Basic Needs:

Food, Clothing, & Supplies

(Elementary Level)

Kessa Douse, Jordan Peterson, Catherine Ramos, Cassie Klein

Getting Started: Building the Leadership and Data
Teams
In School
PTA
School staff
Social Workers
Homeless liaison
Outreach coordinator
Outside of School
Community liaisons
health services, nonprofits, religious organizations
Local businesses
Neighboring schools
Parent volunteers
Killing the Myth/ Building Dissatisfaction
Poverty-related problem:
Access to having basic needs met
Underlying myth/ attitude:
Stereotype of poverty
Parents dont care about their child
May not have the resources or time to assist child
Low expectations for students
Students are unmotivated or lazy
May be due to lack of food
Creating a Culture of Inquiry
Where We Are:
Not all students needs are being met

Why We are Here:

Invalid assessments
Lack of relationships and trust to ask for help
Inconvenience of other resources

What Needs to Change:

Proper needs assessment
Fostering relationships
Convenient resources for students and families
A quote in the article, Skipping Meals, Joining Gangs: How Teens Cope
Without Enough Food At Home states:

Its real. It is serious. And it should be addressed. It affects the

mind, it affects the body, and it affects the soul. Without that,
what do you have? (Norwood)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Kr8KNFQPU
Vision Plan

Our vision is to create a resource room located in the building that provides students
and their families with basic needs such as: food, clothing, and supplies.
Program
Who: Collaboration between in school and outside of school teams

What: Create a resource room located in the building that provides students and their
families with basic needs such as: food, clothing, and supplies

Where: Lewis & Clark Elementary School; Beaverton, OR

When: Year round

Eligibility for Summer Meals: Beaverton, OR

nokidhungry.org
Individual:
Awareness
Relationships
Normalizing experiences
Sense of belonging
https://vimeo.com/120811701
(No Kid Hungry)

Family & Community:

Build & maintain
relationships/partnerships
Awareness
Pride in community
Hunger is causing the demise of an entire generation that has so
Institution: much potential. These children are fighting for their lives daily.
Changing belief systems Wintor McNeel, guidance counselor
Cultural competence
Intervention
Resource Center: Permanent Space, Client Choice
Food: canned, dry, and fresh produce
About 53% of teachers in a national survey reported purchasing extra goods for students who do not have
enough to eat (Share Our Strength, 2012)
13.1 million children lived in food-insecure households in 2015 (Coleman-Jensen, 2015)
Clothing
Seasonally appropriate
Supplies
School supplies (notebooks, paper, pencils, erasers, backpacks, crayons, etc.)
Hygiene products (deodorant, soap, shampoo, toilet paper)
Training
Diversity training...can result in equitable education opportunities for students and significant personal and
professional growth for educators. (C.A.R.E, 2011)
Feeding America (Snelling, 2012)
Food bank involvement
Mobile VS Permanent/ Client chose VS Bagged
Self report results show highly satisfied clients despite some weaknesses
2011-2012 the number of school sites with pantry increased by 65%
Program Barriers
Time
Partnerships and resource mapping
Coordination of who will staff the resource room
Operating hours and client availability (Snelling 2012)
Funding if paid person to manage resource room (outreach coordinator)
Summer and breaks
Stigma for accessing resources
Eligibility requirements
Space
Refrigeration (Snelling, 2012)
Donations and Supplies
Accurate reporting
On the needs assessments Both students and families
Monitoring Progress
Short Term Goals:

Identifying students in need

Creating awareness of program
Maintaining consistent partnerships

Long Term Goals:

Bridging elementary and middle school transition gaps

Improving school culture by reducing stigma and poverty stereotype
Increase community and family involvement
Data Collection
Academics
State testing, reading level, in class participation, report cards, etc.
Personal/Social:
Attendance
Behavioral issues (mood improvement)
School climate
Measuring how many students and families access, and what they are accessing
(tracking, sign in sheet)

End of year program evaluation (meeting/survey)

What Can We Do As School Counselors?
Build relationships
Home visits (Spies, Morgan, & Matsuura, 2014)
Staff education: resources, identifying food insecurity (Fram et al., 2014)
Comprehensive needs assessment
Beginning of school year
Addressing food insecurity, mental health, and other barriers to success
Mental health: school counseling or reference to outside counseling services
Open mindedness
Preparation to learn from students and families (Beegle, 2007)
Informing community members about relevant resources (ASCA, 2016)
Applying for SNAP or additional benefits
How Can We Use this Framework
to Approach Problems Differently
in Any School?
References
C.A.R.E:Strategies for CLosing the Achievement Gaps (2011). National Education Association.
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/CAREguide2011.pdf

Jacewicz, N. (2015). Skipping Meals, Joining Gangs: How Teens Cope Without Enough Food At Home. Retrieved September 29,2016,
from
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/15/493974504/skipping-meals-joining-gangs-how-teens-cope-with-food-insecur
ity

Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2016). Household Food Security in the United States in 2015. USDA ERS

Fram, M. S., Frongillo, E. A., Fishbein, E. M., & Burke, M. P. (2014). Roles for Schools and School Social Workers in Improving Child
Food Security. Children & Schools, 36(4), 231-239.

Lee, S. (2008). An Invisible HUNGER. USA Today Magazine, 136(2754), 14-15.

No Kid Hungry. (2015). No Kid Hungry: Hunger in our schools. Retrieved from No Kid Hungry:
http://hungerinourschools.org/?_ga=1.114283783.1456748339.1478470402

Snelling, A. J. (2012). Understanding feeding America elementary school-based food pantries. Washington D.C.: American University.

Spies, T. G., Morgan, J. J., & Matsuura, M. (2014). The Faces of Hunger: The Educational Impact of Hunger on Students With
Disabilities. Intervention In School & Clinic, 50(1), 5-14. doi:10.1177/1053451214532349