Access to Smiles School-Based Dental Sealant Program

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Executive Summary

Access to Smiles School-Based Dental Sealant Program is a nonprofit in Texas that brings dental prevention to elementary schools. Licensed hygienists screen children, apply protective sealants to back teeth and fluoride varnish with a parent's consent, send each family a note and help families find a dentist for children who need more care.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood, and children with tooth pain miss school and struggle to learn. Sealants are one of the cheapest and most effective ways to prevent cavities, and a school visit reaches children whose families may not be able to get to a dentist.

With this grant we will serve about 600 children in Year 1 at 6 schools. We provide care only with a signed parent consent, using licensed hygienists and infection control rules, and we call 911 in any emergency. We do not promise that a child will never have a cavity. We promise safe, gentle care and honest information for families.

Our Year 1 budget is about $198,000, growing to about $316,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 4 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Coordinator, a part-time hygienist and a part-time assistant) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Lone Star Children's Smile Foundation for $60,000 for the Program Coordinator, hygienist time and sealant supplies. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Access to Smiles School-Based Dental Sealant Program is a nonprofit organization in Texas. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Every child should be able to go to school without tooth pain, and every child should have protective care that prevents cavities.

What we do.
- Bring dental hygienists to elementary schools to screen children and apply protective sealants on back teeth.
- Apply fluoride varnish to help prevent cavities.
- Send each family a note with what was done and what follow-up is needed.
- Refer children who need more care to local dentists and help families find one.
- Teach oral health lessons in classrooms.
- Hold family nights with information in English and Spanish.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We provide care only with a parent's signed consent. Care is provided by licensed hygienists and assistants following state rules and infection control. We do not replace a child's regular dentist and we call 911 in any emergency. We do not promise that a child will never have a cavity. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of dental hygienists, school nurses and parents began offering sealants at one elementary school one day a month. Waiting lists grew and principals asked for more. We kept simple records of children seen and what they needed. This proposal asks for support to move from a monthly school day to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood, and children with tooth pain miss school and struggle to learn.

Cost. Dental care costs money and many families have no coverage, and sealants are one of the cheapest ways to prevent decay.

Access. Few dentists see children on Medicaid, and parents cannot always leave work to take a child to an appointment.

Safety and trust. Parents want to know that care is private, safe and gentle, and schools want a program that fits the school day.

Missed benefits. Children with untreated decay may have pain, trouble eating and sleeping and fall behind in school.

What we hear.
- A nurse says one student missed a week of school for a toothache.
- A mother says she has not been able to find a dentist who takes her child's insurance.
- A hygienist says many children have never seen a dentist.
- A teacher says she can tell when a child has a toothache.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that bringing prevention to school can protect children's teeth before they hurt.

Products & Services

Access to Smiles School-Based Dental Sealant Program gives children in elementary school from low-income families a safe, welcoming place to prevent cavities and keep smiling.

How the program works.
1. Schools. We partner with schools where most children qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
2. Consent. Parents receive a short form in English and Spanish to sign before any care.
3. Screening. A hygienist screens each child with a gentle visual check.
4. Prevention. Hygienists apply sealants to back teeth and fluoride varnish with consent.
5. Family note. Each family receives a note with what was done and any follow-up needed.
6. Referrals. A coordinator helps families find a dentist for children who need fillings or other care.
7. Education. Hygienists teach short lessons on brushing, snacks and dental care.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our hygienists and assistants hold current licenses, pass a background check, complete our training in working with children and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free to families. We welcome every child with a signed consent and offer materials in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade at partner schools, with parent consent. Eligibility is a signed parent consent and attending a partner school, and no child is turned away for lack of insurance.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our monthly school day we saw more children than we could treat and kept a waiting list. School nurses told us that many more children need sealants than the program can reach. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 600 participants at 6 schools. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 1400.

Where participants come from.
- School nurses and principals.
- Pediatricians and community clinics.
- Parent groups and school events.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families save money and worry. Schools gain healthier, more present students. Dentists gain a referral path.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a child with a clean, protected smile. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Private dentists. Provide excellent care and may not be available or accept Medicaid. We refer.

