Resources
The Promise Neighborhoods Training and Technical Assistance team, the U.S. Department of Education, Promise Neighborhoods grantees, and key technical assistance partners have produced written guidance, tools, and videos about how to launch and manage a successful cradle-to-career pipeline of solutions and strategies for early learners, students, and families in economically distressed communities. Resources appear in the order they were added with the most recent additions first.
Cradle to Career
Find resources related to the four pipeline areas: Early Childhood, Kindergarten to Grade 12, College and Career, and Family and Community Supports
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND WHITE HOUSE WEBINAR SERIES
Understand how to blend and braid federal, state, and local funds to implement whole child approaches to education.
Sustaining a Promise Neighborhood
Learn about sustaining Promise Neighborhoods from grantees and others with expert guidance and reflections.
Results (93)
Building Lasting Change: How Delta Health Alliance Sustains the Impact of Promise Neighborhoods
Author: Karin Scott and Mikaela Tajo | Year of Publication: 2025
Explore how Delta Health Alliance (DHA) has implemented four key sustainability strategies to maintain the impact of its Promise Neighborhoods initiatives in the rural Mississippi Delta. By maintaining a consistent physical presence, creatively leveraging new grant opportunities, building a culture of data-driven decisionmaking, and cultivating enduring partnerships, DHA ensures long-term success of its cradle to career continuum. The blog offers insights into how DHA has adapted its program to meet evolving community needs and provides actionable strategies for other organizations seeking to sustain and grow their place-based initiatives.
Keeping a Promise: Case Studies and Annotated Resources for Promise Neighborhoods Sustainability
Author: Megan Gallagher, Emma Fernandez, and Ariella Meltzer | Year of Publication: 2024
This brief describes the Promise Neighborhoods program, its grantees, and their approaches to sustainability and includes case studies that present some of these approaches. It also provides a list of resources for sustainability planning.
Note: Initially published in March 2024, the brief was revised in April 2024 to update details about California Promise Neighborhood Network’s policy advocacy work.
Community Engagement Policy & Systems Program Delivery/Partners Staffing, Organization & Leadership Financing Data Management Systems
Deer Creek Promise Community’s Early Learning Programs: Setting The Stage For Lifelong Success
Author: Karin Scott, Mikaela Tajo, Victoria Martin | Year of Publication: 2024
This impact story outlines how Mississippi Delta communities unite with a shared purpose. Deer Creek Promise Community’s early learning programs and strategies are featured.
Community Engagement Early Childhood Education Family Supports Health and Wellbeing Parent and Community Engagement Policy & Systems Program Delivery/Partners Staffing, Organization & Leadership
Knox Promise Neighborhood: Attend Today – Achieve Tomorrow
Author: Amanda Hare, Victoria Martin | Year of Publication: 2024
This impact story discusses Knox Promise Neighborhood’s pioneering initiative that empowers student through consistent school attendance. Knox’s Attend Today – Achieve Tomorrow campaign is highlighted.
Community Engagement K-12 Academic Performance Post-Secondary Success Parent and Community Engagement Program Delivery/Partners Student Mobility Staffing, Organization & Leadership
Making the Case for Promise Neighborhoods
Author: Megan Gallagher, Lori Nathanson, Peter Tatian, and Jarle Crocker | Year of Publication: 2024
This brief highlights Promise Neighborhoods’ 10-year history and vision for the future. Illustrative stories from Mission Promise Neighborhood, Partners for Rural Impact, and South Ward Promise Neighborhood are featured.
Community Engagement Family Supports Financing Health and Wellbeing K-12 Academic Performance Parent and Community Engagement Policy & Systems Program Delivery/Partners Staffing, Organization & Leadership Post-Secondary Success
Writing a Promise Neighborhoods Grant Application that Supports Long-term Results
Author: Megan Gallagher, Anna Morgan | Year of Publication: 2024
Promise Neighborhoods grant applicants can use this document to ensure that their applications are responsive to grant requirements and establish the key conditions for transformative practices in their communities. First, they can learn how to plan for and establish each key condition in the early years of an initiative based on A Developmental Pathway for Achieving Promise Neighborhoods Results. Next, they can see how the 2024 Promise Neighborhoods NIA requirements, selection criteria, competitive preference priorities, and invitational priorities allow applicants to demonstrate each key condition.
Community Engagement Policy & Systems Program Delivery/Partners Staffing, Organization & Leadership Financing Data Management Systems
Blending and Braiding Webinar Series Overview
Author: U.S. Department of Education and the White House | Year of Publication: 2024
Blending and Braiding: How to Make it Easier to Use Different Funding Streams to Meet the Needs of the Whole Child, is a webinar series co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and the White House, with the goal to increase awareness and understanding of how to blend and braid federal, state, and local funds to implement whole child approaches to education and make it easier for these services to be provided and for students and families to access services. Webinar series objectives include increasing awareness and understanding of how to blend and braid federal, state, and local funds to implement whole child approaches to education and make it easier for these services to be provided and for students and families to access services; identifying and highlighting examples of states, districts, counties, cities, and schools that are blending and braiding funds to provide cradle-to-career supports that make it easy for students and families to access services and help communities thrive; and demonstrating how creating community-driven approaches for schools and the broader whole child work can support increased access to services and supports.
Session 1 - How to Blend and Braid Federal, State, and Local Funds to Provide Easily Accessible Services to Students and Families
Author: Stephen Kostyo, Bernadine Futrell, Jessica Cardichon, Ashley Harris, Dreama Gentry, Abe Fernandez, Shital Shah, Jane Hodgdon, Elson Nash, Oprah Keyes, Kim Mcwilliams | Year of Publication: 2024
In this webinar, held on October 3, 2024, speakers described what blending and braiding means and how to do it in ways that make easier for services to be provided and accessed. Specifically, speakers shared how communities and schools are leveraging diverse funding streams to support the development and implementation of a whole child approach–including targeted efforts to address many of the root causes of chronic absenteeism. For example, many schools are working to provide physical and mental health care, social services, nutrition, tutoring, mentoring and other community-connected programs–connecting students to school. In addition, speakers described how schools are increasingly serving as hubs for integrated and academic student supports by highlighting examples and elevating best practices related to blending and braiding. Finally, speakers acknowledged the challenges related to the sunsetting of ESSER dollars and provide recommendations of how states, districts, and schools can keep crucial student-centered supports in place.
Session 2 - Strategies for Providing and Making it Easier to Access Services Across Federal Agencies
Author: U.S. Department of Education and the White House | Year of Publication: 2024
This webinar, held on October 30, 2024, will feature state, national and local experts who will share examples on how to provide cradle-to-career supports to help students and families access services and create thriving communities. Participants will also learn about federal flexibilities to pursue results-driven community frameworks.
Session 3 - Strategies for Coordinating Services Across State and Local Agencies and Partners
Author: U.S. Department of Education and the White House | Year of Publication: 2024
One of the most effective ways to blend and braid funds is by using state or local coordinating bodies to advance a whole child vision. This is often done through children’s and youth cabinets or strategic task forces to identify a community’s capacity and needs. This webinar, held on November 14, 2024, describes what these coordinating bodies are and how they got started in areas across the country. Speakers will also provide examples of what children’s and youth cabinets look like in practice and how they can make it easier to provide services and for students and families to access these services.