San Francisco Afterschool for All

Lend Your Voice to Strengthen the Youth Workforce in San Francisco

2012-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Calling all youth workers who work with youth ages 6 to 18 in the Bay Area: We need your voice!
The San Francisco Afterschool for All Advisory Council encourages all staff who work with youth ages 6 to 18 across the Bay Area to use their voice to inform the field about their experiences working with youth and gain a chance to win a $50 gift card. The San Francisco Afterschool for All Council is conducting a survey of 500 youth workers across the Bay Area by Feb 29. This survey will help strengthen our local youth worker field by informing training efforts, enhancing hiring practices, and informing efforts to professionalize our workforce.
All information gathered by the survey is anonymous. The survey asks questions about your skills, experiences and competencies.

Take the survey now for a chance to win a $50 gift card: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/806970/Afterschool-for-All-AFA-Core-Competencies-Survey

Lights On Afterschool 2011 A Huge Success for Programs

2011-11-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of afterschool programs participated in Lights On Afterschool – the national awareness day for afterschool programs across the country. This fall marked the second year that DCYF required all of its out of school time providers to participate in this awareness-raising event. DCYF grantees hosted a wide variety of celebrations, from parent literacy nights to awards ceremonies to neighborhood parades.

Below are some highlights from the local programs that participated in this nationwide event:
The Buena Vista - Horace Mann Afterschool Collaborative operated by Jamestown Community Center held a youth and family assembly in the campus’ multi-purpose room. Multiple afterschool providers were invited to participate, including several DCYF grantees, and the assembly included two musical numbers featuring youth musicians collaborating with teachers. After the performances, there were arts & craft projects available for families to do together.

The OMI Excelsior Beacon staff at John Denman Middle School hosted a Lights On Afterschool field day on the playground that included an art station, basketball, pizza, skateboarding, dancing to music from The DJ Project, and a presentation of and the opportunity to sign up for local afterschool programs. The event demonstrated the OMI Beacon staff’s intention of providing students with a solid path to success.

Horizons Unlimited hosted Lights On Afterschool activities that included MC performances, spinning of the vinyl, and Asian inspired El Salvadorian food. The support and care that staff provided for the youth was very evident and attendees were inspired by stories from staff about program participants’ successes.

The Chinatown YMCA organized a Lights on Afterschool event at Gordon Lau Elementary School for several of the afterschool programs it operates, including John Yehall Chin and Jean Parker elementary schools and the Chinese Education Center. The event was filled with lots of laughter, and students from all four campuses engaged in a game of dodge ball.

Excelsior RecConnect, as led by Mission YMCA, celebrated Lights On Afterschool with a neighborhood parade, alerting neighborhood families to their presence and the work they do with Excelsior families. About 35 youth strolled along the sidewalks with balloons and hand-drawn signs, singing and chanting about their program. When they encountered youth or families on the street (or when folks came outside to see where the noise was coming from), the youth gave them bags containing a piece of fruit and brochures with information about their program and upcoming events.

To celebrate Lights On Afterschool, Ingleside Community Center had an award ceremony to honor its youth participants. The children received awards for volunteerism and citizenship. The program participants topped the celebration with a special spaghetti meal, which they helped prepare themselves.

Mission Learning Center held a Family Literacy Night Event as a part of Lights On Afterschool. Family members and youth were divided up by grade levels and played literacy-themed board games that program participants assembled. At the end of the event, every youth took home a kit to make another board game to play with their families. In addition, parents and youth took home donated English and Spanish books.

Successful AFA Policymaker Briefing at City Hall

2011-11-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

On behalf of the Afterschool for All Advisory Council, we want to thank participants for making the October 21st policymaker briefing in City Hall such a huge success.

