State must step up as federal government abandons commitment to homeless students
Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El June 26, 2025 | 12:58 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, according to a state report.
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 are at risk of disappearing entirely. If we are serious about providing every child in Pennsylvania with 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, 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. Department of Education 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 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 about $5 million per year to support educational access for homeless students in Pennsylvania. This is the only money that 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, more than 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 must be able to prepare all students to meet this demand. With employers reporting 267,000 unfilled jobs across the state in February, 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-plus charter schools. It’s the only state-administered program solely dedicated to ensuring the educational success of students experiencing homelessness.
The School District of Lancaster’s Families in Transition program is a lifeline to the district’s approximately 900 homeless students. The program’s social workers not only ensure the kids have daily transportation to and from school, but they provide basic necessities, including hygiene products, cleaning supplies, backpacks, school supplies, sneakers and clothing. Some of this stuff may seem small, but it’s the key to student success.
The social workers also help kids enroll in schools and access food, shelter and health care. They arrange for transportation for families facing homelessness.
It’s not just urban school districts that will be impacted. Take, for instance, Penn Manor School District, which has a homeless liaison to help its unhoused kids and a partnership with The Loft to provide them with food and clothing assistance.
Now, imagine the devastation to our unhoused population if programs to help our homeless students are cut across Lancaster County and throughout the commonwealth. Thousands of kids — our most precious resource — would experience unimaginable desperation and hopelessness. They could be forced to drop out of school and resign themselves to a future on the margins of our society. What kind of existence is that?
Pennsylvania should be stepping up, yet the commonwealth currently contributes zero dollars to this program 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 such the Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness program 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.
We are at a crossroads. Either we allow tens of thousands of children to fall through the cracks, or we step up to provide them with the consistent, individualized support they need to succeed — not just in school, but in the workforce. If we fail them now, we weaken our state’s long-term economic growth, innovation and competitiveness.
It’s time for Pennsylvania to stop waiting for Washington, D.C., to lead. Our students can’t afford the delay.
State Rep. Ismail “Izzy” Smith-Wade-El represents the 49th Legislative District, which comprises part of the City of Lancaster, Lancaster Township and Millersville Borough. Brian Knight is the director of community engagement at the Homeless Children’s Education Fund in Pittsburgh.