Which federal pandemic-era programs still had unspent funds for homelessness in 2025?
Executive summary
Federal reporting in 2025 indicates several pandemic-era homelessness-related programs had either expired or were running out of money: Emergency Housing Vouchers (expected to run out “next year” in California reporting) and pandemic allocations for students experiencing homelessness (ARP‑HCY) which had to be spent by Jan. 31, 2025 and lapsed thereafter [1] [2]. Larger, ongoing federal pots such as HUD’s Continuum of Care (about $3.9 billion) remained active but faced a major rule change in late 2025 that could shift how funds are used [3] [4].
1. Pandemic-era one‑time school and student supports that expired
The ARP‑Homeless Children and Youth (ARP‑HCY) pandemic allocation—$800 million nationally—was a time‑limited tranche that states had to commit and spend by end‑of‑January 2025; reporting notes those pandemic funds lapsed in January and extensions were halted in March 2025, leaving many districts without an obvious replacement source [2] [5]. SchoolHouse Connection and NASBE reporting documented that these pandemic-era education supports were explicitly temporary and thus were not available in 2025 except where prior commitments remained [2] [6].
2. Emergency Housing Vouchers: large, time‑sensitive but still active in some places
Local reporting in California flagged the Emergency Housing Vouchers program—created during the COVID‑19 era—as helping “more than 15,000 Californians” but warned it was “expected to run out of money next year,” signaling a looming funding cliff rather than a fully unspent pot in 2025 [1]. That language implies the program’s funds were being drawn down and not an open, multi‑year surplus [1].
3. American Rescue Plan and Fiscal Recovery Fund redirections at state level
State documents show Fiscal Recovery Funds (pandemic relief) had rules about redirecting unspent balances into homelessness programs, with examples such as Rhode Island noting pandemic recovery allocations “that remain unspent as of September 30, 2024, may be redirected to the Homelessness” efforts—demonstrating that some residual pandemic-era monies could be reallocated locally if unspent [7]. These are state‑level mechanics rather than a federal program left intact nationwide [7].
4. Continuum of Care (CoC) funding: big, ongoing pot facing policy shift not necessarily a leftover balance
The Continuum of Care program is a major federal funding stream—about $3.9 billion cited in reporting—that was still the central federal homelessness pot in 2025; coverage focuses on a HUD NOFO that would reallocate how those dollars are used (favoring transitional housing and work/treatment conditions) rather than reporting large unspent balances sitting unused [3] [8] [4]. Advocacy groups warn that one‑third of CoC awards expire between January and June 2026 and that renewals and retooling under the new rules could result in service interruptions, but reporting does not list an explicit unspent federal balance for CoC in 2025 [9] [8].
5. Ground truth: “unspent” varies by program type and by jurisdiction
News accounts and policy briefs treat “unspent funds” differently: for one‑time ARP tranches, the money either had to be committed and was then spent or lapsed [2] [5]; for vouchers and CoC grants, funds can be allocated and drawn down over time, producing worries about exhaustion rather than a large unused reserve [1] [3]. Local ordinances and budget amendments (Seattle, Rhode Island examples) discuss using any remaining fiscal‑recovery balances to plug homelessness gaps, which shows some leftover pandemic money could be tapped where legal frameworks permit [10] [7].
6. Where reporting is explicit and where it is silent
Available sources explicitly state ARP‑HCY pandemic funds lapsed/ended by January 2025 and that Emergency Housing Vouchers were expected to run out soon in California [2] [1]. Reporting makes clear HUD was changing the rules for a $3.9 billion Continuum of Care fund but does not describe a nationwide unspent balance of that fund sitting unused in 2025 [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a comprehensive federal inventory in 2025 listing every pandemic-era homelessness program with an unspent balance; they focus on specific programs and local/state fiscal maneuvers [11] [9].
7. Takeaway and competing perspectives
Advocates (National Alliance to End Homelessness, Urban Institute) emphasize that pandemic investments had significantly aided housing stability and that the end or retooling of those funds risks rising homelessness [11] [8] [9]. The administration and some analysts argue funding shifts or new conditions can be accommodated by providers adapting services and that the goal is to prioritize different approaches [3]. Readers should note the distinction between funds that formally expired (ARP‑HCY) and large ongoing federal programs whose rules or balances were under dispute (Emergency Housing Vouchers, CoC) rather than being plainly “unspent” on a national ledger [2] [1] [3].
If you want, I can compile a concise table (by program: ARP‑HCY, Emergency Housing Vouchers, CoC, state fiscal recovery remainders) that pulls the key dates, dollar amounts cited, and whether reporting lists them as expired, at risk of exhaustion, or subject to reinterpretation under new rules (using only the sources above).