It was a great event:

• We had representatives from four Board of Supervisors’ offices (Mirkarimi, Avalos, Weiner and Sup. Jane Kim herself), one Board of Education member (Dr. Murase), aides from Assemblymember Ammiano and Ma’s offices, and Mayor’s Office staff in attendance. (All of the BOS and BOE members who were unable to attend received a packet of information from the event and an invitation to contact us for more information.)

• The room radiated the magic of afterschool with a mural and table top artwork from Opportunity Impact and Lights On Afterschool lightbulbs created by afterschool participants hanging from the walls – all speaking volumes about how creative, educational and engaging our city’s afterschool programs are day in and day out.

• Superintendent Garcia and the Mayor’s Education Advisor Hydra Mendoza kicked off the briefing with strong opening remarks about the importance of afterschool for all of our children in the city.

• AFA Council members did a fantastic job explaining the purpose of AFA, why afterschool is important in San Francisco, and our AFA efforts to tackle access and quality. The program sparked lots of interesting questions and dialogue among the attendees.

The event would not have been such a success without your contributions, so thank you!! A special thank you goes to Melanie Hopson who coordinated all of the logistics for the event. Additionally, a sincere thank you to Natasha Hoehn and the Silver Giving Foundation for their generous grant to the AFA Advisory Council which helped support this event.

Thank you again for making this event a reality and for helping ensure our policymakers understand the importance of afterschool

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

2011-11-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

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

Afterschool Fact Sheet for Parents

2011-10-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Afterschool for All has just finished creating an Afterschool Fact Sheet for Parents.

The sheets are full of great information for parents who are making decisions about their child's afterschool care. Information includes:

Types of Afterschool Programs in San Francisco
How to Find an Afterschool Program
Characteristics of a High-Quality Afterschool Program

You can download the Fact Sheets by clicking on the following links:

English version

Spanish version

Chinese version

New Online Training Available on SF AFA Core Competencies for Supervisors and Program Directors

2011-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Last year the AFA Advisory Council adopted "Core Competencies for Afterschool Staff" which identified two sets of Core Competencies-- one for line staff and one for supervisors. Core Competencies are a specific set of knowledge and skills which local and national stakeholders have deemed important elements to being a highly competent afterschool professional. These sets of Core Competencies are based on national research and then vetted by San Francisco representatives of the school district, city departments, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, funders and parents.

DCYF and the AFA Advisory Council sponsored the creation of an on-line training on the core competencies which was recently released. Online, you will find a copy of the competencies, a toolkit for putting them to use in your program, a PowerPoint presentation, and video clips of how providers in San Francisco have incorporated the competencies into their programs. Go to this link for these great resources.
DCYF will also be offering two opportunities for you to attend a training to help you become familiar with the Core Competencies and give you tools and ideas to implement them in your afterschool program.

Mark your calendars:

Core Competencies Training for Supervisors and Program Directors

• September 16th , 12:30-3:30pm; at DCYF (1390 Market Street, Suite 900)

• October 27th , 12:00 – 3:00pm; at DCYF (1390 Market Street, Suite 900)

* Facilitator: Maurita Dunphy, Sr. Program Planner, DCYF email: mdunphy@dcyf.org

San Francisco Afterschool for All 2010-2011 Highlights

2011-09-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Afterschool for All (AFA) effort has released its 2010-2011 Year End Report, which describes accomplishments for the year. Highlights from the report include:

