As we enter the spring, we are excited to share NCHE's second Quarterly Resource Roundup—a curated collection of resources and updates within the field of homeless education. These resources are also valuable to service providers who work with families with young children and accompanied and unaccompanied school-age youth experiencing homelessness. We sincerely appreciate your dedication to supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness and look forward to partnering with you.
NCHE Updates
Team Safal (Safal Partners, ICF, and Pearl Strategies) manages the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE). Our team is committed to supporting the field of homeless education and our local, state, regional, and national stakeholders.
NCHE Helpline
The NCHE Helpline is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM ET. You can email us at NCHE.helpline@safalpartners.comor call 1-305-306-8495.
The federal deadline to complete the FAFSA for the 2024-25 award year is June 30, 2025, and the 2025-26 award year deadline is June 30, 2026. Each state has its own deadline. The Federal Student Aidwebsite includes a drop-down menu for the FAFSA deadlines per state. It is suggested that applicants apply as early as possible to allow enough time to gather required documents and ensure funds are available; however, missing a state deadline doesn’t impact eligibility for federal student aid but could impact the amount of funding available for a student’s aid package. Visit Filling Out the FAFSA® Form | Federal Student Aid for tips and answers to commonly asked questions.
TheFAFSA Simplification Acttook effect in the 2024-25 financial aid award year and was designed to remove barriers to obtaining aid for higher education. The FAFSA SimplificationInformationwebpage includes FAFSA Issue Alerts, frequently asked questions (FAQ) to get answers to general questions, and information on who to contact for issues related to FAFSA processing. The Federal Student Aid - YouTube channel includes videos on navigating the FAFSA application process.
The 2020 #RealCollege Survey found that 48% of the 195,000 respondents reported experiencing housing insecurity, and 14% reported experiencing homelessness (The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, 2021). Food and housing insecurity are barriers to degree completion for postsecondary education students. This NCHE brief provides information for educators who work with students experiencing homelessness on supporting the transition from secondary to postsecondary education, including partnership strategies for collaboration. The brief also spotlights promising practices that can be emulated to support college completion for students experiencing homelessness at a community college and a 4-year college.
The 2021-2022 through 2023-2024 state-level data on the number of FAFSA applicants who were in foster care, orphans, dependents, or wards of the court is available. Two questions are asked by respondents when completing the FAFSA about involvement in the foster care system. The first question is used to determine dependency status. The second question, which is not required, is intended to provide additional information on assistance through federal programs to individuals who respond yes to this question. This data can be useful at the secondary and postsecondary levels and for FAFSA administrators and service providers to see annual trends at the national and state levels over time.
The 2021-2022 through 2023-2024 state-level data on the number of applicants for the FAFSA who were determined to be unaccompanied homeless youth is available. The youth included in this data have been determined to be unaccompanied homeless youth on the FAFSA. This data can be useful to educators at the secondary and post-secondary levels, FAFSA administrators, and service providers to see national and state-level trends over time.
Accompanied or unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness may be eligible for tuition and fee waivers at specific community colleges, colleges, and state colleges in Florida. The Homeless Fee Exemption Frequently Asked Questions includes information on who may qualify for eligibility under the program, a link to eligible colleges, and what is covered under the fee and tuition waivers.
Connecticut’s Head Start for Housing pilot program was continued in 2024. The program provides housing vouchers to families enrolled in Early Head Start and Head Start with the goal of ending homelessness.Early Head Startand Head Startprovide early childcare and learning for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children from low-income families.
State law requires each institution of higher education to designate a homeless liaison to help students experiencing homelessness access resources. California, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, and Tennessee also have policies that allow or require institutions to designate a homeless liaison. Visit SchoolHouse Connections'Tips for Homeless Higher Education Liaisonswebsite and scroll down to “State-specific Resources” for more information.
The National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) offers technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Education’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program. NCHE is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is managed by Safal Partners in collaboration with ICF and Pearl Strategies. This publication was created in whole or in part with funding from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number GS10F090CA. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. Additionally, any mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the federal government.
