The Region : 5 Districts Get Health Grants

Five San Gabriel Valley school districts have been awarded state grants to provide health services to economically disadvantaged children and their families.

The Pasadena and Pomona districts each will receive $400,000 over three years, said Susan Lordi, a county consultant on school health programs.

In Pasadena, two schools will divide the $400,000 grant. Cleveland and Madison Elementary schools will use the money to create family service centers, said Cleveland Principal Pam Powell.

Each center will offer a comprehensive health program and immunize 900 children as well as provide job training, parenting classes and low-cost child care.

Sharon Goodrich, Pomona Unified’s program coordinator, said the district will use its $400,000 grant to provide social services to families at Simon Middle School, Alcott Elementary School and George Washington Elementary School.

The Hacienda La Puente Unified, Duarte and Monrovia districts received smaller grants to plan similar health programs, officials said.

To be eligible for a grant, more than half of the families served by a school must qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

Twenty-two Los Angeles County districts received grants from the state Healthy Start program. The state cut funding for the two-year-old program from $19 million to $13 million this year.