Homelessness/tribal colleges

AN ACT Relating to expanding eligibility for the students 1
experiencing homelessness and foster youth program to an accredited 2
tribal college; and amending RCW 28B.77.850. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 28B.77.850 and 2023 c 339 s 2 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 7
specific purpose, each public four-year institution of higher 8
education and a public tribal college located in Washington and 9
accredited by the northwest commission on colleges and universities 10
or another accrediting association recognized by the United States 11
department of education may implement a program to provide assistance 12
to students experiencing homelessness and to students who were in the 13
foster care system when they graduated high school. The program must 14
provide certain accommodations to these students that may include, 15
but are not limited to, the following: 16
(a) Access to laundry facilities; 17
(b) Access to storage; 18
(c) Access to locker room and shower facilities;19
(d) Reduced-price meals or meal plans, and access to food banks;20
(e) Access to technology; 21
Z-0097.1
SENATE BILL 5304
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Kauffman, Nobles, Frame, Hasegawa, Krishnadasan, Liias,
Riccelli, Slatter, Trudeau, Valdez, and C. Wilson; by request of
Student Achievement Council
Read first time 01/16/25. Referred to Committee on Higher Education
& Workforce Development.
p. 1 SB 5304
(f) Access to short-term housing or housing assistance, 1
especially during seasonal breaks; and 2
(g) Case management services. 3
(2) The four-year institutions of higher education and the tribal 4
college may also establish plans to develop surplus property for 5
affordable housing to accommodate the needs of students experiencing 6
homelessness and students who were in the foster care system when 7
they graduated high school. 8
(3) The four-year institutions of higher education and the tribal 9
college participating in the program shall leverage existing 10
community resources by making available to students in the program 11
information that is available for individuals experiencing 12
homelessness, including through not-for-profit organizations, the 13
local housing authority, and the department of commerce's office of 14
homeless youth. 15
(4) The four-year institutions of higher education and the tribal 16
college participating in the program shall annually provide a joint 17
report to the appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance 18
with RCW 43.01.036 beginning December 1, 2023, that includes at least 19
the following information: 20
(a) The number of students experiencing homelessness or food 21
insecurity, and the number of students who were in the foster care 22
system when they graduated high school who attended a four-year 23
institution of higher education or a tribal college during the 24
program. The council shall coordinate with all of the four-year 25
institutions of higher education and the tribal college to collect 26
voluntary data on how many students experiencing homelessness or food 27
insecurity are attending the four-year institutions of higher 28
education and the tribal college; 29
(b) The number of students assisted by the program;30
(c) Strategies for accommodating students experiencing 31
homelessness or food insecurity, and former foster care students; and32
(d) Legislative recommendations for how students experiencing 33
homelessness or food insecurity, and former foster care students 34
could be better served. 35
(5) For purposes of this section, "program" means the students 36
experiencing homelessness and foster youth program.37
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p. 2 SB 5304