Ep 6 | Navigating Hunger

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We found that a lot of kids were not eating at night and they needed those extra supports in the home and the family really relied on the schools for breakfast and lunch. They knew their kids were at least getting fed during the day, but the challenge came at night.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. To say that you parents today have a lot on your plate is an understatement. When you're not physically being pulled in two directions like work and home, you're mentally being pulled in four. Just when you think you have all the plates spinning successfully, you find out that your kid is not doing well in school. How do you find the resources you need to help your child and support your household? How do you find the time to find the resources? My next guests are part of a program helping families find support and solutions. It's appropriately called Navigators, and it benefits families by eliminating non-educers. Today they're going to share how the program works, who it's working for, and how it's uniting the community for each child in Escambia County. Passionate for Pensacola, kids, and mental health, Jen Montoya and Lindsay Cannon. Thanks for being here. Thank you so much for having us. You know how we women joke like, oh, if only I had a wife, I would be so much more efficient. I would get so much more done. I feel like your program's like the wife for Escambia County, which is probably not a good tagline, but no less true, right? Right. So I definitely want to dive into it. So, but first, Lindsay, you grew up in Panama City, Florida. I did. And you've worked in health and human service your entire career. I have. Now the regional executive director for Children's Home Society. So you're seeing up close some of the obstacles that can make a really smart student not do well in school. Could you give us some examples of some of the things that are holding kids back?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Well, certainly. And I think as we've done our work and really worked collaboratively with partners, we might have had a very narrow view of challenges that families had, specifically on the child welfare realm. But as we partnered with Community Health Northwest Florida and University of West Florida in the school district in Escambia County for community partnership schools, our eyes were really open to the fact that our families have a lot more challenges than what we could have ever projected or predicted. Those could be related to poverty, hunger. They can be underemployment, families that are working two and three jobs to make ends meet, and really utilizing the whole family to try to support the little bit that they can get done. Those one or two plates, they're just trying to keep spinning, right? And so, you know, really partnering with others that do things well, like healthcare, like working with the University of West Florida to really do rich needs assessments, have helped us to really see what the families are telling us, this is what I need to be successful and to be engaged in the school. How can you help me?

SPEAKER_02 3:22

So can you give us some examples of what are some of the things that families in Pensacola specifically are saying, this is what I need, this is why my child is not doing well in school because we've got this other thing going, this other plate that isn't spinning.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Absolutely. And I think, you know, really, really opened our eyes outside of just that one school when we partnered with the school district to do the navigator program in 2019. We we opened that up to six other schools and put a navigator in there and said, go forth. Go forth and navigate and navigate and find out what they need. Um, some of the really, really prominent things that show up, of course, are food and security, um, housing, and then um clothing, you know, just basic clothing. Um, it's one thing to get a set of school clothes, but to maintain those for an entire year, anyone that has a boy in an elementary school knows you've got to have those resources for yourself. And so really looking at those key things and then healthcare, access to healthcare. Um, a lot of our families are used to utilizing like an emergency room for everything. And that's not always the solution. So really connecting them with local providers, um, working local healthcare providers, working also with other nonprofits that do feeding programs, uh, that get clothing in by the droves and need people to take them. Um, really partnering in that way to bring those resources to the school so that the school can focus on the academics and let us work the partnerships that we have and we do traditionally in our child welfare work, helping these under-resourced families. So I would say those are really our top three that we've really identified, amongst others. Um, but it's not just students reaching out, it's parents reaching out for help as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

So poverty, clothing, and healthcare are the top three things. Food. And food. So four things. Yeah, those sound, I mean, when you think about what is it called Maslow's hierarchy of needs, um, security and food, and you know, feeling that settled feeling, that anchored feeling is at the bottom of the pyramid. Uh, at the top is higher learning. Absolutely. So it's hard to get to one before you can cover the next. And certainly a student who is hungry and barely making it through school is not thinking about his or her future education like college or career-wise, because they're just thinking about today.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Absolutely. And and we found that a lot of kids were not eating at night. Um, and they needed those extra supports in the home. And the family really relied on the schools for breakfast and lunch. They knew their kids were at least getting fed during the day. Um, but the challenge came at night.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

So that's interesting because you kind of sound, again, with the wife analogy, it's like a one-stop shop. It's like you're a a one like a you know, circle K. I have terrible analogies today. You're like the circle K for families at school because it's like we have these needs. We're exhausted, we're working double shifts, we're trying to make ends meet. Finding finding time to find the resources to meet those needs is exhausting. So I love how you're built into the schools to kind of help bridge the gap. Jen, you've also had a front seat in children's education. You taught elementary school for 10 years. And you've been a Pensacola resident since 2008. And now you're working with struggling schools as the school transformation specialist, which I'm pretty sure is like the new Marvel character. We we were capes in our office. As one should, as one should. You're definitely in the nitty-gritty of like the statistics and the stats or the statistics and the struggle, both of them. How many schools and how many students benefited from the navigator program in the 2021 school year?

