Albuquerque Public Schools and Las Cruces Public Schools - Students Experiencing Homelessness Pilot
New Mexico Appleseed, a Albuquerque/Santa Fe-based child poverty nonprofit, ran an early (2020-2021) cash-stipend pilot for students experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque Public Schools and Las Cruces Public Schools, paying $500 per month to students who maintained attendance, completed schoolwork, and attended tutoring. The pilot was part of Appleseed's broader 'Students Experiencing Homelessness' cash-transfer initiative launched with pandemic-era donor funds, which also included a separately-tracked year-long pilot in Cuba and West Las Vegas school districts. Results across the initiative (roughly 120 students combined) showed sharply improved graduation rates, leading Appleseed to advocate successfully for a 2025 statewide, state-funded expansion (the 'Guaranteed Payment for Attendance' program). Public reporting does not independently confirm the Western Sky Community Care partnership or the exact 65-participant figure cited in seed data for this specific district pairing.
Homeless students, McKinney-Vento, Education, Cash transfer pilot, Summer bridge program, New Mexico
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- New Mexico Appleseed
- City
- Albuquerque
- State / Province
- New Mexico
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://www.nmappleseed.org/
- Phone
- +1 505 814 1200
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 65
- Funding type
- Nonprofit, Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 2,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 4 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct Deposit (inferred from NM Appleseed's general GPA program design, not independently confirmed for this specific sub-pilot)
- Benefit details
Students received $500 per month deposited toward basic needs (transportation, food, clothing, rent/utilities) contingent on attendance and academic participation requirements. Duration was mixed by site - approximately 3 months in Las Cruces and 4 months in Albuquerque per seed data, consistent with a summer/short-term pilot format rather than a full school year. The program also included tutoring and, in later iterations of the model, financial literacy training. Exact per-site payment totals and full program rules for this specific 2020-2021 Albuquerque/Las Cruces cohort were not found in independently verifiable primary sources.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible students were those meeting the federal McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness/inadequate housing, enrolled in Albuquerque Public Schools or Las Cruces Public Schools. Continued eligibility required maintaining attendance, completing schoolwork, and participating in tutoring/support sessions, consistent with New Mexico Appleseed's broader Guaranteed Payment for Attendance (GPA) model. Selection appears to have relied on school district homeless liaisons identifying qualifying students rather than an open public application.
Demographics
- Education level
- High School
Housing
- Housing status
- Homeless
Geography
- US states covered
- New Mexico
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Albuquerque, Las Cruces
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Tutoring/academic support sessions (required condition of payment, per NM Appleseed GPA model)
- Research / participation requirements
New Mexico Appleseed designed and managed the pilot in partnership with Albuquerque Public Schools and Las Cruces Public Schools. It was one of two 2020-2021 sub-pilots under Appleseed's original cash-transfer initiative for homeless students (the other being a year-long pilot in Cuba and West Las Vegas school districts, funded by the LANL Foundation). Combined results across the initiative (approximately 120 students total per Appleseed's 2019-2020 Impact Report) showed markedly improved graduation rates and directly informed the June 2022 report 'Students Experiencing Homelessness: A Conditional Cash Transfer Pilot' and the subsequent 2025 statewide, state-funded 'Guaranteed Payment for Attendance' expansion.
Application Process
- How to apply
Not publicly documented for this specific 2020-2021 sub-pilot. Consistent with NM Appleseed's general GPA/cash-transfer model, eligible homeless students were identified by school district McKinney-Vento liaisons rather than through an open public application process.
- Selection process
Students meeting the federal McKinney-Vento homeless/inadequate-housing definition and enrolled in Albuquerque Public Schools or Las Cruces Public Schools were identified by district homeless liaisons for participation; no public open-enrollment process was identified.
