future funding should include examples of allowable projects, sample memorandums of understanding, and better connections to community-based organizations.[15]

Sustainability

Funding lapsed in January; extensions were halted in March 2025. Nearly 30 percent of school district liaisons do not have plans or ideas for how to sustain services or programming they introduced or expanded with ARP-HCY funds; 68 percent are relying on some form of federal funding, including McKinney-Vento EHCY grants. At its current level, however, EHCY is not equipped to sustain pandemic levels of funding.

Path Forward

Some states have funded initiatives to sustain successful programs. For example, the Homeless Student Stability Program makes grants available to Washington districts and nonprofits to identify students experiencing homelessness, coordinate support, and provide housing resources. Created in 2016, the program has increased housing stability for 60 percent of the households served, and 575 households have exited housing programs to date.

California collected Homeless Innovative Program Toolkits from districts that used relief funding to implement innovative programs to share with other LEAs. Each toolkit includes program overviews, resources, and replicable strategies that align with McKinney-Vento.

Maine launched a pilot, Help Maine Students Avoid Homelessness, in 2023. It provides emergency financial assistance of up to $750 per student per year for the families of students experiencing homelessness. The assistance can be applied to all allowable uses under McKinney-Vento.

“A student experiencing homelessness is not failing,” said Rachel White, deputy director of youth advocacy at DC Action, at a recent meeting of the DC state board. “It’s the system that is failing them. But that is something we can change. Together we can ensure that every young person—regardless of housing status—has a real chance to learn, to graduate, and to thrive.”

Questions State Boards Can Ask

State boards can help drive improvements in programs serving students in unstable housing and ensure effective implementation. They can ask these questions of EHCY staff:

• How did our state distribute ARP-HCY funds to LEAs, and what barriers did LEAs face in accessing or spending these funds?
• How did the SEA monitor the impact of its federally funded interventions? What were the measures of success or areas for improvement?
• How did state investments drive long-term change? If no changes were observed, how can our state improve outcomes now and sustain successes?
• What tools or resources can our state provide LEAs to streamline collaboration with community-based organizations?

Notes

[1] National Center for Homeless Education, “Student Homelessness in America: School Years 2020–21 to 2022–23,” report (US Department of Education, 2024). Although federal law makes reference to “homeless children and youth,” many government agencies and advocates increasingly prefer “children and youth experiencing homelessness” to avoid potentially stigmatizing language.

[2] National Center for Homeless Education, “Implementation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 2016-2020,” report (US Department of Education, 2020)

[3] Megan Blanco, “States Build Support for Students Who Are Homeless,” Policy Update 29, no. 1 (NASBE, April 2022).

[4] Matthew Malone et al., “State and Local Implementation Studies of the American Rescue Plan—Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Program,” executive summary (US Department of Education, Office of School Support and Accountability, January 2025).

[5] Malone et al., “State and Local Implementation Studies of ARP-HCY.”

[6] SchoolHouse Connection, “2025 Fact Sheet: Educating Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness.”

[7] SchoolHouse Connection, “Progress and Promise: An Early Look at Covid Relief Funds for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness,” report (N.d.).

[8] Malone et al., “State and Local Implementation Studies of ARP-HCY.”

[9] While the US Department of Education and McKinney-Vento define unhoused students as also including those living in hotels or motels or with family and friends due to temporary housing loss and precarious economic circumstances, other agencies and programs, such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, use more restricted definitions. Warren Lowell and Maria Hanratty, “Who Counts? Educational Disadvantage among Children Identified as Homeless and Implications for the Systems That Serve Them,” Social Service Review 96, no. 4 (2022).

[10] National Center for Homeless Education, “Student Homelessness in America.”

[11] Malone et al., “State and Local Implementation Studies of ARP-HCY.”

[12] SchoolHouse Connection, “Overlooked and Almost Out of Time: Pandemic-Era Funds for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness,” report (February 2024).

[13] Malone et al., “State and Local Implementation Studies of ARP-HCY.”

[14] SchoolHouse Connection, “Overlooked and Almost Out of Time.”

[15] SchoolHouse Connection, “Overlooked and Almost Out of Time.”