Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness

Families with Children Committee: Back-to-school reports and the future of joint FWC-FHI meetings

by

Our Families with Children (FWC) Committee gathered in September to discuss the future of its new quarterly joint meeting with the Committee to End Homelessness’ Family Homelessness Initiative. They also reported back on the start of the new school year for the students who are homeless that they serve. Here are some brief notes from the discussion: HOW DID START OF SCHOOL GO FOR MCKINNEY-VENTO STUDENTS? Please be sure to e-mail rebecca[at]homelessinfo[dot]org with your back-to-school experience(s). Backlog of enrollment paperwork In Seattle, had students who didn’t go the first 2 days of school because of this. Others said the first two days of school had VERY fast turn-around re: paperwork, but slowed significantly after that. Transportation Reports of buses  being 1.5 hours late – A. Moon (Mary’s Place) Reports of taxis being 2 hours late – A.Moon (Mary’s Place) Case Manager said she went above and beyond to verify and confirm – multiple times – that the orders were correct. And still, these delays happened. She even had a taxi with incorrect orders and wouldn’t take the student to the correct school! In West Seattle, it took one week to get a bus to pick up a student. Safety concerns of younger students being assigned ORCA cards instead of a taxi or bus No one reported ORCA card issues (e.g., then not being loaded) Multiple people reported having concerns and questions around the 1-mile rule  (i.e., no transportation, must walk). Case Manager said that 2-mile rule for homeless families who live in Queen Anne is quite difficult. There is a much greater impact of this rule for families who are homeless Proactive and flexible engagement from Liaison Liaison w/ Lowel (school) came to provider to talk through McK-V and connect with families. SUPER HELPFUL In class/Teacher issues Parent said middle-school aged son was marked down …

Read more

Recap: Coalition’s General Membership Meeting — August 21, 2014

by

At last week’s General Membership meeting, Heather Barr (aka Everyone’s Favorite Public Health Nurse) with Health Care for the Homeless led us in a presentation and training to quickly, safely, and calmly recognize and respond to health emergencies at work. With lots of information and a relatively brief amount of time to share it, she graciously provided her PowerPoint (with links to videos!) to us for distribution.  Heather also gave us an easy and helpful homework assignment: watch these 5 videos related to responding to common medical emergencies. Each will reinforce what we learned and also help you to visually identify different types of emergencies. And here they are: Everyday First Aid- Seizure ( 2 min) Recovery Position (1.5 min) Stroke (2 min) Diabetic Emergency (< 2 min) Drug Overdose (10 min) Here’s the link to download her entire presentation: Medical Emergency Recognizing and Responding to Medical Emergencies in Settings. Join us next month for a special Coalition discussion of the Seattle Housing Authority’s rent change proposal at the General Membership Meeting. Mark your calendars – September 18 from 9-11 a.m. at the E. Cherry YWCA (2820 E. Cherry Street, Seattle, WA 98144).

Register today — ‘Helping Homeless Students’ workshop

by

We are excited to announce that registration is now open for Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101 workshop Tuesday, August 26, 9.00 – 11.15 a.m. Highline College in Des Moines, WA FREE, but pre-registration required! The Coalition’s “Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101” workshop is designed for school staff, nurses, and case managers to provide an overview of educational rights and common issues for homeless students. Presented by Katara Jordan, attorney with Columbia Legal Services, this workshop will introduce the federal McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, which promotes educational stability, school access, support for academic success, and child-centered decision-making for homeless youth, children, and families. In addition to providing a better understanding of the law, we intend this workshop to serve as a timely, informative, and collaborative platform between school staff and community-based case managers to work together effectively to support homeless students and their families. We’ll cover the basics, and address common thorny issues related to enrollment and transportation; working with unaccompanied youth; and participation in after-school activities. Together we’ll problem-solve and share ideas and strategies for back-to-school and throughout the school year. By the time you leave the training, you should have both a solid understanding of the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, and valuable sources of information and professional resources to turn to within your local community, your school district, in Washington, and nationally to aid in your work to reach homeless youth at schools. We are excited to bring staff from Coalition member agencies together with local public school staff to learn about the educational rights of homeless students, and how to support them at the start of the new school year. Please help us spread the word, and register today! Note: Registration priority will be given to Coalition members and staff at local public schools.