In 2006, only 69% of children and youth in Kindergarten to Grade 8 who wanted to participate in afterschool programming had access. By 2010-11, slots were available for 91% of youth (37,263 individuals) who wanted to participate in an afterschool program.
The City’s Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) implemented a new funding strategy that provides city matching funds to the state and federal seed grants that SFUSD awards to community-based organizations to operate ExCEL school-based afterschool programs. DCYF awarded 55 grants which together total about $3.8 million each year for the next three years.
One of the key challenges in the afterschool field is defining and measuring program quality to ensure that youth reap the benefits that research has shown high-quality programs can foster among participants. The Afterschool for All effort developed an “AFA Summer Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) Tool” That they hope summer programs across the city will use to improve their program quality. The tool offers three levels of indicators to help programs know where they are in the continuum of quality practices.
In Spring 2011, DCYF and SFUSD led a pilot effort to allow out-of-school time providers working with middle and high school students to use a new online communication system (called School Loop) to share student academic data with providers to enhance their coordination and support of school success. For the first time, non-district staff were allowed to use the system to access student-level information, such as grades, homework, and school attendance. This type of information helps afterschool providers tailor their program offerings to meet individual youths’ needs, offer appropriate interventions, and enhance their ability to assist with homework.
SFUSD partnered with the AFA Vision and Programming Work Group to develop a quality self assessment template for SFUSD’s ExCEL afterschool providers and school principals to reflect on their afterschool programs and plan for future improvements.
DCYF continued to support the online Afterschool for All Program Locator at www.SFKids.org where families can search by neighborhood, age, or key word for afterschool options throughout the city.

Download the Year End Report here.

SF Afterschool for All- Seeking Workgroup Applicants

2011-07-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

San Francisco’s Afterschool for All effort needs YOU!

The Afterschool for All Advisory Council is currently seeking applicants to serve on the Council’s three voluntary work groups for the 2011-12 school year.

The Afterschool for All Advisory Council is a dynamic, voluntary group of afterschool stakeholders and decision-makers who are committed to building partnerships, leveraging resources, and recommending policies that enhance the quality and sustainability of afterschool programs throughout the city.

The Advisory Council has used work groups of volunteers to move its work forward and ensure a broad group of voices are represented. These work groups help guide the building of a citywide infrastructure to support out-of-school time programs by:

• Implementing projects and tasks that promote accessible, quality afterschool programs

• Brainstorming, analyzing information, and sharing experiences to help create short- and long-term solutions to out of school time challenges in San Francisco

There is no specific skill set or knowledge that you need to participate in a work group, but each work group member is asked to commit about 4 hours per month between September and May to the work group’s efforts (about 2 hours for a work group meeting and the remaining time for independent or other tasks). For three years, most individuals who participate in work groups have rated their experience as highly valuable to them as individuals as well as to the growth and development of their programs and organizations.

The three work groups for 2011-12 will be:
1) Program Quality Work Group (chaired by Sandy Osborne, SFUSD’s Early Education Department, and Kathy White, SF City College)

Objectives:

• Disseminate the AFA core competencies for afterschool staff to at least 10 venues

• Ensure that the AFA core competencies and Quality Self Assessment (QSA) tools have been implemented in at least 5 methods throughout the city

• Promote the implementation of the AFA core competencies and the QSA tools through at least 3 incentive projects/approaches

• Examine possible funding sources to promote the AFA core competencies and QSA tools

2) Improving Outcomes Through Data Sharing Work Group (chaired by Sandra Naughton, DCYF and TBD)

Objectives:

• Assist with a year-long 2011-12 School Loop pilot that involves allowing a small number of middle and high school OST programs access to School Loop accounts that can be used to track student level data for the purpose of enhancing coordination between school day and afterschool efforts

• Develop tools, training opportunities and an evaluation to complement the 2011-12 School Loop pilot

• Increase school-level stakeholders’ awareness of how School Loop can be used as a powerful tool by school and CBO staff during out of school time

• Explore how to integrate CBO staff from OST programs into data sharing with parents about their child’s progress (interpreting report cards, participating in parent conferences, etc.)

3) School-Out of School Time Integration Work Group - meeting on an ad-hoc basis through-May 2012 (chaired by Jamie Harris (elementary school level) and Margaret Brodkin (secondary school level) of New Day for Learning)

Objectives: The goal of this work group is to recommend systems and supports to enhance out-of-school time and school integration and coordination.

Download a brief Application Form HERE.
Deadline to submit is August 30, 2011 by 5 p.m.

