 The Back to School Policy Brief was developed by HopePHL in collaboration with Philly Homes for Youth, Eddie's House, Turning Points for Children, and Valley Youth House.
With additional funding and staffing the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was able to support 10,000 children and youth who experienced homelessness in the School Year (SY) 2022-2023. The SDP's American Rescue Plan funds (ARP) are expiring December 31, 2024, and the new capacity and supports for students will disappear. No plans have been developed to build on or continue this support; the School District informed advocates that the new state funding is not adequate for replacing supports for homeless students; the Parker Administration and City Council are talking about this, but no actions have been taken.
0 Comments
 Forty-eight charter schools and the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) will lose $3 million in support for the thousands of students and their families who experience homelessness during the school year. The Commonwealth will lose the capacity built by the American Rescue Plan’s $32 million investment.
Despite public hearings, countless meetings, direct discussions with policymakers, and multiple policy briefs framing the issue, no legislative body answered the call to use local funds to support homeless students. Every legislator on both sides of the aisle says they support homeless students, but only Rep. Ismail Wade Smith-El of Lancaster County and Philadelphia Representative Donna Bullock publicly stepped up to keep the new capacity going. The Commonwealth and its schools will revert to the federal $5 million for the 500+ school districts and charters to support more than 40,000 children and youth who experience homelessness. Yes, we are extremely disappointed.  Forty-eight charter schools and the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) stand to lose nearly $3 million in support for the thousands of students and their families who experience homelessness during the school year. HopePHL's school-based programs, such as Thrive, depend on these critical funds to provide the best support to students.
These funds were provided by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) via Pennsylvania’s ‘Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness’ (ECYEH) program. The ECYEH program is the only federal education program that removes barriers to enrollment, attendance, and reduces truancy caused by homelessness. The schools used this money to expand their capacity to provide staffing, train school personnel, and provide direct services like short-term housing support, uniforms, transportation, motel stays, summer programming, school supplies, and more. WHAT ADVOCATES ARE ASKING FOR: Advocates are asking Mayor Parker and the Philadelphia City Council Assembly for $3 million in General Funds to continue much of the expanded support for students experiencing homelessness. We are meeting with City Council and members of the Parker Administration to convince them of this needed support. ACTION ALERT: Contact the Mayor and City Council and ask them to “Fund homeless education by investing $3 million.” Contact Mayor Parker: Mayor’s correspondence form | Office of the Mayor | City of Philadelphia Contact City Council: Use their websites to send your message: Council Members - Philadelphia City Council (phlcouncil.com) Learn more about our school-based programs here Check out this month's edition of the HopePHL Perspective, our Policy newsletter to learn how you can help support getting more funds to support students facing homelessness, why collecting data on infants-toddlers experiencing homelessness is important, and upcoming events!
The term ‘equity’ has been talked about for many years, but what does it mean for Pennsylvania’s thousands of young children experiencing homelessness?
A public health institute asserts that “equity is a solution for addressing imbalanced social systems. Justice can take equity one step further by fixing the systems in a way that leads to long-term, sustainable, equitable access for generations to come.” The Merrian-Webster website defines equity as ‘refers to fairness or justice in the way people are treated.’ Many of us working in either the homeless housing and early childhood education systems have been asking "are children facing homelessness given equal access to high-quality early learning opportunities?" The answer lies in the data. Many organizations are collecting data on this population but do not report it to a single entity for analysis. In the past year we have been working with our allies to encourage state and local officials to foster inter-system cooperation to improve our understanding of the prevalence and needs of infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness. If we do not know the participation rates of these children in programs like Head Start, home visiting, childcare, and others, we will not be able to answer the question.  A 10th grade student in one of the schools served by HopePHL was kicked out of his home and reached out for support. He did not have other family or friends to stay with. HopePHL's Thrive program referred him to the emergency shelter at YES, which provided safe housing for the student. During that time, our team provided money for clothing and school supplies so that he was able to keep up with school. At the end of the 21 days, he was able to return home to a diffused situation with his parents.
