Federal Policy, PreK-12 (January 2025)

Federal Study Shows Investment = Improvements for Homeless Students

Federal homeless student funding boosted identification by 25%, improved graduation rates and academic outcomes in K-12 schools. Learn about ARP-HCY funding’s impact to date in a new federally-funded study.

In its first full year and a half of implementation, federal pandemic-relief funding for children and youth experiencing homelessness led to improved outcomes, according to a federally-funded study released by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

The study found that local educational agencies (LEAs) that received American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) funds increased the identification of students experiencing homelessness while at the same time reporting reduced rates of chronic absenteeism, higher graduation rates, and better academic outcomes. Many LEAs returned to or improved upon pre-pandemic performance levels.

Key Findings

1. Identification: ARP-HCY grantees increased the identification of students experiencing homelessness by 25% (2020-21 to 2022-23), 3% higher than the national increase.

This finding suggests that ARP-HCY funding helped schools rebound from the impacts of the pandemic, during which school building closures lead to drops in the identification of homeless students. Identification is the first step to providing students with services and stability, and was a goal of the ARP-HCY program.

2. Attendance: ARP-HCY grantees decreased chronic absence among students experiencing homelessness by 5 percentage points, from 52% to 47% (2021-22 to 2022-23).

While the chronic absence rate among homeless students is still significantly higher than chronic absence among low-income and other students, this 5-point improvement is greater than the 3-percentage point improvement for all students over the same time period.

3. Academic Achievement: Students experiencing homelessness in LEAs that received ARP-HCY funds achieved 29% proficiency in math (outpacing the national homeless student average by 6 points), 36% in reading (10 points above the national rate for homeless students), and 36% in science (a 10-point jump from previous year).

These data represent only reporting LEAs; 40% of LEAs did not report math data, and 49% did not report science data.

4. High School Graduation: High school graduation rates for students experiencing homelessness in ARP-HCY subgrantees surpassed pre-pandemic levels, rising to a 72.4% graduation rate in 2022-23, and outperforming national homeless student rates by nearly 3 percentage points.

This is particularly noteworthy because lack of a high school degree or GED is the single greatest risk factor associated with homelessness as a young adult, making educational attainment a key homelessness prevention strategy.

These findings are especially significant because most LEAs did not receive their ARP-HCY allocations until spring 2022, and in some cases, not until spring 2023 – or even later. Despite these delays, a considerable portion of ARP-HCY subgrantees saw consistent increases in all key academic measures – even while serving a greater number of homeless students. Final outcomes for the entire ARP-HCY period are likely to be even stronger.

Why This Matters And What You Can Do:

  1. Congress is considering significant cuts to federal education funding this year. Yet targeted and flexible funding for homeless students can lead to improved academic outcomes, which can reduce homelessness. Contact your Members of Congress to let them know.
  2. State and local educational agencies should help sustain positive outcomes for students experiencing homelessness by increasing Title I Part A reservations to serve them. Learn more about Title I Part A requirements on homelessness.
  3. State legislatures should supplement federal funds for students experiencing homelessness by increasing state investments. Learn about Washington state’s Homeless Student Stability Program, Maine’s Student Homelessness Prevention Pilot, and Colorado’s Educational Stability Grant.

What Worked: Key ARP-HCY Implementation Study Findings

In addition to the national ARP-HCY outcomes summary, ED released an executive summary of the state and local ARP-HCY implementation study examining how state and local educational agencies used ARP-HCY funds, useful strategies, and challenges. In sum, LEAs widely reported that the funding was instrumental in addressing critical needs, but noted challenges such as the limited, one-time nature of the funding, administrative burdens, and difficulties accessing funds. The study recommends allowing continued flexibility of funds, enhancing the use of Title I Part A homeless set-asides, enhancing the LEA infrastructure for homeless students, and strengthening CBO partnerships. The study also included nine qualitative case studies, two of which were selected for spotlight briefs:

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Alaska

Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia