Inslee signs bill to aid homeless students

TACOMA – In an effort to address the rising numbers of homeless public school students in Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure on Friday that aims to help reduce obstacles to their success in and out of class.

House Bill 1682, signed at McCarver Elementary School, will create grant programs to add liaisons for the homeless in schools, as well as provide homeless students with rental assistance, transportation help, case management, emergency shelter and more.

In 2015, Washington had about 35,500 homeless students compared with around 32,500 the year before and 18,670 in the original 2008 count, according to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The office cautions some of the increase might be because of more accurate data in recent years.

“Those kids deserve our support, and that’s why I was so glad to be a part of this,” Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, who sponsored the measure, said at an event for the bill at the elementary school.

Public school districts have liaisons for homeless students as required by the federal McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act. But only 24 of 295 districts in the state received money from the act to help pay the liaisons during the three-year period starting in 2013.

The bill was given $2 million in the supplemental budget passed by the Legislature on Tuesday, which will supplement $950,000 of McKinney-Vento grant money awarded in the state each year.

The proposal signed Friday was first introduced in 2015, but it lost traction last year. The Legislature eventually approved an amended version of the original bill with broad bipartisan support, and reserved money for it in the budget.

Overall, the supplemental budget adds $15 million to aid homelessness, much of it directed to helping homeless youth. “Listen, homework is tough – it’s even harder when you don’t have a home,” Inslee said at the bill signing.