Cost
What Does the Parent Corps Cost?

With parents, drug prevention will succeed. Without them, it will fail. It’s that simple.

~Tom Hedrick, Vice Chairman, Partnership for a Drug-Free America

No funds from the federal grant that is financing the Parent Corps pilot program are available to help parents and schools elsewhere implement the Parent Corps. Nonetheless, many parents, schools, and others are asking National Families in Action (NFIA) how they may start the Parent Corps in their schools now. NFIA has developed a plan that enables parents, schools, and other community-based organizations and agencies to implement the Parent Corps now. This plan, based on actual costs incurred during the pilot program, enables schools to start the Parent Corps at a very low cost. It involves the following:

Salaries and benefits – from unpaid to full time

• Parent Leaders may work in the Parent Corps at various levels of effort. Because of this, officials can start the Parent Corps in their schools at minimal cost. A Parent Leader may serve in the Parent Corps at one of five levels. Parent Leaders can move from one level to another as funds are raised and their levels of effort increase. Levels of effort include:

• Volunteer Parent Leader
Works a minimum of 5 hours per week
No salary, taxes, or benefits
Supervised by NFIA and its management team

• VISTA*AmeriCorps Volunteer Parent Leader
(if eligible under VISTA*AmeriCorps guidelines)
Works 40 hours per week
No salary
Stipend and benefits paid via VISTA*AmeriCorps
Supervised by NFIA and its management team

• Quarter-time Parent Leader
Works 10 hours per week
Quarter-time salary and taxes paid by NFIA
Supervised by NFIA and its management team

• Half-time Parent Leader
Works 20 hours per week
Half-time salary and taxes paid by NFIA
Supervised by NFIA and its management team

• Full-time Parent Leader
Works 40 hours per week
Full-time salary, taxes, and benefits paid by NFIA
Supervised by NFIA and its management team

• Taxes for full-time and part-time employees include all taxes required by law (employer’s share of FICA, state unemployment, and workers comp insurance). Benefits for full-time Parent Leaders include health insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and an employee retirement plan (employees may contribute up to 20% of their gross annual salary; NFIA matches up to 3% of employee’s contribution).

Other support

In addition to the Parent Leader’s salary, taxes, and/or benefits, other costs to support each Parent Leader include:

• Five-day Parent Corps Basic Training in Atlanta
• Annual Parent Corps National Conference booster trainings
• Management, supervision, and support from NFIA’s management team
• Monthly expense allowance
• Ongoing shipments of Parent Corps educational materials
• Laptop computer and service contract
• Weekly electronic Parent Corps Update for re-distribution to school parents
• Drug test and criminal background check for all new employees, volunteers

What a Parent Leader does

• Contact every parent in the school
• Educate them about how drugs affect children
• Teach them that all children are at risk
• Persuade them that parents are the most powerful influence in children’s lives
• Mobilize them into groups that stop the marketing of drugs to children
• Create a support network that fosters the growth of healthy children capable of reaching their full potential

Eligibility

• Must be the parent of a child who attends the Parent Corps school
• Must be willing to give two years of service (service terms are renewable)
• Must be committed to preventing any use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by children and adolescents

Characteristics sought

Parent Leaders have:

• A passion for protecting the health, safety, and well-being of children
• A belief that the Parent Corps is the best way to help families accomplish this
• Outstanding communication skills
• Ability to work well with people
• Respect for all people from different ethnic and cultural populations, different income levels
• Outstanding leadership skills
• Excellent entrepreneurial skills, are self-starters, self-motivated
• Computer skills, able to use Microsoft ® Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, and Power Point
• Good presentation skills, are comfortable speaking to audiences
• Some community, volunteer, or civic service
• Preferably, some college

Job description

• Successfully completes Parent Corps Basic Training and other training as needed
• Prepares annual Action Plan
• Organizes a Parent School Group in child’s school
• Recruits, trains, and supports Parent Volunteers in Parent School Group, encourages them to form other kinds of parent groups, and recruits them to join the Parent Corps as members
• Reports all activities taken to implement Action Plan on a weekly basis
• Participates in all scheduled individual, state, and national staff meetings via conference call
• Submits timesheets documenting work hours
• Keeps track of all contacts made and follows up with these contacts to offer additional information, solicit participation in a Parent School Group, or otherwise assist in fulfilling the Parent Corps goals
• Collects and provides information required by the Parent Corps evaluation
• Reports to NFIA’s Parent Corps National Coordinator or his representative

What NFIA does

• Interviews up to three candidates the school nominates to serve as its Parent Leader. Final selection is done jointly by the NFIA team and school principal.
• Trains Parent Leader in Atlanta in five-day Parent Corps Basic Training
• Supervises, guides, and supports Parent Leader on a day-to-day basis
• Provides a monthly allowance for copying, materials, and supplies
• Provides other Parent Corps materials throughout the year
• Sends weekly Parent Corps Update to Parent Leader to redistribute to school parents
• Holds monthly conference calls with State Partners, all Parent Leaders in state
• Provides booster training at Parent Corps Annual Conference
• Performs criminal background check, drug test on all personnel and volunteers

Cost Information

• Please call National Families in Action, 404-248-9676, for current cost information.