Richard Cowan, Daniel Trotta

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON – Frank Hardy is an 18 year old who has lived in shelters for 8 years with his mom or stayed with relatives while his mom was away in jail.

In March, Congress approved an economic stimulus package that would address the COVID-19 epidemic.

The cash is still not reaching the Los Angeles Unified school district that oversees Hardy’s high school. Some school districts and states have rushed millions of dollars to help those who are most vulnerable. California is only beginning to disburse the first quarter from its $98.7million allotment.

In April the federal government allowed sending out $200 million, with more to follow in June.

Florida and New York, two of the largest states, are further behind. They have yet to pay a dime for their districts either because they are stuck in bureaucratic jams or because certain districts lack the resources to help students who are most need.

Barbara Duffield is the executive director at SchoolHouse Connection in Washington, which addresses student homelessness.

Duffield stated that even with the in-class return following initial moves to remote tuition Duffield acknowledged, “We are missing tons of students.”

SchoolHouse Connection conducted an October survey of 700 schools districts. They found that there was a 4 percent increase in student homelessness compared with the previous year.

A TALE OF PERSEVERANCE

Hardy will graduate from Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in June, even though he lost most of his junior years to the pandemic and was forced to live in a motel with no internet and working off a faulty computer.

Hardy dreams of being a professional singer and said that he was not going to allow his homeless status to stop him from reaching the goals he set for himself.

In 2019, 68% of the homeless students had graduated from high school, which is 18 percentage points lower than the national average.

Hardy lives in Los Angeles with Cherie Hardy (51), at People Assisting Homeless.

Cherie Hardy stated that she had a history of theft, robbery and other crimes but that her life has improved because “I have an infant who needs me.”

Other homeless students may have also slipped by the cracks.

According to Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska who, along with Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, West Virginia, championed the amendment providing $800 million, at least 420,000 students were unable to contact their schools due the pandemic.

The funds are used by schools to purchase school supplies, clothing and food. Some schools pay for vehicle repairs, car insurance or transportation to send their children to school. They also provide cell phones that counselors can use to call students. Schools in Cincinnati and Nashville have Spanish-speaking social workers.

Cherie Hardy stated that she would be grateful for any help in buying clothes for her son or laptops.

Angela Chandler from Los Angeles Unified School district, who is the district’s homeless liaison said they are currently looking into hiring staff to find and reach homeless students. Additionally, Chandler would love to support high school students by financing college tours, which might be an opportunity to encourage students to visit campuses that otherwise wouldn’t.

Chandler declared, “The possibilities can be endless.”

The $8 million due to the second-largest district of the country is still not received. A spokesperson for the California Department of Education stated Wednesday that funds from the initial tranche of $883,000 must be distributed “shortly”. In January, a second tranche of $7.1million will be delivered. A spokesperson for the company did not explain why this took so much time.

A spokesperson from the Department of Education stated that Florida’s school districts can only apply for $43.8 million starting Dec. 2.

New York has not yet issued any $58.9 Million from its new funds. According to the Education Department, the application period for the first tranche opened Dec. 1, and ends Dec. 22.

Alaska Murkowski’s State, Alaska, “is somewhat overwhelmed” by the money, said Dave Mayo-Kiely of Anchorage. He is a Program Coordinator for Homeless Students and Families.

Some states applied time-consuming rules to other areas that the federal government said were unnecessary. However, Chalkbeat reports that approvals of state legislatures or school boards took longer than expected.

“There’s a million things going wrong, things you don’t expect to happen,” stated Phyllis Jordan, assistant director at FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University. She described schools that are unable to hire tutors.

Some states are more agile than others.

North Carolina’s coordinator of education for homeless youth and children, Lisa Phillips said that her state followed federal guidelines. She also set up an approval process prior to districts making requests. According to Phillips, districts receive funding in a matter of ten days from the time they make a valid application.

Nearly half of North Carolina’s school districts received funds for the second phase, and another 25% are being processed.