National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library

This toolkit was designed as a learning resource to enhance opportunities to support mental and social-emotional health for children and adolescents in afterschool programs. It includes: (1) an overview of emotions and behaviors seen in youth; (2) definitions and descriptions of common mental disorders; (3) signs and symptoms of crisis in youth; and (4) resources for managing challenging behaviors and accessing supports.

This blog points out that there is a clear need to invest in and expand early care and education programs that serve Native American children and families. Federal law often sets funding levels as a percentage of total authorization without determining funding based on tribal populations or needs that reflect disproportionately higher unemployment and poverty.

Based on a survey of parents or guardians of school-aged children living in a rural community, this blog provides insights into the current afterschool and summer program landscape in rural America, in particular the significant and rising unmet demand in rural communities. It compares and contrasts the experience of rural parents to their non-rural counterparts. The full report can be found at https://www.afterschoolalliance.org/documents/AA3PM/AA3PM-Rural-Report-2021.pdf?utm_source=AfterschoolSnack&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=AA3PM_Rural&utm_term=Walton

This report chronicles the efforts of four cities—Boston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC—to expand summer program opportunities for low-income students. It examines district-led efforts toward creating coordinated approaches to increasing access to quality summer learning, noting challenges, enablers, and early outcomes. It notes how the partners developed a shared vision and strong leadership, coordinated their work, raised funds to sustain the work, and collected and analyzed diagnostic data to gauge their progress. It includes recommendations to help other cities launch and sustain coordinated networks.

Staffing shortages preceded the pandemic, but have been exacerbated by them, leading to a drop in capacity to enroll and serve youth at a time that these supports are most needed. This issue brief, published by Temescal Associates and How Kids Learn Foundation, explores the reasons for the staffing shortage, the impact, and potential strategies that keep equity in the forefront. A companion webinar, Responding to the Afterschool Worker Shortage, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHhOwZxWm20&ab_channel=HowkidsLearn

This slide deck presents research on how parents, teachers, and Out-of-School Time (OST) providers perceive the value of OST in children’s social, emotional, and academic development. A companion toolkit, available in Spanish too, includes a video of research highlights and a playbook for educators, providers, and advocates to communicate the benefits of OST programs and develop policies that make these opportunities more accessible https://bealearninghero.org/ost-toolkit/. 

There’s also a webinar called Making the Case for OST: The Perspectives of Parents, Educators, and Providers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7e8zl3zCN4&ab_channel=IanF

This webinar shares information from a study about the state of relationships in schools and Out-of-School Time (OST) programs in Minnesota by the Search Institute. The study shows that only 60% of youth report having a strong developmental relationship with an adult, with only 38% saying they had a strong relationship with an adult in school and 73% in OST. It explores barriers and how we as adults can do better in building relationships, especially important in these times of the pandemic. The related study is The State of Relationships: Young People's Relationships with Adults in Minnesota Schools and Out-of-School Time Programs.  https://www.search-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IE-State-of-Relationships-Report-PFINALv2-1.pdf

This report summarizes findings from focus groups and interviews from four states (WI, MA, CA, FL) about why family child care providers enter the field, stay in the work, or leave the field. Reasons cited for leaving include early childhood systems and policies such as challenges with licensing, as well as the lack of support and respect. The report includes implications for future research and for policies. 

Given the prominence of the child care licensing system, it is important to determine how it can be more equitable on behalf of the providers, and the children and families it serves. This issue brief provides questions for licensing administrators and their staff to help identify and consider inequities in the licensing systems. The questions are organized into eight sections: (1) licensing leadership; (2) licensing staff; (3) communication; (4) provider and family voices; (5) data and evaluation; (6) regulations; (7) pre-licensure and initial support for providers; and (8) provider training and technical assistance.  

See the excellent related webinar, Role and Responsibility of Licensing in Achieving Equity in the Early Childhood System

This issue brief outlines eight strategies with state examples for improving child care compensation: (1) compensation scales and standards; (2) wage stipends and bonus payments, (3) tax credits for child care educators; (4) ARPA stabilization subgrants; (5) child care assistance; (6) benefits; (7) apprenticeships; and (8) Pre-K parity for child care. Although focused on early childhood, these strategies are applicable to the school-age field too. There is also a webinar, Child Care Compensation Counts: 8 Strategies, with panelists from IL, DE, and PA to share work they are doing on compensation scales and wage stipends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDHxRseiRa8

BUILD hopes to hold provide more events on the other six strategies. This resource supports equity.