Having familiarity with existing and potential funding sources, as well as strong collaborations with partners, enhances the ability to expand prevention programming, creating greater benefits for families and children. Potential funding sources include:
- The Preschool Development Block Grant Birth to Five (PDG): B-5): PDG: B-5 is co-administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education and funds states’ comprehensive statewide birth through five (5) needs assessments and strategic planning efforts with an emphasis on parent choice and the promotion of a mixed delivery early care and education system. The Governor’s Office of Early Childhood administers these grant funds for Kentucky.
- Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF): CCDF is a federal and state partnership program authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) and administered by states, territories, and tribes with funding and support from the Office of Child Care. States use CCDF to provide financial assistance to low-income families to access child care as well as invest in increasing the quality of child care programs. The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) Division of Child Care (DCC) is responsible for the required state plan associated with this funding.
- Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP)/Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): CBCAP and CAPTA are administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and provide funds to state agencies to support families and prevent child abuse and neglect. Funds can be used in a variety of ways, including home visiting programs, parenting programs, family resource centers, and other family support programs. DCBS receives and administers CBCAP and CAPTA funding.
- Community Development Block Grant Entitlement Program (CDBG): CDBG is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities and counties and is a flexible funding source that helps develop urban communities and expand economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income persons. The CDBG program can be used for both housing and non-housing activities, including those that revitalize neighborhoods, promote economic development, and improve community facilities, infrastructure, and services in low and moderate-income communities.
- Community Services Block Grant (CSBG): CSBG is a federally funded block grant in the Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides funds to states, territories, and tribes to administer to support services that alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in under resourced communities. CSBG-funded services and activities include housing, nutrition, utility, and transportation assistance; employment, education, and other income and asset-building services; crisis and emergency services; and community asset-building initiatives, among other things. The activities and services of Community Action Agencies (CAA) are funded, in large part, by CSBG funding.
- Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV): MIECHV is a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They provide state and local funding to support expecting parents and families with children under the age of five (5) through evidence-based home visiting programs. Kentucky’s Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program is funded by MIECHV funding and is administered by the Department for Public Health.
- Head Start and Early Head Start: Head Start is a preschool program that promotes the school readiness of preschool-aged children from low-income families through education, health, social, and other services. Early Head Start serves infants and toddlers under age three (3) and pregnant women by providing comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income families. Both programs are funded by the Office of Head Start. Kentucky’s Head Start Collaboration Office is under the Governor’s Office for Early Childhood.
- Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP): Medicaid and CHIP are administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services. Medicaid and CHIP provide health care coverage for low-income children and individuals. Specifically, Medicaid and CHIP provide access to preventive care and early intervention services, with a goal of improving health and reducing costs later in life. These services include not only basic vaccinations and well-child visits but also screenings and interventions available through Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit. The EPSDT benefit ensures that all young children can obtain medical, mental health, vision, hearing, and dental screenings, as well as any necessary treatment to ameliorate conditions detected through a screening. While the Kentucky Early Intervention System (KEIS), Kentucky’s best-known early intervention service provider, is funded under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Medicaid and CHIP pay for other early intervention and behavioral health services for young children.
- Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): SSBG is a funding source administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides block grants to states to support adults and children through a range of services, including home-delivered meals, childcare, and transportation. DCBS is responsible for the required reporting associated with receiving and administering this block grant.
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): TANF is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and provides block grants to states to support families through financial assistance and additional support services, such as childcare. DCBS also administers TANF funds.
- Title IV-B of the Social Security Act: Title IV-B funds both the Stephanie Jones Tubbs Child Welfare Services program and the Mary Lee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. Funding for these programs are directed to protect and promote the welfare of all children; prevent the neglect, abuse or exploitation of children; support at-risk families through services which allow children, where appropriate, to remain with their families or return to their families in a timely manner; promote the safety, permanence and well-being of children in foster care and adoptive families; and provide training, professional development and support to ensure a well-qualified workforce. DCBS also receives and administers this funding, but its use is somewhat prescriptive.
- Title IV-E Prevention funds/Family First Prevention Services Act: Family First is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and provides a new opportunity for states to draw down federal title IV-E reimbursement prevention programs that are evidence based and rated on the Prevention Services Clearinghouse and are provided to children who are “candidates for foster care”. State title IV-E agencies must determine a child’s candidacy eligibility for receiving reimbursement for these services and, in order to claim reimbursement, there must be a child-specific prevention plan that outlines the child’s risk for entering foster care and the strategies (services) that will be put in place to prevent the child’s placement in foster care. Many states have developed community pathways to utilize this funding without the family having to be involved directly with the child welfare agency. DCBS is responsible for the state’s Title IV-E Prevention Plan, which details how the state has implemented and utilizes the program and funding.
- Child Victims’ Trust Fund: Like most other states, Kentucky maintains a Child Victim’s Trust Fund, which is overseen by the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board. The Board and Trust Fund are administratively attached to the Office of Attorney General. The Trust Fund provides local communities with funding for child abuse prevention programs and reimbursement for uncovered expenses for child sexual abuse medical exams. Many other states have utilized trust fund dollars for evidence-based prevention programs or community response programs.
- Tobacco Settlement Master Agreement Funds: Tobacco Settlement Funds come as a result of a historic agreement between fifty-two (52) states and territories and the major cigarette companies to settle pending lawsuits to compensate for Medicaid costs related to smoking. Kentucky signed on to the settlement agreement in 1998 and will receive annual settlement funds at least through 2025 but will continue receiving funds as long as the cigarette companies involved in the suit continue selling cigarettes in the United States. Kentucky’s Office of Attorney General administers this agreement and funds. Each state determines how its funds are used. The General Assembly has historically allocated fifty (50) percent of these funds to agricultural diversification and split the remaining funds between the early childhood development fund and the Kentucky Health Care Improvement fund.
At the federal level, discretionary grants are periodically offered on a competitive basis, which may support prevention and family strengthening efforts. At the community level, funding is also available through grants, local government, faith-based organizations, philanthropic donors, and fundraising of nonprofit organizations.
Staff may use knowledge of funding sources and grant opportunities to collaborate with other child and family-serving agencies to plan for the expansion of Kentucky’s prevention and family strengthening initiatives.