An innovative pilot program for homeless teens in New Mexico giving each $500 a month has seen a 93 percent graduation rate.
Mayfield High School students are among about 330 New Mexico high-schoolers set to join a newly launched state pilot program offering monthly $500 payments to teens experiencing housing insecurity and other issues, conditioned on meeting certain goals.
The payment program was pioneered by New Mexico Appleseed, a child poverty nonprofit that first tested the initiative in 2020. Only 51 percent of the state’s homeless students had graduated the year before, but in the test cohort, 13 of 14 seniors graduated — a 93 percent rate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/12/05/new-mexico-paying-homeless-students/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzY0OTk3MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzY2Mzc5NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NjQ5OTcyMDAsImp0aSI6IjIzM2E2ZDE1LTYxYWEtNGFmYi1iN2FlLWZlMzhkMjkzNGU3NyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyNS8xMi8wNS9uZXctbWV4aWNvLXBheWluZy1ob21lbGVzcy1zdHVkZW50cy8ifQ.N2gwCq8mrigs45l2QkZbaGEh3Sjumn6cf69A2rK56RU&fbclid=IwY2xjawOkp4tleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFhN2toS3BaM2ZBT0Z1dGREc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHtQnlRhAmmfhl6tTTjALqVjd69WrTZlUlnO72P787SuGAkkQi4FUT3qnn_MU_aem_kf4e6gXNbABL8tdNxd5RlQ
