Student Wellness and Success
Overview
Under the leadership of Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio’s districts and schools receive Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds to fund initiatives to support wraparound services for Ohio’s students.
This webpage outlines requirements for spending Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds, including updates for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025. Click on a topic to go directly to that section of the webpage:
Ohio’s operating budget for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025 included several updates related to Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds. These updates help ensure that districts and schools are positioned to prioritize students’ physical and mental health needs through strategic community partnerships.
Updates for FY24 and FY25 include requirements for districts and schools to:
- Spend at least 50% of Student Wellness and Success Funds on physical or mental health services.
- Develop a plan for using Student Wellness and Success Funds in collaboration with both a community mental health prevention or treatment provider or local alcohol, drug addiction and mental health services (ADAMHS) board and another community partner from the current list of partners.
- Share the Student Wellness and Success Fund plan with governing body and post to website within 30 days after development or amendment of the plan.
- Report annually to the Department on how the district or school spent Student Wellness and Success Funds and Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid.
- Spend Student Wellness and Success Funds by the end of the next fiscal year after they were received. For funds received this fiscal year (FY24), the must be spent by June 30, 2025. Additionally, Student Wellness and Success Funds received in FY20 to FY23 must be spent by June 30, 2025. Funds not spent by the applicable deadline must be returned to the Department.
The FY24-25 Student Wellness and Success Funding and Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid Uses Chart outlines the initiatives that districts and schools can spend Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds. Please note some initiatives changed for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025.
Updates also permit the Department to require a district or school to submit a corrective action plan for spending Student Wellness and Success Funds on an unauthorized use and to withhold Student Wellness and Success Funds for failure to comply with that plan.
Districts and schools use Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds to provide vital wraparound services to help students overcome obstacles to learning, accelerate learning and prepare for future success.
Districts and schools can view Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds funding amounts on the School Payment Reports website.
Beginning in Fiscal Year 2024, all Student Wellness and Success Funds must be spent by the end of the following fiscal year. Student Wellness and Success Funds allocated this fiscal year (FY24) must be spent by June 30, 2025. Additionally, all Student Wellness and Success Funds allocated in any of Fiscal Years 2020 to 2023 shall be expended prior to June 30, 2025. Any unexpended funds shall be repaid to the Department.
Ohio law does not specify the timeline in which Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid must be spent, but the Department encourages schools and districts to leverage these funds in a timely manner to support the critical needs of students.
Ohio law outlines the uses for Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds. For Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025, districts and schools are required to use funding to support the initiatives outlined in the following table. Districts and schools must use at least 50% of SWSF for mental health services or physical health care services or a combination of both.
Initiatives that may be funded with Student Wellness and Success Funding are marked with a green circle and initiatives that may be funded with Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid are marked with a blue square. If an initiative is marked with both a green circle and a blue square, either funding source may be used.
Student Wellness and Success Funding and Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid Uses
Key: 🟢Student Wellness and Success Funding 🟦Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid
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Initiatives
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Examples
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🟢🟦
Mental health services |
Mental health services, including telehealth services, community-based behavioral health services and recovery supports |
Hiring new or additional social workers and school counselors to provide supports to students
Partnering with community agencies to identify student needs and provide evidence-based behavioral health services and recovery support |
🟢🟦
Physical health services |
Physical health care services, including telehealth services and community-based health services |
Hiring school nurses and healthcare providers to serve students during the school day
Providing telehealth services to meet students’ physical health needs in rural communities
Constructing or adapting existing space for a school-based health center
Collaborating with community partners to address student physical and mental health needs through school-based health care |
🟢🟦
Culturally appropriate prevention services |
Culturally appropriate, evidence-based or evidence-informed prevention services, including youth-led programming and curricula to promote mental health and prevent substance use and suicide and trauma-informed services |
Purchasing and implementing an approved, evidence-based program to provide students with instruction in suicide prevention to meet requirements of Ohio law
Identifying students that are at increased risk for substance use and providing students with additional supports |
🟢🟦
Homeless youth services |
Services for students experiencing homelessness |
Provide access to essentials like clothing, hygiene products and transportation to and from medical appointments
System improvements and infrastructure to identify, track and support students experiencing homelessness including collaboration with local agencies or organizations to provide temporary housing solutions, such as emergency shelters or transitional housing
Salary or stipend for a dedicated homeless education liaison or system navigator
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🟢🟦
Child welfare-involved youth services |
Services for youth in foster care system |
Creating a mentorship program specifically tailored to the unique needs of child welfare-involved youth and vulnerable students
Providing outreach materials to assist students in foster care with understanding which school-based staff and resources (tutoring, afterschool, mental health and others) are available to serve them.
Salary or stipend for a dedicated foster care education liaison |
🟢🟦
Community liaisons and programming |
Community liaisons or programs that connect students to community resources, including behavioral wellness coordinators and City Connects, Communities in Schools and other similar programs |
Hiring a Resource Coordinator, through Communities in Schools or other agencies, to help identify student and family needs and connect to appropriate resources
Connecting with Ohio’s School-based Center of Excellence for Prevention and Early Intervention to select evidence-based programming or plan for a behavioral health and wellness coordinator who can collaborate across teams and support with the identification of student and evidence-based mental health and wellness initiatives. |
🟢🟦
Family engagement activities |
Family engagement and support services |
Utilizing services and resources in partnership with Ohio’s Statewide Family Engagement Center
Hosting Parent Education Nights to create opportunities for families and communities to engage in learning skills, content, and curriculum being taught to students in the school community.
