STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6430 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HYNDMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing assistance to students experiencing homelessness The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Title 7 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 article 116 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 116 4 HOMELESS STUDENT HOUSING ACCESS AND ASSISTANCE 5 Section 5800. Definition. 6 5801. Designation of liaison officers, regional contacts, and 7 campus contacts to assist students experiencing home- 8 lessness. 9 5802. Access to housing for students experiencing homelessness. 10 5803. Priority enrollment. 11 5804. Assistance with college fees for students experiencing 12 homelessness. 13 § 5800. Definition. For the purposes of this article, the term 14 "students experiencing homelessness" shall mean students who at any time 15 during the current school year or the twenty-four months immediately 16 preceding their enrollment in college have been "homeless children or 17 youth" as such term is defined under 42 U.S.C. Section 11434a, and 18 includes students who reside in a student housing facility maintained by 19 a college during an academic term but who are homeless between academic 20 terms. 21 § 5801. Designation of liaison officers, regional contacts, and campus 22 contacts to assist students experiencing homelessness. 1. The state 23 university of New York and the city university of New York each shall 24 hire at least one full-time equivalent staff member to act as a liaison 25 officer for current and incoming students experiencing homelessness. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10028-01-5
A. 6430 2 1 2. The liaison officer shall: 2 (a) have knowledge of and expertise in federal and state financial aid 3 eligibility of students experiencing homelessness, including their 4 eligibility as independent students under Section 1087vv of the federal 5 Higher Education Act, support services, including health services, hous- 6 ing resources offered by the college and external housing resources, 7 including housing navigation services and existing housing programs for 8 homeless or low-income individuals or families, meal plan and food 9 programs and assistance, counseling services, academic supports, and 10 other resources available to students at the university, and best prac- 11 tices to identify and serve students experiencing homelessness, with the 12 goal of maximizing their enrollment, retention, and success in college; 13 (b) create systems for students experiencing homelessness to access 14 support services and other resources available to the students at the 15 university; coordinate with the state university of New York and the 16 city university of New York on innovative programming aimed at increas- 17 ing access, enrollment, attendance and success in college for students 18 experiencing homelessness, including pilot initiatives as outlined in a 19 pilot program to increase enrollment, attendance, and success in college 20 for students experiencing homelessness; 21 (c) provide professional development and other technical assistance 22 activities to ensure campus contact persons for current and incoming 23 students experiencing homelessness at the university. Institute best 24 practices to identify students experiencing homelessness and have infor- 25 mation about financial aid, support services, and best practices 26 described by paragraph (a) of this subdivision; 27 (d) provide professional development and other technical assistance 28 activities to professors and university staff working in the areas of 29 financial aid, housing, student services, and teaching and academic 30 support regarding the characteristics, needs, strengths, and identifica- 31 tion of students experiencing homelessness; 32 (e) complete necessary administrative tasks and data collection 33 related to students experiencing homelessness, including developing, 34 administering, and analyzing the results of a survey annually, collabo- 35 ratively with campus contacts designated pursuant to subdivision four of 36 this section, social work interns, and other essential staff, to collect 37 data on student access to resources needed to address homelessness 38 across the state university of New York and the city university of New 39 York; and 40 (f) make available an annual report of the survey administered pursu- 41 ant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision on the websites of the state 42 university of New York and the city university of New York. 43 3. The state university of New York and the city university of New 44 York each shall require professors and university staff to attend at 45 least one training per year offered by the liaison officer for current 46 and incoming students experiencing homelessness. 47 4. The liaison officer for the state university of New York shall hire 48 one part-time adjunct staff to serve as regional contacts in each of ten 49 economic development regions. Regional contacts shall supervise the 50 campus contacts in their regions and support the liaison officer to 51 ensure that students experiencing homelessness are identified, informed 52 of services available to them, and able to access support services and 53 other resources available in the region. 54 5. The liaison officer for the city university of New York shall hire 55 five part-time adjunct staff to serve as regional contacts. Regional 56 contacts shall supervise the campus contacts in their regions and
A. 6430 3 1 support the liaison officer to ensure that students experiencing home- 2 lessness are identified, informed of services available to them, and 3 able to access support services and other resources available in the 4 region. 5 6. Each college shall designate and may provide a stipend to, at least 6 one person, who may be an employee of the college or an undergraduate or 7 graduate level student of any college who is completing an internship as 8 part of obtaining a degree in social work or a related field, to act as 9 a campus contact person for current and incoming students experiencing 10 homelessness. 11 7. The campus contact person shall: 12 (a) institute best practices to identify current and incoming students 13 experiencing homelessness, including: 14 (i) posting flyers, posters, and other written materials about the 15 rights of students experiencing homelessness, using understandable and 16 culturally competent language, in locations on campus and in the commu- 17 nity where students experiencing homelessness are likely to see them; 18 (ii) posting using understandable and culturally competent information 19 about the rights of students experiencing homelessness on college 20 websites and social media; 21 (iii) collaborating with student organizations and organizations 22 providing food, housing, or other services on campus and in the communi- 23 ty; and 24 (iv) sharing information about the rights of students experiencing 25 homelessness and the process to refer students who may be experiencing 26 homelessness to the campus contact with professors and other campus 27 staff; 28 (b) provide students experiencing homelessness with information 29 regarding their federal and state financial aid eligibility, including 30 their eligibility as independent students under Section 1087vv of the 31 federal Higher Education Act, and assistance to such students to ensure 32 they are able to apply for and receive federal and state financial aid 33 and all available on and off campus services for which they are eligi- 34 ble; 35 (c) provide students experiencing homelessness with information 36 regarding support services, health services, housing resources offered 37 by the college and external housing resources, housing navigation 38 services and existing housing programs for homeless or low-income indi- 39 viduals or families, meal plan and food programs and assistance, coun- 40 seling services, academic supports, and other resources available to the 41 students at the college; 42 (d) participate in professional development and other technical 43 assistance activities offered by the liaison officer; and 44 (e) contact liaisons designated under 42 U.S.C. Section 45 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) as necessary to facilitate successful transitions 46 from secondary to postsecondary education for students experiencing 47 homelessness. 48 § 5802. Access to housing for students experiencing homelessness. Each 49 college shall: 50 1. prioritize students experiencing homelessness for access to exist- 51 ing housing resources offered by the college, as needed, during and 52 between academic terms, including granting them first priority for hous- 53 ing facilities that remain open for occupation during the most days in a 54 calendar year; and 55 2. develop a plan to connect students experiencing homelessness with 56 external housing resources when existing housing resources offered by
A. 6430 4 1 the college are not available, including through working with existing 2 housing programs for homeless or low-income individuals or families. 3 § 5803. Priority enrollment. Each college that administers a priority 4 enrollment system shall grant priority in that system for enrollment in 5 classes to students experiencing homelessness. 6 § 5804. Assistance with college fees for students experiencing home- 7 lessness. For students experiencing homelessness, each college shall: 8 1. waive administrative fees and fees based on enrollment, including 9 health and wellness, student activity, consolidated services, and tech- 10 nology fees, that are not fully covered by a student's financial aid 11 package; and 12 2. defer the payment of any fee or deposit, including housing fees and 13 deposits, that are covered by a student's financial aid package until 14 the college receives the aid, such that students will not incur late 15 fees on payments delayed while awaiting disbursement of financial aid. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the 17 academic year next succeeding the date on which this act shall have 18 become a law.