National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library

This practice brief developed by the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE), is a follow up to the recent research brief, “Adverse Childhood Experiences and the School-Age Population". It includes an overview of ACES mitigation and prevention strategies from a national perspective using CDC and ACES Connection information, and highlights specific state examples of legislation, policies, and practices that have been adopted.

On March 28, 2019, the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment hosted the "Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Out-of-School Time" webinar.  Co-hosted with the National Afterschool Association, the event included discussion of: research about school-age children's development and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); strategies, challenges, and solutions for providing support to school-age children in Out-of-School Time (OST) programs in the areas of social and emotional development, safe zones, family engagement, and academics; and promising practices for state system building that can strengthen supports to help school-age children overcome ACEs and build resilience.

This report aims to challenge the prevailing discourse about Black children from one that overemphasizes limitations and deficits to one that draws upon strengths, assets, and resilience. It weaves together: (1) essays by experts; (2) examples of places where Black children are succeeding; and (3) data on how Black children and families are doing to determine how best to support Black children. Individual state reports are available for Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Caring for Our Children is a continually updated set of standards based on the best evidence, expertise, and experiences about quality health and safety practices and policies. This is the fourth edition and it includes a list of changes made since the third edition was published in 2011. It is organized into ten chapters, including topics like staffing; program activities for healthy development; nutrition and food service; facilities; playground and play areas; infectious diseases; special needs; and administration.

This issue brief reviews the benefits of a coordinated systems approach between afterschool and workforce. It provides examples of city afterschool models that  provide opportunities for career exploration and building skills in effective communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving. It includes a framework developed by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education from the U.S. Department of Education.

CASEL's District Resource Center is developed in partnership with school districts that are part of the Collaborating Districts Initiative, which has recently been enhanced. This tool kit is also intended to provide resources to out-of-school programs. It is organized into four focus areas: (1) Build Foundational Support and Plan; (2) Strengthen Adult Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies and Capacity; (3) Promote SEL for Students; and (4) Practice Continuous Improvement. There is a tab of resources, organized by alphabetical order so, for example, C includes college and career readiness and R includes restorative practices. There are also rubrics and a section on SEL and Equity.

This video, produced by Temescal Associates, How Kids Learn Foundation, and Change Agent Productions, provides a unique overview of the important role afterschool has played in American history, beginning in the 1880's with the age of industrialization. It is broken into 12 brief chapters that captures the social upheaval of the late 1800's, then the growing need for supervision into the 1900's, and the rapid growth over the past 50 years. There is an accompanying 19-page Learner's Guide that can be used as part of a workshop or a college course here: History of Afterschool in America - Learning Guide.

This issue brief provides guidance to support Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) agencies and their partners on using cost estimates to inform rate setting. It outlines factors that influence the cost of care, both at base costs and at higher levels of quality. This brief can be helpful for school-age networks or providers participating in the CCDF requirement that states consider cost information to set payment rates and write a report. 

This toolkit is designed to help state system planners from early childhood, Head Start, and schools create plans for a successful transition to kindergarten. It includes materials like a transition and alignment summit guide, a questionnaire on transition practices, and research and resources on why transition matters and how to engage families. This information could be helpful for out-of-school time system planners, who could be important partners in transition planning.

This website offers a variety of technical assistance activities and supports to build system capacity to improve outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families. The Practices Section may be especially helpful to state administrators as it offers: (1) a guide to the process of implementing evidence-based practices statewide, based on work done implementing the Pyramid Model in 25 states; plus (2) tools such as checklists and practice guides to help practitioners and families improve their skills, plan interventions, and self-evaluate their use of recommended practices. Although targeted at supporting young children, most of the underlying principles and procedures apply to school-age children too.