10A | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Youth from A1 to employ Jade Chamness, the McKinney-Vento liai- son for the district. Cham- ness works to break down barriers between youths and their pathway to school success. Previously, the district had contracted the posi- tion out, but created a dis- trict position for the 2017- 18 school year. Since then, Chamness has doubled her work hours, enabling her to increase effectiveness and provide more services. Through the program, students can achieve im- mediate enrollment even if they lack documentation. “So, we can get them into the system and start get- ting some supports in place right away while we’re completing our records re- quests and doing whatever we need to do,” said Cham- ness. Once receiving a referral, Chamness sits with the re- ferred youth to determine their needs, drawing on an array of solutions to fit the student’s particular situa- tion. Chamness collaborates with other agencies in the area such as Looking Glass and South Lane Mental Health and makes referrals to groups that help kids get their first jobs. Other services aid youths with getting food stamps, health care or even put on an affordable hous- ing wait list for when they turn 18. The program also helps break down financial barriers to enrollment by waiving fees. In some cases, students may move outside the dis- trict. The McKinney-Vento program maintains student stability by offering trans- portation for those stu- dents. Providing transpor- tation options is a huge leverage point for the school district in creating a “school of origin” — the school that a child or youth attended when permanent- ly housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled. Establishing this consis- tency is one key element in increasing a student’s chance of success. “Many times, students are living in a variety of spots across the school year — not just one place — so our transportation depart- ment is incredibly respon- sive,” said Hamilton. Community involve- ment has also been a fea- ture of the program. Last year, Chamness started a community responder pro- gram, inviting people in the community to sign up and receive alerts when food or clothing needs arise. “That has been so suc- cessful,” said Chamness. “The community has been amazing with supporting our McKinney-Vento stu- dents.” Last month Goodwill agreed to partner with the program by providing gift cards for students for school clothing. “We’re absolutely elated about that because it really helps us stretch our budget and meet more needs,” said Chamness. The Oregon of Depart- ment of Human Services self-sufficiency office has also collaborated to update the Supplemental Nutri- tional Assistance Program (commonly known as SNAP) intake process to accommodate unaccompa- MEDICARE ENROLLMENT IS NOW OPEN! Do you need to Review next years choice? Call Paul to help simplify the complicated. nied youth. “We get them in for their food stamp interviews re- ally quickly and it’s been going so well,” said Cham- ness. “It’s a really exciting win.” A number of living con- ditions may qualify youths for assistance, such as living in accommodations which have no water or electricity, living in a motel or hotel, or staying with friends or family due to hardship. State of Homelessness The past school year saw a marked increase in homeless youth who ben- efited from the program according to data present- ed to the SLSD board by Chamness. While there were 138 total McKinney-Vento stu- dents in SLSD during the 2017-18 school year, that number saw a 48.5 per- cent increase to 205 for the 2018-19 school year. Chamness chalks the larger numbers up to the increase in employment hours. “As a result of that in- crease, I’ve been able to streamline our referral pro- cess and identify more stu- dents than what were able to be identified in previous years,” she said. “It looks like there’s a huge increase in homeless students, but that’s actually not the case — we just have more ca- pacity to identify students.” Still, the problem re- mains pervasive through- out the state. According to a report by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), roughly 3.75 per- cent of K-12 students en- rolled were determined to be unhoused during the 2017-18 year, for a total of 21,756 youth. While the ODE’s report stated that counts of homeless stu- dents in high-rent districts were dropping, many rural districts have been seeing increases due to families seeking more affordable housing. Among SLSD schools, Cottage