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The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) supports homeless students with its Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) office, a federally funded program.
Funds allocated toward ECYEH are used for staffing to train school personnel in 300 public district and charter schools and provide direct services like uniforms, transportation, mentoring, summer programming, school supplies, and more to better support students experiencing homelessness. This paper shares data recently published by the SDP and the Pennsylvania Department of Education using School Year (SY) 2022-23 data — the best publicly available source of data. The report offers insight for decision makers about the prevalence of student homelessness, challenges, and recommendations. The SDP’s American Rescue Plan funds (ARP) (the primary source of funding for this critical work since 2020) have expired and the new capacity and supports for students will disappear on June 30, 2025. No plans have been developed to build on or continue this support; the School District informed advocates that available state funding is not adequate to support homeless students.
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The Neighborhood Advisory Committee recently hosted a vibrant Pop-Up Resource Fair that brought our community together in a big way. The NAC created a spin on Valentines Day - to create “Show Some Love Day!” The event was a fantastic opportunity for residents to access crucial city services and connect with one another by sharing their thoughts and feelings in the "Show Some Love Photo Booth"!
The NAC pop-up featured expert legal advice from Community Legal Services -that included guidance on preventing utility shut-offs, assistance for renters and property deeds. The NAC "Show Some Love" resource pop-up highlighted the power of our neighborhood—coming together to support one another, share resources, and have a little fun along the way. The Neighborhood Advisory Committee looks forward to making the event and the Photo Booth an Annual Celebration of Neighborly Love!  A new report from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) shows the increase in young children experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania.
Highlights include:
This report seeks to inform practitioners and policy makers about young children experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania. HopePHL’s series called the “Children Cannot Wait Campaign” aims to increase awareness of children and youth experiencing homelessness. We provide a summary which identifies children in various categories, using recently published data from the PDE of its the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) program. This week a federal court judge extended a temporary restraining order against the Office of Management and Budget’s attempt to freeze funding for federal grants and programs. This restraining order expands the scope of the initial stay issued last week. The order forbids the administration “from implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name the directives in the original OMB memo.”
While this news came as a welcome relief, we remain gravely concerned about future cuts to federal funding as spending is aligned with the administration’s agenda. The programs at HopePHL most impacted by a funding freeze receive 60% or more funding from Federal sources, and include:
These programs act as a safety net for families, youth, and young children facing homelessness or housing insecurity. At HopePHL, we are proud of our nonpartisan, nondiscriminatory efforts to serve every family and youth experiencing homelessness, and West Philadelphia residents, who engage us, as our contracts allow, and funding will accommodate. HopePHL serves 4,000 children a year and our community development work impacts 20,000 households. HopePHL’s economic impact includes:
There are over 1.8 million non-profits like HopePHL in the United States, running the gamut of offerings from financial education, small business services, literacy support, education, housing, workforce training, and resources for survivors of criminal acts. Many of which will endure financial distress and face closure with reductions in federal funds. Non-profits are sustained by a workforce of 12 million employees (more than manufacturing, construction, or finance industries) that collectively contribute $1 trillion to the United States Economy (5% of the annual GDP). For these reasons, we urge you to send the letter below to elected and appointed officials at all levels of government, and email signed copies to [email protected].  In this HopePHL Newsletter edition: Celebrate Black History Month with us by learning about local community members and businesses, Staff Spotlight, Upcoming Events, and more!
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