Opportunities for Afterschool in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Afterschool programs, a critical support to so many struggling families and communities,have tremendous opportunities to benefit from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.  The bill not only provides additional dollars to initiatives that already support afterschool, but also creates unprecedented supports for children and families that can potentially support afterschool efforts. Further, in several key areas, national and state agencies will be creating new policy that can have lasting effects on education and afterschool.  Making good use of all of these opportunities to help keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families requires strategic thinking and planning on the part of afterschool providers and advocates.  The Afterschool Alliance has launched a special project to pursue these opportunities, with an aim of realizing short and long term benefits for the afterschool community.  Tools and strategies designed to help afterschool providers access new funds and resources are being posted here.

Afterschool & Economic Recovery

From the Afterschool Alliance:

Our nation is facing its greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. We all have a part to play in getting America moving again. The afterschool community, working with our partners in the schools, law enforcement, faith-based organizations and business and labor, is ready to do its part for moving our nation forward today and towards a better future for tomorrow.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill, as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, contains many potential supports for afterschool, including all of the recommendations the Afterschool Alliance presented to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) last November to help struggling afterschool programs, participants and their families.  The Senate version of the bill is similar, but cuts a significant amount of education funds.  See a comparison of the two bills. The House and Senate are conferencing the week of February 9 with a goal of delivering a bill to the President by President’s Day recess.   See our wiki page for unofficial reports on the compromise bill.  Make sure your voices are heard by contacting Congress and asking Members to urge conferees to keep the afterschool meal and education supports provided in the House bill.
 

It will be just as important for afterschool programs and groups to work locally to ensure that dollars go to afterschool efforts.  We will be posting tools and tips here to help you in these efforts.  The President and Secretary of Education have said that good use of the dollars now will impact future investment decisions, so it is imperative that afterschool advocates move quickly.

Most Promising Opportunities for Afterschool (based on the House bill)

$2 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG), about one third to be used to support children in afterschool programs. 
$79 billion in the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, of which 61 percent must be used for education, with the remainder going to other critical needs including public safety and public services. Afterschool leaders and programs can make a case to Governors that some of these funds should support afterschool programs.  These funds have been reduced in the Senate bill.  
$726 million for Afterschool Meals for At-Risk Children.  This provision is not included in the Senate bill.   
$13 billion for Title I, to help disadvantaged students reach high academic standards—a portion of these funds can be used to support afterschool programs.  These funds have been reduced in the Senate bill.   
$200 million for additional AmeriCorp and AmeriCorps VISTA members.  AmeriCorps members currently help staff many afterschool programs, and additional members could be a great resource for struggling afterschool programs.
There are other provisions in the bill that could potentially benefit afterschool, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Workforce Investment Act and School Construction funds.

State by State Data:

Forecasts for your state’s portion of these funds: State Chart created by National Conference of State Legislatures

Data on low income children in your state, and how CCDBG are being used in the state: Afterschool Investments Project

Facts about afterschool demand and supply in your state and 21st CCLC funding: Afterschool In My State

Chart illustrating the estimated state by state allocations to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for education under House Appropriations Committee Draft 2009 economic recovery bill.

How to Access Funds

As our nation faces great challenges, and afterschool has its role to play in helping America get through this time. We can, working with our partners, support struggling families, provide gainful employment and help prepare our young people to be part of a 21st Century global workforce. The first step for afterschool leaders to take is to ensure that state leaders and agencies will allow, or even fast track, support for afterschool efforts.  We need to make the case that afterschool is an important economic support for the short and long term.  The second step will be helping providers navigate the application process.  We will be providing tips, tools and ideas generated by us and afterschool advocates around the country on these topics. See:

The Afterschool & Economic Recovery Wiki to read and post questions, ideas and strategies around the bill and specific potential funding streams.

Webpages (posting as they are completed) for each potential funding stream with background on the program, facts and stats about afterschool ties to the issue, and tips and updates related to tapping these dollars: Service and AmeriCorps, Afterschool Meals, CCDBG, (others coming)

Message Points on Making the Case:   It is important to talk to your contacts in state leadership and at state agencies now to see how funds might roll out.  Be sure to relay that afterschool programs are a vital support to families and children today, and critical to  the workforce of tomorrow. 

Tips:

Mine the speeches and statements of your Mayor, legislature or Governor before you craft your letter or talking points.  Make sure you mirror their priorities in making the tie to afterschool supports.
Convey the urgency of help needed for our nation today, and success tomorrow.  Afterschool provides a critical support to many families and communities. 
Whenever possible, humanize the issue with anecdotes or examples.
People rely on their afterschool programs – to keep their kids safe, to help them keep their jobs or be able to look for work, to give their kids a healthy snack or meal and provide critical learning support.  We should not feel bad about pressing for the need to give families and communities these supports.

Talking Points:

We can help keep America’s workers employed, provide new jobs, help parents find work, and prepare our nation’s future workforce
We need to support America’s struggling working families.  Families are relying even more on afterschool supports as they work to keep their jobs, take on more hours, or struggle to afford basic necessities for their children.  Parents with afterschool care are more productive at work, less stressed about the welfare of their children, and consequently, miss fewer days of work.  For low income children, programs are often a reliable source of nutritious snacks or a hot meal.
Afterschool programs provide much-needed jobs for adults and young adults. In the U.S. (replace with your state) today, afterschool programs serve 6.5 million children (replace with figure for your state from America After 3PM), providing jobs for an estimated 650,000 adults (replace with 10% of kids served in your state, based on assumption of 1 adult for every 10 kids).  There is demand for afterschool programs to serve another 15 million children nationally—a potential of more than 1 million jobs for individuals with a wide variety of background and experience, from young adults to baby boomers.
Afterschool programs provide the added value of investing in our future workforce.  Children in afterschool programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate and are exploring pathways to new careers.  Through hands-on learning, they are developing the critical thinking, leadership and problem solving skills that employers say are vital.  Investing in afterschool programs now is a down payment on tomorrow’s workforce, and a successful economy.  As US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said, we need to “educate our way to a better economy.”
The Afterschool Alliance has sent a letter to all Members of Congress to encourage them to vote for a final economic recovery package that would provide support to afterschool programs and to the families that depend on them.  You could use it as a guideline for your own letter to make the case for more afterschool funding in the final economic recovery package. We will keep posting new resources throughout this process; if you have a request or an idea please email info@afterschoolalliance.org.

Also See: 

Afterschool Programs: A Wise Public Investment

Afterschool Programs Help Working Families

Afterschool Programs: Helping Kids Compete in Tomorrow s Workforce

15,000 AZ Children to Lose Child Care March 1st

ARIZONA CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION

15,000 Children to Lose Child Care March 1st

Another 5,000 Children to Be Denied by June 30th

The Department of Economic Security (DES) provided preliminary details of the impact of the agencies’ shortfalls, legislative lump sum reductions, and fund sweeps totaling $153 million.  DES provides a partial subsidy for child care to allow low income parents to work.  Over $25 million of the reductions the agency was required to make were in child care.  Given the magnitude of these reductions, the impact will be devastating for children and low income working parents who will loose their child care virtually overnight.  Teachers who care for children will be laid off and providers who serve a large number of poor children will see their income immediately drop, for some to levels that may put them out of business.  More specific information is expected to be received, and some figures may change but this is what we know.
 
15,000 children will no longer receive the subsidy March 1st.  This is about 1/3 of all DES children who receive the subsidy and includes parents whose qualifying incomes are as low as an estimated $9.25 per hour or $1,600 per month for a family of three.
 
The cuts create an immediate crisis for almost 8,200 parents.  The vast majority are single parents who have no other options and need child care assistance to work and stay off welfare.  
These reductions will have an immediate impact on the child care workforce.  For every 10 -11 children that a child care center loses, 1 teachers or staff member will lose their jobs – over 1,100 people in total as a result of these cuts.
 
In addition to the removal of thousands of children from care, co-pays parents are required to make will be increased by 30% for parents with two children remaining in care.  Also, the rates paid to the child care providers will be reduced to the cost of care in the year 2000, with parents expected to make up the difference.  Since the costs of staff and facilities are fixed, lower State payments will have to be passed on to parents who can’t afford to pay any more.  

The waiting list will be put into place February 18th. and by June 30th, and 5,000 children will have been denied child care at the time when parents need assistance to take a job.

The final Conference Agreement for the Economic Recovery package has $2 billion specified
for child care and will be available upon enactment.  It is estimated that Arizona’s share is estimated
at $25 million per year for the next two years – enough to restore the child care services for eligible families. For details go to http://clasp.org/publications/aara_childcarestatealloc.pdf
 
ACCA calls on the Governor and legislature to immediately draw down federal child care funds to prevent these cuts and continue to provide child care to eligible working families.

Please contact Bruce Liggett, Executive Director at 602-291-9451 for additional information.

“The Arizona Child Care Association is a professional non-profit organization of licensed private non-profit and proprietary child care centers.  The ACCA mission is to promote accessible, affordable, and quality early care and education that meets the needs of Arizona’s families and children.”

An Extended Youth

Blog entry from Ypulse: Youth marketing to teens, tweens & Generation Y (Gen Y) – Daily news & commentary @ Ypulse (Posted by casey on 10-29-2008 )

 

The youth market has always been defined as tweens, teens, and sometimes college students, but Viacom’s recent “Golden Age of Youth” study reveals that marketers should begin including the 25-34 age group as part of their youth target. Call it the Peter Pan syndrome if you will, but the survey found that contemporary twentysomethings prolong their youth and delay “the onset of adult responsibilities and stay emotionally and physically younger for longer.”

 

Because the traditional duties that come with adulthood, like mortgages, children, marriage, and developing a strong sense of self-identity now happen later in life, 52% of 25-34 year-olds said they still have “a lot of growing up to do.”

 

According to an article from MarketingVox:

 

“Even in these financially challenging times, people are trying to stay younger for longer,” said Kevin Razvi, EVP and managing director of VBSI. “25-to-34 year-olds are continuing to consume music, gaming and the internet and are enjoying the pursuits of their younger years while benefiting from a greater level of personal and financial freedom.”

 

The study identified three key stages of youth that all have similar lifestyle choices and spending interests: “discovery” is defined as 16-19 years old, “experimentation” is 20-24 years old, and “golden” is 25-34 years old. A lot of ground was covered, but here are some interesting – and in some cases, amusing – highlights:

 

- 20 is the ideal age to lose your virginity

 

- 26 is the ideal age for love

 

- 27 is the ideal age to be a parent

 

- 71% of 25-34 year olds agree they feel comfortable with who they are

 

- 25-34 year olds who are married are significantly more likely to be happy (66%) vs. singles (30%)

 

- In general, 78% are optimistic about their future

 

Why do you think the “youth market” has expanded? Boomeranging millennials moving back home? Youth culture as pop culture? What’s behind this alleged case of arrested development?

 

A Guide to Assessing and Increasing School Engagement

From Child Trends

 Students who are disengaged from school are at risk for many poor outcomes beyond poor academic achievement.  They are at risk of skipping classes, sexual activity, substance use, and ultimately dropping out of school.  A new Child Trends brief, Assessing School Engagement: A Guide for Out-Of-School Time Program Practitioners, provides information on why school engagement matters, how out-of-school time programs can affect school engagement, and how to measure engagement.  The brief includes specific measures of school engagement from three surveys and a list of additional resources.

http://www.childtrends.org/_docdisp_page.cfm?LID=4C528ECE-4665-42C9-A069FEF7043C7971

Inclusion Champion Award to Honor Efforts on Behalf of Youth With Disabilities

Name: Inclusion Champion Award to Honor Efforts on Behalf of Youth With Disabilities

Sponsor: Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation

Deadline: 12/1/2009

Amount: $1,000

Type: Social & Economic, Education

Description: The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, which works to help young people with disabilities to lead full and productive lives, is accepting nominations for the MEAF Inclusion Champion Award.

The award honors individuals who have made significant efforts to promote the full inclusion of youth with disabilities in society. The focus of the efforts may include, but is not limited to, helping to create a culture of inclusion within an organization or community or developing innovative strategies for inclusive programming in: school activities, after-school programs, community service, and leadership development.

The criteria for selection include: evidence that attitudes have changed and inclusion has been embraced due to the individual’s efforts; measurable impact on the lives of young people with and without disabilities due to the individual’s efforts; and sustainability of inclusion outcomes.

The Inclusion Champion Award will be presented during the Kids Included Together annual conference in March 2009. The award consists of a trophy and $1,000 donated to the charity of the champion’s choice.

Visit the MEAF Web site for complete nomination guidelines.

Website: Link to RFP

ACF Basics: an informal and interactive workshop – The Arizona Community Foundation

November 26; and January 28, 2009 (Phoenix)

The Arizona Community Foundation invites you to join its programs department for ACF Basics, a free workshop outlining the ACF grantmaking process. This ongoing seminar is intended to familiarize nonprofit organizations with ACF’s grantmaking procedures, and will provide valuable information about ACF’s initiatives and funding opportunities. This informal and interactive workshop will cover several topics, including: Funding priorities; Grant cycles; Eligibility requirements; Components of ACF’s online grant application; and The grant application review process. All nonprofit organizations interested in applying for ACF funding are invited to attend this workshop.

Date/Time: Held on the fourth Wednesday of every month, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Upcoming sessions include: October 22; November 26; and January 28, 2009.
Location: Arizona Community Foundation, 2201 E. Camelback Road, Suite 202, Phoenix, AZ 85016.

Seating is limited; please RSVP to klewis@azfoundation.org or 602-381-1400, ext. 2065. Remember to indicate which session you plan to attend.

