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2022 BARRIERS TO PROSPERITY DATA SHEET: ALABAMA IS THE NATION'S SIXTH POOREST STATE - Alabama Possible

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ALABAMA (June 9, 2022) - Alabama Possible, a statewide nonprofit organization that breaks down barriers to prosperity, today released its 2022 Barriers to Prosperity Data Sheet. This year's findings show that more than 714,000 Alabamians, including 222,000 children, live below the federal poverty threshold, which is $26,496 for a family of four.

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We care about helping our community members in need. We developed several programs to assist you in paying your power bill. Explore the options below to see if you are eligible.

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Am I Eligible for WIC?

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.

How to Apply Learn More About WIC

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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

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Am I Eligible for WIC? The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.

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In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

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Schools send school meal applications home at the beginning of each school year. However, you may apply for school meals any time during the school year by submitting an application directly to your school or district. You may ask for an application any time during the school year. If you're earning at or below current Income Eligibility Guidelines, you are encouraged to contact your school or district to fill out a school meal application. Applications are reviewed by local school or district officials before granting free or reduced price benefits. If you receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, all of your children who attend school automatically qualify for free school meals. Participation in other federal assistance programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) also provides automatic eligibility. Please contact your school to determine if you need to fill out an application.

If you are eligible for unemployment compensation or The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), you may also be eligible for free or reduced price school meals. State Workforce Agency Administrators should let households seeking unemployment benefits about the availability of free and reduced price school meals. Please contact your school or district for more information.

USDA Prototype Applications

USDA offers prototypes (examples) of school meal applications, as well as sample instructional documents intended to assist state and local officials in the design and distribution of their own application materials. These application prototypes meet all legal requirements and reflect design best practices identified by USDA through focus testing and other research. They are available in both paper and web-based formats and may be adapted by state or local agencies for household use.

Paper-Based Prototype Household Application

Below is the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals, with accompanying instructions, letter to households, and other materials for state and local agencies. The prototype may be used by state and local agencies as an example when designing a new application packet. The current prototype design was first launched in SY 2023 and is the result of a years long project to revise the prototype to make the application process easier for households and school officials, as well as more accurate.

Thanks to helpful feedback from state and local officials, the current prototype features a number of customer service-oriented adjustments intended to improve its usefulness. Furthermore, in July 2016, USDA published foreign language translations of the prototype and its instructional materials. The translated prototype applications include all documents from the English language version in a total of 49 non-English languages. Please note that the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals and foreign language translations of the prototype will not be updated for SY 2018-19. States and SFAs can continue to use the current versions.

Resources for Households

Resources for State and Local Agencies

Web-Based Prototype Household Application

USDA also offers a Web-Based Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals. With the increasing use and popularity of online applications in recent years, USDA has published its prototype web-based application design with the aim of providing timely guidance to stakeholders. Version 1.0 of the web-based prototype, released November 2016, was developed based on extensive public engagement and reflects research and data-driven design best practices. It has been structured to help ensure full and accurate household response, while maintaining an accessible and intuitive layout.

The USDA electronic prototype application is not for direct household use. If you are a parent looking to apply for school meal benefits, contact your child's school to find out where you can access their application for school meal benefits.

The electronic prototype application is intended as a model for how state and local program operators (or their designated vendors) may develop an effective and fully compliant web-based application for school meal benefits. While USDA offers both the design and code as open source publications free for all to access, these materials are not structured for direct or immediate use by households unless adapted and integrated with appropriate data management systems maintained at the state and/or local levels.

State and local program operators with questions about the Web-Based Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals may send a message to WebApp@usda.gov.

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Applying for Free and Reduced Price School Meals

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Schools send school meal applications home at the beginning of each school year. However, you may apply for school meals any time during the school year by submitting an application directly to your school or district. You may ask for an application any time during the school year.

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education for homeless children and youth

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Alabama Federal Programs - Alabama State Department of Education

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The Federal Programs Section administers all federally funded education programs by providing technical assistance to LEAs, approving applications for funding and monitoring for compliance to federal statutes and regulations.

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"You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children" - Dolly Parton

The State of Alabama approved the Alabama Literacy Act in 2019, which requires all students, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, to be proficient in reading by the end of the third grade to advance to the fourth grade. Students who struggle to read by the end of the third grade often do so because they lack access to books and other reading materials over time.

To address this critical need, the River Region United Way has joined forces with community partners and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to bring high-quality children's books directly to enrolled children in Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, and Montgomery Counties.

What Is Dolly Parton's Imagination Library?

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation. It reaches more children than any other early childhood book gifting program, and mails free, high-quality, age-appropriate books to children from birth until age five, no matter their family's income. Since its founding in 1995, the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has gifted nearly 200 million books to children worldwide.

Who Is Eligible?

Children under the age of five (5) in Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, and Montgomery Counties.

What Are My Responsibilities As A Parent?

1. Be a resident of Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, or Montgomery County.

2. Submit an official registration form, completely filled out and signed by the authorized adult.

3. Notify River Region United Way any time your address changes. Books are mailed to the address listed on your account. Note: If the child's address changes, you must contact River Region United Way in order to continue receiving books.

4. Read with your child and have fun!

When Will My Child Receive Books?

Your child will receive their first book eight to ten weeks after RRUW receives your completed registration form. Books will continue to arrive at your home until your child turns five or your family moves out of the River Region.

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Enroll Your Child & Give The Gift Of Reading "You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children" - Dolly Parton

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View the research behind our ESSA Tier IV evidence

XtraMath worked with LeanLab Education to document the connections between using XtraMath and improving outcomes for students primarily in grades K-6.

Download our Logic Model to discover the research and evidence that demonstrates how using XtraMath enhances students' learning and performance, leading to better outcomes for both students and teachers.XtraMath worked with LeanLab Education to document the connections between using XtraMath and improving outcomes for students primarily in grades K-6.
Download our Logic Model

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XtraMath - 10 minutes a day for math fact fluency

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XtraMath is a free program that helps students master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

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Find out if you qualify to take the ACT test for free with the ACT Fee Waiver Program.