SPEAKER_01 7:03

So this past year, we had over 32, or we had 32 navigators. They were in 15 of our elementary schools. And when we looked at which schools to put them in, we looked at that poverty line, we looked at what funding that they already had through Title I to determine who had the higher level of need. That's where we went first. Then we also looked at our secondary schools because oftentimes the problems that the secondary schools face, the students are the ones that are going to have to communicate that. And the little ones, um, they're they're open, they're honest, they're they're talking. But so we wanted to make sure that there was a navigator in every single secondary school. So all the middle schools have a navigator and all of the high schools have a navigator as well. And navigator is what? So navigator is the position that um will is um employed by CHS. They are on the campus five days a week, full time. And when a request or referral is sent in from a family or from a teacher that says, hey, this family is in need, this is what they need, the navigator goes right to work and they rally their resources through CHS and through the community, and then they reach out to the family and they communicate and they kind of dig a little bit deeper to see what's going on and if there's anything else, because oftentimes one resource will lead to another. So as they start talking, maybe it's food at first, but then there's other things down the line. They're having issues with utilities or they're having uh they're losing their apartment or their home. And so the navigator is able to work with that family and then sets up that relationship so as there's ongoing need throughout the year that they can continue to support. We found this year that most students, it's they had multiple services throughout the the year. It wasn't kind of a one and one and done because that need just was it's an ongoing problem that the navigators are trying to meet.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

So there's built-in follow-up for down the road after these services are implemented?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yes. So the navigator, um, like I said, makes that connection with that family. They're constantly checking in to ensure one of the ways that they do that is with the food program on the weekends. They kind of have a set group that needs it, they know, and so they're constantly sending that home, but there are checkpoints along the way to ensure that that family has what they need. And so oftentimes some of our schools have even one of the ways that we see big need is in attendance. What we see seen a drop, especially with the pandemic, that's been huge across the board. And so some of the principals have worked with their navigators and they contact the families that of the students that are missing to say, hey, you know, what's going on? How can we help you to get to school? What's the barrier that you're facing? And so the navigator kind of builds up that relationship and the parent feels comfortable to communicate so that they're more likely to send the student to school and that they'll be successful because those needs are met that uh Lindsay alluded to.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Gosh, that would be tough as a parent, you know, just getting a phone call like that and feeling defensive and and feeling insecure. But um, I can I love how the program helps really unite the parent with the school and with all these amazing resources and partnerships you have in the community to really come together for the success of that student. Like, bravo to everyone. Bravo to all you parents out there. Yes. That's a tough job. So, how are you measuring success in in the program? Is there a specific metric overall?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, so um one of the things that we've done, and we looked at quarterly this year and this coming year, we're kind of changing it a little bit because we're always trying to enhance the program to make sure that it is serving the need and for the family. So, what we did is that we looked at first of all, what were the resources and how many families did we reach? We reached 19% of our our student body, and that's over 4,000 students that were impacted by the navigator program. So that's huge. Then what we look at is what kind of services are being provided. And with CHS and with our our school district, we kind of put them in buckets of high, medium, and low impact. So some of those high, the parent has lost shelter. They don't have a home. And so that's something that would go on that high. Sometimes, like the weekend food program, depending on the need, we rate that. So that's one of the things that we look at. But going forward, some of those metrics that we're looking at are thinking about, okay, our goal is about increasing attendance and increasing positive behavior. And so we're connecting back now this coming year to really look at, okay, the students that are being served, are they in our school more? Are they here present, ready to go and learning? And so therefore, we're connecting it back to what was their attendance before? What is their attendance now? What are some of the um when we look at referrals, is that going down for certain students? That's kind of some of that metric that we look at to say we are meeting our goal of increasing attendance so students can succeed in school.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Can either of you think of a specific story of impact that you could share? We have many. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yes, there's many. And I I think the one that sticks out to me the most was um a student of a high school or a parent of a high schooler, um, really wonderful lady, but they were displaced. Um, she had to find another home. And um her kids didn't have their own beds. Um, she she really felt at a loss and connected with the navigator at that high school. And um we we had a resource for beds. Uh, so we were able to provide them with that uh for all the children and then ensure that not only they got a bed, but they got the sheets, they got the comforter, they got the full package. Um, and it's it's amazing what that does. Think about a kid that doesn't sleep at night or sleeping on the floor. Uh, it makes a difference in how they come to school. Um, and and this mother was at a loss. She did not know where to go to resource that, and nor does she have the financial resources to do it herself. So being able to really set that family up has been a great positive story, not only for that mom, that she's able to provide that for her children and set a good example that she wants to set, um, but also that her kids are ready to learn.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Yeah. I mean, especially you said a high schooler, right? That having their own space just from a childhood development perspective is so major. And we want them to become not just good students, but great adults once they leave high school. So to have that is incredible. Absolutely. That's so cool. Um, can you walk me through the timeline of what this program does, starting with how a family is identified and is identified as a candidate for support?

