Advocacy and Policy
Number of unique resources found: 25
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DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN OST PARTICIPATION
Description: This summary presents key findings on differences in multiple dimensions of
participation in a range of OST activities and among youth from varying family income levels and racial and ethnic groups.
KEY FINDINGS: WHAT PREDICTS PARTICIPATION IN OST?
Description: This Fact Sheet summarizes findings and implications from HFRP's recently completed Study of Predictors of Participation in OST
Activities. It examines child, family, school, and neighborhood predictors of children's participation in OST activities, paying special attention to disadvantaged youth.
National AfterSchool Association
Description: The mission of the National AfterSchool Association is to be the leading voice of the after-school profession dedicated to the development, education, and care of children and youth during their out-of-school hours.
National Institute on Out-of-School Time
Description: The mission of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time is to ensure that all children, youth, and families have access to high quality programs, activities, and opportunities during non-school hours.
National Institute on Out-of-School Time
Description: The mission of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time is to ensure that all children, youth, and families have access to high quality programs, activities, and opportunities during non-school hours. NIOST believes that these experiences are essential to the healthy development of children and youth, who then can become effective and capable members of society. Our work bridges the worlds of research and practice.
Author: Pittman, Karen (6 more by this author); Nicole Yohalem; Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom
Description: While significant progress has occurred over the past several years in terms of expanding both the quantity and quality of after-school opportunities, the ambitious idea of “after-school for all” remains a distant goal. In this commentary, we push beyond some of the basic numbers to take a close look at questions related to access and equity, in order to surface tensions and share concrete recommendations for addressing concerns at the policy and program levels.
Description: SparkAction brings together the latest news, stories and tools from across the child and youth field so you can get informed and take action on the issues that matter most to you.
Description: The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of afterschool programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group of public, private and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's vision of ensuring that all children have access to afterschool programs by 2010.
Youth Today: Wanted: Youth Work Principles in Schools
Author: Pittman, Karen (6 more by this author)
Description: “The principles of good youth work apply everywhere. Help young people get them (and you) into their schools.”
– Evaluation –
A Shared Vision for Youth: Common Indicators and Outcomes
Description: Problems affecting kids are well-documented. How do we know how well children in a given community are progressing? This framework offers common outcomes and indicators that can be used by youth development programs and initiatives.
Beyond Safe Havens: A Synthesis of 20 Years of Research on the Boys & Girls Clubs, Full Report
Author: Arbreton, Amy; Carla Herrera; Jessica Sheldon
Description: P/PV recently launched a multiyear study to understand the role that Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of early adolescents. Beyond Safe Havens, a prelude to the larger study, reviews the range of evaluations that have been conducted on Boys & Girls Clubs over the past 20 years. The report identifies the potential benefits of the many discrete programs provided by Clubs and discusses three additional studies that examined the broader club experience. It also outlines the strategies that seem to have contributed to the Clubs’ successes, as well as any challenges that may have impeded more positive results. The report concludes with a brief description of a planned longitudinal evaluation of Club members as they transition to high school—an evaluation meant to provide documentation of the effect of teens’ broad Club experiences on a wide range of outcomes.
Author: Pittman, Karen (6 more by this author); Nicole Yohalem; Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom
Description: On February 3, 2003, the Bush Administration unveiled its request to cut funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program by 40 percent in fiscal year 2004. This date also marked the administration's release of When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Learning Centers Program, First Year Findings, the first report from the federally-funded evaluation being undertaken by Mathematica Policy Research. With these events as the backdrop, this commentary addresses the potential for, and threats to, the development of a healthy, connected out-of-school time system. When and how are evaluations useful? What does the 21st Century evaluation tell us? How do the findings square with other studies? What is the state of system building in out-of-school time? What challenges lie ahead?
– General Information –
Description: "This commentary takes readers on a cross-country tour of after-school innovation – from northern and southern California to Chicago, New York and New Hampshire. In On the Ground we describe two very different school-based models in California. In Research Update we summarize lessons from recent evaluations of After School Matters in Chicago and the OST Initiative in New York City and identify studies to watch for. In Voices from the Field we talk with leaders from New Hampshire where an ambitious high school redesign effort is building upon successful high school after-school programs."
