Homework Starts with Home
Homework Starts with Home is a grant program focused on addressing homelessness and housing instability among students and their families. A study conducted by public and charter schools across Minnesota identified 8,079 students who were experiencing homelessness on October 1, 2018. The students attended 1,387 schools and educational programs statewide, spanning 308 school districts and 78 counties.
Homelessness disproportionally impacts certain populations, such as African American students, American Indian students, students with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning/queer (LGBTQ) young people. After more than a decade of continuous growth, the trajectory of student homelessness in Minnesota may be changing. School-based studies for students experiencing homelessness have seen lower numbers two years in a row, which also follow a period of significant decrease in families experiencing homelessness identified through Minnesota’s annual Point-in-Time count. The goal of Homework Starts with Home is to maintain and accelerate this trajectory, and to promote more effective responses to the needs of students.
Homework Starts with Home uses funding from two sources: the Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) and the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) rental assistance program to prevent homelessness whenever possible and if homelessness does occur, to help make sure that it is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Program Information
- Minnesota FHPAP Statute
- FHPAP Program Guide
- Minnesota Homelessness and Prevention Assessment Tool (available in Hmong, Somali and Spanish)
- Minnesota HTF Statute
- HTF Program Guide
- Current Homework Starts with Home Grantees
- Due Diligence Training Recording - Skip to 2 minutes, 50 seconds to start (53:04): Presentation Notes (this training was held on June 2, 2020)
Reporting and Budget
- 2019-2021 Reporting Timeline
- 2021-2023 Reporting Timeline (coming soon)
- 2021-2023 Budget and Expenditure/Output Form (coming soon)
Visit www.hmismn.org for the latest updates on reporting on households served in HMIS.
Information Sessions on the Preliminary Practice Model
For help considering how the program and its preliminary practice model could be implemented, please refer to the following sessions and materials:
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Two-Generational Approaches to Supporting Families. View the slides, handout, and listen to the recording.
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Leveraging Mainstream Resources. View the slides and listen to the recording.
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Progressive Engagement and Rapid Rehousing. View the slides and listen to the recording.
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Trauma-informed Care in Schools. View the slides and listen to the recording.
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Lessons from the Hamilton San Francisco Pilot. View the slides and listen to the recording.
Contact
Diane Elias at 651.284.3176 or diane.elias@state.mn.us.