Education Spotlight and Housing Rights
Katrina Legislation Tracking
Thursday , July 13, 2006
In This Update
* Education Spotlight
- Children’s Defense Fund Report
- McKinney-Vento Act Summary
* Issue Brief on Housing Rights from NESRI
* Housing Advocates Call on City Council and HUD for Answers
Education Spotlight
This email update profiles KLT’s new attention to children’s issues and education issues for Katrina survivors.
Children’s Defense Fund Releases Report on the Children of Hurricane Katrina
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has published a report; Katrina’s Children: A Call to Conscience and Action, which outlines a nine-step call to action, stories of children personally impacted, and data on the status of children in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and nationwide, prior to the devastation in the Gulf Coast Region.
In her introduction, CDF’s President, Marian Wright Edelman calls the relief effort for Katrina’s children, “America’s morality test” and passionately urges the country to make children, in particular the children victims of Hurricane Katrina, the country’s first priority.
In her meetings with children and families in the gulf coast region, Edelman found that the survivors had two simple requests, the need for hope and the need to feel as though they had not been forgotten. In an effort to ensure the fulfillment of those requests, CDF has established Katrina Child Watch visits as well as worked to mobilize and organize various agencies and individuals to assist in meeting emergency mental health, health and education crises.
CDF also outlines a nine-step call to action for those who want to get involved in mobilizing and organizing relief efforts.
CDF’s Call to Action for Katrina’s Children
(1) Provide immediate emergency mental health and health services to children and their families struggling to cope with the trauma of Katrina including: an Emergency Children’s Health and Mental Health Corps; School-based Health Clinics with easy access for children; Mobile Health Vans with trained personnel every day of the week to help traumatized children and families; Emergency Medicaid for 24 months, including the full federal funding proposed in the bipartisan Grassley-Baucus Bill; Increasing Community Outreach and Rebuilding Community Health Centers and Hospitals that serve the poor in areas where the health infrastructure and personnel have been decimated.
(2) Ensure every child in Katrina-affected states a quality public education and after school and summer educational supports to help them make up for lost time and overcome previous and continuing school disparities.
(3) Join CDF’s campaign to ensure every Katrina evacuee child and every uninsured child in the United States— from birth to adulthood—comprehensive health and mental health coverage now with a national benefit floor with full federal funding.
(4) Join Katrina Child Watch™ visits to let these children and families know that we care and have not forgotten them, and to let our leaders know that we will not cease until they act.
(5) Demand that our leaders at all levels and sectors pay as much attention to constructing strong health, mental health, education and family support levees for Katrina’s children in school, after school and in summer months as they pay to constructing levees strong enough to withstand another Katrina level hurricane. And demand that our leaders prepare better to prevent and respond competently to future disasters.
(6) Organize a Wednesdays in Washington® and Wednesdays At Home® witness, phone, letter writing and email campaigns and visits to your political leaders demanding mental health and health care for Katrina children now and a comprehensive health system for all children as a condition of your vote in November 2006. Also demand they stop and reverse the revenue hemorrhage from massive tax cuts for the top 2 percent of Americans, and all budget cuts in safety net programs for children and the poor that increase our nation’s human and budget deficits.
(7) Pray for Katrina children and families and for
leaders of integrity who will work for justice for children and the whole community rather than for themselves and partisan political interests. Lift up the needs of children in your regular prayer meetings and prayer circles and through participation in CDF’s annual National Observance of Children’s Sabbath® celebrations, October 20-22, 2006, with an action witness for child health coverage.
(8) Demand investment in a quality integrated early childhood development system to help break the cycle of poverty, get every child ready to learn, and provide them the comprehensive support they need to avoid the Cradle to Prison Pipeline™ Crisis.
(9) Vote. Vote. Vote. Organize. Organize. Organize. Hold yourself and your political leaders accountable for how they vote for children.
For additional information on CDF and their children’s hurricane relief efforts go to http://www.childrensdefense.org/.
McKinney-Vento Report
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) has been important in facilitating education of children and youths displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Act, which was reauthorized in 2002, sets forth federal requirements that schools must adhere to in order to meet the educational requirements of homeless children.
The Act’s definition of ‘homeless’ includes individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence; thus it applies to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Act requires that schools provide homeless students with the same educational resources it provides for other students, including transportation, meals and counseling services.
The Act loosens the documentation required before enrolling a student, so that displaced children will not be barred from attending school due to inability to produce a birth certificate, doctor’s forms, or other paperwork. The Act aims to foster continuity and stability for homeless students, and thus prevents schools from segregating homeless students. The full text of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act may be found here:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html
In March 2006, Congress passed The College Access and Opportunity Act (H.R. 609), which aims to increase access to higher education for low and middle-income students. Also passed was an amendment that allows unaccompanied youths who qualify as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act to file as independent students for purposes of financial aid. Generally, students must include their parents’ financial information when applying for federal aid. However, allowing students to file as independent will facilitate the application process for homeless students who do not receive support from their parents, but who would have difficulty producing the required documents.
