Children’s Educational Services Whittaker Wright, M.S. Ed., CRC Director of Employment and Education Lantern Community Services

Lantern Community Services has 5 supportive housing buildings that are dedicated to families. Lantern has over 300 children residing in those buildings. In most supportive housing settings, employment and education services are focused on the head of household. Lantern recognized the need for more resources and expertise around children’s education. GOAL – To have the children and youth at our sites to have the same access to and opportunities to succeed at excellent schools from Pre-K through college (and beyond) as other children, not in supportive housing settings have.

Lantern partnered with Advocates for Children of New York to provide a series of trainings on children’s educational services and resources for the staff. Some of the topics covered included: Early Childhood Education Kindergarten Admissions Process Middle School Admissions Process High School Admissions Process Education Rights and Options for Middle & High School Students NYC High School Promotion and Graduation Requirements Special Education and School Discipline High School Graduation Options for Students with Disabilities

Out of the training from Advocates for Children of New York, we identified a need for in-house expertise and leadership in this area. We used programming funding to create an Education Services Manager position. This position was created to oversee the planning, organizing and enrollment of education services for children with their parents. Some responsibilities include: Understanding the NYC DOE process and offerings Learning about the schools within the families district Learning about local educational resources in the community Educating the families on Gifted & Talented Programs Providing educational advocacy and 1:1 support to youth and families to support them to achieve their educational goals Assisting parents in participating and attending Parent/Teacher conferences

PROGRAMMING SERVICES MOVING FORWARD Creating a Children’s Education Checklist 4-Week Workshop Series for the Parents on Educational Services Weekly visits to schools in the district that the children are attending Creating an E-Newsletter that will highlight key DOE timeline dates (application deadlines) Creating a School Calendar for the parents (parent/teacher conferences, open houses) Coordinating with external partners to connect youth with relevant resources (i.e. SAT courses, college prep, Prep for Prep, Head Start, Gifted and Talented, insideschools.org, tutoring programs, school/placement visits, etc.) Summer youth employment opportunities