The story above is just one example of the positive affect the American Rescue Plan’s funding is used to support students experiencing homelessness. Pennsylvania received $32 million from the American Rescue Plan for the Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) program. This program supported 40,000 children and youth in 2022. The funding has paid for activities that increase high school graduation, lower truancy, stabilize housing, and much more. More than 400 school districts and charters have received the funding but stand to lose it as the APR dollars expire January 31, 2025. Any funds that remain will go back to the Treasury. As of January 31, Pennsylvania still had $7.3 million unspent (see general fund status here) with five months remaining. Thanks to HopePHL and our allies, United State Senators Robert Casey and John Fetterman responded positively to our request to sign-on to a “Dear Colleague” letter that proposes to extend the obligation deadline by one year for funding made available under section 2001(b)(1) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, for the purposes of serving homeless children and youth (ARP-HCY). A problem that Senator Casey can solve is to extend the deadline. We are encouraging Congress to extend the obligation deadline by at least one school year to ensure that all ARP-HCY funds are used strategically to support increasing numbers of students experiencing homelessness. Congress also should increase annual funding for the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) funding. As outlined in the report, Congress should extend the deadline because:
This funding has had a transformative effect in the lives of children, youth, and families that have experienced homelessness. Thank you, Senators Casey and Fetterman, for doing what is important to support our homeless students. Learning Black History Through Art & Literature at Baring House: Baring House Crisis Nursery celebrated Black History Month by putting together lessons and activities about Black inventors, and helping the children to identify themselves in literature and through art. To kick off the month the class read, “I Love My Hair” by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley followed by an activity where the kids were able to use baby dolls to practice putting beads in the hair. Children also did a craft related to “I Love My Hair.” The children also took time to learn about the history of the hijab by reading “The Proudest Blue” by Ibtihaj Muhammad. Explaining that some people cover their hair for a variety of reasons and those who choose to show their hair will put items of adornment in it that have a cultural connection. This lesson was wrapped up with a cut and paste craft where the children made pictures to resemble the girl on the cover of the book. The “I Love My Hair” lesson was received in an amazing way by the children, two sisters even came back in the days following the activity with beads in their own hair after telling their mother about the lesson! The next lesson focused on allowing the children to identify themselves through art, where they painted pictures and tried to mix the paint colors to match their own complexion. Lastly, the children learned about Garret Morgan, a black man who invented the traffic light. They did a craft where they painted bowls to look like traffic lights! Black History Month emphasizes the necessity of highlighting Black voices and culture, not just during February, but all year round. All children should feel represented when playing with toys, watching tv, or reading a book. At HopePHL, we strive to create programming like the examples above that allows our tenants to express themselves while learning about and connecting with their culture. 2nd Annual Community Heroes Award:
The Cato-Parks Community Hero Award was created to highlight individuals, businesses, and organizations in our community that "Live the Legacy" of Black History Heroes like Octavius Catto and Rosa Parks - who led by acts of service to make their communities better! This year, over 100 community members engaged in the nomination and voting process. Three awards were given to: Individual Hero: Serita Lewis Serita Lewis is the driving force behind UrbnSEEK and a native Philadelphian with a heart devoted to education, entrepreneurship, and community transformation. As an educator, entrepreneur, and devoted youth advocate, Serita has woven a narrative of impact throughout her journey, leaving a recognizable mark on the city she calls home. Serita became a founding organizer of March for Our Lives Philadelphia, a testament to her commitment to effecting positive change at a grassroots level. Her focus is on bringing awareness and support to the epidemic of gun violence - plaguing black and brown communities in Philadelphia and elevate the voices of the next generation of leaders. Business Hero: Silk Tent/Ultra Silk Gallery The Silk Tent/Ultra Silk Gallery is a mainstay of Lancaster Avenue. Located near 38th Street they are a leading "gateway" business. Their expansion from a small boutique to include an art gallery incorporated artistic, historic, and cultural aspects of the community. They are dedicated to the neighborhood and customers - new and returning. Their monthly event series attracts people to visit other Lancaster Avenue businesses and organizations - which broadens a great community connection. Organization Hero: "Kings Introduction to Leadership" Chris Buney launched Kings Introduction To Leadership in 2021 with a group of community members - who recognized the need for youth mentorship. Kings is dedicated to helping youth with life skills, mental health, housing, financial literacy training, Food Pantries and much more. Chris and his Team have grown into a thriving nonprofit - serving hundreds of individuals each year becoming a highly impactful nonprofit organization in Philadelphia. Thank you to all of our 2024 Hero Award winners for your passion and commitment to making our community a better place each day! HopePHL Staff Highlights Black Heritage Through Food: To wrap up Black History Month, HopePHL staff hosted an event to highlight black heritage through food. African American history has had a profound impact on American cuisine.
HR Assistant, Brittany Wilson, presented a slideshow full of interesting information that even connected Philadelphia's influence on Black history related to food! Did you know the "Father of Ice Cream", Augustus Jackson, was from Philadelphia? Thank you to all of the staff members that brought in dishes inspired by Black culture for everyone to enjoy after learning with each other and creating community to celebrate Black History Month together! The Children Cannot Wait Campaign: School Districts Who Received ARP - Homeless Education Funding1/18/2024  The American Rescue Plan directed a one-time $32 million infusion of support to the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Pennsylvania budget for the Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) program. ECYEH expanded its capacity, as did many school districts and charter schools, to provide staffing, train school personnel, and provide direct services like uniforms, transportation, motel stays, mentoring, summer programming, school supplies, and more.
 School Districts across the state identified 40,000 homeless children and youth in Fiscal Year 2022, enough to fill most every seat at Citizens Bank Park. The Philadelphia School District identified its highest number of children and youth experiencing homelessness – 8,383 in 2022! This is a 7% increase from 2019 and a 94% increase since 2014.
Thankfully, the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided $36 million to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s ‘Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness’ (ECYEH) program, which subcontracted more than $3 million to the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). SDP expanded its capacity to provide 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. |
Click on a category to filter to the stories that are most important to you!
Categories
All
Archives
November 2024
|
RSS Feed
HopePHL |
CONNECT WITH US
Follow us on social media |
|
© 2023 HopePHL. All rights reserved.