More information about H.R. 609 may be found here:
http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/issues/109th/education/hea/hea.htm
Housing Advocates Call on City Council and HUD for Answers
On Wednesday, June 28th, housing advocates nationwide called on the New Orleans City Council to ask tough questions about public housing. In their letter, advocates provided City Council members a list of questions and a summary of the limited information already available. The letter is attached. Any updates from the City Council will be included in future emails.
Access to Adequate Housing for Hurricane Survivors is a Fundamental Human Right
The National and Economic Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) released a new issue brief “The Human Right to Housing: Access for Survivors in the Gulf.” The issue brief analyzes standards under international human rights law requiring access to affordable and decent housing, including specific protections for internally displaced persons and survivors of disaster, and details violations of this right in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. .
NESRI’s issue brief explains that, “At minimum, no hurricane survivor should be without a home and must be assisted to return or resettle elsewhere. During this process, the government has the obligation to ensure that transitional and long-term housing arrangements incorporate the key components of the right to housing, which include:”
* Security of tenure
* Availability of services and facilities
* Affordability
* Habitability
* Accessibility
* Location
* Cultural adequacy
To see the entire issue brief, please visit NESRI’s webpage.
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Contribute Information
If you or your organization is tracking legislation or related policy items, please email katrinalegislation@gmail.com to include your analysis in our email updates. We depend on the analysis of contributing organizations to provide as much information as possible to our network. Please share your analysis with our network! Contact katrinalegislation@gmail.com with any questions.
Join Email List
To add yourself to our email distribution list, please email katrinalegislation.subscribe@gmail.com. Your email address will be added to our list as soon as possible.
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About
Katrina Legislation Tracking is a collaborative effort to distribute Katrina-related policy news from a streamlined source. Our goal is to make action easy by keeping information on proposed legislation all in one place. We aim to inform and learn from grassroots networks and advocates about changes in local, state and federal policy that might impact Hurricane Katrina survivors. We believe that public policies should correct the race, class and gender inequalities that contributed to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation.
Katrina Legislation Tracking is a partnership effort between the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, the Katrina Information Network, the Praxis Project, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Partnership for Working Families, the Student Hurricane Network and Law Students for Human Rights at NYU School of Law and a growing number of progressive organizations.
Thursday , July 13, 2006
In This Update
* Education Spotlight
- Children’s Defense Fund Report
- McKinney-Vento Act Summary
* Issue Brief on Housing Rights from NESRI
* Housing Advocates Call on City Council and HUD for Answers
Education Spotlight
This email update profiles KLT’s new attention to children’s issues and education issues for Katrina survivors.
Children’s Defense Fund Releases Report on the Children of Hurricane Katrina
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has published a report; Katrina’s Children: A Call to Conscience and Action, which outlines a nine-step call to action, stories of children personally impacted, and data on the status of children in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and nationwide, prior to the devastation in the Gulf Coast Region.
In her introduction, CDF’s President, Marian Wright Edelman calls the relief effort for Katrina’s children, “America’s morality test” and passionately urges the country to make children, in particular the children victims of Hurricane Katrina, the country’s first priority.
In her meetings with children and families in the gulf coast region, Edelman found that the survivors had two simple requests, the need for hope and the need to feel as though they had not been forgotten. In an effort to ensure the fulfillment of those requests, CDF has established Katrina Child Watch visits as well as worked to mobilize and organize various agencies and individuals to assist in meeting emergency mental health, health and education crises.
CDF also outlines a nine-step call to action for those who want to get involved in mobilizing and organizing relief efforts.
CDF’s Call to Action for Katrina’s Children
(1) Provide immediate emergency mental health and health services to children and their families struggling to cope with the trauma of Katrina including: an Emergency Children’s Health and Mental Health Corps; School-based Health Clinics with easy access for children; Mobile Health Vans with trained personnel every day of the week to help traumatized children and families; Emergency Medicaid for 24 months, including the full federal funding proposed in the bipartisan Grassley-Baucus Bill; Increasing Community Outreach and Rebuilding Community Health Centers and Hospitals that serve the poor in areas where the health infrastructure and personnel have been decimated.
(2) Ensure every child in Katrina-affected states a quality public education and after school and summer educational supports to help them make up for lost time and overcome previous and continuing school disparities.
(3) Join CDF’s campaign to ensure every Katrina evacuee child and every uninsured child in the United States— from birth to adulthood—comprehensive health and mental health coverage now with a national benefit floor with full federal funding.
(4) Join Katrina Child Watch™ visits to let these children and families know that we care and have not forgotten them, and to let our leaders know that we will not cease until they act.
