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• As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, provisions have been made to ensure that homeless students have no barriers to getting an education comparable with any other students. The McKinney-Vento Act, a federal act that protects the rights of homeless students, classifies families as homeless if they have a precipitating event [Abandonment, Act of Nature/Natural Disaster, Death of Parent/Guardian, Domestic Violence, Eviction, Fire, Hospitalization of Parent/Guardian, Incarceration of Parent/Guardian, Left Home, Military, Parental Job Loss/Loss of Income, Parent Divorce/Separation, Separated from Family, Other Poverty-related Situation, Other, and Unknown]. Along with the precipitating event, the family also must be experiencing one of the following.

  • Sharing the house of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason, called “doubled up”
  • Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or campgrounds to due lack of alternative adequate
    accommodations
  • Living in emergency or transitional shelters
  • Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings

  
  Gettysburg Area School District will work with students defined as homeless to remove barriers that may prevent them from receiving education services. Anyone who feels their child may qualify as homeless should contact Brandi Glenn-Akers, Coordinator of Educational Services/Homeless Liason at (717) 334-6254, Option 1, Ext. 1207 or bakers@gasd-pa.org or Jennifer Weigle, School Social Worker at 717-334-6254, Option 4, Ext. 7218 or jweigle@gasd-pa.org 

Basic Education CircularGettysburg Area School Board Policy Education for Homeless Youth
Homeless Education

If you have an imminent safety concern for yourself or for someone else, please do not hesitate to use one of the resources below: 

• Safe to Say: 1-844-723-2729; www.safe2saypa.org; use the Safe2Say mobile app
• Police: 911
• Crisis Intervention: 717-632-4900
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 

If you have a non-urgent concern, here are other helpful mental health resources:

Mental Health Providers in Adams County

Student Assistance Program (SAP)

Adams County United Way

Open Access

South Central Community Action Programs work with families; striving to help them meet their goals and become successful. They work toward breaking the cycle of poverty through various programs/initiatives focused on empowering and engaging individuals, families and community members.  Some of their programs include:

Family and Asset Development Programs
These programs work with the family to design effective interventions or changes that can help the family build long term stability. All programs except Weatherization include case management and ongoing support to assist the family in setting and meeting their goals.

Weatherization involved a comprehensive assessment of a home's energy usage efficiency and follows evidence-based protocols to improve energy usage for the family.

Education and Employment Programs
These programs support a family as they work to build their skills, obtain employment and then advance in their careers. Whether an individual needs to develop soft skills or hard skills and education or a family needs the very tangible support of quality early learning programs for their children so they can work, SCCAP can assist them on their journey to a livable wage for their family.

Health and Nutrition Programs
It is hard to focus on developing an effective future story if you or your children are hungry. These programs work to meet the very basic needs of a family - access to healthy food.

SCCAP Info

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**Please Note: This program is designed for students 12 and older in our Middle and High Schools and is NOT available to elementary students.**

Use the links below if you would like to SPONSOR a child or family or if you have a need and would like to RECEIVE assistance this holiday season. There is also a new link for families in need of meals. Forms are due no later than NOVEMBER 6th, 2024. 

Click on the links below to register as a sponsor or recipient:

SPONSOR FORM
RECIPIENT FORM

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Weigle, District Social Worker, at jweigle@gasd-pa.org

Hope Squad is an evidence-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program that started this year in our high school. Students whose peers see them as good listeners/friends, caring, and easy to talk to are nominated by their peers to be a part of the Hope Squad. Hope squad advisors follow a curriculum-teaching members about building relationships, strategies related to prevention and the impact mental wellness has on our everyday lives. We also cover topics such as self-care, resilience, and inclusivity.

The Hope Squad program promotes:

• Partnerships with local mental health agencies and/or other community organizations
• Connectedness
• Anti-bullying
• School Safety

*It is important to note that students are NOT trained to be counselors or therapists. They are learning how to recognize how to respond when they see changes in students and get the help students need by taking them to the counselors or advisor.