E 1066 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 17, 1995

Reverend Johnnie Lonnie Raven, Jr., Presiding Elder.

Reverend Eugene Foster, Chairperson.

Reverend Hayward White.

Reverend W. F. Griffin.

Reverend Jaunita Parker.

Reverend Charlie Byrd.

Sister Constance Hamilton.

Brother Ralph Taylor.

Brother Stonewall Pertilla.

Dr. Evelyn G. Perry, Compiler.

THE RESOLUTIONS

We, the members of the State of the Country Committee at the 83rd Session of the

South Georgia Annual Conference held at

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

(Albany, Georgia) on March 22–26, 1995 do set

forth these following resolutions, which were

unanimously received and adopted by the attending delegation, to be prayerfully submitted to our nation’s leaders:

RESOLUTION 1

We resolve that this conference go on

record to endorse our support for affirmative

action as a tool to continue to align the

‘‘American Dream’’ and the founding fathers’

principle that ‘‘we hold these truths to be

self-evident that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable rights that among these

are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’’ We, therefore, resolve that affirmative action is necessary to assure that the

minority workforce is not given a ‘‘handout’’

but an ‘‘opportunity!’’ We, therefore, resolve

that with these given opportunities minority

America will be able to escalate over the

barriers of economical, social and cultural

horizons which have beset us in the past. Let

it be clearly stated that we must procure the

keys to these opportunities through affirmative action which is our ‘‘Contract with

America,’’ that if given the opportunity, we

will respond educationally trained, responsibly employed, and culturally advanced. Let

it be known that Black America suffers from

the acute case of insufficient checking only

because America refuses to deposit into her

account.

RESOLUTION 2

We resolve that there is a need for welfare

reformation; however, we resolve that there

should be gradual steps to assure that ‘‘poor

America’’ will be able to receive adequate

housing, income and health care to sustain a

minimal lifestyle of dignity. We, therefore,

resolve that the process of ratification

should take the following steps:

1. Five-year ratification period.

2. Gradual modification for those presently

on welfare.

3. Reformation including parental training,

vocational training and social skills’ training.

4. Reformation that gradually restricts and

deters teenage pregnancy, substance abuse

and sales and a lack of self-esteem.

RESOLUTION 3

We resolve that adequate funding should be

allocated so that a massive voter registration and voter education program is enacted

in every Congressional District where the

majority of the inhabitants are nonparticipatory voters.

RESOLUTION 4

We resolve RESOUNDINGLY that Congress

would approve and support the appointment

of Doctor Foster, M.D., as Surgeon General

of the United States of America based upon

his impeccable credentials in the medical

profession. We must not allow misappropriate behavior of the past, when corrected,

to be the portal for non-qualification. We

must be reminded that in the gospel according to John 8:7 Jesus implies, ‘‘ye without

sin, cast the first stone.’’

Finally, we, therefore, resolve that these

resolutions be permanently engraved in the

archives of the ‘‘American Dream.’’

Mr. Speaker, I commend the A.M.E. Church

in Georgia for taking a stand on these critical

issues. All of us in Congress can benefit from

paying close attention to the views and positions taken by our religious institutions.

HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH

McKINNEY EDUCATION FOR

f

HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 17, 1995

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, this worthwhile program, modest yet dramatically effective, has drawn quite a bit of fire in recent

days. I would like to take this opportunity to

clear up some misconceptions about the program, voiced by my colleague from Arizona,

[Mr. KOLBE].

My colleague objects strongly to this program for the Education of Homeless Children

and Youth, because of concerns that the program is overly bureaucratic. This is simply not

the case at all. The McKinney program directly

funds just one Homeless Education coordinator in each State; and over half of those coordinators only work part-time on the program.

More than 80 percent of all funding goes

straight to the local school districts. At last

count, about 500 local school districts were

running homeless education programs with

McKinney funding.

