A growing number of students in Chicago are currently struggling with having a permanent and stable home. As of December 2022, 13,000 CPS students identified as homeless, according to CPS’s “Students in Temporary Living Situations” program. However, according to the Chicago Coalition of Homelessness, due to some students not wanting to identify themselves and others being homeless but living in other students’ homes, this number is actually closer to 16,000. Notably, many students in these types of situations don’t qualify for public aid.
There have been many attempts to curtail this rise, to varying degrees of success. Tonti Elementary set up a “Care Closet” to have a place to keep donations from the community and charity organizations for students in need, and provides incoming students with free uniforms and a backpack stuffed with school supplies.
The American Rescue Plan of 2021 raised the child tax credit to $3600 per child from $2000. Governor Pritzker also made a proposal in February of 2023 to raise the budget for homelessness prevention, increasing the funding that goes into Illinois’s Evidence-Based Funding program that awards funds to schools based on priority of need. The Chicago Teacher’s Union stated that the increases were insufficient, and stated that at least double the proposed amount would be necessary to make the changes necessary. The state budget should be finalized by May of 2023 when the spring legislative session closes.
Nate Hall, Director of Technology & Tutoring Coordinator
nate@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266