Department of Education: 1.3 Million Children Homeless








September 22, 2014    
ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro


Spotlight On...
Department of Education: 1.3 Million Children Homeless


Over the 2012-2013 school year, 1.3 million school children experienced homelessness as defined by the Department of Education, according to statistics released Monday, Sept. 22. About 230,000 school children's primary nighttime residence was an emergency shelter or an unsheltered location. The vast majority of identified students (75 percent) were living in doubled-up situations. An estimated 76,000 were unaccompanied by family.
The Department of Education's goal is to ensure that all students receive a stable education regardless of their parents' abilities to pay for housing. As such, the definition used to count homeless students differs from the definition HUD uses to count homeless persons and includes families and children who live in doubled-up arrangements and in hotels and motels paid for by their parents.







Senate Approves HUD CFO
Last Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Senate confirmed President Obama's nomination of Bradford Huther as HUD's next Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, Mr. Huther is responsible for accounting, budget, and the financial management of HUD's appropriation. Previously, Mr. Huther served as a senior advisor at the Patent and Trade Office within the Department of Commerce.
Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Economic Impacts of Rising Inequality
Last Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Subcommittee on Economic Policy of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing about the economic impacts of rising inequality. During the hearing, panelists discussed research showing that lower levels of economic inequality produce societies with more stable financial systems, the value of entrepreneurship, and the relationship between political and economic inequality.
Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act
On Thursday, Sept. 18, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act. The bill, introduced by senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), would reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), which expired on September 30, 2013. Additionally, the bill would:
  • Authorize $140 million per year for basic center, transitional living, and national hotline and technical assistance funding over the next five years, including designating an additional $2 million per year for national incidence and prevalence studies of homeless youth;
  • Authorize $25 million per year for sexual abuse prevention over the next five years; and
  • Prohibit discrimination by RHY grantees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Congress Departs for Recess
Congress departed Thursday, Sept. 18, for recess during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Members of Congress will remain in their states and districts through the November election. Congress is expected to reconvene after Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 12.





The momentum toward ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015 is building. In this post, we look at the current state of the Mayor's Challenge to end veteran homelessness, which is rallying support from mayors and other community leaders across the country.
The NOFA is out! (And includes a PSH Bonus!)
By Anna Blasco
Last week, HUD released the 2014 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care (CoC) program. In this post, we take a look at the NOFA's inclusion of a permanent supportive housing bonus project.

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