Have questions about the work groups? Send them to mhopson@dcyf.org or call (415) 934-4839.

New Downloadable Version of the SF Community-Based Afterschool Program Quality Self Assessment Tool

2011-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last year, the San Francisco Afterschool for All effort created a Quality Self-Assessment Tool to help community-based afterschool programs across the city have a common language and approach to continually improving program quality. Thanks to Opportunity Impact, a community-based afterschool program in the Western Addition neighborhood that has adopted use of the tool, you can now download an excel file format version of the tool and customize it to meet the needs of your program. Click here to download this tool today.

The tool, which can also be downloaded section by section in PDF files by clicking here is aligned with the statewide California After-School Program Quality Self-Assessment Tool and DCYF’s Minimum Quality Standards for Out of School Time Programs. It was also used to inform the creation of the SF Afterschool for All Core Competencies, and each competency is linked to a corresponding section of the QSA tool.

Thank you to Opportunity Impact!

New Research on Impact of State Afterschool Funding on SF and Oakland

2011-03-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

San Francisco's Department of Children, Youth, and their Families and the Partnership for Children and Youth (a statewide advocacy and technical assistance organization) released a research paper in February 2011 entitled "The Impact of Prop 49: A Profile of After School Policy and Practice in Oakland and San Francisco."

Both Oakland and San Francisco have long histories of community-based organizations (CBO's) providing youth programming and millions of dollars of city funding dedicated to supporting youth services. When Prop 49 state funds became available to the school districts in each city, there were changes to policy, programming and practice, and power dynamics between key stakeholders such as school districts, city agencies and CBO's.

The experiences of San Francisco and Oakland provide valuable information and perspective for other communities in California working through similar dynamics with Prop 49 funding, and for other states or communities that may be considering creating dedicated after school investments. Oakland and San Francisco's experiences with Prop 49 can also inform other collaborative, inter-agency efforts, for example those focused on community schools, summer, and other out of school time efforts.

AFA Council Meetings and Work Groups for 2011

2011-03-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

The AFA Advisory Council has set its meeting dates and times for 2011.
The following meetings will be held at the DCYF office at 1390 Market St, Suite 900. As a courtesy, please contact mhopson@dcyf.org a few days prior if you plan to attend the meeting.

Feb 16th from 9-11am
Apr 20th from 9-11am
May 18th from 9-11am

The Advisory Council has used work groups of volunteers to move its work forward and ensure a broad group of voices are represented. These work groups were charged with making recommendations to guide the building of a citywide infrastructure to support out-of-school time programs. The work groups convening in 2011 are:

Vision & Alignment Work Group
The goal of this work group is to recommend 1) a citywide vision of afterschool in San Francisco, and 2) identify systemic ways for SFUSD to provide equitable access to quality afterschool programs for all SFUSD students in a way that is understood, embraced, and supported by parents, providers, and schools.

Objectives:

Define a vision for out of school time in San Francisco and a tool for programs to report their progress on meeting that vision (such as a year-end report template aligned to the quality tools and 11 elements adopted by the AFA)
Explore how to help SFUSD align its ExCEL K-8 programs and its Child Development School Age (K-5) programs in the areas of educational philosophy, materials, training for staff, assessment and evaluation.

Program Quality & Data Work Group

The goal of this work group is to recommend systems and supports to enhance the quality of out-of-school time programs, with a specific emphasis on: a) enhancing the shared understanding of quality in the OST field, and b) data sharing that promotes the delivery of high quality out-of-school time programming.

Objectives:

Contribute to the development of a program quality self assessment tool for summer programs, which would complement the school-based and community-based afterschool quality self assessment tools developed for AFA
Identify strategies to spread the core competencies in the field
Explore systemic data sharing systems and practices that could enhance the quality of out-of-school time services

School-Out of School Time Integration Work Group

The goal of this work group is to recommend systems and supports to enhance out-of-school time and school age integration and coordination.

