On March 10, 2022, Congress passed a legislative package including over $1.5 trillion for the final fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget.
Overall, the bill provides modest increases for education, early care, homeless, and housing programs, including:
- $114 million for the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program. This is a 7% increase from the fiscal year 2021 level of $106.5 million.
- $140.3 million for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs. This is a 2.6% increase from the fiscal year 2021 level of 136.7 million.
- A comprehensive table summarizing funding levels for early care, education, homelessness, and housing programs is provided below.
In addition, while the bill delays the overall implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act by one year, it expressly permits the U.S. Department of Education to implement improvements to the FAFSA for unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness and youth from foster care on time. This means the new provisions for homeless and foster youth should go into effect for the 2023-2024 award year, and be reflected on the new FAFSA on October 1, 2022. These changes will remove many hurdles to financial aid for these resilient students, and help them obtain the postsecondary education that is increasingly necessary for stability, health, and wellness.
Click here for a summary of changes to the FAFSA for homeless and foster youth.
Finally, the FY2022 omnibus appropriations bill includes a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. This reauthorization makes small but important changes to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homelessness to better meet the needs of sexual assault survivors by including trauma and removing the reference to “support networks” needed to obtain permanent housing. The new definition requires HUD to include as homeless “any individual or family who is experiencing trauma or a lack of safety related to, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous, traumatic, or life-threatening conditions related to the violence against the individual or a family member in the individual’s or family’s current housing situation, including where the health and safety of children are jeopardized.”
Summary of Final Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Related to Early Care, Education, Homelessness, and Housing
The chart below summarizes final FY2022 funding for select early care, education, housing, and homelessness programs.
Looking to the FY2023 Budget
Now that the FY2022 budget has been enacted, work immediately begins on the FY2023 budget. SHC will continue to advocate for resources and policies to support children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness. We can help connect you and community partners with your legislators via virtual meetings, participate in those meetings with you, and/or provide talking points, materials, and other advocacy resources. Please contact Alleanne Anderson, SHC’s Policy and Advocacy Program Manager, at alleanne@schoolhouseconnection.org.