Grove High School topped the list at 73 McK- inney-Vento students fol- lowed by Bohemia Elemen- tary School at 36, Kennedy Alternative High School at 31, Lincoln Middle School at 30 and Harrison Ele- mentary School at 24. While data from ODE shows that homeless youth tend to underperform in language arts, math and science compared to their peers, efforts such as those by the McKinney-Vento program have worked to decrease the achievement gap. Results on Oregon State Achievement tests have shown a gradual in- crease in the percent of homeless students meeting state standards. In finding long-term solutions for students and their families, establish- ing consistency in housing ranks highly among them. “There isn’t enough housing that meets the Sec- tion 8 criteria,” said Cham- ness, referring to the feder- al rental housing assistance program. “So, families can get Section 8 vouchers and they can’t find a place to live here.” While some housing options for youths exist in Eugene such as Look- ing Glass’ Station 7 and St. Vincent De Paul’s Youth House, such options do not exist in Cottage Grove and many unhoused students bounce between others’ houses, cars or tents. Food insecurity is also an issue. “It would be helpful if there were more oppor- tunities for families to ac- cess food,” said Chamness. “We’ve got Cottage Grove High School, Al Kennedy and Lincoln Middle that are all interested in starting food pantries, which is so exciting.” If such a program takes off, the district plans to negotiate with students to find the best distribution methods. Parents can sometimes be another barrier. “To a certain degree, par- ents have to let us know,” said Hamilton. “If a parent doesn’t let us know about their situation, we really can’t help, though we want to. “We’ve been able to make more contact with families. And that’s the most import- ant thing — helping fam- ilies connect to services, helping families know that they’re welcome to be at school, helping families to figure out what we can do to help them through.” Ongoing discussion of how to spend money from the Student Investment Account, state funding through the Student Suc- cess Act, may aid the dis- trict’s efforts in this further. “If that’s the direction that the community would like to go, we’d like to lever- age some of those monies to help students experi- encing homelessness,” said Hamilton. Hamilton envisions ex- tra programs such as after- school gatherings with See VENTO 11A RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY. Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00am-6:00pm | Sat 9am-6pm 118 Gateway Blvd., Cottage Grove (Next to Bi-Mart) • 541-942-7377 Art in the Grove Holiday Art Sale Fall Heating Tune-Up Only $119* We’ll make sure your system is running effectively and effi ciently. Call for details and an appointment today, and beat the winter rush! Complete Heating & Cooling System Service Reasonable Rates • All Work Guaranteed FRE ADM ISSI E ON Saturday, December 14th from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sunday, December 15th from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm 10 Artists: Kyla Corbett Glenn Dow Janet Evans Paula Goodbar Don Gustavson Sue Hunnel Rex Hunnel Demetra Kalams Susan Klein David CP Placencia Cottage Events Venue 2915 Row River Rd., Cottage Grove 541-517-7362 CCB# 225171 Paul Henrichs ~ Independent Agent coverage4oregon@gmail.com * Limited-time offer. Restrictions apply. Call for details. Commercial and Residential SITE DEVELOPMENT Live presents Corne - Over 25 Years of Construction Experience - For Inquiries or a Free Estimate Visit Us Online at www.nwcbuilders.com Give Eric a Call (541) 802-9245 r X͖Λ̊Ά͖˟Λ̳͖͠˟͋wΣΎ̳˼§̊Ά̤͠Ά͔̊ΆΎ • Excavation, Clearing, Grading • Rock Hauling • Residential Building Pads and Driveways • Trenching • Commercial Site Work • Demolition HOME PRIDE The Chris Booher Family Painting and Repair LLC Over 30 years of experience Schedule Now Live Music Every Friday December 21st • 5:30-8:30 Buy tickets atß̳͋͋˟̥̊JΆ͖̊̊!̭Ά̳ΎΛ͔˟Ύ٦˼͔͠ 6 to 9 pm || No Cover Charge Dec 13 • Ben Johnson & Co Blues, Rock, Soul, Country Dec 20 • Killer B’s Classic Country & Old Time Rock-n- Roll Dec 27 • The Huckleberrys For Spring Exterior Repairs Call us for a Free Quote! “We do Christmas Lights, home repairs and decks! $50-$200 Off Interior Painting Scheduled by Dec. 13, 2019 Country, Bluegrass Open Daily 11am for Complimentary Tasting 942-1364 X www.saginawvineyard.com Serving Lane & North Douglas Counties 541-735-0089 ccb# 217560