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Well, it's available to anyone. Is it? Okay, yes, that's good to know. Yes, um, it's available to anyone. And the referrals can come um from the parent, they can come from the child, they can come from a teacher, administration, anyone in the school. Um, and and like Jen was saying, really looking at that data and really doing comparative analysis, it's really important. We'll be working with the school district to put that through their focus system that they have here so that we have a really good look at um what's coming in, and it creates a timeliness factor too for us, too, to make sure we're addressing those things and and allowing follow-up because a teacher coming to you that has, you know, 30 students in elementary school or or in high school, goodness, they probably in middle schools have hundreds of kids that they they served all the day, coming back to them and being able to say that that child was taken care of is meaningful for them. I I think people think that teachers just teach and they don't take it home, but they do. They take home what's happening with their kids. And so being able to feel that they have someone trusted at the school that they can pass that off to um that can make the things happen for that family and that child is vastly important um for for teachers.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

And you how are the schools chosen? You mentioned you work with um struggling schools, or is it a certain uh economic uh threshold that the schools have or don't have that qualifies them?

SPEAKER_01 14:42

So for the secondary, they all have a navigator. The elementary, we did have to kind of make a choice. Um the funding is coming through ESSER, uh, through the um new dollars that are coming in. And so currently we have 15 elementary schools, but part of that data analysis we're looking at is does a navigator need to be on a campus full-time, or can we diversify and expand them for maybe part-time so that we can expand out? And so that's something thinking about those 15 elementary schools that don't have a navigator, we know the need is there and we're not blind to that. Um, so we're always trying to make sure that the placement of the navigator is meeting the school's need that they're at. But then can we expand it so that we can pick up some of those other nav or other schools so that all of our schools can benefit? Um, that that's big for us. Um, so that's one thing that we're looking at this summer to see that if we can expand out, because we get lots of calls from the schools that don't have a navigator, like, hey, we have a need. And one of the things we did do, always trying to be reflective. We did a survey with the principals, we did uh also connecting with CHS and they gave us come at their some of their data to make sure that those fit are a perfect fit because certain communities to feel safe and to feel comfortable need a special person that fits with them. Same thing with a school. So we're constantly thinking about that and making sure the placement is right so that we ourselves are not creating a new barrier for those families because that's not what we want to do.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

