For families with qualifying incomes (128%- 250% of the federal poverty level), classified as essential workers, the state of Indiana can cover 80% of tuition fees for kids up to age 12, including early learning, before-school, after-school, and summer learning programs.

Early care and education and out-of-school time programs must be Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) eligible to participate in the Build, Learn, Grow scholarship program. If your program is not CCDF-eligible, contact your state licensing consultant to get started. And, to learn more about the requirements to become a CCDF Certified Unlicensed Provider, click here.

To learn more about the Build, Learn, Grow Scholarship, visit http://buildlearngrow.org.

To read the full press release from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, click here.

During this 30-minute session, you will learn about the scholarship process, how to determine family eligibility, and the process for submitting a claim for reimbursement to support the children of essential workers in your program.

This session is required for programs that wish to accept scholarship funds and is available 24/7, so you can complete it when it is convenient for you.

To stay up-to-date as additional program initiatives roll out, sign up for the text alerts by texting the word UPDATES to 465437.

Remember that early childhood education and care and out-of-school-time workers are essential, so those with qualifying incomes can also apply to receive this scholarship for their children!

As a valued partner of the Indiana Afterschool Network, we'd like to get your feedback about our organization as we create a strategic plan for our mission moving forward. This survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

Please note that all survey responses will be collected by Taylor Advising, a trusted third-party consulting firm. Your anonymous responses will be aggregated with responses from all survey participants and will not be tied to you directly.

This spring, the Indiana Afterschool Network is pleased to release the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion addition to the Indiana Afterschool Standards. These standards outline best practices and recommendations to address the needs of diverse youth. To develop these standards, the Indiana Afterschool Network worked with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and youth development experts in the field and out-of-school learning providers.

The Network strongly believes that it is essential that all quality afterschool and summer programs affirm the assets of diverse children, youth, and families they serve and build greater awareness and appreciation of the diversity of our global society. This means ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion is at the center of program curricula and practices as well as organizational policies and practices.

In this interactive session, participants will learn about the Indiana Afterschool Network’s efforts to advance equity through the infusion of equity-driven practices within the Indiana Afterschool Standards, as well as the eight Specialty Standards. We will also introduce the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusions Specialty Standard. Through practical examples and small group discussions, participants will explore ways to use this new Specialty Standard to deepen the equity efforts in all areas of their program. Hosted by the Indiana Afterschool Network and presented by Thrive Paradigm.

In order to help summer programs amplify their impact, We Coach will provide a training to help youth development professionals, camp counselors, and coaches understand the impact of overwhelming stress, or trauma, on young people and equips them with skills to take action to support these young people. Their interactive training provides a foundation in trauma-informed practice and provides concrete strategies that adults can use immediately. The training explores three core ways that programs can maximize their healing potential: through the power of relationships, by encouraging physical activity, and creating manageable, resilience-building patterns of stress.

#ThankAYouthWorkerDay is a celebration of the youth workers who make a difference in the lives of young people every day. This international movement is designated to bring awareness and gratitude to our largest group of human service professionals. Youth workers are essential to all communities world-wide. Take some time to thank a youth worker that's made a difference in your life today.

With new support from the American Rescue Plan, schools have an opportunity to leverage support from afterschool and summer programs to help students re-engage, re-connect, and recover. Join to explore what’s possible, how to quickly form effective partnerships, and how to maximize an investment in community-based partners for student recovery.

Indiana Local Educational Agencies (LEAs or School Districts) must allocate at least 20% set aside to fund programming that addresses learning loss through implementation of evidence based interventions, such as after school programming or other enriching educational out of school time programming. Programming should address students’ academic health as well as their social emotional wellbeing.

Providers should use this opportunity to reach out to principals, superintendents, and school boards to encourage investments in summer learning and afterschool programs to provide students and families with the support and engaging learning opportunities they need. In doing so, think about how your particular program can meet these needs. For instance, how can you develop this statement by including your program's expertise? "My program can meet the needs of the students and families in our school district because we do X,Y, and Z." When reaching out to your LEA(s) about partnership, it will be important for you to bring data on how your program is improving attendance, discipline, academics, etc.

For resources on this outreach, click here.

The 21st Century Community Learning Center Program is a federally-funded program (Title IV, part B) awarded to local education agencies, as well as public and private organizations, to provide youth a safe environment during non-school hours. This program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment and life skills opportunities during non-school hours for youth, particularly youth who attend high-proverty and low-performing schools. The program helps youth meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects; offers youth a broad array of enrichment activities that help their social, emotional, and behavioral development; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating youth.