A basic 20 slide presentation that helps to develop awareness with staff. Developing Staff Awareness

Strategies for Developing Community Awareness

Choose an annual activity For example: Have students develop greeting cards with awareness messages Conduct clothing and personal hygiene drives Public service announcements PTSO’s National Homeless Awareness Week Other Choose an annual activity For example: Have students develop greeting cards with awareness messages Conduct clothing and personal hygiene drives Public service announcements PTSO’s National Homeless Awareness Week Other Community Awareness

Develop posters that raise the awareness about homelessness choose 10 sights in your community were you will post them.

Community Awareness Choose to address at least 3 community agencies or civic groups: –Continuum of Cares –Community Services Offices (Welfare) –Child protective services –First Steps (0-12 months) –Birth to Three Programs –Faith Based Organizations –DV Centers

Identification Comes After Awareness Once you become aware that a something exists, you can then identify it

Identification Teachers/Secrataries/Bus Drivers/Lunch Staff/Para Educators –Will always respond to the indicators described in the training –Eyes and ears, heartbeat for identifying students who are doubled up/couch surfing –Provide Staff a service How will your services improve education for children in their classes? Direct Point of contact is the best practice –One person in each building to determine homeless status, take referrals and decide direction to be taken

Outreach 5 Returning 53 Word of Mouth/self identified 12 Enrollment forms/Data base info 19 Community Referrals 23 Staff 65 Identification

Identification Through Out Reach Motels Shelters Other places individuals in transition stay Soup Kitchens Community Partners

Identification Through Returning Students Follow-up on students who were in program the previous year, are they still in transition?

Identification Through Self Identification/Word of Mouth When you build trust with unaccompanied youth, they will bring you their friends Posters hung in the community

Identification Using Documents/Data Bases Is this a temporary address? –If so, is it due to economic hardship? Youth living “not in the physical custody of parent or guardian” often have “self” listed as the primary contact Kinship care –Aunt/Uncle –Grandparent Foster Mother/Father

Identification Community Referrals –Children’s Administration –Shelters’ –Emergency Service Providers –Point in time homeless count –Community Action Programs –Juvenile Facilitates –Community Service Organization

Identification Teachers/Secrataries/Bus Drivers/Lunch Staff/Para Educators –Will always respond to the indicators described in the training –Eyes and ears, heartbeat for identifying students who are doubled up/couch surfing –Provide Staff a service How will your services improve education for children in their classes? Direct Point of contact is the best practice –One person in each building to determine homeless status, take referrals and decide direction to be taken

Referral Follow-up & Needs Assessment In mid April a teacher has referred a student to you, this is what she tells you: Courtney moved up here from California, she just needs a couple of credits to graduate, but she has fines at her previous high school, I understand her to be living with an aunt. In mid April a teacher has referred a student to you, this is what she tells you: Courtney moved up here from California, she just needs a couple of credits to graduate, but she has fines at her previous high school, I understand her to be living with an aunt.

Referral/Needs Assessment Next Step Collect as much information as possible, who are the students contacts? What are their relationship to the student? Do they have the same address? Does the student have siblings? What grade is the student in? How long have they been enrolled? What’s their attendance history look like?

Referrals/Needs Assessments By looking at the data base your able to glean that Courtney most likely lives with her father and her aunt, that she is in grade 12, and she has two younger brothers one in high school one in 5th grade. Contact the family

Referrals/Needs Assessment Always provide families with information on their rights Needs Assessment This is two part One part being what the student and family need to reduce their barriers to education Second part what teachers perceive as being barriers to education

ASB cards Fees –Shop –Jewelry –Art –Photography Walking and receiving diplomas Caps/gowns SATs College applications Personal hygiene products Referrals/Needs Assessment possible barriers Transcripts from previous school Access to meal services Clean clothing to attend school Transportation –Rerouting busses –Bus passes –Volunteer drivers Clothing School supplies Access to community resources

Resources Drives –Love your neighbor drive surrounding valentines day –Penny drives Service Learning Projects –High school students looking to complete volunteer/service learning activities and senior projects

Resources AmeriCorps –CAP project required –$5,000 for 40 hours a week/10.5 months College students Youth Groups –Clothing collections prior to back to school Faith Based Organization –Filled Back Packs

Resources PTSO’s –Asking Post's to participate in the education of transitioning students in their schools $100 gift cards Gas vouchers Shoes/sports related activities Start your own nonprofit

Service Delivery From the time you identify a family as being in transition to the end of the year you are “delivering services” Different levels and those costs to schools

Service Delivery The Basics-What’s required of you as a liaison –remove “barriers” to education

Cost of Services Delivery School Supplies$ Enrollmentno Transportation$? Mealsno Clothingno Laundry Vouchers$ Fines and Feesno Provision of Rightsno Transcriptsno

Accessing Financial AidTime Scholarship ApplicationsTime College Applications$Time Cap and Gown$ Service Delivery

Services Delivery Monitor attendanceTime Monitor GradesTime AdvocacyTime Accessing Comm ServicesTime –Food stamps –Medical –Reproductive Health –Emergency Services

Service Delivery Follow-up and on going Decide how often you will check in on students Follow through Glean for possible moves