CCSSO Webinar Series: State Leadership in Federal Programs

In order to provide states with more support around understanding and implementing federal programs, CCSSO launched a webinar series to discuss federal programs, processes and issue areas in detail. Please see below for past webinar information and recordings.

March 2023 – CCSSO Webinar on Medicaid in Schools
CCSSO hosted a webinar with the President’s Special Assistant for Health Care, Jessica Schubel, who provided an update on how the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are working together to better support Medicaid-eligible school-based health services. During this webinar we heard from Schubel that this working group was inspired by CCSSO’s 2022 Restart & Recovery report on leveraging federal funding – including Medicaid – to support students and educators. A recording is available here. (Passcode: %?8%X$tr)
October 2022 – Federal Programs Supporting Student Mental Health
Nebraska’s state education agency team discuss the use and expansion of Project Aware, federal grants to address student mental health.  Examples of this project’s implementation were also shared, including partnerships with health, community, and philanthropic organizations. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: 7%?S1yVL)
June 2022 – Federal Funding for Mental Health and Whole-Child Support
A spotlight on Nevada where the SEA shares how they leveraged federal funding through information systems that integrate care plans, MTSS, and billing. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: X2^0Ft#b)
May 2022 – Introduction to Registered Apprenticeships: Registered apprenticeships are an industry-driven high-quality career pathway model. Over the last decade, many industries and states have adopted this model to prepare individuals to enter a wide variety of careers. This webinar provides an overview of the registered apprenticeship model; how secondary, postsecondary, and workforce systems coordinate to support registered apprenticeships; and the role the state education agency can play in supporting this work. The webinar also features a discussion of how Colorado has incorporated the registered apprenticeship model into its overall talent development efforts. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: S3JPjj!p).
April 2022 – State Oversight of Federal COVID Relief Funds: Managing Audits to Create Space for Effective Spending: Federal programs allow many spending options, but SEAs and LEAs tend to spend federal funds on a narrow set of strategies. Managing the audit process not only leads to higher quality audits (and better control of public funds) but also creates space for new kinds of spending. This webinar provides an overview of practical impact of audits and compliance requirements. During the webinar, we heard from Peter Laing from the Arizona Department of Education and Matt Cardoza from the Georgia Department of Education. Both shared their experience of creating ongoing dialogue with their audit community to build a shared understanding of allowable uses of ESSER Funds. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: .8cvvT@4).
March 2022 – Leveraging Medicaid to Advance Student and Staff Wellbeing and Connection: The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the mental health and wellbeing needs of students and staff across the country. Chief state school officers can play a critical role in ensuring ESSER funds are invested in a strategic, sustainable way that advances student and staff wellbeing and connection. Given ESSER funds are a one-time-only injection of funding into the system, one important way to leverage them is to use them to build the capacity of SEAs and LEAs to support wellbeing and connection so that they are equipped to continue this work after ESSER funds are spent. This includes leveraging ESSER funds to strengthen programs that generate sustainable sources of funding, such as Medicaid, for school mental health programs and services. This work is particularly timely as new opportunities exist for states to strengthen and expand their school Medicaid programs. During the webinar we heard from Alex Mays, Senior National Program Director at the Healthy Schools Campaign, to understand the SEA’s role in leveraging Medicaid to advance student and staff wellbeing and connection, alongside state examples. A link to the recording is available here (Passcode: fd7u^?GR).
February 2022 – Sustaining ESSER Activities with IDEA Funds: This webinar will explore the relationship between ESSER and IDEA, common misperceptions that often limit IDEA spending, and ways SEAs can support LEAs to transition ESSER activities to IDEA programs consistent with IDEA and related federal spending rules. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: B8T.MZ1g)
January 2022 – Sustaining ESSER Activities with ESEA Funds: This webinar explored the relationship between ESSER and ESEA, common misperceptions that often limit ESEA spending, and ways SEAs can support LEAs to transition ESSER activities to ESEA programs consistent with ESEA and related federal spending rules. A link to the recording is available here. (Passcode: mXDjm.0E)
October 2021-School Facilities and Construction: The condition of our nation’s public school facilities has always been a responsibility of school districts, but more and more school districts are finding they cannot meet modern educational, environmental, health, or safety standards for all children without state and even federal support. In this presentation on the State of our Schools 2021, you will learn about the maintenance and operations and capital construction standards for school districts; the level of spending and investment reported by districts to their states; and what the gap is between what the nation is spending and investing and what is needed for modern school facilities for all children. Presenters Mary Filardo, Executive Director of the 21^st Century School Fund, and lead author of the report; and J. Juan Mireles, Director of the School Facilities and Transportation Services Division of the California Department of Education, and President of the National Council on School Facilities—an association of state PK12 public school facilities directors—will review the national findings and introduce you to state specific profiles of state level spending and investments. A recording of this webinar is available here. (Passcode: Rh3&TVA5)
July 2021-Communicating Federal Relief Spending Decisions: How are states sharing federal relief spending decisions? Learn how states are approaching this and ways to tell a story from the data. A recording of the webinar, including highlights of the work underway in Arizona, Tennessee and Nevada can be found here. (Passcode: m0&T1LQ4)
June 2021-State Strategies for Identifying and Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness: For the first time in the history of the McKinney-Vento program, state educational agencies will have significant new funding and be able to engage in creative, big-picture thinking to revise systems, support LEAs, and increase the identification, attendance, and achievement of children and youth experiencing homelessness. During this webinar we provided an overview of the McKinney-Vento Act, homelessness provisions in other federal education programs (including Title I and IDEA), and ARP funds available for the McKinney-Vento program. We also shared bold ideas for meeting both immediate and long-term needs. A recording of the webinar can be found here. (Passcode: g^UE+6y2)
May 2021-Understanding Federal Broadband Connectivity and Device Programs: During CCSSO’s webinar about federal broadband and device programs that support digital learning, we discussed CCSSO’s Federal Funds for Expanding Broadband and Device Access for Learning resource. The webinar featured a discussion about recommendations for effectively using federal connectivity programs at the state and local level. A recording of the webinar can be found here. (Passcode: vw0.kTHp)
April 2021-Opportunities to Maximize the Federal Child Nutrition Programs in Your State: The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) presented an overview of federal child nutrition programs and the various flexibilities provided during this pandemic to provide school meals. A recording of this webinar is available here. (Passcode: ?0cJga2#)
March 2021-Common Uses of Funds Questions Relating to ESSER: During this webinar, the Federal Education Group provided an overview of a recent CCSSO document outlining how ESSER funds can be used for additional pay (including a deeper dive into time and effort requirements), transportation, curriculum/high quality instructional materials, real property, construction/renovation, and budgetary shortfalls. A recording of this webinar is available here (Passcode: qfuc*@L1)

February 2021 -Federal Grants: Overview and the Role of the SEA: This webinar provides an overview of the federal grant process and discussed how the U.S. Department of Education (ED) awards funds, the role of the state in sub-awarding funds to eligible entities, state oversight responsibilities, and the opportunities states have to use their oversight tools to drive effective educational practices. We also discussed the various rules that apply to ED grants and how to navigate them. A recording of this webinar is available here. (Passcode: ^tj!K6Gf)
January 2021: Federal Budget and Appropriations Process: During this webinar, we unpacked the federal budget and appropriations process, which can often be confusing. We also discussed the role of the appropriations committees in Congress, Continuing Resolutions, budget reconciliation, and other information to help you navigate federal funding for education. A recording of this webinar is available here. (Passcode: YS75zf$T)