For more information about these work groups, send an email to mhopson@dcyf.org.

Conference for After School Professionals - January 2011

2010-12-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Afterschool professionals from around the San Francisco Bay Area are invited to attend:

The 2nd Annual

Bridging the Bay Conference

January 28 and 29, 2010

For more information, see the conference website.

Download a conference flyer here.

Local Leaders & National Report Lauds Afterschool for All's Pioneering Efforts on National "Lights On Afterschool" Day

2010-10-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

As part of the nationwide "Lights On Afterschool" day, San Francisco's pioneering efforts to provide universal afterschool programs for elementary and middle school youth were recognized by local elected officials, parents, afterschool staff and youth at a press event today. In 2009-10, San Francisco's Afterschool for All effort was able to provide afterschool programs to 94% of all youth who want to attend.

Partners in the citywide public-private "Afterschool for All" effort attended the event at Tenderloin Community School to applaud accomplishments and call for continued support from city, school district and community leaders.

Speakers included Board of Education Chair Jane Kim, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, DCYF Director Maria Su, SFUSD Associate Superintendent Kevin Truitt, parent Claudia Mejia Soto, afterschool director Carlo Solis, and several students from Tenderloin Community School.

In addition, today the national research firm RAND released a report highlighting San Francisco as a trailblazer for its online information system that tracks youth participation and demographics of participants, as well as the types of activities offered. For more information about the RAND report, click here.

For the press release from today's event, click here.

San Francisco’s Afterschool for All efforts need YOU!

2010-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Afterschool for All Advisory Council is currently seeking applicants to serve on the Council for the next three-year terms.

The Afterschool for All Advisory Council is a dynamic, voluntary group of afterschool stakeholders and decision-makers who are committed to building partnerships, leveraging resources, and recommending policies that enhance the quality and sustainability of afterschool programs throughout the city. The Advisory Council provides a means for joint planning, responsibility and accountability to develop and expand a comprehensive, citywide afterschool system.

As an Advisory Council Member you will:

Contribute your expertise, skills, and knowledge to make an impact on the lives of thousands of youth across the city today and for generations to come.

Serve as a leader to effect policy, funding and practice impacting afterschool programs.

Collaborate with other key stakeholders interested in afterschool.

Learn more about the local, state and national trends and issues impacting afterschool.

There are 20 Advisory Council members, with 10 seats to be filled through this application process. (The other 10 seats are appointed by public entities.)

The seats to be filled through the application process are:

CBO providing comprehensive* school-based afterschool programming

CBO providing comprehensive* community-based (ie. not school-based) afterschool programming

CBO providing specialized content in out of school time, such as arts, science, physical activity, or other such specific and focused programming

Representative of parents of elementary students

Representative of parents of secondary students

2 representatives of foundations or private sector funders of afterschool

Representative of afterschool services operated by private schools

Representative of a capacity building/professional development/training entity focused on out of school time

Representative of the local business community or corporate giving involved in out of school time

Click here to download an application. Applications are due Oct. 25, so send yours in today.

Email application to: afterschoolforall@dcyf.org

Core Competencies are Online

2010-07-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

After two years of gathering community input and research, the San Francisco Afterschool for All effort is proud to post its new core competencies for afterschool staff online.

The core competencies are an exciting new resource for San Francisco afterschool programs that will

encourage employers to recruit, hire and promote staff based on mastery of competencies which will increase the field’s professionalization efforts and development of career ladders, and
align workforce development, professional development and technical assistance efforts around a central set of skills and abilities.

These competencies are aligned with the SF Afterschool for All's new Quality Self Assessment tools which provide afterschool programs a common language to discuss program quality and take steps to enhance quality.

From this web site, you can download the competencies as well as a toolkit designed to help you incorporate the competencies into the life of your afterschool program. The Afterschool for All effort provides these resources at no cost.

Do you have questions or comments about the core competencies? Post below.