Family Links & Support
As school social workers, we are viewed as the link between the school, home and the community.
MTCS Social Workers & Family Liaisons
| Courtney Stenseth MTCS Social Worker McKinney Vento Homeless Liaison cstenseth@emailmtcs.org | Wendy Lorenz-Walraven Social Worker wlorenz-walraven@emailmtcs.org | Shannon Weiss Banaadir Elementary sweiss@emailmtcs.org |
| Erica Simonson P.E.A.S.E. Academy – LDAC esimonson@emailmtcs.org | Sharmarke Elmi Banaadir Elementary selmi@emailmtcs.org | Mahad Mohamed Banaadir amohamed@emailmtcs.org |
| Coya Night Pipe Indigenous Education cnightpipe@emailmtcs.org | Nikki DiVirgilio MN Virtual – School Social Worker ndivirgilio@emailmtcs.org | |
We are a part of the educational team to promote and support students academic and social success by providing services that may include:
School social workers help students to:
Title One Parent Involvement Plans
Homelessness Key Information
The McKinney Vento Homeless Act provides for educational access, stability, and support to promote school success. This act defines youth homelessness as: “homeless children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and includes–
(a) children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
(b) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
(c) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
(d) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (a) through (c).
If you meet any of the criteria under the McKinney Vento Act, you have rights to maintain educational stability, and get support with eliminating barriers to equal opportunities regarding education. Please contact Courtney Stenseth, Homeless Liaison for MTCS, with questions: 612-405-8456 and/or cstenseth@emailmtcs.org.