For Immediate Release

SACRAMENTO — California’s 2026-27 budget agreement includes a landmark $116 million investment to identify and support K-12 students experiencing homelessness, the largest dedicated state funding for these students in U.S. history. The investment is the result of a sustained advocacy campaign led by the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL).

This commitment gives California the chance to build a national model for making students experiencing homelessness visible in schools and bringing them to the forefront of education funding decisions. The California Department of Education identified 298,254 K-12 students experiencing homelessness in 2024-25, a 9% surge above pre-pandemic levels. And while California has undergone a 5.4% decline in overall enrollment, there has been a 22% increase in students experiencing homelessness statewide. These students graduate at 76% compared to 88% for their peers who do not experience homelessness and experience elevated rates of chronic absenteeism, not because they care less about school but because it’s difficult to learn when you don’t know where you’ll be each night.

“Students cannot fully participate in school when they don’t know where they’ll sleep at night,” said Shakti Belway, NCYL Executive Director. “This landmark investment exists because young people, educators and advocates across California refused to let that reality stay invisible. We’re proud to have led that effort, and we’re also clear-eyed about what comes next: making sure these dollars reach the students they were appropriated for and helping California set the national model for what it means to truly help these students.”

Until now, California had never made a dedicated state investment in these students, even as federal funding reached only a fraction of districts. This budget begins to correct that omission at a scale that matches the urgency of the problem.

The only dedicated funding for these students has been federal: roughly $15 million annually that reaches just 97 of the state’s 1,015 school districts, leaving 61% of California students in districts with no funded support should they lose their housing. The new state investment will supplement federal funding, including for things like improved identification and education-liaison supports for which NCYL has long advocated.

“For years, California has asked schools to support students experiencing homelessness without a single dedicated state dollar to do it. That changes now,” said Margaret Olmos, Senior Director of Education Resource Opportunity and Equity at NCYL. “This investment will help schools find students facing housing instability earlier and connect them to the supports we know keep young people enrolled, attending, and on track to graduate. Every student deserves access to a quality education, regardless of their living situation. We also believe this investment will not only change students’ academic trajectory, but their life trajectory, as well, and that investments in education early will pay dividends to the health of our communities in the future.”

The evidence behind these supports is strong. NCYL’s pilot with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District placed education liaisons directly in schools, and nearly all seniors supported through the program graduated and moved on to college or vocational pathways. When federal pandemic relief briefly funded similar services statewide in 2021, chronic absenteeism among students experiencing homelessness fell 5% and graduation rates rose 3%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The gains faded as the one-time money ran out.

That history is why NCYL’s work does not end with this budget. Securing funding is the first test. The next test is whether California can implement it in a way that becomes a national model. Our organization will work with districts, county offices of education, and state leaders on student-centered implementation and will continue pressing for ongoing Proposition 98 funding, so that support for students does not expire when the money does.

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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.