Moving Beyond the Survey: Two Workshops Aimed at Understanding and Implementing Research

Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix
October 29 (Phoenix)

Morning Workshop 9 a.m. – Noon: Understanding the Process of Research, Program Planning and Evaluation

This session will provide you with valuable information on prioritizing what you should be measuring. You will also learn how research can be integrated into your marketing and strategic plan, and how your results can be useful in meeting funding requirements. In this session you will:

• Determine what to measure
• Learn why one tactic works better than another
• Strengthen the connection of your research to your mission and strategic plan.

Networking Lunch 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. (FREE if you register for both workshops)

Afternoon Workshop 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Implementing the Process of Research, Program Planning and Evaluation

Now that you have the tools and best practices, it’s time to create your own research plan. This session will guide you in drafting a research plan that you can implement easily and with confidence. In this session you will:

• Learn how to analyze your research
• Discover resources, online tools, and tactics for measurement
• Develop a research plan with five things you can do right away.

Both Sessions are Facilitated by Mitch Menchaca: Mitch is the senior director of programs at the Arizona Commission on the Arts, where he manages the agency’s programs and initiatives for organizations and communities.

To register: Please visit http://www.artsbusinessphoenix.org/pdf/08registration_form.pdf or call 602 234-4711
Cost: $50 per workshop.
Location: Flinn Foundation, 1802 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ. http://flinn.org/facilities/facilities.cms

Online Briefing on Economic Crisis Oct 30!

Join us for a timely briefing on:

The Economic Crisis

How we got into this mess.
What we as a nation and as advocates can do about it.

Thursday, October 30, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. eastern time

Register for webcast at: www.bostonconferencing.com/chn

Financial meltdown, credit crunch, the burst housing bubble, rising unemployment . . . the economic situation is tumultuous and scary. Between the finance jargon and the finger-pointing about blame, it is pretty hard to understand what’s going on and, most important, how to evaluate the solutions being proposed. This webcast is for people who care about rebuilding our economy in a way that includes low- and moderate-income people, both protecting them and recognizing that the only sustainable prosperity is shared prosperity.

You’ll learn from experts what you need to know about the current crisis in the economy and in housing, and what Congress and a new Administration may do about it.

Presenters:

 

- Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy Institute
Author of Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries). Jared is famous for plain-English explanations and wit. His quotes and advice are widely sought out by press, candidates, and public officials.

- Barry Zigas, Consumer Federation of America
Barry is Housing Policy Director at the Consumer Federation of America, and is a leading expert on low-income housing policy, with previous experience at Fannie Mae and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

- Deborah Weinstein, Coalition on Human Needs
Debbie is Executive Director of CHN. She will discuss what Congress is considering and offer practical suggestions about how you can help shape the agenda.

We’re trying something new: This event will be webcast live from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. DC-based advocates will attend. Advocates outside of DC can tune in and watch on their computers. We will leave plenty of time for questions, taking them both from those in the room and from participants watching from undisclosed locations all around the country.

If you can join us in person: Please RSVP to Maricela Donahue, mdonahue@chn.org. Webcast location: Economic Policy Institute, 1333 H Street, NW; Suite 300; Washington, DC.

For online participation, click here to register.

Please forward this invite to your networks and encourage others to join us too!

This event is presented by the Coalition on Human Needs. Co-Sponsors (list in formation): AFSCME, American Association of University Women (AAUW), American Friends Service Committee, Beyond the Boundaries – Archdiocese of Baltimore, Building Changes, Catholic Charities USA, Child Welfare League of America, CLASP, Community Action Partnership, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Family Economic Initiative, Generations United, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Lutheran Services in America, National Association for State Community Service Programs (NASCSP), National Center for Law and Economic Justice, National Employment Law Project, National Head Start Association, National Jobs for All Coalition, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Research Center for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center, NEA, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, RESULTS, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy, The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society, US Action, Voices for America’s Children, Washington Office of Public Policy and the Office of Community Actions – Women’s Division United Methodist Church, Wider Opportunities for Women, Workforce Professionals Training Institute and YWCA USA.

FREE Online Orientation Required For New Staff In DHS Licensed Programs!

The Pima Community College Center for Early Childhood Studies (a community partnership with significant funding from United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona,) the Pima County Superintendent of School’s Office, the Sonoran Alliance for Youth, and the Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children collaborated on the creation of this orientation material.

Meets Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) requirements for new staff members in licensed early childhood programs.

 http://www.pimaregionalsupport.org/ece_vid/

This orientation includes:

• S*CCEEDS certificate for 1 hour of registered training.
• DHS checklist for staff file.
• An evaluation of your understanding to share with your supervisor