AFTERSCHOOL OBSERVER
APRIL 2018
ADVOCACY
NC OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME MAPPING DATABASE 

The NC Center for Afterschool Programs [NC CAP] developed a statewide, searchable database for out-of-school time programs that serve K-12 youth before school, after school, summers, weekends and during school breaks. Programs that take place in schools, school-age child care centers, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, universities, libraries, museums, camps, and other locations can register their programs in the statewide mapping database. You can utilize this database to search for information on program locations, activities, number and grades of youth served.  This database helps families, schools, communities and elected officials locate programs for their youth.  It also aids in identifying community assets and gaps in out-of-school time programming.

Registering your program in the statewide database is easy and takes less than two minutes. Register your program today! 
SUPPORT
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is pleased to announce the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) 2018-19 Request for Proposals (RFP). Any public or private organization is eligible to apply for a 21st CCLC grant. Agencies and organizations eligible under the 21st CCLC program include, but are not limited to local education agencies (LEAs), non-profit agencies, city or county government agencies, faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and for-profit corporations.

This program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The program helps students meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children.

Organizations that intend to submit an application are asked to submit an Intent to Apply form by April 30, 2018 to assist the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) in determining the number of reviewers that will be necessary for the evaluation process. Completed forms should be submitted by email to Richard.trantham@dpi.nc.gov or faxed to 919.807.3968. Please note that the submission of this notice is not a prerequisite for application of grant funds, nor does it obligate the organization to submit an application.

The Intent to Apply form, the Application Guidance and Planning Worksheet and webinar registration forms are available on the NCDPI 21st CCLC website, www.ncpublicschools.org/21cclc/. Thank you for your interest in serving the students and families of North Carolina's schools.
CONVENE
SYNERGY CONFERENCE

Thank you to everyone that registered for the upcoming Synergy Conference. In a few short weeks, we look forward to hosting you at the Greenville Convention Center.   The Synergy Conference is the premiere afterschool and expanded learning conference in North Carolina. We are excited about the conference agenda which is full of engaging keynote speakers, workshops, networking opportunities, vendors and more. 


If you are attending the Synergy Conference and have not yet secured a hotel room, rooms are still available at the Hampton Inn Greenville. The nightly rate is $129/night, which includes breakfast. You can make hotel reservations at the Hampton Inn here The last day to secure a room at this rate is April 10. 

If you have not registered and are still interested in attending the conference, you can register on-site at the Greenville Convention Center. 

Check out the Synergy Conference page on the NC CAP website periodically for additional details. 

See you in Greenville! 
ADVOCACY 
AFTERSCHOOL FUNDING PRESERVED IN PROPOSED FY2018 SPENDING BILL, STILL UNDER ATTACK FOR 2019
After weeks of discussions culminating in a final week of further negotiations, the House released a $1.3 trillion FY2018 omnibus spending bill late on March 21, 2018, which will fund the government through September 30, 2018. Votes on the measure are expected this week as early as Thursday afternoon, as failure to pass a spending bill by midnight Friday, March 23 would lead to a government shutdown.

What's in the bill? -
Congress funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers $20 million above the FY2017 level, increasing available funding to $1.21 billion - a win for children, families and the country. The proposed increase means doors to quality local afterschool and summer learning programs will stay open for 1.6 million students and families. Additionally, it will make programs available for 20,000 of the 19.4 million students currently waiting for access.

This funding level increase is especially noteworthy following  President Trump's proposal to eliminate the program in both the FY2018 and FY2019 budget proposals, which drove friends of afterschool to reach out to Congress with more than 103,000 calls and emails since January 2017, energized supporters to turn out at town halls in their communities, and prompted more than 600 local, state, and national organizations to sign a letter in support of Community Learning Centers sent to Congress last week. Champions of the program on Capitol Hill showed strong support for Community Learning Centers as well, with 111 members of the House coming together across party lines and signing a letter in support of the program earlier this week. A huge thank-you to all who worked so hard in support of Community Learning Center funds.

Other funding streams that can be used to support afterschool and summer learning programs were largely supported in the proposed omnibus:

  • Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG): $2.37 billion increase up to about $5.3 billion. About 45 percent of children served through CCDBG are provided with school-age afterschool care. This funding builds on the consistent funding increases in recent years to help states implement quality improvement reforms in the CCDBG Act of 2014 and will dramatically improve access to quality care for many families.
  • Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS): AmeriCorps State and National Grants were funded at $412.010 million, an increase of $25 million. VISTA was funded at last year's level of $92.364 million. AmeriCorps and VISTA positions are often  used in support of afterschool programs.
  • Title I of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): $15.76 billion, a $300 million increase above FY2016. Title I funds can be used to support school district-provided afterschool and summer learning programs.
  • Title II of ESSA: $2.056 billion, level with last year, had been proposed for elimination by President and in the House spending bill. Funds support effective instruction state grants, teacher/educator training and professional development.
  • Title IV Part A of ESSA, Student Support Academic Enrichment Grants: $1.1 billion which is a $700 million increase over fiscal year 2017, to make these flexible resources available to States, which can include assisting in protecting students and educators.  Afterschool STEM is an allowable use of the grants, as are physical education, community school coordinators, and a wide range of mental health supports and education technology.
  • Youth Mentoring Initiative: $94 million increased by $14 million from FY2017. These grants funds support mentoring initiatives for young people in and out of school. 
  • Perkins/Career Technical Education: Funded at $1.193 billion, an increase of $75 million, to support older youth career and workforce readiness education. 
  • CDC School Health: Funded at $15.4 million, funds used to support staff professional development and training for obesity prevention and health in both school and out-of-school time.
  • Opioid Abuse Treatment and Reduction: $1 billion in new funding for grants to States and Indian tribes to address the opioid epidemic. $476 million (+$350 million) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support increased opioid overdose surveillance and prevention activities at the national, state, and local level. At least $500 million in research on opioid addiction supported by the National Institutes of Health. $130 million for the Rural Communities Opioid Response program, aimed to reach hard-hit rural America and target the unique issues associated with substance use disorder in rural areas.
  • Child Protection Improvement Act: Establishes a voluntary national criminal history background check system and criminal history review program for organizations that serve children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities, including afterschool programs.
To read the full article, click here

Excerpt from: 

SUPPORT
NC HEALTHY OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME RECOGNITION PROGRAM
The North Carolina Healthy Out-Of-School Time Recognition Program (NC HOST) offers a voluntary recognition for out-of-school time programs that provide foods, beverages and physical activities that promote lifelong health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Out-of-school time programs that meet a set of standards are eligible for NC HOST recognition. 

The NC HOST Standards are a subset of the National AfterSchool Association's Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards as outlined in the Healthy Out-of-School Time Framework. Standards used for NC HOST were chosen from the best available evidence of programs, policies, and practices shown to positively impact healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among youth.  The NC HOST Standards can be downloaded here

Steps to Apply: 
Step 1: Complete the NC Healthy Out-of-School Time Assessment
Step 2: Complete the NC Healthy Out-of-School Time Application
NC HOST recognition will be awarded at a Bronze, Silver or Gold Level. 
  • Bronze denotes programs that meet a minimum number of required standards. 
  • Silver denotes programs that meet all of the minimum standards and demonstrate progress in meeting additional standards. 
  • Gold denotes programs that consistently meet all standards. 
Programs that meet the NC HOST Standards will be recognized at the Synergy Conference on Wednesday, April 25. More details about the NC HOST Recognition process is available on the Eat Smart, Move More NC website.
INFORM
THE PREVALENCE OF ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
Close to half of children (45 percent) in the U.S. have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE)-an experience that could have negative and lasting effects on one's health and wellbeing, such as depression, drug abuse, and poor physical health. One in 9 children has experienced three or more ACEs, placing them in a higher risk category for negative health outcomes both mental and physical. And African American and Hispanic children are more likely to have experienced ACES than white and Asian children. These are a few of the sobering key findings from a recent research brief by   Child Trends , "  The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences, nationally, by state, and by race/ethnicity ," examining the incidence of adverse childhood experiences in the U.S.

Based on data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health, Child Trends reported on eight ACEs measures, which range from if a child has ever experienced economic hardships somewhat or very often to if a child has ever lived with anyone who was mentally ill or suicidal or severely depressed for more than a couple of weeks. Nationally, the two most common ACEs are experiencing economic hardships and having a parent or guardian separate or divorce, with approximately 1 in 4 children experiencing at least one of these.

The brief highlights racial and ethnic disparities that exist when looking at ACEs, specifically that African American and Hispanic children have the highest incidence of ACEs compared to their peers. For instance, African American children are two times as likely to have at least one ACE compared to white children (44 percent compared to 22 percent) and four times as likely as Asian children (11 percent). Hispanic children are close to two times as likely as white children to have two or more ACES (30 percent compared to 16 percent) and three times as likely as Asian children (10 percent). Conversely, Asian (77 percent) and white children (60 percent) are the most likely to never have had an adverse childhood experience, compared to 49 percent of Hispanic children and 39 percent of African American children.

Despite the troubling findings related to the prevalence of ACEs, the brief does end on a positive and encouraging note. In addition to mentioning policy work being done at the state level to address ACEs, including establishing task forces to study ACEs and dedicating funding to ACEs prevention, authors call attention to the existence of protective factors-factors that prevent or minimize the impact of ACEs, such as positive, supportive relationships with adults and building children's social and emotional skills. Afterschool and summer learning programs promote such protective factors and can be especially beneficial to communities who are most at-risk. With more than 10 million children in an afterschool program, including approximately 3.8 million Hispanic children and 2.4 million African American children, programs can have a significant positive impact on the students they serve. 

To read the full article, click here


SUPPORT
OVERDRIVE APP
You can use the free OverDrive app to borrow and enjoy digital titles from the NC Kids Digital Library. 

The OverDrive app is available for Android, Chromebook, iOS, Kindle Fire tablets, Kobo tablets, NOOK tablets, Windows 8 and up, and Windows Phone. 

