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Resources for Families

Keeping Students Safe Online

 

Students are using computers more frequently. We wanted to provide more resources to families on safely navigating online. Please find here a variety of grade-appropriate resources for students, families, and the communities to help students stay safe and use technology responsibly. 

School-based Mental Health Services

 

Arubah Emotional Health, our provider for school-based mental health services, created a video outlining some of their services and session info in a brief YouTube video. You can find a link to this video here, which can help answer some questions about these services as we head back into the school year. 

Free Meals for Kids

 

This app helps families identify local meal resources. The app is easy to navigate and provides access to meals searchable by location, meal type, etc. More information can be found here.

Supportive Guidance free meal program flyer

The MN Immigrant Families Fund is a community emergency fund for immigrant families that live in Minnesota that don’t qualify for any state or federal benefits and because COVID-19 are left with few resources available to meet their immediate needs. Learn more here.

Free & Low-Cost Wi-Fi

 

National Locator Tool for Low-Cost Internet Service: www.everyoneon.org/find-offers 

 

Anoka County Libraries

Hotspots are available for check out. Learn more here.

 

 AT&T

  • Internet access is available for qualifying limited-income households at $10 a month through the Access from AT&T program. Expanded eligibility to Access from AT&T to households participating in the National School Lunch Program and Head Start. COVID-19 Updates.
  • Call 866-861-6075 for new service.

 

Comcast & Charter

Information about Comcast and Charter options

 

Midco Lifeline 

Lifeline is a federal program intended to provide low-income households with affordable home phone or internet access - Call 1-800-888-1300 to receive an application through the mail or apply online. 

 

Verizon

Has options for qualifying families. Customers should call the customer service team to discuss available options. Customer support contact numbers, an online chat feature, and support content  can be found on the following pages:

 USI 

USI offers FREE Wi-Fi access at 117 hotspots throughout the city of Minneapolis. Look for “City of Minneapolis Public Wi-Fi” or “USI Wireless” networks to get connected. No password or credit card is needed to login.

Dealing With Grief
Here are three resources dealing with grief:
 
https://childmind.org/article/helping-children-deal-grief/
 
This source covers coping with the loss of daily norms:

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Ramsey County Services

  • Financial Assistance Services: All Financial Assistance intake appointments will be completed over the phone. If you need to schedule an appointment or speak with your financial worker please call 651-266-4444. For questions regarding Ramsey County METS Medical Assistance cases, call 651-266-3870. 
  • WIC Program: Due to COVID-19, all WIC (Women, Infants and Children) appointments will be completed over the phone. If you are a client with an upcoming appointment, a WIC nutrition educator will call you at your scheduled appointment time. Please call 651-266-1300 if you have questions.

 

HOMELESS SUPPORT SERVICES

Information for Emergency Shelters

  • Key staff at shelters are eligible for free childcare provided through the schools. To arrange free childcare, you should contact the school district directly. If you have any questions:

LEGAL SERVICES

SOS – Sexual Violence Services; Liz De La Torre, Hablo Español/Asesora | Fluent in Spanish/Advocate | She/Her/Hers, Legal Services Coordinator

555 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN, 55101

24 hour line: 651-266-1000

Desk: 651-266-1281 | Work Cell: 651-249-9669


MENTAL HEALTH

SELF-CARE

STUDENT AND PARENT  RESOURCES

  • A guide on how to talk to your children about the virus and support them through this time. “Talking to Children About Covid-19.” National Association of School Psychologists. 2020. (Translated in 6 languages)
  • Online Museum Tours - Google Arts & Culture teamed up with over 500 museums/galleries around the world to bring everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world.
  • A general list of things to do with your kids when in social isolation: Children Activities Resource List
  • Ramsey County Library In consideration of so many closings due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, Ramsey County Library has put in place some virtual offerings to assist K-12 students. Ramsey County Library card will provide access to two websites and apps with e-books and e-audiobooks. First is cloudLibrary, which includes 1,038 Young Adult fiction e-audiobooks and 8,826 Young Adult fiction e-books as well as another 360 Young Adult nonfiction titles RBdigital which has another 191 e-audiobook titles as well as e-magazines.
  • ELibrary MN 
    • Ebooks Minnesota Consists of an online ebook collection for all Minnesotans covering a wide variety of subjects for readers of all ages and featuring content from our state's independent publishers.
    • Ebooks Minnesota K-5 Collection In this exciting compilation of titles for young readers, children will learn and explore fun, vibrant books on a wide range of topics.
    • Ebooks Minnesota Middle School Collection In this diverse collection of titles, middle grade readers will find books on a variety of educational and entertaining topics.
    • Gale Virtual Reference Library Collection of 25 online reference books and encyclopedias covering topics from Art to History to Medicine.

 

TAXES

Tax forms needed to be filed by April 15th, but if you owe money, you have a 90 day extension to make payment.


UNEMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

  • If your employment has been affected by COVID-19, you can apply for unemployment benefits, Executive Order of the Governor. This includes any COVID-19 related layoff, including parents having to leave work to do child care. The one week waiting period has been waived.  Apply for benefits online at: https://www.uimn.org/
  • Karen Organization of MN (KOM) is helping their clients with a language barrier apply for unemployment benefits. 
  • Workforce Solutions provides employment and training services to job seekers and businesses in Ramsey County. Workforce Solutions Hotline 651-266-9890. Online Inquiries, encouraged!:Ramseycounty.us/workforce

 

UTILITIES

  • XCEL: As families and communities face the challenges of COVID-19, we want to ensure our customers have the service you need to power your homes and keep your families safe. We will not disconnect service from any customers until further notice. If you have difficulty paying your bill, we are here to help. Just contact us and we will work to set up a payment plan that works for you. http://spr.ly/61831s11V
  • Water Shut offs:  Each city has different orders about this, so check your cities’ websites.
    • CAP/RW can help with energy or water shut-offs.
  •  MN Cold Weather Rule
  • Cell Phone - Century link and other major Cell Phone providers will not be shutting phone or internet service, or charge late fees.  Check individual provider websites for details. 
  • COMCAST is taking steps to implement the following new policies for the next 60 days, and other important initiatives: 
    •  Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots, and then launch a browser.
    • News, Information and Educational Content on X1 and Flex: For those with school-age students at home, we’ve created new educational collections for all grade levels in partnership with Common Sense Media.  Just say “education” into your X1 or Flex voice remote. To help keep customers informed, we also have created a collection of the most current news and information on Coronavirus.  Just say “Coronavirus” into your X1 or Flex voice remote. 
    • No Disconnects or Late Fees: We will not disconnect a customer’s internet service or assess late fees if they contact us and let us know that they can’t pay their bills during this period. Our care teams will be available to offer flexible payment options and can help find other solutions.
    • Internet Essentials Free to New Customers: As announced yesterday, it’s even easier for low-income families who live in a Comcast service area to sign-up for Internet Essentials, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program. New customers will receive 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95/month. Additionally, for all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet service was increased to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. That increase will go into effect for no additional fee and it will become the new base speed for the program going forward.