January 2023
EXPANDING PHILANTHROPY’S SUPPORT OF SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH
All four of the school districts participating in WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc. school-based mental health pilot project have made progress in matching the challenge grants we provided earlier this year and in using those funds to expand mental health services for their students.
We’ve been assisting each of them in their funder outreach. So far, the amounts these districts have raised from local sources to supplement their challenge grants are:
- Racine – $121,000
- Watertown – $100,000
- Sun Prairie -$100,000
- Appleton – $10,000
The Foundation has able to secure an additional $7,500 for each district through gifts from American Family and Empower Retirement. We also helped the Madison School District secure a major gift from the Roots & Wings Foundation in the amount of $350,000 over a three-year period.
The total amount raised or secured for these school district mental health programs is $836,000 (above and beyond our original challenge grants) through November 10, 2022. (See details below.)
The pilot districts are making thoughtful use of their funds by:
- Racine: Reducing financial barriers (health insurance deductibles/copays) for low-income students. In the first month of this program, the district helped 30 students receive therapy they were previously unable to afford.
- Watertown: Training coaches to provide ongoing social/emotional learning support for the entire district staff and teachers, and created a full-time mental health navigator position.
- Sun Prairie: Expanding existing programs, including restorative justice training for all staff.
- Appleton: Strengthening mental health supports for elementary grade students.
STUDENT INTERNET ACCESS INITIATIVE
In response to a growing need throughout Wisconsin, we launched a pilot project in 2021 to test and refine a statewide funding model to attract, align, and sustain financial support from other private funders to help many rural and low-income pre-K-12 student households connect to the internet where affordability may be a barrier. This was partially funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and additional support from the Alliant Energy Foundation. Our administrative partners in this project were the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and CESA Purchasing. Seven school districts participated in the pilot.
After a full year of the pilot effort, we have reluctantly decided to discontinue this project. The pilot experience helped us understand the complexities of connecting student households to the internet and the importance of simplifying the role of school districts in this process. The good news is that several government-funded programs are now available to help eligible student families access an affordable internet connection, so the affordability gap should narrow over time. The pilot also helped us learn some important lessons for future projects.
FUNDING SUMMARY
WEA Member Benefits Foundation School Mental Health Pilot Project: A Funding Model to Expand Philanthropic Support for School-Based Mental Health
Funds raised/secured as of 11/10/22 (not including challenge grants):
| Funds for Distribution to All Four Pilot School Districts | |
| American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation | $ 10,000 |
| American Family Institute for Corporate & Social Impact | $ 10,000 |
| Empower Retirement | $ 10,000 |
| WEA Trust | $ 100,000 |
| WEAC | $ 14,000 |
| Other donors | $ 11,000 |
| $155,000 | |
| Funds Secured for Individual Pilot Districts | |
| Roots and Wings Foundation for Sun Prairie Area School District (2-year total) | $100,000 |
| Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation for Watertown Unified School District (2-year total) | $100,000 |
| City of Racine for Racine Unified School District | $121,000 |
| Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region for Appleton Area School District | $10,000 |
| $331,000 | |
| Additional Funds for School-Based Mental Health (Non-pilot District) | |
| Roots and Wings Foundation for Madison Metropolitan School District (3-year total) | $350,000 |
| Total Funds Raised or Secured | $836,000 |