• Jessica McKinney - Policy Advisor, K-12 Education

• Maureen Tracey Mooney - Special Assistant to the President, Education

• Clarence Wardell - Chief Data and Equitable Delivery Officer, American Rescue Plan Implementation Team; Senior Advisor for Policy Implementation and Delivery, Domestic Policy Council

• Ted Lee - Senior Advisor, American Rescue Plan Implementation Team

• Lynn Overmann - Senior Advisor for Data and Technology

Many of these individuals are working on American Rescue Plan implementation. SSWAA Representatives included Rob Lucio (SSWAA C0-Chair Advocacy and Legislative Action Committee, Rebecca Oliver (SSWAA Executive Director), Amanda Simons (School Social Worker from Nevada), Ashley Solle (SSWAA Government Relations Specialist) and myself. We had 30 minutes to share the common themes that emerged from the feedback all of you provided. Please see the attached document of themes that we were able to share. It sounds like this is just the first of several meetings they hope to have with SSWAA. It was a phenomenal opportunity to share our school social work perspective.

Thank you again for your leadership! It is exciting to be invited to the table. SSWAA's macro-advocacy continues to strengthen the voice of school social workers from across the U.S in shaping national policy. Please feel free to reach out with any questions! Hope to see many of you in April at our National Conference in April! Have a wonderful evening!

Christy McCoy MSW LICSW

SSWAA President and MSSWA Legislative Chair

School Social Worker

• Lack of Transportation
• Shortage of bus drivers is impacting transportation to school for McKinney Vento students.
• Community transportation across the city or to access community mental health providers is limited.
• Accessibility and Workforce Shortages With such a need to link students to culturally responsive mental health services,
• there is a limited number of mental health professionals to refer to. Some mental health organizations depend on insurance, and others are cash pay only organizations which adds additional stress and burdens on families.
•  Example: Families in Michigan (and nationwide) are struggling to find mental health providers, especially crisis services involving psychiatric hospitalization.
• Example: In Nevada, there is a lack of mental health community providers and/or children/adolescent psychiatric beds. Sadly, our students are waiting for hours upon hours at times in the ERs in order to get a bed. Waiting lists for providers for outpatient therapy are extremely long and can be anywhere from 2-3 weeks for an initial appointment.
• There is a workforce pipeline challenge; we do not have enough qualified school social workers in a lot of states. Even if a district wants to use funds to hire school social workers, they aren’t able to find someone to hire. Funds are also not being used to attract and retain qualified school social workers.
• Hiring school-based, school-employed school social workers should be a priority. This individual is a part of the educational community and is well-positioned to assess needs, gain trust and collaboration between school staff and the family, and provide or refer to community services to meet a student’s need.
• ESSER funds are not permanent; districts are hesitating to use funds toward the salaries of additional personnel and new programs because they are not sure they can retain them when funds run out. When funds run out, the needs will still be there.
• Some states and districts have not been transparent about how they are using or plan to use ESSER funds. Knowing how funds are being used is critical in being able to address workforce shortages and lack of access to necessary services.
• Non-compete clauses in contracts can limit a school district’s ability to refer students out for services.
• Often, resources change quickly due to grants ending or funding running out. This can be very frustrating.
• P-EBT puts more food into the hands of families, but state barriers exist related to communications around rollout. School social workers worked tirelessly to help ensure eligible families were signed up to receive benefits, but it was more difficult than it should have been.
• Example: For families in Wisconsin and Minnesota to receive P-EBT, schools have to send attendance data to the Department of Health Services. This is so students who are absent from school can receive benefits on days they were at home. However, the way in which schools have to report the attendance data changed suddenly. Schools now have to go backwards to September and pull individual student attendance data for students. If a school coded their attendance in such a way that kids who were doing school work remotely for COVID reasons were coded as “present,” then their data system would not show that the child was actually at home and missing out on school meals. Because of this, some families received less benefits than they qualified for. Potential Solution: Simply giving more money to families who qualify for P- EBT right now with a standard amount each month, or dictating more clearly what type of reporting requirements state-level agencies have (or not allow them to change the policy mid-year) would help with this.
• Insurance: There is ongoing complexity and concern with applying for insurance. Providers that families are connected with may or may not be contracted or approved by the insurance company.
• Example: Families in the Detroit area have difficulty gaining access to and navigating state health care plans and Medicaid.
• Some states have the ability to bill federal Medicaid for school social work services services provided for students receiving special education, but other states have created barriers or are unaware of this vital funding resource to cover the cost of special education services.
• Housing and Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) ERAP money was given to states to decide how to allocate those funds. ERAP is generally allowed to be used to keep families in their homes, but not to address homelessness and related challenges. This includes costs such as hotel bills, first/last month rent, etc. Some counties did change that rule to allow ERAP funds to be used for hotels.
• Example: In Pennsylvania, those decisions are left to each county. Many families in the state lost housing during COVID (regardless of the moratorium), and are now in hotels or doubled up.
• Example: In Missouri, agencies are being told they were unable to process rent or utility assistance without a shut-off or eviction notice. This is frustrating given that an ounce of prevention before the final eviction notice would prevent trauma and anxiety for children around the possibility of a heat shut-off or threat of homelessness. There is a lack of clarity related to eligibility. Families often believe they cannot apply unless they had a substantial loss directly connected to COVID.
• Lack of affordable housing is another issue. Families may have the money, but not the credit score; this has become a new thing landlords require in order to get the insurance to cover costs of renters not being able to pay due to COVID. The cost of rent has also skyrocketed. Even families that can pay rent either cannot find affordable housing or don’t have the credit score.
• Community organizations need to better partner with schools and districts to create a seamless referral process.