I really like that approach. I like the approach of um asking what people need, what a community needs, instead of coming in hot right and telling like this is what you need. Yeah. So uh Lindsay, you described navigators in a different conversation that we had as a way up and a way out. My family is also from Panama City. And but I grew up in a small town in Nebraska. And looking back, I just didn't know what I didn't know. I mean, my world was my 10-year-old, you know, perspective. And if I saw other possibilities on TV of like what life could be like, I definitely didn't know the next step, you know, to get there. I I didn't, my parents were just trying to pay bills and, you know, keep us alive. Yes. That's all parents. Yes. But for parents who have these other barriers, those two things represent a larger piece of the pie of what they have going on. What do you hope a way up and a way out looks like for the families that you serve? Like how do you imagine that?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Well, I think first of all, it's having your basic needs met um and and not feeling ashamed to ask for that. And uh, we're all feeling the pinch at the gas pump. Insurance in Florida's risen uh for homeowners. There's a lot of things where families might have been paycheck to paycheck, but are now going to be uh less than a paycheck to a paycheck just based on cost of food and gas. So we want to look at, we don't want to look at it as just a poverty issue because that is definitely something that's pervasive and it can be generational. So the opportunity is here to look at what could be different for you or what is it that you need. Um, I have a really great example of a family member that dropped out of school. And so they did not necessarily feel comfortable coming to the school because school's hard for them. Um, so they were working in you know hourly jobs, but really wanted that GED, wanted to set that example. And so that was something we were able to do with some partners is work with people. I don't do GED, but I know people that do, you know. Um, I'm not a teacher. I've I've told every principal I've ever worked with, I am no teacher. Like it's the after your name, I am I am indeed not a teacher. Um so you know, uh, but but really looking at that's an opportunity there, and that's life-changing for a family. Um, but it's all in the ask. What is it that you need that's creating this barrier? Um, what if your child says, I just don't want to go to school, well, what's happening there? How can we make that more of a positive experience? And CHS is not the answer to every single social issue that's out there or problem, but we have other people that are. Um, and that's really the beauty of Navigator is it's it's really a partnership with the school district and a contract to put someone there. But that person is supposed to be that conduit to that family to address those non-educational barriers and bring those resources to them. And sometimes that may be a short-term interaction. We help them for, you know, a week and they get that's really all they needed. And then sometimes it's deeper, like I want to have the ability to get my GED and set a different example. That's a longer-term goal. So working together with families and and learning that need, it's what it is to them. So it it the the what's you know, bringing me out of my situation is what those parents are telling us they need, and we cater our services to that.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

The fact that you answered the question of what does this look like to you is it's whatever it looks like to them. That is so powerful. That's so powerful. And that's what makes a long-term difference is when people have the ability to imagine their future when they can think about what's next, not just about you know, what's right now. So if parents want to engage with this, it sounds like it's a pretty open door.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

What's their first step? So starting on August 1st, one of the new things that we are going to be adding to each school's website that has a navigator is a Google Form link, open to anyone. And so when they click on that, they just go right to the school's uh website right up front. There isn't, they don't have to dig and find for it. Um, they'll just fill out the information, they'll say who's requesting it, and then there'll be a checkbox of where they can say we need this need, or there'll be an open spot that they can again add to. We don't see what we need here, but this is what we need. From there, that connects directly to the navigator. And the navigator can get to work. And so then from there, they'll reach out, they'll have the contact information because we are then going to house it into our student database system, focus, and they can call the family, they can say, Okay, I'm here for you. I got your your referral, what can I do to help? And then they are able to process that and then document that within our student database system so that everyone, all the stakeholders know. And when the principal looks up, who are my families that are being served? And then they can get a broader picture of these are the needs because beyond the navigator, we have all the the school system thinking about how do we serve our communities best? How do we want our kids to succeed? So that's the first step. That anyone can go there, it's open to all teachers, parents, students, whoever is connected to the student, um, and then fill that out. And that's the that's the that's the step.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I love how simple that is. Like, I mean, my little heart went pitter-patter as soon as you said Google for. I was like, oh, the inner nerd in me is so happy. So as we wrap up, I would love to hear from each of you on what you want people to know about Escambia County schools.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Well, I think our new mission that uh Dr. Smith has um put out um and formulated that at United for Every Student Succeed is an amazing vision and where we're going. And so I really think that aligns directly to CHS's vision. And it's we're linking arms. We're linking arms with our community partners, we're linking arms with the parents and the families because we truly believe that every student in our school district can succeed, and it's our job to support them, not just academically, but socially, so that they can have a way up and out.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Um I don't think I could say it better than Jen. I did feel sorry for you like a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit. That was that was powerful. That was tweetable. I I I will just say, like, the Escambia school districts have been an amazing partner for us, um, but doing innovative work. The navigators were not, it it literally was Jen going, what do you think about doing this, Lindsay? I was like, Well, I don't know, but it can't hurt. Let's try it, right? All it can do is help, you know. Um, and so let's figure it out. And that's one of the things that I really love about partnering with them is it's all about, okay, so maybe that didn't work, or maybe we need to tweak this, but let's really look at what we're doing to make it a rich process that's actually producing outcomes. Um, it's not it, we we track outputs, obviously, but the outcome is the ultimate goal for us as well, because we feel like a lot of the things that these families come to us with are solvable issues uh that can get ahead of the child welfare system. When families aren't served uh in a pivotal moment or in a crisis, that can lead to crisis to crisis to crisis and involvement in the child welfare system. And we do not want that. We want to be on the front end keeping those families together, healthy, safe, and achieving academically.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

That's awesome. Thank you all so much for being here today. Thanks for having us. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County School District. Special thanks to Pine Forest High School for their recording studio facilities and hospitality.