ST. PAUL, MN – With approximately 10,000 Minnesota children struggling with homelessness, Lt. Governor Tina Smith, state legislators, and education and child advocates today highlighted the importance of the bipartisan Homework Starts With Home proposal included in Governor Dayton’s Opportunity Agenda for a Better Minnesota.

 

“This past year, over 9,500 Minnesota students, most of them in elementary school, walked in the door of their classroom without a place to call home. They spent the night on a friend's couch, or in a shelter, or someplace worse. This is unacceptable. These children have just as much potential, creativity, and capacity as any other child, but without a home, they don't really have a chance,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith. “This Homework Starts with Home strategy devotes resources to helping families with children find stable housing. It is an investment in our children. I thank Representative Isaacson and Representative Moran for their leadership. Our administration will work hard to enact this bipartisan initiative.” 

 

Governor Dayton has proposed an $8 million investment for the Homework Starts with Home initiative. This funding would help as many as 850 families struggling with homelessness to access better opportunities tailored to meet their specific needs. This initiative is based on a pilot program which successfully identified specific approaches to address housing challenges facing Minnesota’s students. Under the pilot, 90% of the students and their families maintained stable housing according to a new report on the pilot program. 

“We know that helping homeless families with the right kind of support to achieve and maintain stable housing has a powerful impact on children and their school performance,” said Minnesota Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal. “In fact, 90% of the families served with our rental assistance pilot were stably housed at the end of two years.”

 

Homelessness and housing instability present significant challenges for students. Homeless and highly mobile students are more likely to be chronically absent, jeopardizing educational success, and 75 percent of third graders experiencing homelessness do not demonstrate reading proficiency, a key indicator for future academic success. 

 

“If we have a role as government, it is making sure that children are safe and cared for. Safe, stable housing means a child has a place to do their homework,” said Sen. Jason Isaacson. “We know unstable housing disrupts a child’s learning and their learning environment, putting their grades and success in school in jeopardy. This proposal is a great first step—but it is only a first step. Yesterday’s economic forecast showed us that we have the means to do more than just this great plan. I will work closely with Gov. Dayton, Lt. Gov. Smith and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to deliver the most good for homeless families and children.”

 

“It is an honor for us to welcome Lt. Governor Tina Smith to Maxfield to see the great work being done here to get students started on the right foot,” said Rep. Rena Moran. “We appreciate how engaged the Governor and Lt. Governor have been in the success of our students. The continued support they have shown in their budget proposal for proven wrap-around services, like ‘Homework Starts with Home,’ is essential to help students stay on track. Many students in our community are doing better because we’ve been able to provide greater support as a community and as a state, and that work must continue with efforts like this.”

 

This initiative brings together school leaders, nonprofit agencies, and other community partners to use every tool at our disposal to create housing stability for students experiencing homelessness. Through the Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative, philanthropic organizations have already committed $300,000 to this initiative, showing strong support to solve this growing problem. 

 

"I am thankful that Governor Dayton recognizes the adverse impacts of homelessness and high mobility on school achievement," said Ryan Vernosh, Principal of Maxfield Elementary School. "The investments proposed in the Homework Starts with Home initiative will help families find the housing stability needed so our children can focus on academics. When families have stable housing, children experience less anxiety, increased test scores and greater family involvement at school all resulting in school success." 

 

The homeless student population has more than tripled over the past decade. Currently, more than 9,500 students in Minnesota’s public and charter schools are experiencing homelessness in the 2016-2017 school year.