(5) Demand that our leaders at all levels and sectors pay as much attention to constructing strong health, mental health, education and family support levees for Katrina’s children in school, after school and in summer months as they pay to constructing levees strong enough to withstand another Katrina level hurricane. And demand that our leaders prepare better to prevent and respond competently to future disasters.
(6) Organize a Wednesdays in Washington® and Wednesdays At Home® witness, phone, letter writing and email campaigns and visits to your political leaders demanding mental health and health care for Katrina children now and a comprehensive health system for all children as a condition of your vote in November 2006. Also demand they stop and reverse the revenue hemorrhage from massive tax cuts for the top 2 percent of Americans, and all budget cuts in safety net programs for children and the poor that increase our nation’s human and budget deficits.
(7) Pray for Katrina children and families and for
leaders of integrity who will work for justice for children and the whole community rather than for themselves and partisan political interests. Lift up the needs of children in your regular prayer meetings and prayer circles and through participation in CDF’s annual National Observance of Children’s Sabbath® celebrations, October 20-22, 2006, with an action witness for child health coverage.
(8) Demand investment in a quality integrated early childhood development system to help break the cycle of poverty, get every child ready to learn, and provide them the comprehensive support they need to avoid the Cradle to Prison Pipeline™ Crisis.
(9) Vote. Vote. Vote. Organize. Organize. Organize. Hold yourself and your political leaders accountable for how they vote for children.
For additional information on CDF and their children’s hurricane relief efforts go to http://www.childrensdefense.org/.
McKinney-Vento Report
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) has been important in facilitating education of children and youths displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Act, which was reauthorized in 2002, sets forth federal requirements that schools must adhere to in order to meet the educational requirements of homeless children.
The Act’s definition of ‘homeless’ includes individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence; thus it applies to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Act requires that schools provide homeless students with the same educational resources it provides for other students, including transportation, meals and counseling services.
The Act loosens the documentation required before enrolling a student, so that displaced children will not be barred from attending school due to inability to produce a birth certificate, doctor’s forms, or other paperwork. The Act aims to foster continuity and stability for homeless students, and thus prevents schools from segregating homeless students. The full text of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act may be found here:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html
In March 2006, Congress passed The College Access and Opportunity Act (H.R. 609), which aims to increase access to higher education for low and middle-income students. Also passed was an amendment that allows unaccompanied youths who qualify as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act to file as independent students for purposes of financial aid. Generally, students must include their parents’ financial information when applying for federal aid. However, allowing students to file as independent will facilitate the application process for homeless students who do not receive support from their parents, but who would have difficulty producing the required documents.
More information about H.R. 609 may be found here:
http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/issues/109th/education/hea/hea.htm
Housing Advocates Call on City Council and HUD for Answers
On Wednesday, June 28th, housing advocates nationwide called on the New Orleans City Council to ask tough questions about public housing. In their letter, advocates provided City Council members a list of questions and a summary of the limited information already available. The letter is attached. Any updates from the City Council will be included in future emails.
Access to Adequate Housing for Hurricane Survivors is a Fundamental Human Right
The National and Economic Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) released a new issue brief “The Human Right to Housing: Access for Survivors in the Gulf.” The issue brief analyzes standards under international human rights law requiring access to affordable and decent housing, including specific protections for internally displaced persons and survivors of disaster, and details violations of this right in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. .
NESRI’s issue brief explains that, “At minimum, no hurricane survivor should be without a home and must be assisted to return or resettle elsewhere. During this process, the government has the obligation to ensure that transitional and long-term housing arrangements incorporate the key components of the right to housing, which include:”
* Security of tenure
* Availability of services and facilities
* Affordability
* Habitability
* Accessibility
* Location
* Cultural adequacy
To see the entire issue brief, please visit NESRI’s webpage.
+++
Contribute Information
If you or your organization is tracking legislation or related policy items, please email katrinalegislation@gmail.com to include your analysis in our email updates. We depend on the analysis of contributing organizations to provide as much information as possible to our network. Please share your analysis with our network! Contact katrinalegislation@gmail.com with any questions.
Join Email List
To add yourself to our email distribution list, please email katrinalegislation.subscribe@gmail.com. Your email address will be added to our list as soon as possible.
+++
About
Katrina Legislation Tracking is a collaborative effort to distribute Katrina-related policy news from a streamlined source. Our goal is to make action easy by keeping information on proposed legislation all in one place. We aim to inform and learn from grassroots networks and advocates about changes in local, state and federal policy that might impact Hurricane Katrina survivors. We believe that public policies should correct the race, class and gender inequalities that contributed to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation.
Katrina Legislation Tracking is a partnership effort between the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, the Katrina Information Network, the Praxis Project, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Partnership for Working Families, the Student Hurricane Network and Law Students for Human Rights at NYU School of Law and a growing number of progressive organizations.
posted by Katrina Legislation Tracking @ 7:34 AM
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