Even Start Family Literacy Grants Available for South Carolina School Districts, Organizations
March 13, 2009
COLUMBIA, SC – March 13, 2009 – New federal money is available for eligible South Carolina school districts and organizations who want to offer a family literacy program.
The purpose of Even Start Family Literacy programs is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving educational opportunities for the nation’s low-income families. The programs are designed to integrate early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy effort.
As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, South Carolina will award approximately $850,000, contingent upon funding, in Even Start Family Literacy grants for the 2009-2010 school year. Funds will be used to provide family literacy services to undereducated parents and their pre-school aged children in mostly high-poverty school districts. In South Carolina, Even Start currently funds seven programs serving approximately 235 families with 330 children.
The funds are available for partnerships between one or more school districts and at least one of the following: a nonprofit community-based organization, a faith-based organization, a public agency, an institute of higher education, or a public or private nonprofit organization in a setting other than a school district
Applications can be downloaded at http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/Innovation-and-Support/Community-and-Parent-Services/Even-Start/index.html . A notice of intent to apply is due April 2, 2009 and all applications are due on or before Thursday, April 30, 2009 by 4:30 p.m.
A technical assistance workshop will be held to assist applicants in the grant-writing process. The workshop is scheduled for Monday, March 16, 2009, from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the South Carolina Department of Education’s Career Development Center, 8016 Wilson Boulevard, Columbia, SC 29203. This workshop also can be accessed through Elluminate, the SCDE’s Web conferencing system at http://elm.elluminate.com/HOSTEDSCDE/.
Attendance is not required at the workshop, but persons who plan to attend should submit a registration form. Questions about the training should be directed to Claudia Boyd at 803-734-8120 or [email protected].
