Students Experiencing Homelessness and Foster Youth Pilot Program. In 2019, the Legislature established pilot programs to provide assistance and accommodations to students experiencing homelessness and to students who were in foster care when they graduated from high school.
The participating community and technical colleges (CTCs) and four-year institutions must provide accommodations to homeless students and students who were in foster care at high school graduation. The accommodations may include:
In 2021, the program was expanded from two to four public four-year institutions. The pilot was also expanded at CTCs, for eight total. The pilot program's expiration date was extended to July 1, 2024, from July 1, 2023. In 2022, the pilot program was further expanded to include six public four-year institutions and all CTCs.
College Housing Assistance Program. Tacoma Community College (TCC) launched the College Housing Assistance Program (CHAP) in 2014, in partnership with the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA). The partnership allowed homeless and near-homeless students to access housing vouchers and low-cost apartments subsidized by THA. In 2016, the CHAP model changed. THA started buying apartment complexes near the college and making arrangements with nearby landlords to subsidize housing prioritized for TCC students experiencing housing challenges.
The students experiencing homelessness and foster youth program (Program) is no longer a pilot program with participation limited to eight CTC and four public four-year institutions. Subject to appropriation, all CTCs and public four-year institutions are eligible to participate. The Program is also expanded to include the tribal college.
As part of the Program and subject to appropriations, community and technical colleges may apply for grant funds to design and administer Programs to provide subsidized housing or housing vouchers to Washington College Grant recipients. Priority for the grant program in the initial year of funding must be given to colleges and housing authorities that have prior experience partnering to administer a housing voucher or subsidized housing program.
The expiration date for the pilot program is eliminated.
PRO: Forty-eight percent of students in Washington State experience housing insecurity. Nineteen percent of students experience homelessness. Thirty-eight percent face food insecurity. The Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness pilot has been an invaluable resource for students who are unhoused or aging out of the foster care system. In three years, over 2650 students have been served, with 91 percent of baccalaureate students and 85 percent of CTC students completing the quarter in which they received housing and food assistance, case management, or other accommodations. The pilot program expires next year, and this program is necessary to continue offering those resources. With potentially generational economic and educational impacts on the line it is time now to invest in students. This bill would mean students have a place to go after class, have a roof over their head, and have the tools to be successful.
PRO: Fifty percent of people in Washington experience some type of housing or food insecurity. Ninety percent of allocated funds go directly to students in need for food assistance, case management, transportation, laundry, and more. Pilots are limited due to the transitory nature of their funding. This would make an important housing assistance program permanent and will benefit thousands of students.