Local homeless prevention aid is funding distributed to counties to help local governments ensure no child is homeless within a local jurisdiction by keeping families from losing housing and helping those experiencing homelessness find housing. This webpage provides background information about this funding, resources for counties and their partners related to the funding, and recommendations and considerations for maximizing the impact of these dollars. 

In June 2021, Governor Walz enacted legislation proposed by Rep. Aisha Gomez and passed by the Minnesota Legislature to establish a Local Homeless Prevention Aid (Laws of Minnesota 2021, 1st Spec. Sess. chapter 14, article 7, section 3). The purpose of this new program was to help local governments ensure no child is homeless within a local jurisdiction by keeping families from losing housing and helping those experiencing homelessness find housing. The Minnesota Department of Revenue’s webpage for this program provides additional background information. 

As a local government aid, funding for this program flows from the Minnesota Department of Revenue to county human service agencies in two installments each year. The first round of funding (totaling $10 million across all 87 counties in Minnesota) will be distributed in July 2023. (Please note, this information revises and corrects previous communication about the anticipated timing for the first payments.) Counties may begin incurring expenses for 2023 revenues starting January 1, 2023.  

Allocations to counties are based on a formula specified in statute using data provided by the Minnesota Department of Education. The geographic distribution of the number of students identified by schools who meet the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness is a significant factor in that formula. Funding appropriated for this purpose totals $20 million per year and is scheduled to sunset after payments in 2028 have been completed. Funding allocations for 2023 are published on the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s page for this program. Note that future allocations may differ. See below for a calendar showing funding disbursements and reporting timelines. 

Counties have broad discretion in determining how to use these funds to support the authorized purposes and intended outcomes of this local government aid.  

Funded activities may be administered by a county, a group of contiguous counties jointly acting together, a city, a group of contiguous cities jointly acting together, a Tribe, a group of Tribes, or a community-based nonprofit organization.  

Funded activities must include plans for: 

• Targeting homeless or at-risk families with PreK – 12 children 

• Targeting unaccompanied youth in need of an alternative residential setting 

• Connecting families with the social services necessary to maintain the families' stability in their homes 

• Providing one or more of the following: 

  • Rental assistance 

  • Support and case management services to improve housing stability 

The resources listed on this page have been compiled by an ad hoc team of State staff from the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, Minnesota Housing, the Minnesota Department of Education, and the Minnesota Department of Revenue to support counties and their partners in using these funds to have the greatest impact possible on student homelessness. We welcome suggestions and recommendations about other resources that would be helpful to communities in using these funds.