The Conval School District is sponsoring an information and educational event with a focus on the rights of children who are identified as homeless and how we can support these families.
Hearty appetizers and treats served to all who register! Come straight from work and become an informed advocate for battling issues of homelessness.
The McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law passed in 1987, which addresses the needs of homeless children and provides support for their education.
Many are not aware of this law and the benefits it provides for students who are experiencing homelessness. Many in our community don't even know we have homeless families in our district. Most of the students and their families who are identified as homeless in the Conval School District are living in what we call a "doubled up" situation. This means that they are living in shared housing with friends or family. We also have students and their families living at MATS, Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter, a transitional shelter in Peterborough.
Attend this event and learn about how the Mckinney-Vento Act supports these students, what resources are available for them, and how to access them. We can support folks BEFORE crisis if we stay networked and connected on what we have as community resources.
Agenda:
5:30-6:00-Doors open, light dinner served. Information tables from various service providers open.
6:00-6:45-Welcome, keynote speaker, Yvonne Vissing, author of Changing the Paradigm of Homelessness.
6:45-7:15-Panel of Local Providers Q&A
7:15-7:30-Networking and Information tables open.
About Yvonne Vissing, PhD:
Vissing is Professor of Healthcare Studies and Founding Director of the Center for Childhood & Youth Studies at Salem State University is the US policy chair for the Hope for Children Convention on the Child Policy Center in Cyprus She is on the Steering Committee for Human Rights Educators USA, on the AAAS Human Rights Council. Vissing is author of 20 books, including Children’s Human Rights in the USA: Challenge & Opportunities, Changing the Paradigm of Homelessness, and The Rights of Unaccompanied Minors. A clinical sociologist, National Institute of Mental Health Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on child abuse and Whiting Foundation fellow studying child rights, she was a Dialogue and Democracy fellow at UCONN’s Dodd Center for Human Rights and graduate of Equitas International Human Rights Training Program in Montreal.
This program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Grant (ARP ESSER) for identifying homeless children and youth, and providing them with wrap-around services and assistance to attend school and participate fully in school activities and Sponsored by the Conval School District.
Catered by Cynthia Ingraham of Shiva Catering.
Sponsored in part by the Peterborough Town Library.
Peterborough Town Library, located downtown at the corner of Main and Concord/Rt 202, has a large meeting room, study rooms, classroom, and a board room available to the public.
