After$chool Funding: Blending and Braiding: Funding Our Kids 101

For school districts and afterschool programs that leverage several funding sources to run their programs, “blending” and “braiding” are familiar terms. Braiding and blending funds can help programs grow, whether by expanding program offerings or serving more kids. But how does the technique work?

Children’s Funding Project’s factsheet, Blending and Braiding: Funding Our Kids 101, explains each term in depth and offers examples of how states and localities take multiple revenue streams and bring them together to achieve their goals. As the factsheet says,

• “Blending refers to incorporating funds from two or more revenue streams together to fund a specific initiative. Funds are merged into one central pot, and costs are not necessarily allocated to the separate funding streams.
   
• Braiding is a practice in which two or more funding streams are used in a coordinated fashion to support a single initiative, but costs are closely tracked and allocated to individual funding streams. There may be restrictions as to which funds can be used for which purposes.”

The factsheet also describes steps to assess opportunities for blending and braiding as a strategy to meet your needs; best practices; and case studies showing how New York City, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Broward County, Florida, have used blending and braiding techniques to serve students and families. Additionally, the factsheet outlines some of the common challenges and obstacles to successful blending and braiding.

Last year, we discussed how school districts were making the most of their American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocations by braiding their pandemic-relief funds with 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) funds to serve more kids. Learn how two school districts in Alabama made the most of the opportunity!