San Francisco’s Afterschool for All Highlighted as National Leader in Citywide Afterschool Systems

The National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families recently released new research highlighting progress in 27 major U.S. cities in building comprehensive, citywide afterschool systems. Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, “Municipal Leadership for Afterschool: Citywide Approaches Spreading across the Country” identifies cities that are among the most advanced in their efforts to coordinate afterschool opportunities for children and youth.


The report finds that, as part of a growing nationwide trend, these cities have made a fundamental shift in their approach to afterschool programming, moving from management and funding of isolated programs toward in-depth coordination among city, school and nonprofit providers. The cities highlighted in the report “represent the most advanced efforts taking place around the country” due to their sophisticated use of data, adoption of standards and tools to enhance program quality, and long-term planning for fiscal sustainability.

San Francisco was the only city of the 27 cities profiled that “represent the most advanced efforts taking place around the country” that has more than 75% of the city’s school age population participating in afterschool opportunities. The majority of the cities profiled (81%) reported that less than half of their city’s youth participate in afterschool.

Below is an excerpt from page 38 of the full report:
The goal of “afterschool for all” remains elusive for most cities, with San Francisco making the greatest progress in expanding participation. In a majority of cities, less than half of the school-age population participates in OST programs, and in nine cities, fewer than one-quarter of students attend an OST activity (see Figure 12). Even in certain cities where public and private partners have made significant investments in OST and established a strong, coordinated system, there is room for progress in serving more children and youth. That a handful of cities do not know how many young people they are serving underscores the importance of enhancing local capacity to collect participation data.

Download the full report at: http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/iyef/afterschool/municipal-leadership-for-afterschool-citywide-approaches-spreading-across-the-country