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Grant Application - FY2026 Alliance for Children-Smart Start Parenting Support and Nurturing Parent Program Continued Grant Funding
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephanie Starr, Human Services, Community Support and Outreach Director, 704-296-4302
ACTION REQUESTED:
1) Approve the Parenting Support program’s request to apply for FY2026 Alliance for Children-Smart Start funding, 2) upon award of the grant, authorize the County Manager to negotiate and execute agreements substantially consistent with this agenda item, and 3) upon receipt of the grant award, recognize, receive, and appropriate the awarded amount to the Community Support and Outreach budget.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
Requests and appropriation of received funding from the Alliance for Children for this program is approved by the Board annually.
BACKGROUND:
The Human Services Agency’s Department of Community Support and Outreach seeks approval to apply for FY2026 Smart Start funding from the Alliance for Children to support our Parenting Support and Nurturing Parenting (PSNP) Program. The Program, currently in its twelfth year of administration by the County, is available for at-risk parents of children ages birth to five years old who struggle with the parenting role or whose children are experiencing the early stages of child maltreatment and need intervention and treatment. The 13-session PSNP program meets weekly to help participating parents gain a better understanding of their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers as they grow and teaching them self-worth, empowerment, and the importance of nurturing and its effect on others. Through self-awareness and skill-building activities, parents increase empathy, develop realistic expectations of children and appropriate family roles, and learn positive discipline practices.
Staff provided 501 parent sessions in FY2024 and 292 sessions in FY2025 to-date. The program tracks parents who complete all sessions and successfully graduate, boasting a current success rate of 90.8% with a total of 410 parents who have completed the full 13-week program throughout its 13-year history. The estimated savings/economic impact to our community resulting from these parents’ successful program completion is roughly $438,568,200, which factors in the approximate costs of CPS Social Workers and their 0-5-year-old caseloads, the lifetime cost of child maltreatment, and the cost of the Parenting Support and Nurturing Parenting program itself. The Program impacts local child maltreatment recidivism rates, thus effecting the generational ripple effect on families and is a valuable investment that produces high returns for our children and community.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
In FY2025 Union County received $135,008 in grant funding and the FY2026 amount is anticipated to remain approximately the same. The financial cost to Union County is an in-kind contribution of 19%, which is anticipated to include supervision expense of $5,000 and $20,000 for use of office space. We will know the exact funding amount for which we are eligible when the RFP is released in January 2025.