This is a recording of Session 3 of Rising Practices & Policies Revisited - Working with Youth and Families Experiencing Homelessness and Home Insecurity, which occurred on July 10, 2023.
In this session, Pacific Southwest MHTTC's Co-Director Miranda March hosted and Technical Assistance Specialist Evelyn Clark facilitated a panel discussion on how community-based organizations, mental health systems, and school services are responding to the issues, challenges, and needs of home insecurity and what rising practices and policies are emerging to meet the mental and school mental health needs of people experiencing the impact of structural inequities.
The Session 3 panelists included Program Specialist of Homeless Education for the Orange County Department of Education, Elida Sanchez; Executive Director of CARE Olympia, Emily Clouse; Special Projects Coordinator for McKinney-Vento & Foster Care Liaison, Hannah Etchison; and Samantha Taitano who serves as Executive Director of Manelu in Guam.

In this session, we explored the following questions and more:

• How can we interrupt the stigmatization of homelessness and foster safe and equitable access to mental health services?
• How are school and community-based mental health partners utilizing the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and other federal funding streams to maximize the workforce’s skills and support?
• How can we increase access to school services and supports?
• How can we collaborate with services that address compounding issues (e.g., interpersonal violence, the foster system) to be innovative in our approaches?