To: 800.234.8848 Hotline for Migrant Families Contacts and Ambassadors
From: Betty Anne Schwerd
Re: What's Happening
Date: March 27, 1996
ESCORT has received the contract to continue operation of the 800# hot line for migrant parents as of April 1st, so service will be uninterrupted. We have also been funded to attend and facilitate meetings which will advance use of the 800 number, so please call if you have any questions or concerns,.Getting the most up to date information to you is one of our priorities.
To this end we are setting up and maintaining a World Wide Web site. On the web site we will have as much information about the 800 number as we can present usefully. If you have web access please visit us and feel free to leave comments on how we can improve our service. Our URL for the web: http://www.oneonta.edu/~thomasrl.
We can be reached via email at thomasrl@oneonta.edu and schwerba@oneonta.ed.Just one call to the 800 number last month netted 41 children being recruited for MEP. This represents success! The Migrant Legal Action Program located an attorney for migrant parent, pro bono. Good job!
Approximately 100 new 800# ambassadors were recruited March 18 & 19 in Myrtle Beach at the North Carolina/South Carolina Connection Meeting. Plans were made to "erase" the border, in an effort to coordinate services between participating states and agencies.
The National Center for Farmworker Health is the new name for the National Migrant Resource Program based in Austin, Texas. The name has changed but the services remain the same, including Call for Health, the 800 number for health referrals for farmworkers (1-800-377-9968). Call for Health and ESCORT are collaborating to extend services for farmworker families by referring callers to each other's 800 number services. MEP personnel can refer callers with health needs to the Call for Health number, and Call for Health will inform callers with children of the 800 number for migrant families.
Call for Health has been successful in helping farmworkers with both simple and complex problems. In a typical day, Call for Health may make simple referrals, straighten out administrative misunderstandings that bar farmworkers from services, or obtain emergency assistance and pro-bono services for farmworker callers.
The Program Coordination Centers (PCCs) are being closed as of March 31, 1996, so we won't be providing technical assistance in that capacity. The Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers will be taking on this role. If you need a contact point, please call and we will assist you in accessing your regional center.Requests for 800# materials were received from Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas last month. If you are planning a PAC meeting, please give me a call and I will send you promotional items and information for your families. It is vital that families learn about the hot line and what they can expect when they call.
Please add ESCORT to your mailing lists for conference and meeting dates.
The National Migrant Health Conference is scheduled for May 3-6 at the Stouffer Renaissance in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, please contact the National Association at 202 659-8008.
Mark your calendar for June 1st at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Come join the thousands who will gather to "Stand for Children". It will be a day of family and community renewal, celebration, and commitment to children. For more information, please call Liz Dumbaugh at 202 234-0095 X 234 or send email at standinfo@mailback.com. (An overview is enclosed.)I hope you will be in South Padre Island... Please look me up if you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions. I'm looking for a few thousand more good 800# ambassadors throughout the U.S. to help migrant families through contacts and referrals. If you are willing to help disseminate materials to migrant families or act as a resource, please look me up or call.