2. Community health center dental clinics. Strong, with waits and travel. We bring prevention to the school.

3. Dental sealant programs run by health departments. Valuable and limited in reach. We add capacity.

4. School nurses. Support health and cannot provide dental care. We partner.

5. Fluoride in water. Helps and is not enough on its own.

What makes us different.
- Care at school during the school day.
- Free to families.
- Licensed hygienists with infection control rules.
- Clear notes and referrals for families.
- Classroom lessons.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with school nurses, principals, pediatricians and other school dental programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Schools. We will work with principals and nurses to schedule visits and send consent forms.
- Families. We will hold information nights and share forms in English and Spanish.
- Pediatricians and clinics. We will share referral information.
- Parent groups. We will attend events.
- Word of mouth. Families tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit hygienists and assistants through dental hygiene schools and public health programs.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, children screened, sealants placed and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Sign agreements with partner schools and send the first consent forms.
- Months 4 to 10: Visit each school in the school year and refer children who need more care.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey nurses and families, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Care is provided in a quiet room at each school with portable equipment, provided by the school at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Hygienists follow state infection control rules and use a sterile set for every child.
- Two adults are present with every child, and parents may ask questions at any time.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $30,000 of equipment once at the start: portable dental equipment sets (2) ($20,000), sterilization equipment and instruments ($5,000), laptops and tablets for records ($3,000), transport cases and storage ($2,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Coordinator, paid $44,000 a year, manages schools and referrals. A part-time dental hygienist, paid $30,000 for the school year, and a part-time dental assistant, paid $20,000, provide care. We add a hygienist and assistant as we add schools.

Management & Organization

Rosa Delgado, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a dental hygienist who saw how many children had never been to a dentist. I will complete the training we require of our staff so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Coordinator manages schools and referrals, and part-time hygienists and assistants provide care. Each holds the required license and passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a dentist, a school nurse, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a pediatrician. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A public health dentist, a school principal and a pediatric nurse practitioner give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $50,000 a year; program Coordinator, paid $44,000 a year; dental Hygienist (part-time), paid $30,000 a year; dental Assistant (part-time), paid $20,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 600 participants at 6 schools.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 800 participants at 8 schools.
- Year 3: About 1000 participants at 10 schools.
- Year 4: About 1200 participants at 12 schools.
- Year 5: About 1400 participants at 14 schools.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 48 percent of our budget, down from about 65 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $60,000 from the Lone Star Children's Smile Foundation for the Program Coordinator, hygienist time and sealant supplies, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Coordinator salary, $44,000.
- Personnel: Hygienist stipend for school visits, $10,000.
- Supplies: Sealant materials and supplies, $6,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 47% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $198,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $8,000 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $128,000; state Oral Health Funding $40,000; medicaid Reimbursement $14,000; health Partners $16,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $44,000; dental Hygienist (part-time) $30,000; dental Assistant (part-time) $20,000; sealant Materials and Supplies about $12,000; portable Equipment Maintenance about $5,000; consent Mailings and Outreach about $4,000; transportation about $6,000; malpractice and Compliance about $5,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $8,800 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $40,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $20,000 for portable dental equipment sets (2); $5,000 for sterilization equipment and instruments; $3,000 for laptops and tablets for records; $2,000 for transport cases and storage; $2,500 for attorney review of the consent form, privacy policy and school agreements; $1,800 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $2,200 for staff licensing checks, training and background checks; $3,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($40,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $46,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $86,000. We start with $8,000 from our founding board and $80,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a dental society, $88,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $198,000 in Year 1 to about $316,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $128,000, $159,500, $138,500, $170,500 and $150,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Oral Health Funding from $40,000 to $72,000; medicaid Reimbursement from $14,000 to $54,000; health Partners from $16,000 to $40,000. Our surplus is planned at about $8,000 in Year 1, about $11,000 in Year 2, about $11,400 in Year 3, about $14,600 in Year 4 and about $15,600 in Year 5. We grow from 6 schools to 14 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $64,100, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $7,920 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per child. In Year 1, our total costs are about $317 per child served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more child served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $215 per child.

After the grant. State oral health funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free school dental care option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of childs and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $128,000 in Year 1, growing to $150,500 in Year 5.
- State Oral Health Funding: $40,000 in Year 1, growing to $72,000 in Year 5.
- Medicaid Reimbursement: $14,000 in Year 1, growing to $54,000 in Year 5.
- Health Partners: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $44,000; dental Hygienist (part-time) $30,000; dental Assistant (part-time) $20,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: sealant Materials and Supplies $12,000; portable Equipment Maintenance $5,000; consent Mailings and Outreach $4,000; transportation $6,000; malpractice and Compliance $5,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $30,000 at the start, then $3,000 to $4,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $40,000, paid once from $88,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 600 in Year 1, growing to about 1400 in Year 5. Sites: 6 in Year 1, growing to 14 by Year 5. Visits take place during the school year, with each school visited at least twice.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs