National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library

This resource is a clearinghouse of data on supports for early childhood program leaders in state-by-state profiles, with a national overview. School-age leaders can learn what their state mandates for leadership qualifications as required by licensing and QRIS. They can also learn about higher education opportunities, salaries, and other key supports. Each state receives a score based on policies the state has to support leaders, including early childhood and family child care leaders.  

The Afterschool Alliance has developed an easy-to-use searchable database on evidence-based impacts of afterschool and summer programs. You can search for evaluations by scope (national, state, or city based); by state, by community type, by grade level, by population (e.g., girls, high poverty, English language learner); by research focus (e.g., academic, SEL, STEM, health and wellness), and by whether the research is experimental, quasi-experimental, or non-experimental.

This toolkit is designed to support states and territories in designing a policy approach to promote social emotional development and reduce the likelihood of expulsion and suspension. It is suggested that stakeholder teams complete the rubric to create a plan that could include strategies on data collection, program practices, and workforce supports that could reduce expulsion and suspension.  This resource supports resilience.

This issue brief has taken the traditional logic model approach and translated it into a less daunting process so all community members can participate in a community-based organization planning process. The approach breaks the process into a series of questions that can be completed within two hours.The process can be used to create a program-level logic model, or to create a logic model to guide state afterschool network or state system-building efforts. 

This report explores why libraries are well positioned to be allies in increasing family engagement. The strategies shared come from a review of the literature, a survey of library directors, and a learning community of librarians. The paper concludes with a call for action and a framework libraries can use to work with schools, community organizations, and service providers in establishing better systems of family engagement that support the learning and success of children and families. A companion book, "Ideabook: Libraries for Families," offers a framework, examples, and practical strategies to guide libraries in their work to engage families.

This issue brief provides basic tips for those working with homeless youth and young adults on how to respond most effectively. Tips include how to improve interactions with staff and peers, and how to help the ability of youth to participate successfully in programs.  This resource supports resilience.

This self-assessment tool is designed to help providers evaluate how to be more responsive in serving children and families experiencing homelessness. It includes indicators and related resources on how to identify and support families, removing barriers, responding to family needs, strategic collaboration, and collecting data.  This resource supports resilience.   

This toolkit is designed to raise awareness among 12-17 year olds of the serious consequences of misusing prescription drugs. The tool kit includes a facilitation guide and teen activities such as how to manage stress, avoid negative influences, and make healthier choices. This resource supports resilience.

You for Youth (Y4Y) is a virtual hub for Out-of-School Time (OST) providers. This website offers free professional development courses, tips on training staff, resources and tools for designing high-quality programs, and answers to questions. Although designed for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), the resources are available to the public at no cost; the only exception is technical assistance, which is available only to state 21st CCLC coordinators, by request.

(This resource supports the COVID-19 response.)

Taking a cross-sector approach can be an effective strategy to engage out-of-school time (OST) programs in quality improvement systems. From December of 2016 through March of 2017, the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE) engaged cross-sector planning teams in an OST collaboration on topics including: readiness and stages of change in building cross-sector partnerships; quality rating improvement system participation and incentives; leadership, technical assistance, and continuous quality improvement; and strengthening adult-child interactions and instructional quality.

This practice brief is the second in a series published by NCASE to build awareness of promising practices in school-age child care.  A cross-sector approach to engagement in quality improvement systems can help to raise awareness of the need to include OST and can support more efficient use of resources for improving school-age child outcomes. Examples from Georgia and Wisconsin are highlighted.  Este documento también está disponible en español.