In July 2021, the California Department of Education (CDE) received $98.7 million in American Rescue Plan - Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) federal funding to identify and support the needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness throughout the state. The ARP-HCY funds had to be expended by September 30, 2024. The CDE distributed the funds to county offices of education (COEs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) statewide to enhance technical assistance provided to homeless education liaisons, disseminate best practices in serving youth experiencing homelessness, and to provide direct services and supports through flexible funding to meet students’ immediate needs to ensure an comparable educational experience to their stably housed peers.
From June 2023 to September 2024, the CDE contracted with our UCSF School Health Evaluation and Research Team to evaluate the ARP-HCY funding program implementation. The evaluation utilized surveys, interviews, program tracking logs, and secondary analysis of program and fiscal data to document the reach and short-term outcomes of the funding. Our final evaluation report includes a summary of the evaluation findings and recommendations made based on those findings.
