When the Idaho Coalition for Community Schools (ICCS) received a $46.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, it was the result of a major effort to benefit Idaho children and families in the school setting. The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health (the Foundation) played an important role in the process.
The Foundation joined ICCS in 2021 because it knew the best way to address the root causes that impact health in an educational setting was through community schools strategy. Community schools are neighborhood public schools where parents, educators, and community partners work together to expand the support available for families and create meaningful learning experiences for students.
ICCS, which formed in 2019 and is led and operated by the United Way of the Treasure Valley, was mostly operating regionally until the Foundation joined and pushed to increase ICCS’ footprint across the state. There are now community schools in all six educational regions in Idaho.
“The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation has been one of our catalytic partners,” said Hayley Regan, Assistant Director of Community Schools for United Way of the Treasure Valley. “The supportive funding and the thought partnership provided has been valuable as we have taken what began as a bit of a regional initiative and really lifted it up statewide.”
The Foundation contributed grant money that was used in different ways. First, it funded three cohorts of training for Idaho schools and districts with the National Center for Community Schools. These cohorts — one with current community schools and two consisting of schools exploring community schools strategy — were in-depth learning sessions that informed schools of best practices for operating as community schools.
The schools and districts that completed the learning cohorts were eligible to apply for grant funding to help launch or expand their community school. The Foundation’s funding was instrumental in launching a collaborative fund that enabled and helped more districts and schools operate as community schools. The Foundation’s presence and collaboration efforts helped encourage other organizations to contribute to the fund, increasing its impact as the number of community schools in Idaho grew to 65 in 2024.
“The Foundation helped us set a bigger table,” Regan said.
Perhaps more importantly, collaborative funding from the Foundation empowered the coalition team to effectively pursue, and secure a federal grant.
“If individual organizations were just trying to work on this alone, I don’t think we would have received the federal funding,” Regan said. “That collaborative funding was essential to attracting federal funding.”
The Foundation also bolstered ICCS’ communications efforts. Federal grants prohibit funding being used for communications and collateral materials. The Foundation’s funding led to a new ICCS website that contains resources that both support existing community schools and help educate others about how community schools can make a difference in Idaho.
“Without the Foundation’s support, the big communications push, which was really needed, wouldn’t have happened that quickly,” Regan said.
Katie Marshall, the Engagement and Sustainability Manager for the United Way of the Treasure Valley, said the website and materials help better tell the story of ICCS’ work.
“It was really necessary for us to take our efforts statewide and having a cohesive brand that everyone could get behind,” she said.
The $46.5 million federal grant is in the process of being implemented. The grant wrapped up its first year of funding that supports the expansion of up to 50 community schools through 2029, including programming and services. Learn more: https://idahocoalitionforcommunityschools.org/