Raising Healthy Children

Funding Overview

Raising Healthy Children has both a teacher/classroom component and a parent support component. Teacher training and curricula may be funded with education monies available at the local, state and federal government levels. Some traditional education funds, such as Title I, include dollars to help parents support the learning of their child. These funds may need to be supplemented with grants from foundations and fundraising, to fully support and sustain the parent engagement components of the program.

Financing Strategies

Improving the Use of Existing Public Funds

Existing education resources, particularly classroom teacher time, are critical to implement the program. Likewise, schools might use the program training and model to structure and improve their existing parent engagement efforts.

Allocating State or Local General Funds

Curriculum funding and monies allocated to teacher training from both state education departments and local school system budgets could potentially be used to train teachers in RHC and to purchase RHC classroom materials. State and federal grants supporting the role of parents in academic achievement can assist in funding the parenting program of RHC.

Maximizing Federal Funds

Formula Funds: Title I can potentially support curricula purchase, training and teacher salaries in schools that are operating schoolwide Title I programs. In addition, Section 1118 of Title I requires districts receiving more that $500,000 in Title I funds to set aside at least one percent for family engagement activities and distribute at least 95% of those funds to Title I schools. Schools that use Title I funds to employ a parent liaison or coordinator could potentially train this person to act as coordinator for the parent support component.

Discretionary Grants: Federal grants from the Department of Education have been used to fund the initial training of teachers.

Foundation Grants and Public-Private Partnerships

Foundations, particularly those focused on academic achievement and the importance of parents for school success, can be considered for funding of RHC start-up costs for the classroom program and for general support of the parenting program.

Generating New Revenue

Generating new revenue can be especially important to funding the parent program. Community fundraising through Parent Teacher Associations, student civic societies or partnerships with local businesses and civic organizations can all be considered.

Data Sources

All information comes from the responses to a questionnaire submitted by the purveyor, Social Development Research Group, to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.