California Community Colleges Homeless and Housing Insecurity Pilot Program Legislative Report. 2023 Report

In response to the significant and still growing number of college students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in California, the State Legislature appropriated $9 million in the 2019-2020 State Budget for ongoing funding to provide housing services to students. Per section 9795 of the statute, colleges, in partnership with local housing service agencies, must provide housing navigation and placement services, academic support, and case management services to homeless students or those at risk of becoming homeless. As an additional requirement of the legislation, funds were allocated to colleges that demonstrated the greatest need. In February 2020, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office ("Chancellor's Office") evaluated the need and capacity data submitted by interested colleges, including campus- and county-based data such as financial aid uptake rates, low-income housing availability, and poverty rates, and distributed funds to 14 California community colleges as part of the California Community Colleges Homeless and Housing Insecurity Pilot (CCC HHIP) Program. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some delay in the implementation of the CCC HHIP Program, participating colleges have made significant strides in operationalizing their programs locally. Upon receipt of funding, participating colleges immediately began developing the necessary infrastructure to implement the program, including hiring staff, developing outreach and retention strategies, and engaging key internal partners such as campus financial aid and facilities staff. This report provides an outline of the progress that the 14 colleges have made in supporting homeless and housing-insecure students. Despite facing several unexpected COVID-19 related challenges in the first year of the program, the 14 colleges developed the required infrastructure and provided support services to over 500 homeless or housing insecure students. This report describes the challenges, steps and successes that occurred along the way.