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Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maine lawmakers hope to combat rising student homelessness with new housing assistance fund
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. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Intellectually disabled students call on Legislature to create more inclusive college opportunities
Mar. 3—Maine high schoolers with intellectual and developmental disabilities are urging lawmakers to support the creation of more inclusive higher education opportunities. More than a dozen students, advocates and higher education leaders spoke Monday at a public hearing in front of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee to support LD 46, a bill sponsored by Rep. Kelly Murphy, D-Scarborough. The bill would create Inclusive Post Secondary Education, or IPSE, programs at five Maine colleges through $100,000 grants. These programs, housed at traditional colleges or universities, are designed for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities or autism, which have their own admissions process and special support systems. The bill would also provide scholarships for students. A similar bill passed the House and Senate last year but didn't receive funding from the appropriations committee. "For so many students with intellectual disabilities or who are on the autism spectrum, formal education most often ends with their high school diploma," Murphy said while introducing the bill. "This proposed legislation could change that, in alignment with educational opportunities already being offered in other states." Laurel Huntsberger, a senior at the Ecology Learning Center charter school in Unity who has Down syndrome, said she wants to go to college like her peers but is unsure what opportunities she has in Maine. "I don't know what's next for me after graduation. I fall into a gap. I haven't found programs that meet my needs, interests and abilities," Huntsberger testified. "This bill offers a solution that supports many young people who are capable and eager for college but need some extra support to be successful in that setting." Maine has one program, founded in 2023, for intellectually and developmentally disabled students at Saint Joseph's College in Standish. There's also a new program in the works at the University of Maine at Farmington. Kate Worden, a senior at Deering High School in Portland who takes both special education and mainstream courses, testified about the economic benefits of creating postsecondary opportunities for intellectually disabled students. She said students who participate in IPSE programs have three times the employment rate of their disabled peers who do not. "Peer models help us achieve academic and social goals. We build relationships, increase our networks, and most importantly, we acquire independent skills," Worden said. Higher education professionals from several Maine institutions also spoke in support. Audrey Bartholomew, a University of New England professor of education, said Maine educators already have an interest in creating IPSE programs. "The expertise, the energy and the commitment are already here. What's missing is the initial investment to get these programs off the ground. This bill provides a critical first step," she said. "A modest amount of funding can serve as a catalyst for a new movement in Maine, allowing colleges and universities to develop inclusive higher ed programs and, most importantly, provide scholarships." Sarah Howorth, an associate professor of special education at the University of Maine, testified in support of LD 46 on behalf of the state's public university system. She said expertise on intellectual disabilities, and education for students with them, already exists within the system, and she echoed ideas about the broad economic benefits of increasing higher ed opportunities for those students. "A transition to meaningful employment is a way that many young people find fulfillment in early adulthood, and advances the goal in the state's 10-year economic strategy of increasing labor force participation, including among individuals with disabilities," Howorth testified. "It's also important to remember that the services and supports that are offered to students with autism and intellectual disabilities on college campuses, like peer mentors, will help all students." Copy the Story Link
