An initiative to identify and assist homeless youth through a partnership between nonprofits and the School District of Philadelphia will continue through June.
The Board of Education approved a measure Oct. 24 allocating $2.36 million to the program, following advocacy from a coalition of youth-serving organizations and those who benefitted from the assistance.
However, long-term funding for partnership beyond this school year remains in flux, as last week’s allocation is one-time funding from the district.
“The fight is not over,” said Quadirah Locus, of Valley Youth House, one of the nonprofits involved in the initiative. “Behind the scenes, we continue to work alongside Council members and the school district to find permanent solutions.”
Nonetheless, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who organized a hearing in July that brought attention to the funding issue, took what he referred to as “a small victory lap” Tuesday for successfully securing enough money to ensure the programs would not shut down this fall.
“We were able to avoid a crisis that would have presented itself had we not come up with some type of solution to be able to provide emergency funding to these organizations so the work continues,” he said at a City Hall news conference.
Last school year, thanks to $3 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, the district contracted with Valley Youth House, Eddie’s House and HopePHL to supplement internal efforts to aid housing insecure students.
Each agency operates its program slightly differently, although, in all cases, staff offer case management, housing assistance, counseling, eviction prevention and help with uniforms and transportation, representatives from the organizations told Metro in an interview last month.
Many of the young people identified through the initiative have dropped out or stopped attending classes, according to the nonprofit leaders.
In the 2023-2024 academic term, the program provided services to about 1,000 students and their families and had an on-site presence in around 70 schools.
The funding from ARPA, which was earmarked explicitly for youth experiencing homelessness, ran out in September, school district Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. said. He said the district was able to find the money to continue the programs through reallocating funds in its budget.
Watlington, Thomas and other stakeholders spoke about the partnership at a lectern behind a couch that had been placed in the opulent Mayor’s Reception Room. Signs on the sofa presented statistics about youth homelessness.
“When people traditionally hear the term homeless, they think about the person who’s on the street,” Thomas said.
But 80% of homeless students identified by the district are “doubled-up” or “couch surfing” with relatives or friends, according to a data analysis by the Philly Homes 4 Youth Coalition, which pushed for the extra funding.
The school district’s Office of Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness identified more than 10,000 pupils during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the most recent finalized data. District officials, over the summer, said that number rose nearly 20% last year.
Enhanced efforts, including the partnership, to reach homeless young people may play a role in the rising numbers, stakeholders have said.
A federal law, the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, mandates that school districts identify and assist housing insecure students through age 21.
Watlington said families who need help can visit philasd.org/studentrights/#homeless, email ecyeh@philasd.org or call the district’s offices at 215-400-4000.
