SSI for children can provide critical support to families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. Establishing a child’s eligibility for SSI benefits requires engagement with various child-serving systems such as education, behavioral health, child welfare, and juvenile justice. Building relationships with these systems and engaging the entire family in the process is critical to submitting a successful SOAR-assisted child SSI application.

On this webinar, you will hear from seasoned SOAR providers who are having great success building relationships with families and professionals from child-serving systems in their communities. You will learn how to collaborate with medical providers to effectively document the child’s disability. Presenters will share their strategies on how to engage families and children using trauma-informed principles and promoting racial equity.

We will also share new SOAR TA Center tools and resources for using the SOAR model with SSI for children.
On this webinar, you will learn more about:

• How to engage children and families using trauma-informed principles
• How to build relationships with key stakeholders critical to developing and submitting quality SOAR-assisted SSI applications for children
• How to access the SOAR Online Course: Child Curriculum and other SOAR tools and resources
• Promoting racial, environmental, and economic equity when serving families and children in your community

Panelists:

• Jon Katherine Martins, SOAR Practitioner/Local Lead, Emma Norton Services, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Martha Mesazaros, MPA, Assistant Administrator/SOAR Navigator, Lotus House Psychiatric Services, Citrus Health Network, Inc., Hialeah, Florida
• Melissa Mays, Family Navigator, Flint Water Family Supports, Genesee Health System, Flint, Michigan