Maine lawmakers hope to combat rising student homelessness with new housing assistance fund

Yahoo

29-05-2025

In Maine, the number of unhoused students has increased from 2,317 students in the 2021-22 school year to more than 5,000 in the 2023-24 school year, said Maine Rep. Kelly Murphy (D-Scarborough). (Photo by Getty Images)
Legislation to establish a fund to financially help students avoid homelessness passed both chambers of the Maine Legislature this week.
The bill, LD 384, would allocate up to $750 per academic year to the family or guardian of a student at risk of homelessness for housing-related needs, which could include rental assistance, utilities, critical home repairs and transportation. In light of increasing student homelessness, the disruptions to students' learning caused by housing insecurity, in addition to a lack of available assistance to prevent homelessness, the bill was 'perhaps one of the most impactful bills that the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee heard this session,' according to committee co-chair Rep. Kelly Murphy (D-Scarborough).
The Maine Senate passed the bill on Wednesday with 28 members voting in favor and only six opposed. The House of Representatives had a narrower margin, with 81 members voting Thursday in favor of the bill and 62 opposed. The bill will go back to both chambers for final enactment votes.
Sponsor Sen. Joe Rafferty (D-York), who also co-chairs the education committee, explained that the bill builds on a pilot program approved in the 131st Legislature, which succeeded in helping more than 800 students. Several administrators who spoke at the public hearing vouched for the support they were able to provide struggling students in their districts through the pilot program, which LD 384 would make permanent.
'It breaks my heart to know that there are students throughout Maine who are struggling with housing insecurity and don't know where they're going to sleep each night,' Rafferty said during the Senate floor discussion Wednesday. 'The bill before us today would continue with this good work by permanently establishing a program so that our students can grow up and learn without worrying about where they're going to sleep. It is the right thing to do.'
In Maine, the number of unhoused students has increased from 2,317 students in the 2021-22 school year to more than 5,000 in the 2023-24 school year, Murphy said.
Opponents of the bill in both chambers said the intent was noble, but took issue with the $1.5 million fiscal note. Rep. Barbara Bagshaw (R-Windham) also questioned how much the one-time payment would help families avoid homelessness in the long term.
'If a family is already on the brink, this amount is unlikely to provide lasting stability' she said. 'We're offering a temporary fix to a systematic problem without addressing the root causes.'
During the public hearing, Mallory Cook, director of training and early educator engagement for the Maine Education Association, cited a Maine Housing Coalition report from 2020 that said a vast majority of Maine tenants only owed between $1,000 and $1,500 to their landlords, making the $750 per student annual allocation in LD 384 critical in preventing student homelessness.
'It's not a lot of money, but oftentimes when we've reached a crisis situation in these families, $750 does make the difference between being evicted or having your utility shut off,' Murphy said Thursday. 'This is one way to prevent student homelessness and to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed.'
Sen. James Libby (R- Cumberland) said given the current budget deficit the bill was not likely to be funded and would likely languish on the appropriations table, where bills not provided for in the budget compete for remaining funds.
Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, all students experiencing homelessness are entitled to a free, appropriate public education. But it does not allocate any money to prevent homelessness, Murphy pointed out.
This week the Legislature also passed another bill, LD 747, which directs the Maine Housing Authority to develop a program to provide assistance to homeless students in coordination with the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.
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