Basic Funding Streams: What Funding Should You Be Looking For?
Your Action Team and allies should regularly monitor the multiple funding authorities and streams at the local, state, and federal levels that either currently finance, or are authorized to finance, initiatives related to child development and universal prevention. For example:
Local funding sources
- Education funding governed by the local school board
- Funds governed by county commissioners, city councils, or other taxing authority
- County block grants
- Local tax levies
- Local foundations or a coalition of foundations
- Local chamber of commerce or other business organization
- Local hospital or health insurance plan
- Local university – to connect with grant funding and evaluation
State funding sources
- State funding to local education agencies
- State funding to local public health agencies
- Targeted initiatives such as bullying, violence prevention, or school climate programs
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) block grants
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) block grants
- Medicaid, including Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT)
Federal funding sources
- ESSA-funded (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) programs
- U.S. Department of Education grant programs
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant programs
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) grant programs
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) grant programs
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant programs
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) School Environment grant program
See the chapter “Financing and Funding for SEL Initiatives” by Dr. Olga Acosta Price in the Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Practice for more information on the funding sources mentioned above.
Updated January 2018
