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2008 Accomplishments
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It has been a rewarding year for the Afterschool Partnership, one that has marked significant progress toward strengthening afterschool and youth programs throughout Greater New Orleans. Overall, these accomplishments would not be possible without the determination and collaboration of those we are privileged to be working with, thank you all.
Here are a few successes we are proud to share with you, that we believe will make a difference in the lives of the children and youth we all serve:
Building Quality The Wallace Foundation, a nationally-recognized expert in the field of afterschool, became a significant partner with the Unified Summer Grants Collaborative, which funded 16 programs that served 5,000 children during the 2008 summer months. The Wallace Foundation’s contribution also funded market research and program assessment, which yielded important findings related to both quality and accessibility of summer programs. This information was shared with critical stakeholders to better inform policy decision-making and leverage further resources to expand capacity and quality. Additionally, we participated with the Louisiana Department of Education’s Statewide Quality Task Force to develop standards. Ongoing and future research by Afterschool Partnership
will continue to build the base of support for increased resources for summer and afterschool programming.
Sustaining Summer Learning Over the past three years, the Unified Summer Grants Collaborative, of which Afterschool Partnership is a founding member, has made grants totaling $3.4 million to a variety of summer programs across the Greater New Orleans area that serve vulnerable low-income youth. With this support, youth have had opportunities to engage in academic enrichment, arts and culture programs, sports and physical recreation, cooking, and nutrition activities. In 2008, our accomplishments include:
- Supporting 10,000 children and youth in summer programs;
- Providing training and professional development for program staff and managers;
- Delivering on-site technical assistance to help programs improve learning activities; and
- Helping Collaborative-funded programs define academic, social/emotional, and health-related goals for children in their care as a baseline for future evaluation.
Advancing Public Investment In partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we organized a funding workshop to present information about federal grants available for youth development and crime prevention. The Afterschool Partnership and New Orleans Youth Opportunities Task Force also released a funding map outlining public and private resources available to youth programs. An increased commitment to youth resulted in a $100,000 pledge for summer programming from the City of New Orleans for 2009. In addition, the Office Recovery Management increased federal Community Development Block Grant funding for youth programs from $200,000 to $800,000 for the upcoming 2009 grant cycle.
Building Capacity The Afterschool Partnership partnered with the Forum for Youth Investment and Collaborative for Building Afterschool Systems (CBASS) to convene several meetings around developing a citywide vision for all youth. Attended by national, regional, and local stakeholders, these meetings were an important first step toward building coordinated systems that will increase our citywide capacity to serve all our youth.
Encouraging Youth Engagement The Afterschool Partnership received two significant grants to support youth engagement. The Surdna Foundation is providing funds to create an interactive web-based communication system known as neworleans.ilivehere.info that will provide information about resources and opportunities in specific neighborhoods. It will also be a useful tool for other groups and agencies as New Orleans rebuilds and repopulates. The Open Society Institute is contributing a planning grant to support youth engagement through the development of a New Orleans' youth council.
Developing Professionals Our monthly meetings gave the afterschool providers of Greater New Orleans a regular time to gather, share, learn, and renew. Meeting topics ranged from funding strategies to establishing effective evaluation. Direct training provided more than 150 summer staff members and AmeriCorps workers with a strong information base and cohort of fellow youth workers. Advancing Youth Development training sessions continued in partnership with DC Children and Youth Investment Corporation. To date, 200 New Orleans and Baton Rouge youth workers and the youth they serve have benefited from this nationally-recognized training experience.
Increasing Advocacy We held our first annual Day at the Capitol in Baton Rouge to bring together state leaders, afterschool staff, parents, and children in an effort to increase awareness about the importance of afterschool. We also collaborated with the Louisiana Department of Education and BESE to support providers with new changes in the TANF After School for All and 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant programs. Through new partnerships, we were successfully able to negotiate with state officials to allow greater flexibility in fulfilling minimum hour requirements for 21st CCLC grant seekers partnering with extended day school districts.
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Looking Forward
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Mark your calendars for our upcoming provider meetings! Please plan to join us on the following Wednesdays:
1/28/2009, 3/25/2009, 4/22/2009, 5/27/2009,
8/26/2009, 9/23/2009, 10/28/2009, 11/18/2009, and 12/16/2009
We will meet from 10:30am - noon, 4319 Carondelet Street.
National After School Association Conference
Afterschool Partnership is proud to serve as the host organization for this year’s National AfterSchool Association Conference in New Orleans from Thursday, April 2 through Saturday, April 4, 2009.
Over 3,000 afterschool professionals and stakeholders are expected to visit our hometown to attend. This year’s keynote speaker is Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin, who is certain to bring the wonders of eco-education alive.
For more information, visit www.naaconvention.org.
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