For students experiencing homelessness and housing instability, obtaining a state identification card can be filled with obstacles. Due to frequent moves, many students do not have access to the multiple documents they need to obtain an ID, like birth certificates, social security cards, and proof of residency. Without identification, doors to jobs, housing, education, and even basic services remain locked. A task as ordinary as opening a bank account becomes out of reach. For unstably housed students, this additional barrier often leads to feelings of hopelessness. But thanks to McKinney-Vento Liaisons like Ligia Calvo (Ms. Calvo) at Bellevue School District (BSD), students can access the guidance and support they need to open those locked doors through innovative partnerships between schools, community organizations, and the Department of Licensing.
During a Building Changes School/Housing Network meeting, advocates heard directly from the Department of Licensing about a new law that allows unstably housed students to work with their McKinney-Vento liaisons to obtain IDs without traditional supporting documents. This shared learning spread quickly across Washington, equipping liaisons and school staff with new tools to remove a barrier that had long stood in the way of opportunity. Ms. Calvo and BSD McKinney-Vento school social workers set up a partnership with the Department of Licensing’s DOL2Go mobile program to bring ID services directly to schools. School social workers partnered with BSD Transportation Department and the local nonprofit Bellevue Lifespring to provide transportation, at no cost to the district, for unaccompanied youth to Bellevue High School. Through this partnership, more than one hundred unaccompanied students obtained state identification cards.
DOL2GO staff pose with Ms. Calvo (second from left), Gina Kinan (center), McKinney-Vento school social worker, and Building Changes Strategic Advisor of Housing and Education Kayla Blau (far right).
“Identification is vital for accessing housing, employment, education, and other key services,” said Ms. Calvo. “By coordinating with the Department of Licensing, we were able to bring mobile units directly to schools, removing barriers and ensuring each student felt supported and empowered throughout the process.”
Events like the DOL2Go partnership illustrate what happens when schools and communities work together: barriers crumble, students gain confidence, and options become available. For the youth who walked away from that event with their first ID in hand, it was not just a piece of plastic. It was a key to opportunity.
