For Immediate Release

SACRAMENTO — While maintaining several key education investments such as community schools, California Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to include dedicated funding for students experiencing homelessness in this year’s proposed state budget, a devastating omission that leaves nearly 300,000 of the state’s most vulnerable students without educational supports and services they urgently need.

Advocates, including the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), have previously called for state leaders to invest ongoing Proposition 98 funding to expand and stabilize services that help students experiencing homelessness attend school consistently and graduate. NCYL plans to introduce a similar proposal in the Legislature in early 2026. These services, which include improved identification methods and education liaisons to help keep students on track, are vital, particularly amid the state’s ongoing housing crisis and escalating climate disasters. The California Department of Education identified 298,254 K-12 students in 2024-25 who were experiencing homelessness. This represents a 9% surge from pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report from Child Trends, yet these numbers almost certainly underestimate the true scope of the crisis.

“This inaction will have devastating consequences for young people across the state,” said Paige Clark, a Senior Program Manager at NCYL. “It will mean more students struggling to learn, and falling behind academically, while sleeping in cars, shelters or on the couches of friends and relatives. These young people deserve proven, targeted supports that keep them connected to school and other programs that provide them stability. Students and communities deserve better.”

By not including this urgently needed funding in his proposed budget, Gov. Newsom is failing a population of young people who already face an uphill educational journey. Students experiencing homelessness graduate at significantly lower rates than their peers (76% compared to 88%) and also experience elevated rates of chronic absenteeism. Further, two of the strongest predictors of chronic adult homelessness are not having a high school diploma and experiencing homelessness as a child.

Current funding is wholly inadequate. California receives just $15 million annually in federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) funding, which reaches only 97 of the state’s 1,015 school districts. This federal funding is under threat of being reduced or eliminated, which, along with cuts to other federal safety nets like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will only worsen the problem. Amid these federal fluctuations, California provides no state-level funding, and districts typically spend less than 1% of Local Control Funding Formula dollars on services for students experiencing homelessness.

“Every student experiencing homelessness who graduates represents a break in the cycle of instability that too often follows children into adulthood,” said Clark, with NCYL. “Every young person deserves access to a quality education, regardless of where they live. We’ll continue to advocate for the vital services and supports that have been proven to transform young lives and communities.”

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The National Center for Youth Law centers youth through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation’s approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Our vision is a world in which every child thrives and has a full and fair opportunity to achieve the future they envision for themselves.