Schools tout homelessness aid
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ALPENA -- Alpena Public Schools and the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District are looking to raise awareness about their McKinney Vento Assistance Program.
"My biggest goal over the last probably five, six years has been really to increase awareness," said Vicki Denstaedt, the McKinney Vento homelessness liaison for the AMA ESD. "It's awareness to families to let them know that there is help, especially when we have kids that have educational needs."
The McKinney Vento Act is a federal law that requires schools to have services that provide children experiencing homelessness with the resources they need to have a proper education.
Under the Mckinney Vento Act, homelessness is defined as "individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence." The definition means that children living in emergency shelter, in transitional housing, or with relatives or friends of the family because of economic reasons, in non-homes like a car, campground, or tent, or are a minor without a legal guardian, then they qualify to receive assistance through McKinney Vento.
The Mckinney Vento Assistance Program allocates $50 per individual student. That money can be spent on clothing, medical referrals, transportation, and other things that the school district determines is necessary for the student to be able to properly participate in school.
Last school year, 359 students signed up with the assistance program: eight from the AMA ESD's Great Start Readiness Program or Pied Piper School, 17 from Atlanta Community Schools, 37 from Alcona Community Schools, 62 from Hillman Community Schools, and 235 from Alpena Public Schools.
This school year, the current number signed with the program is 135.
Denstaedt believes that awareness of the program has steadily been rising, but that, in a lot of cases, students are afraid to reach out.
"Over the last 10 years, we've been growing," said Denstaedt. "However, a lot of people are still too afraid to ask for help."