The ABC Science Collaborative and NC InCK developed the following resource guides for North Carolina educators to help meet the health, education, and social needs of students and their families.
Child Welfare
A continuum of child and family social work services designed to ensure that children are safe and that families have the necessary support to care for their children successfully, including family preservation and support services; child protective and placement services; adoption and foster care; and other community-based programs that prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Early Care and Education
Programs that focus on keeping children from birth to 8 years healthy, safe and nurtured, and learning and ready to succeed. For example, programs that provide early childhood education , health, nutrition, and family services for children (e.g., Head Start, Smart Start, Pre-K, home visiting, Reach Out and Read, and public and private early childhood centers).
Food
Federal, state, and community-based programs that address food insecurity and nutrition, as well as mitigating barriers to food access (e.g., transportation, stigma). Food assistance programs provide families the food they need for a nutritionally adequate diet, such as Food and Nutrition Services (Food Stamps), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school lunch programs, and food distribution programs.
Housing
Federally-funded and community-based programs addressing housing instability (e.g., having trouble paying rent, overcrowding, frequently moving, staying with relatives, or spending the bulk of household income on housing, homelessness) for children and families. These include Continuums of Care (funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development), NC 211, and homeless shelters. Also includes rental and financial assistance programs, such as Public Housing Agencies (PHAs), or eviction prevention programs that work to reduce the number of children and families experiencing homelessness.
Legal Aid
Civil legal aid has historically worked to address access to key health-related services, such as Medicaid and other public benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Legal Aid of NC provides free legal services to people experiencing lower incomes in cases involving basic human needs, like safety, housing, and income.
Physical and Behavioral Health
Services that support an individual’s physical, emotional, social, and psychological well-being and improve health outcomes. Providers include primary care providers (e.g., pediatricians family medicine practitioners), those who specialize in mental health and substance use needs, and community-based and inpatient treatment programs; social workers; dentists; nutritionists; and other health workers.
Public Health Services-Title V
A federal block grant program that funds state maternal and child health agencies to work collaboratively with local health departments, schools, nutrition services, Early Intervention (EI), and other children’s health programs.