Federal government is abandoning its commitment to homeless students : The Commonwealth of PA Must Step Up Now!
Central PA Delegation June 16, 2025 | 5:02 PM
Child and youth homelessness in Pennsylvania has grown to crisis proportions over the past few years, with 46,714 children and youth identified as homeless in 2023. Despite this unprecedented increase in need, the federal resources that allow schools, nonprofits, and other institutions to support these vulnerable young people in their educational pursuits are being cut off and at risk of disappearing entirely. If we are serious about providing every child in Pennsylvania the education they’ll ultimately need to land stable employment and contribute to our economy, the Commonwealth must dedicate targeted state dollars to support students experiencing homelessness.
Although this need has never been more urgent, federal support is evaporating. In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Education abruptly canceled spending extensions for American Rescue Plan funds, eliminating hundreds of millions in education funding for Pennsylvania schools.
This funding rescission’s effects are being felt most acutely by our most vulnerable students. The U.S. Education Department clawed back $9.2 million specifically designated to help homeless children and youth access education. That’s a whopping 29% of the initial $36 million investment meant to support these students.
Even more troubling, the presidential budget proposal that is moving through Congress would, if passed, eliminate all funding for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, which currently provides approximately $5 million per year to support educational access for homeless students in Pennsylvania. This is the only money the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently budgets for that purpose.
The message is clear: the federal government is abandoning its commitment to homeless students.
Pennsylvania must not do the same as the number of young people without stable housing continues to surge. In 2023, schools across the state identified 46,714 children and youth experiencing homelessness—a staggering 17% increase from the previous year, and the second consecutive year of record-breaking numbers. These are young people living in shelters, motels, vehicles, or doubled up with friends and relatives after displacement.
Homeless students living in these situations are 87% more likely to drop out, three times more likely to be placed in special education classes and fall behind academically up to six months with every disruptive move. In Pennsylvania, over half (54%) of homeless students were chronically absent in 2023, compared to just 26% of all students, often due to schools’ inability to provide transportation. If we can’t even get kids to school, how can we expect them to succeed there?
If we leave these students behind academically, what happens next?
Education is career preparation; without it, job prospects are thin. As homelessness continues to affect a growing proportion of the commonwealth’s total student population, this impacts not just the young people who have been failed by the system, but Pennsylvania’s economic productivity. As employers require highly trained workers for their companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy, our school system needs to be able to prepare all students to meet this demand. With employers reporting 267,000 unfilled jobs across the state in February 2025, we can’t afford to leave anyone behind.
Fortunately, none of these outcomes is set in stone. We have the opportunity now to provide better by identifying what’s working for unstably housed students and investing in it.
Experience shows that providing supports and services to homeless students is effective. The Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness program, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, has been successful in removing barriers to education by providing transportation, mentoring, school supplies, and more to students across nearly 499 school districts and 100+ charter schools. It’s the only state-administered program solely dedicated to ensuring the educational success of students experiencing homelessness.
Yet the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently contributes zero dollars to ECYEH from its General Fund. This must change.
The clock is ticking, and these children are running out of time. They are growing up fast while trying to navigate complex obstacles that no child should have to face alone. They require caring adults, stable school environments, and the targeted support that programs like ECYEH provide. Without state investment, those lifelines will slip away, taking with them not just thousands of students’ futures, but the future strength of our workforce and economy.