In recognition of the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students experiencing homelessness, the ARP included an unprecedented $800 million to support the specific needs of homeless children and youth via the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund.

Teacher and student reading


ARP-HCY I

Grant Purpose

On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law. In recognition of the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students experiencing homelessness, the ARP included an unprecedented $800 million to support the specific needs of homeless children and youth via the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund. State educational agencies and local educational agencies (LEAs) must use ARP-HCY funds to identify homeless children and youth, to provide homeless children and youth with wrap-around services to address the challenges of COVID-19, and to enable homeless children and youth to attend school and fully participate in school activities. The Department will release ARP-HCY funds in two separate disbursements (ARP Homeless I and ARP Homeless II)

Grant Eligibility

The OPI’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program has received the first round of American Recovery Plan – Education for Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-EHCY) funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Per federal guidance we are providing these funds to current recipients of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education grant and to districts that have been identified as having “significant concentrations” of students experiencing homelessness. Allocations were calculated using the most recent verified snapshot of student data taken during the Spring Testing Snapshot count from April 26,2021. Allocations are based on a per-pupil amount. Each eligible district’s allocation can be found in the chart below.

District

ARP-EHCY I Allocation

Belgrade

$7,588

Billings

$47,888

Bozeman

$12,268

Browning

$28,128

Butte

$17,078

Columbia Falls

$16,428

Great Falls

$67,648

Hardin

$25,268

Hays-Lodgepole

$12,398

Helena

$30,078

Kalispell/Evergreen

$38,268

Lame Deer

$32,548

Lodge Grass

$28,128

Missoula

$49,448

Poplar

$23,708

Ronan

$17,988

St. Ignatius

$14,348

Totals

$469,206

Grant Overview/Requirements

Program: 

ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund

 

Purpose: 

ARP-HCY funds are intended to support the specific and urgent needs of homeless children and youth in recognition of the extraordinary impact of the pandemic on students experiencing homelessness. LEAs should use these funds to focus on identifying students and to connect students experiencing homelessness and their families to summer learning and enrichment programs this summer (summer 2021), and to engage students and their families in preparation for this fall. LEAs with sufficient funds are encouraged to award contracts to community-based organizations for help to identify historically underserved populations such as rural children and youth, Tribal children and youth, students of color, children and youth with disabilities, English learners, LGBTQ+ youth, and pregnant, parenting, or caregiving students experiencing homelessness, as well as to provide wraparound services to these students.

 

Funding Period: 

The grant period shall be for two years. The full amount of the grant will be awarded in the first year. Grantees may choose to expend all their funds during the 21-22 school year or may elect to carryover a portion of their funding to provide services into the 22-23 school year. All funds must be obligated by September 30, 2023.

 

Minimum Requirements: 

Grantees for the ARP-HCY I funds must be current McKinney-Vento subgrantees or must be a district identified by the OPI has having a “significant concentration” of students identified as experiencing homelessness. Such districts must have identified such students in an amount that is greater than, or equal to, the lowest number of students identified by a McKinney-Vento subgrantee recipient. 

 

Reporting Requirements: 

All students identified as homeless by the grantee must be marked in the Achievement in Montana (AIM) System. This identification includes their nighttime status and whether they are an unaccompanied youth (not in the custody of a parent or legal guardian). All additional reporting requirements will be pulled from the AIM system by OPI HCY program staff or the federal programs data analyst. Grantees may be required to report additional information at the request of the U.S. Department of Education. 

 

Availability of Funds: 

ARP-HCY I funds were made available as of March 2021, and subgrantees may use these funds to cover allowable expenditures as of that date. ARP-HCY I funds have been made available through a one-time-only grant under the American Recovery Plan. Eligibility for these funds is not a guarantee of future funding under the McKinney-Vento Act or other similar appropriations for programs that support the education of homeless children and youth. The minimum amount of any award shall not be less than $5,000, and a minimum of 13 projects will be awarded. 

ARP-HCY I funds are to be used to supplement, not supplant, existing services and programs provided by the applicants or otherwise available to targeted individuals. Services provided to students identified as homeless must be in addition to services provided to all students using local, state, tribal, or federal funds.

 

Uses of ARP-HCY I Funds:

LEAs may use ARP-HCY I Funds to: 

  1. Identify homeless children and youth 
  2. Provide comprehensive wraparound services in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 
  3. Provide needed assistance to enable homeless children and youth to attend and participate fully in school activities, such as: 
    1. In-person instruction 
    2. Spring and summer learning 
    3. Enrichment programs

Resources

ARP-HCY II

Grant Purpose

On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law. In recognition of the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students experiencing homelessness, the ARP included an unprecedented $800 million to support the specific needs of homeless children and youth via the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund. State educational agencies and local educational agencies (LEAs) must use ARP-HCY funds to identify homeless children and youth, to provide homeless children and youth with wrap-around services to address the challenges of COVID-19, and to enable homeless children and youth to attend school and fully participate in school activities. The Department will release ARP-HCY funds in two separate disbursements (ARP Homeless I and ARP Homeless II)

Grant Eligibility

The SEA released 75% of funds awarded for disbursement to LEAs. The SEA federal program analyst has developed a spreadsheet to calculate allocations for the ARP-HCY II grant that are aligned to the description from the USED. The proportionate share of Title I allocations for all districts were calculated, and 50% of the ARP-HCY II funds were allocated to each eligible district based on those calculations. The remaining 50% of the funds were allocated based on the overall number of identified homeless students using the total number reported by each LEA on the CSPR for either the 18-19 school year or the 19-20 school year, whichever number was higher. Based on the calculation there are 52 LEAs that will receive an allocation of $5,000 or more and may apply on their own. There are 21 LEAs that will not receive an allocation as they did not receive Title I funds and did not identify any homeless students in either of the qualifying years. These 21 districts are all elementary schools with an average enrollment of less than 10 students. The remaining 230 districts will receive an allocation of less than $5,000 and will need to join a consortium to receive funding. Districts were required to complete an Intent to Apply for ARP-HCY II funds. Fifty-three districts completed the Intent to Apply form before the application window closed. This necessitated a recalculation of the amounts for each district. When this was completed, no district received less than $5,000, and joining a consortium was no longer a requirement of the grant. District allocations are as follows:

District Name

Final Total

Anaconda Elem

$28,131

Arlee Elem

$15,829

Belgrade Elem

$25,303

Billings Elem

$239,454

Bonner Elem

$9,033

Boulder Elem

$7,124

Bozeman Elem

$39,132

Brockton Elem

$9,801

Browning Elem

$91,254

Butte H S

$19,746

Clancy Elem

$6,090

Deer Park Elem

$5,916

DeSmet Elem

$7,348

East Helena K-12 Schools

$17,804

Fairfield Elem

$7,185

Florence-Carlton K-12 Schools

$9,894

Frenchtown K-12 Schools

$19,376

Glendive Elem

$10,052

Great Falls Elem

$163,060

Hays-Lodge Pole K-12 Schools

$24,946

Helena Elem

$74,993

Hot Springs K-12 Schools

$8,084

Jefferson H S

$6,381

Kalispell Elem

$56,373

Lame Deer Elem

$36,569

Lewistown Elem

$12,609

Libby K-12 Schools

$25,590

Livingston Elem

$16,904

Lockwood K-12 Schools

$21,354

Lodge Grass Elem

$12,092

Lustre Elem

$5,399

McCormick Elem

$6,228

Miles City Elem

$16,243

Missoula Elem

$109,989

Monforton Elem

$5,896

Montana City Elem

$5,531

Noxon Elem

$7,589

Plentywood K-12 Schools

$6,813

Polson Elem

$26,367

Ronan Elem

$48,268

Roundup Elem

$9,438

Sidney Elem

$14,170

St Ignatius K-12 Schools

$34,435

St Regis K-12 Schools

$8,802

Thompson Falls Elem

$9,290

Three Forks Elem

$8,040

Townsend K-12 Schools

$9,433

Trout Creek Elem

$6,351

Troy Elem

$9,935

Twin Bridges K-12 Schools

$6,517

Vaughn Elem

$8,310

Whitefish Elem

$11,550

Yaak Elem

$5,597

Grant Overview/Requirements

Program: 

American Recovery Plan – Homeless Children and Youth II (ARP-HCY II) Intent to Apply for Funding for School Years 2020-2023.

 

Overview: 

The ARP-HCY II funds provide supplemental financial assistance to districts to support the identification, enrollment, retention, and educational success of students experiencing homelessness who have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Special attention should be given to populations of students who have been historically underserved, including rural children and youth, tribal children and youth, students of color, children and youth with disabilities, English learners, unaccompanied homeless youth, LGBTQ2S youth, and pregnant, parenting and caregiving youth. A total of $1,407,618 in federal funds will be available statewide for these grants for the 2020-2023 school years. 

 

Minimum Grant Amount: 

Per federal guidelines, Individual LEAs must receive an allocation of at least $5,000 to accept these funds. LEAs with an allocation of less than $5,000 must form a consortium with one or more other LEAs in order to meet the grant’s minimum allocation requirement of $5,000. Funding provided under ARP Homeless II must follow the final requirements at found here.  

 

Uses of ARP-HCY II Funds: 

LEAs may use ARP-HCY II Funds to supplement existing programs and funding streams, including: 

  1. Academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs 
  2. Hiring staff to increase capacity 
  3. Dedicating resources 
  4. Planning partnerships with community-based organizations, among other strategies 
  5. Identify, enrollment, retention, and educational success of children and youth experiencing homelessness 
  6. Purchase needed supplies (e.g., personal protective equipment, eyeglasses, school supplies, personal care items) 
  7. Purchase cell phones or other technological devices for unaccompanied youth to enable the youth to attend and fully participate in school activities 
  8. Provide wraparound services (which could be provided in collaboration with and/or through contracts with community-based organizations, and could include academic supports, trauma-informed care, social/emotional support, and mental health services) 
  9. Provide transportation to enable children and youth to attend classes and participate fully in school activities 
  10. Services to attract, engage, and retain students in programs 
  11. Tutoring, supplemental services, and enriched educational services, including before school, after school, and summer programs 
  12. Expedited evaluations 
  13. Professional development 
  14. Student referral and services 
  15. Assistance to defray the cost of transportation 
  16. Early childhood education programs 
  17. Fees for tracking, obtaining, and transferring records 
  18. Parent education and training 
  19. Coordination between school and outside agencies 
  20. Activities to address issues related to domestic violence 
  21. Adaption of space and purchase of supplies for any non-school facility 
  22. Other extraordinary or emergency assistance to attend school 
  23. Provide access to reliable, high-speed internet for students through the purchase of internet-connected devices/equipment, mobile hotspots, wireless service plans, or installation of community Wi-Fi hotspots (e.g., at homeless shelters), especially in underserved communities
  24. Provide store cards/prepaid debit cards to purchase materials necessary for students to participate in school activities 
  25. Pay for short-term, temporary housing (e.g., a few days in a motel) when such emergency housing is the only reasonable option for COVID-safe temporary housing and when necessary to enable the homeless child or youth to attend school and participate fully in school activities (including summer school)

Resources

 

Questions? Contact Serena Wright, 406-444-2036

 

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