Project REACH Procedures
Manual
Anne McInerney
Supervisor
Project REACH
Anne.McInerney@spps.org
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Project REACH
• “..is a St. Paul Public Schools shelter and
street-based program that promotes school
stability and academic success of homeless
children and youth. Our program staff serve
Pre K and school age children who are in
temporary housing situations.”
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McKinney Vento services
• Stay in the same school they attended before
they became homeless and receive
transportation to that school
• Eligible for the same programs and services
that are provided to all SPPS students
• Automatically qualify for free school meals
• May enroll in any school without proof of
resident status, immunizations, school
records, guardianship or other documents
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Students and families receive:
• On site assistance with school enrollment
• Donations of school supplies and uniforms
• Referrals to community and county agencies that
help with medical, legal, food, clothing and
housing needs
• Assistance with early childhood registration and
screening
• Advocacy for Special Education services
• Evening academic support in several St. Paul
shelters
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Information about our youngest
homeless students
• Infants who are born into homelessness need special care right after
birth at four times the rate of other children.
• Homeless babies show significantly slower development than other
children do.
• Homeless children have very high rates of acute illness.
• More than one-fifth of homeless children between three and six years
of age have emotional problems serious enough to require
National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) http://www.serve.org/nche
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) http://www.naehcy.org
Fall 2013
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Project REACH families are referred
2 ways:
1) Through the school homeless contact who
complete inclusion report through
REACHREF.spps.org
2) Through shelters when a family enters.
Shelter staff has family complete a release of
information which is faxed to Project REACH.
Liaisons then contact family and refer to
school homeless contact.
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Basic Information/Data Privacy
• School homeless contact can only access this site on a
district connected computer (no home access)
• You can only access this site if you have access to Campus.
• There are confidential addresses listed in this website that
should NOT be entered into Campus. Continue to use the
confidential address codes for Campus purposes.
• Do not disclose anything you learn on the database to
anyone outside of the district or not working with the
student directly without a signed consent form from the
parent (FERPA)
• Contact Anne McInerney(anne.mcinerney@spps.org) with
questions.
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Access to Project REACH referral
website
• Once logged into the district network, enter this link
into your internet browser http://reachref.spps.org/
• All staff with Campus access can refer a student but we
prefer that the homeless contact at each school or
Student Placement staff initiate the referral for services
for a student experiencing homelessness.
• Please let us know if you are experiencing any such
problems.
• Bookmark the page or you can find it on our website at
www.homeless.spps.org
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Requesting Service for a Student
You will need the following information to complete the request:
• Name
• Current address (or name of shelter, hotel or emergency foster care
provider)
• Contact information of guardian or unaccompanied youth
• Some information on how the student became homeless
• Any additional information that would be helpful
• The correct and most current address of the student in Campus
• What services are being requested
• If transportation is being requested, we need to know what
adaptations are needed
• If an aide is required, the school must provide this before
transportation can begin
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Accessing the Project REACH Online System
Login Using your Campus Login
E123456
Directory
password
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Search the student by
name or ID
Select the student
Select current enrollment
or school.
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If you select shelter, hotel, or emergency foster
care, you will be given a list of pre-entered
options to select from. The addresses will
automatically be entered. For those not preentered, you can enter them manually.
If the student is living on the street, outside, in a
car, or other place not designated for human
habitation, select ‘community’
Guardian is ‘legal guardian’.
Unaccompanied youth means ‘not
in the physical custody of a
guardian’.
Click here to populate same address
as child.
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Please enter this information if
the student is living with
someone other than the
guardian (non-guardian aunt or
uncle, for example). Entering
this information is not necessary
if you have entered it above.
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Please
enter any
helpful
information
in these
three
spaces.
If you select yes
for transportation,
you will be able to
select what
adaptations are
needed.
Please check off
the services the
student and
family are in
need of. The EA’s
assist with the
first 4 listed.
If you select one
of the last 4, the
program social
workers will get
involved.
Click submit to send completed request to Project
REACH. If completed correctly, you will receive a
message indicating the message was sent successfully.
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The referral has now
been sent to Project
REACH Inclusion
Request
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