Rethinking the High School Experience: What's After-School Got to Do With It? 
Description: “With high school reform now a front-burner issue, districts and communities cannot afford to have high school after-school on the back burner. In this commentary, we focus on how and why the high school reform and after-school movements need to be woven together to produce a solid system of learning opportunities and developmental supports designed to help all young people prepare for the future.”
– Professional Development –
Do's and Don'ts of Media Relations
Description: Here are ten tips for interacting with members of the press for youth-serving organizations.
Description: Read tips from two nonprofit board chairs about how you can encourage board members to be spokespeople for your cause.
– Programming Resource –
Description: Information about federal resources that support children and youth during after school hours.
At Your Doorstep: Creating Family Connections Outdoors
Author: DeBord, Karen (61 more by this author); Lucy Bradley, Liz Driscoll
Description: Families who spend time outside together with their children in natural environments can increase their physical activity, connect family members with one another, and connect children with nature. This webinar focuses on a new toolkit, At Your Doorstep, developed by educators at North Carolina State University, aimed at increasing opportunities for parents and children to spend more time together outdoors.
Community Programs to Promote Youth Development
Author: Eccles, Jacquelynne (1 more by this author); Jennifer Appleton Gootman
Description: This report confirms community youth development programs such as 4-H and
makes important recommendations for program and research. The report can be ordered online.
Creating Dedicated Local and State Revenue Sources for Youth Programs
Author: Sherman, Rachel H. ; Sharon G. Deich; Barbara Hanson Langford
Description: This resource outlines strategies for youth programs, intermediary organizations, local policymakers and youth advocates to create dedicated local and state revenue sources for youth programs. It also provides guidance and information on the capacity, funding, and community support required for these strategies, and profiles these strategies at work in different states and communities.
Description: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a bipartisan, nonprofit anti-crime organization led by police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, victims of violence and leaders of police officer associations. Their main goal is to evaluate research to see what truly works to prevent juvenile delinquency and adult criminals. They advocate for this information be used in the development of public policy.
Invitation to the Big Picture: Implementing a Local Collaboration for Youth in Your Community
Description: The National Collaboration for Youth has created this guide designed help organization identify or form an association of local child- and youth-serving agencies.
– Research –
Out-of-School Time Policy Commentary #1: Out-of-School Research Meets After-School Policy
Author: Pittman, Karen (6 more by this author); Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom; Nicole Yohalem
Description: The past five years have seen a ground swell in public attention and public policy aimed at increasing the availability of after-school programs for children and young teens during the "risk" hours when safety, supervision and homework are of top concern. Popularly called "after-school," these programs represent a new and growing variation on the broader group of out-of-school time programs and opportunities that have been around for decades--programs ranging from youth orchestras to soccer leagues that reach children and older teens. What does research tell us about after-school programs? What outcomes are realistic? What practices are essential? What changes are measurable? How does the call for scientifically-based research fit into the picture? In the first of a series of policy briefs focused on out-of-school time issues, Deborah Vandell, a leading researcher on after-school programs, gives a walking tour of the research. Kerry Mazzoni, California Secretary of Education, shares her perspectives on how research influences policy.
Author: Pittman, Karen (6 more by this author); Thaddeus Ferber; Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom; Nicole Yohalem
Description: High school is becoming the next frontier for after-school advocates. The conceptual and practical leaps from programming for elementary and middle school students to high school students are significant, and the marketing challenges are huge. Arguing persuasively for investments in this population requires revisiting almost every strategic decision made, from public education to policy framing to partnership development. To support policy makers, program leaders and advocates in making decisions related to high school after-school, this commentary summarizes what we know and answers some basic but important questions.
Unsupervised Time: Family and Child Factors Associated with Self-Care
Author: Vandivere, Sharon (1 more by this author); Julia Calkins; Kathryn Tout, Martha Zaslow; Jeffrey Capizzano
Description: This research study addresses issues related to childrenÂ’s self-care.