It's About Time!: A Look at Out-of-School Time for Urban Teens

• NCJ Number: 213358
• Author(s): Georgia Hall; Laura Israel; Joyce Shortt
• Date Published: February 2004
• Length: 23 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Time Warner Foundation
• Corporate Author: National Institute on Out-of-School Time
• Sale Source: National Institute on Out-of-School Time
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded March 8, 2006.

Annotation

This report describes general trends in out-of-school time programs, as well as the characteristics of effective afterschool programs, strategies for citywide collaboration, and the steps for cities and organizations to build capacity to meet the needs of older youths.

Abstract

An examination of the major trends in afterschool programming indicate that the majority of the programs focus on youth mentoring, academics, community services, or career/work opportunities; the majority of program participants are youth of color and female; and almost 50 percent of afterschool programs have no connections with their local schools. The characteristics of effective afterschool programs hinge on their staff; the most effective programs have creative, well-trained staff who are skilled at building relationships and can make long-term commitments to the programs. The program approaches that seem to work best with older youth include youth apprenticeships, homework support programs, school-based national programs, philanthropic programs, social opportunities programming, and skills focused programming. The delivery of afterschool programming would be enhanced by a systemic approach that emphasizes: (1) funding collaborations; (2) planning and cooperation among stakeholders; (3) formal links between high schools, communities, and local governments; (4) high school age program standards; (5) a common set of objectives; and (6) a designated citywide leadership structure. The analysis was based on electronic surveys about high school afterschool programs distributed to afterschool program leaders, community-based organizations, and youth focused municipal departments in 21 cities. More detailed investigations of high school level afterschool programs were conducted in five cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, and Kansas City. Additional data included telephone interviews with city and program leaders, interviews with key stakeholders, and a task group meeting. Footnotes, appendixes, references