Hiring a parent ambassador or parent mentor to provide additional support to families
Communication applications that support timely and regular two-way communication for school updates, important information, parents’ concerns and feedback and individual student reports with translation in family’s preferred language. |
🟢🟦
Before and after school programming |
Student services provided prior to or after the regularly scheduled school day or any time school is not in session, including mentoring programs |
Assessing your students and families before and after school programming needs, and partnering with a local agency to provide to provide programming in various areas, including structured physical activities, wraparound services, healthy habits and nutrition, mentoring programs or other enrichment activities
Providing high-dosage tutoring that aligns with the science or reading before or after school |
🟦
Reading improvement and intervention |
Reading improvement and intervention that is aligned with the science of reading and evidence-based strategies for effective literacy instruction |
Hiring reading or literacy specialists to increase academic achievement and reduce reading disparities
Reviewing the Department’s literacy webpage to identify ways to increase student achievement through improving language and literacy outcomes for all students |
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Extended school day and school year |
Extended school day and school year |
Extended school day program to enhance learning opportunities and provide additional support, such as offering high-dosage tutoring |
🟦
Instructional technology or blended learning |
Instructional technology or blended learning |
Utilizing a Learning Management System (LMS) to incorporate both in-person and online components to cater to the individualized and unique needs of all students
Purchase adaptive online intervention program aligned to Tier 1 instructional materials or curriculum |
🟦
Professional development |
Professional development in the science of reading and evidence-based strategies for effective literacy instruction for teachers of students in kindergarten through third grade |
Cost and stipends for staff to attend professional development opportunities for teachers of students in grades K-3 specifically intended to teach the science of reading and evidence-based strategies for effective literacy instruction
Delivering professional development opportunities fulfilling the requirements for Ohio’s Dyslexia Support Laws |
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Dropout prevention |
Dropout prevention |
Developing alternative educational programming for students at risk of dropping out
Hiring staff to provide supports for students who transition from secure settings
Partnering with or developing a program that features support services such as mental health counseling, health and wellness services, career counseling, mentoring and graduation pathways or workforce credential programs
Hiring a resource coordinator to help students connect with community-based resources and provide trauma-informed training for staff members |
🟦
School safety |
School safety and security measures |
Training staff and school personnel in appropriate and approved threat assessment training programs, such as Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG)
Connecting with the Ohio School Safety Center for guidance, resources and support from the center and its regional safety liaisons |
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Community Learning Centers |
Community learning centers that address barriers to learning |
Utilizing the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to support students who come from economically disadvantaged families to enhance learning |
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Academic interventions |
Academic interventions for students in any of grades 6 through 12 |
Implementing high-dosage tutoring best practices that align with classroom instruction
Purchase student materials to support Zearn implementation (grades 6 through8)
Support the implementation of Algebra 2 equivalency courses (Math Pathways) by hiring educators to teach and provide professional learning |
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Employment of Bright New Leaders for Ohio |
Employment of an individual who has successfully completed the bright new leaders for Ohio schools program as a principal or assistant principal under Ohio law |
Salary and benefits to employ a Bright New Leader as a principal or assistant principal |
The Department of Education and Workforce may develop a corrective action plan if it determines that a district or school is not spending its Student Wellness and Success Funds correctly. The Department may withhold Student Wellness and Success Funds from a district or school found to be out of compliance with a corrective action plan.
Districts and schools must develop a plan outlining how they will use Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds. Planning is done in coordination with community partners, as described in the Community Partners section of this webpage. When determining how to utilize funding, districts and schools may use the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) as a framework. A comprehensive plan outlines goals, strategies and partnerships required to meet expected outcomes.
Within thirty (30) days of the creation or amendment of their Student Wellness and Success Funds plan, districts and schools must share the plan at a public meeting of the board of education or governing authority and post the plan on the district’s or school's website.
Data and Evaluation
Districts and schools, along with their community partners, can analyze student and community data to identify critical needs, gaps or repetitions in services and determine where additional supports are needed.
While implementing plans, progress monitoring can be a useful strategy to ensure effectiveness of services. Conducting an evaluation will allow districts and schools to determine if their comprehensive plan was successful in meeting the identified goals and outcomes.
Meaningful and ongoing stakeholder engagement is critical to the success of all students. Collaboration between districts and schools is crucial to advancing services to support all students. Community partners can bring content expertise, data sources and new perspectives to a collaborative partnership.
For Fiscal years 2024 and 2025, districts and schools must develop a plan for utilizing Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid in coordination with at least one community partner listed below. Districts and schools must develop a plan to utilize Student Wellness and Success Funds in coordination with a community mental health prevention or treatment provider or local board of alcohol, drug addiction and mental health services board and one of the community partners identified below.
At the end of each fiscal year, districts and schools will submit a report to the Department describing the Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funds initiatives on which funds were spent and how much was spent each fiscal year. The Data Collection Tool for reporting Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid, Student Wellness and Success Funds is not currently open.
Last Modified: 9/21/2023 1:42:43 PM