T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS — Marshalltown resident Lilia Rodriguez, right, is grateful for the Marshalltown Schools-Child Abuse Prevention Services migrant services program. Also pictured are CAPS child development specialist Elizabeth Castillo, left, and Rodriguez’s daughter Allison, center.

Students have a lot to concentrate on in a school year, from academics and sports to their social lives and family, and the strains of being a student can be even harsher for children in migrant families.

Because some migrant students struggle with proficiency, Marshalltown Schools and Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) have partnered over the last three years to support migrant children at school and at home.

“Our approach is to work with that family as a whole. We know, of course, that the academic part is really important, but we know there are things going on in the home, going on with parents and siblings, that ultimately are really going to affect that child,” said Esmeralda Monroy, CAPS program director. “A lot of these families that we’re working with are immigrant families, families that sometimes will say to us ‘I don’t think I can help my child, I never went to school,’ or ‘I didn’t graduate, I don’t know how to help my child learn.'”

She said CAPS professionals coach and mentor parents of children in third grade and younger in ways they can help their children grow and learn. Importantly, Monroy said not all of the program participants are immigrants.

Being a migrant has more to do with how frequently a child and their family move from place to place, including Americans moving within the U.S.

“When you’re migratory, you’re moving from place to place and so, sometimes, you’re not sure about how to access food, you’re not sure how to access transportation, sometimes you’re not sure how to go about registering for school,” Marshalltown Schools English learner coordinator Rachel Inks said.

That was certainly the case when program participant Lilia Rodriguez came to Marshalltown from Minnesota in 2015. She works at TPI Inc. in Newton and said the program helped her and her daughter, Allison.

“I had no idea about any resources or services or where to even enroll for school,” Rodriguez said, translated by CAPS child development specialist Elizabeth Castillo. “I accepted the CAPS program because from the moment people started coming to the door, they brought different resources, things that were very helpful.”

She said she would recommend the program to any qualifying parent, and that the program helped not only Allison, but her nephew from Mexico who lived with the family for a time.

Rodriguez said teachers at Woodbury Elementary noticed improvement in both children’s learning.

“Allison’s teachers have said she’s at the top of her class. I feel that has a lot to do with the extra support coming in every week,” Rodriguez said.

Allison said she enjoyed working with Elizabeth in the program.

“I like reading books,” she said. The “Ramona” book series is one of her current favorites.

There are a lot of ways families can qualify for the program.

“A family can become migratory eligible according to the work the parent does, so then all the children get the benefits of becoming that migrant family,” Inks said.

When it comes to schools, the Iowa Department of Education has rules about who can be considered a migrant. The assessment includes whether a student’s parents moved in order to work with raw agricultural products, do crop work or work in meat-packing, among others.

The department then sends a migrant team to the school and determines if a family qualifies as migratory. If a family does qualify, the school is notified and can work with families to enroll for migrant services.

“The district is awarded additional funds to help the students and the families in removing those barriers associated with migration,” Inks said.

The school district’s partnership with CAPS is targeted at developing children when they are at a young age. Monroy said the program works to fit into families’ lives.

“That sometimes involves meeting the child at a babysitter’s house, an aunt’s house, the neighbor’s house, whoever it taking care of them,” she said. “Parents are present during a lot of the sessions that they observe and can sometimes jump in and help their student learn directly.”

One example of this is with “sight words,” which are hard to decode and which a student’s teacher thinks the student needs to know in order to do well with schoolwork. Parents have an opportunity to help their children learn these words with the help of CAPS coaching, if needed.

Inks said while some migrant children need the extra support, others seem to hold onto their proficiency and learning from district to district or state to state when they move.

The migrant services program with CAPS runs for three years with each student. By then, Inks said the hope is that the family has decided to settle in one place long enough to become established.

Monroy said one important aspect of the program is to help families feel connected to services.

“In order for a child to be successful in school, we really need to make sure that they feel safe at home, that their basic needs are met, that their family feels connected to concrete supports,” she said.

The program runs year-round, so the learning doesn’t stop when the school year ends. For this summer, the school district is paying a total of $25,700 for the services. That money comes from the extra state migrant funds.