Connecting to Public Benefits
The Benefits Access Strategy and Toolkit, developed by the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Community Schools (OCS) and the Public Policy Lab (PPL), supports school staff in referring families to public benefits and local services.
The Strategy and Toolkit are designed to amplify the existing practices and relationships that school staff have with families, with consideration for:
a school team’s varied capacity
the different roles that make a supportive school environment possible
and the primary needs of families living in New York City
Why is Benefits Access important?
Different way to use strategy and toolkit
Planning worksheets (both yearly and monthly)
Evaluation tracker
School & parent facing materials to help you:
Prepare school staff for implementation
Reach out to families
Connect families with public benefits
TRANSLATIONS AVAILABLE for all parent-facing materials! In all 9 DOE languages!
Connecting families to public benefits involves three steps:
Step 1: Finding Service Providers
Services can be found to address many issues - food, shelter, job placement, cash assistance, health care, etc.
First, find out what's already in your community.
The Office of Community Schools's Assets and Needs Assessment is designed to help you better understand the network that already exists in your community.
Click here to find additional asset maps and tools to help you find services in your community.
Step 2: Speaking with Families
Tips for speaking with families:
Consistent messaging from school staff.
Remember asking for help can be hard, so be patient!
Find conversation starters and other tools for interacting with families at Children's Health Fund's Healthy and Ready to Learn Training and Resource Center.
Benefits Access Toolkit has materials to help schools find out what families need and how they want to be helped by the school.
Step 3: Building Connections
Schools can, and should, build connections with local offices and organizations that can provide services to their families.
Additional Benefits Access Tools
The Health Information Tool for Empowerment (HITE) is an online directory offering information on more than 5,000 health and social services available to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals in New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Free and open to the public, HITE helps connect users to vital community services quickly and easily.