Strategies

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Build assets through child development accounts (CDAs) with contributions from a sponsoring organization, such as government agencies or nonprofits, and family, friends; also called children’s savings accounts (CSAs)

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Replace or retrofit diesel buses or other vehicles to operate with clean diesel technology

Help high school students prepare for college, complete applications, and enroll, especially first-generation applicants and students from families with low incomes

Support financial institutions providing services to underserved and disadvantaged communities

Combine academic, mental and physical health, and social service resources in schools for students and families via partnerships with community organizations; also called community learning centers

Adjust and monitor fluoride levels in public water supplies to reach and retain optimal fluoride concentrations

Use aerobic, natural decomposition to divert food and yard waste from landfills and create a nutrient-rich soil amendment product on an individual or large scale

Encourage methods of soil cultivation that keep at least one-third of cultivated soil covered with the previous year’s crop residue (e.g., mulch till, ridge till, strip till, or no-till)