Step 1:  On your phone or tablet, install the OverDrive app from your device's app store or from app.overdrive.com

Step 2:  If prompted, sign into the OverDrive app with a free OverDrive account. 

Step 3: Find and save  the NC Kids Digital Library's OverDrive collection in the OverDrive app. 

Step 4: Open the NC Kids Digital Library's OverDrive collection, sign in, and borrow or place a hold on a title. You'll need a valid digital library card to complete this step. 

Step 5: Borrowed titles will appear on your Loans page on the NC Kids Digital Library's OverDrive website. From here, you can: 
  • Download titles to the Bookshelf in the OverDrive app
  • Read, Watch, or Listen to titles right in your browser 
  • Send Kindle Books to your Kindle device or Kindle reading app 
Borrowed titles will automatically return at the end of the lending period. You can also return titles early to free up space in your library account. 

Questions? Visit help.overdrive.com to learn more about getting started and for help troubleshooting. 

INFORM
NEW RESOURCES: IMPLEMENTING AND EXPANDING AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR PRINCIPALS
The  National Association of Elementary School Principals  (NAESP) recently launched a   new online toolkit  dedicated to providing principals and other school leaders with the tools they need to help support and expand quality afterschool and summer learning programs. Principals can play an important role in out-of-school time learning by supporting the alignment of out-of-school and in-school content, leveraging school resources, and garnering support from school staff and parents. While this toolkit was created with principals and school leaders in mind, the resources can largely be used by anyone looking to start, maintain, or improve the quality of the out-of-school time programming or assist in getting your principal to support your program.

Built for principals and other school leaders, the  Leading Afterschool Programs toolkit includes nine tools for starting, maintaining, and supporting afterschool programs. Beginning with the research,  Tool #1 focuses on how afterschool programs are supporting students and families with statistics from the America After 3 PM survey of parents with children in afterschool;  Tool #6 hosts a list of how to support quality programs and includes reflective questions and an assessment for principals to track their progress over time; and  Tool #8 provides a guide to talking with community leaders and policy makers on the ways they can work to support quality afterschool programming. Each tool in this toolkit can be used as a stand-alone guide or used in conjunction with the other tools in the kit. 

Principals see that afterschool and summer learning programs help students complete their homework, learn to cooperate with their peers, and improve their academic achievement. Nearly 40 percent of elementary school principals think that afterschool programs greatly impact students' homework completion and believe summer learning programs greatly impact students' academic success. With the help of this toolkit from NAESP, principals and other school leaders can learn and expand their knowledge of how to support these programs and their students.


To read the full article, click here

ADVOCACY
AFTERSCHOOL PROFESSIONALS APPRECIATION WEEK
Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week is a joint effort of community partners, afterschool programs, youth and child development workers and individuals who have committed to declaring the last full week of April each year as a time to recognize and appreciate those who work with youth during out-of-school hours.  The NC Center for Afterschool Programs is joining with the  National AfterSchool Association  to celebrate the professionals that are at the heart of afterschool programs during "Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week" April 23-27, 2018.

We are joining the effort because we believe Afterschool professionals make a difference in the lives of young people. We encourage you to join us in thanking the your colleagues and other afterschool professionals in your life. Here are some ideas on how you can show your appreciation:

  • Declare on social media: "I believe Afterschool professionals make a difference in the lives of young people. #heartofafterschool"
  • Give a hand-written card from you and/or your child to the afterschool professional in your life.
  • Send an email to an afterschool professional's supervisor describing why that person is appreciated.
  • Make treats for the staff at your afterschool program.For more resources and information check out www.heartofafterschool.com.
Watch this video to learn about what Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week is all about:

SUPPORT
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has opened its application for the 2018 Student STEM Enrichment Program (SSEP) grant awards. SSEP supports diverse programs with a common goal: to enable primary and secondary students to participate in creative, hands-on STEM activities for K-12 students and pursue inquiry-based exploration in BWF's home state of North Carolina. These awards provide up to $60,000 per year for three years. The application deadline is  April 18, 2018 .

M. JACK AND DOROTHY STEPHENS FUND
The M. Jack and Dorothy Stephens Fund was established at Triangle Community Foundation in 2012 to address the needs of disadvantaged people in the communities of southern Wake County. Grantees will be selected based on (1) community need and the organization's strategic position to meed that need, and (2) the organization's financial stability and the feasibility of the proposal.  

K-12 schools are eligible to enroll in the sweepstakes and vote daily for their school, from not until the deadline on April 27. Enter daily for your chance to win $10,000 for STEM at your school. This is your chance to get the STEM technology and resources you need to "fab" your lab. 
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
NC CAP wants to highlight your program!

The North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs would like to highlight program successes statewide. Tell us about your program and you might be our Program Spotlight in the next edition of the Afterschool Observer or on Social Media. Click the Program Spotlight below to be redirected to the updated survey link to tell us about your program. 
MISSION
To influence policy and serve as a catalyst, convener, and clearinghouse for afterschool programs through advocacy, professional development, and quality improvement. 

VISION
High quality afterschool programs accessible to all North Carolina children and youth helping them to succeed in and out of school. 
NC CAP | 919.781.6833 | Email | Website

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