By Jennifer Erb-Downward, William D. Lopez, and John Bulat

Download PDF of full policy brief

Introduction

Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 dedicated to Homeless Children and Youth (referred to as ARP-HCY) dramatically expanded the number of school districts in the state of New York and nationally that received dedicated dollars to identify and support children experiencing homelessness after the pandemic. This new funding landscape provided a unique opportunity to learn from districts across the state about opportunities and challenges to using funds earmarked for the support of students experiencing homelessness.

The federal McKinney-Vento Act requires all local education agencies to designate a liaison to identify students experiencing homelessness and to remove barriers to participation in school. In order to better understand the impact of ARP-HCY funding on McKinney-Vento liaisons and the students they support, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan worked with the New York State Department of Education and SchoolHouse Connection to conduct interviews with school district liaisons from February 2024 to May 2024. The research focused on school districts outside of New York City, which were sorted based on the percent of children identified as experiencing homelessness and the school district’s poverty rate for children ages 5-17 years old. Three groups of school districts were selected for interviews:

1. districts that identified no students experiencing homelessness that had more than 1,000 children enrolled;
2. districts with low identification of students experiencing homelessness, defined as being in the top quartile of the state for child poverty but identifying less than the state average of children experiencing homelessness (4.8%);
3. districts with good identification of students experiencing homelessness, defined as school districts that were in the top quartile of the state for homeless students identified regardless of child poverty rate.

These three groups included a total of 101 school districts. All 101 school districts were contacted, and researchers completed 18 interviews with McKinney-Vento liaisons in 17 school districts from regions across New York. While these interviews are specific to New York, because ARP-HYC was a national program, findings and recommendations may resonate with statewide coordinators and McKinney-Vento liaisons in states across the U.S. as they consider how best to serve students experiencing homelessness now that ARP-HCY funding is ending.

Key Findings

• Different identification and outreach practices existed among school districts that fell into the three interview categories: good identification, low identification, and no identification. Sorting school districts into these three categories based on the percentage of students experiencing homelessness and the child poverty rate can help to identify those districts most likely in need of technical assistance.
• Opportunities exist to strengthen the implementation of the housing questionnaire used by districts to identify students experiencing homelessness. While all districts reported using this questionnaire, differences in the frequency of use and whether districts re-evaluated students when a change of address occurred were directly related to how effective the questionnaire was as an identification tool for students experiencing homelessness.
• Bus drivers may be uniquely placed to identify children experiencing homelessness. While not usually considered a part of the identification team, districts that reported training and engaging their bus drivers to recognize and report potential signs of homelessness said that this collaboration was invaluable.
• Building trust among partners and the community is a critical part of breaking down barriers to identification. Families often worry about disclosing lack of adequate housing and immigration status because of the risk of Child Protective Services involvement and deportation. Liaisons noted the importance of working with other organizations and providing services to families in order to address fears.

Download PDF of full policy brief