My colleagues also quotes from a Department of Education document which states that

the McKinney program ‘‘provides formula

grants to States to operate an Office of Coordinator of Education for Homeless Children

and Youth.’’ The implication is that the program exists only to support bureaucrats. However, my colleague failed to read further in the

program description, in which it is stated that

the program also has responsibility ‘‘to develop and carry out a State plan for the education of homeless children. States also make

subgrants to local educational agencies for tutoring, transportation and other services intended to enable homeless children to enroll

in, attend and succeed in school.’’ (Department of Education Fiscal Year 1996 Budget

Summary and Background Information)

And that is what this program does so

well—it gets funding to local school districts,

who have designed special projects tailored to

their local needs. Local school districts submit

applications as part of a competitive process;

only the best proposals win. The States make

the final decisions; the localities design their

own programs; and the Federal Government

lets them do what they do best. No other Federal program targets these vulnerable homeless children in this way. We must oppose any

attempt to eliminate the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program; because

without this program, literally hundreds of

thousands of homeless children will never get

to school.

I am submitting a Project Description from

the Amphitheater Public Schools Education for

Homeless Youth Program in Tucson and Pima

County Arizona. Amphitheater’s program,

called ‘‘Youth on Their Own,’’ works with high

school homeless youth, and is one of two

McKinney-funded homeless education programs in my colleague’s district. The other

program, run by the Tucson Unified School

District, reaches out to elementary school-age

homeless children. The Amphitheater Project

Description explains better than I can how the

program works, how they are using their

McKinney funding, and why this McKinney

funding is so valuable to local school districts

all across the country.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION—ARIZONA DEPARTMENT

OF EDUCATION

EDUCATION FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND

YOUTH

1. District: Amphitheater Public Schools.

2. Contact person: Ann Young; Telephone

(602) 297–4555.

3. Number of homeless children in school

district (from attached survey): 317+; Number to be served by this project: 317+.

4. Project period (Maximum 15 months:

From August 1993 to September 1994.

5. Describe services to be provided:

Educational assistance targeted for the

homeless will be supplemental to the school

program and will include a course in independent living set up to assist the students

in learning the skills needed to survive on

their own. A full time teacher will be hired

to teach the course to an integrated student

body so the homeless youths will not be isolated and stigmatized. He/she will also be responsible for assisting the students with

course, college and career choices, helping in

the identification and screening of homeless

youth, coordinating with parents, teachers,

school personnel, and private and public

agencies, acting as a liaison to help the

homeless enroll and succeed in school, and

making home visits.

Tutorial services will be provided to assist

students in reaching their academic goals.

Outreach effort to identify and assist

homeless students in entering and becoming

integrated into our schools, in obtaining

residency status and the documentation necessary for government and social services.

Assistance will be given in finding lodging

with volunteer parents or on their own, medical and dental services, obtaining free

breakfast and lunch, food stamps, AHCCS,

SOBRA, DES, AFDC, clothing and household

goods, emergency food from the food bank,

part-time employment, a monthly stipend

dependent upon good attendance, counseling,

and mentoring.

6. Describe how the project is coordinated

with the regular district educational program and integrates homeless children with

non-homeless children:

Our program will advocate for children and

youth to ensure their acceptance as students

in the Amphitheater School District. A hotline for students who have difficulty meeting

the criteria of the school district because of

homelessness will be available at each school

to assist the school personnel in determining

homelessness status. Ongoing education of

school personnel will be addressed.

The course in independent living which

will address housing, nutrition, health, economic, and other basic needs will be available to all students so the homeless student

will not be stigmatized. The Youth on Their

Own support program also includes children

who are not considered homeless under the

McKinney guidelines—those living with

friends and relatives on a comparatively stable basis. Every effort is made to mainstream the homeless youth so they are not

isolated as a group from the school body.

7. Describe current districtwide efforts to

remove barriers to the education of homeless

children, pursuant to the McKinney Act (i.e.
May 17, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E 1067

documentation and residency policies, expedited assessments, outreach, etc.). Do not include activities funded by a McKinney

Homeless Assistance grant.

Amphitheater School District is making

efforts to remove barriers to the education of

homeless children, but the documentation

and residency policies must still be evaluated on a case by case basis. It is not known

how many children are helped or hampered

by the present policies. Schools are to be

asked to gather data as a basis for improvement efforts. An attempt will be made to enlarge the schools’ influence on the out-ofschool environment. The high school hired a

social worker this year who has helped to expedite assessments and outreach efforts. We

have volunteers working with the homeless

students on a one to one basis.