The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program was reauthorized in 2015 in Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 21st CCLC programs provide academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students meet challenging…

A quality improvement system (QIS) is an intentional effort to raise the quality of afterschool programming in an ongoing, organized fashion. There are a number of reasons the QIS is gaining popularity. The main reasons community leaders are drawn to improving quality is that they know that 1) higher quality programs will mean better experiences…

In cities and towns across America, millions of children and youth get out of school by mid-afternoon but have neither a safe, supervised place to go nor a structured or engaging activity in which to participate. Because the hours between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. are when young people are most likely to be affected by crime or to engage in risky…

Extended learning opportunities (ELOs) provide safe, structured learning environments for students outside the traditional school day. ELOs include afterschool and summer learning programs as well as before-school, evening, and weekend programs. ELOs come in many forms and can include tutoring, volunteering, academic support, community service,…

With most parents now in the workforce, the demand for high-quality out-of-school time (OST) opportunities for children and youth continues to grow across the country. An estimated 14.3 million children and youth return each day to an empty home unsupervised, and with no opportunities to constructively occupy their time. By building strong,…

There are natural connections between the afterschool community and the law enforcement/crime prevention community. According to a recent report from the organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the hours between three and six PM are the "prime time for juvenile crime." Afterschool hours are when teenagers are most likely to commit crimes, be…

Noting that out-of-school time and community school initiatives are operating in a rapidly changing policy context and that tobacco settlement funds provide a flexible, significant inflow of new state revenue, this strategy brief provides policymakers, community leaders, and program developers with background information on the tobacco settlement…

Despite widespread support for out-of-school time programs, many of these programs rely on time-limited core funding and struggle to find new funds to sustain their programs and initiatives as initial grants expire. This report provides concrete tips and examines ways out-of-school time initiative leaders have succeeded in replacing initial seed…

Sustainability is a critical issue for the vast array of community initiatives that promote healthy children, strong families, and safe communities. Noting that sustaining an initiative over time requires maintaining sufficient fiscal resources as well as a combination of nonfiscal resources from the initiative itself and the broader community,…

Noting the importance of good nutrition to out-of-school time programs serving children, this strategy brief provides an overview of the major sources of federal food and nutrition funds that can support out-of-school time and community school programs. The brief then highlights five strategies that community leaders and program developers can…

This guide for early childhood program administrators provides guidelines and makes suggestions for planning special events to facilitate opportunities for parents, children, teachers, and organizations to connect in ways that strengthen individuals and communities and raise money for the organization. Part 1, "Planning," focuses on…

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant has great potential for funding out-of-school time and community school initiatives. While the flexibility that states have in allocating TANF funds presents significant opportunity for innovation, it also presents a dizzying array of policy options. This strategy brief presents…

Various types of after-school child care programs are discussed, and characteristics of high-quality programs, such as staff requirements, parental involvement, and space needs are identified. Suggestions for administering and financing these programs are included. (PP)

This publication presents a tool for community foundations interested in developing out-of-school-time programs in their communities. It explores what is being learned about efforts to build quality systems and to challenge community foundations to help their communities sustain them. The accounts it presents were gathered through a survey of over…

This worksheet is part of a series of technical assistance resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiatives. The worksheet is intended to help developers of such programs to create one type of financial projection--an operating budget--that identifies the range of costs that their initiative will incur. To…