Angie Reinoehl/MDN Homeless liaison for Students in Transition, Tracey Lawson, left, and family outreach specialist Harry Summers, right, are working on “Summer Buddies,” a summer food program for families in the Students in Transition program.

The Minot Public Schools’ Students In Transition program (formerly Homeless Children and Youth Program) served 160 students during the last school year.

The program offers students experiencing homelessness the ability to attend and experience school like their peers. The program offers assistance with travel, school meals and before and after school childcare.

The program is designed to help families who are struggling so students can stay in school and participate in extracurriculars like any other student.

“Our goal is to keep kids in school – to remove any barriers as we can so they are comfortable there and they have what they need,” said Harry Summers, family outreach specialist for the Students in Transition program.

The program provides school supplies, warm winter gear, clothing, personal hygiene and household cleaning products and transportation in the form of gas cards and bus passes. As soon as students qualify for the program, they have access to Title I services and free school meals. Families who qualify also are able to bypass enrollment paperwork. Some families don’t have copies of birth certificates, immunization records or records from previous schools. The goal is to get students into class as soon as possible.

Homeless students are identified as they go through the enrollment process. A housing questionnaire indicates where the family is living and if it’s not in a fixed, regular or adequate location, their information is forwarded to the program. At any time school counselors, principals and other school staff are able to contact the program as soon as they become aware of changes in a student’s living situation.

“People don’t think that we have homeless students but once we start looking and checking they are there and they need us and they need help and that’s what we’re here for,” Summers said.

The program is funded through grants, private donations and Title I funds the district sets aside.

“We want all students to be successful,” said Tracy Lawson, homeless liaison for the program. “Just because a family might be going through financial hardship or some other reason that leads them to a homeless situation, we want them to be in school. That’s the main thing. We want them to be in school, learning every day and being successful and having the same opportunities as any other student.”