#DCFY18 Budget Advocacy: $10 million for Expanded Learning

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be sharing talking points around the #DCFY18 Budget as it relates to our asks of Council and the Mayor for DCAYA’s key issue areas. We begin this week with Expanded Learning.

THE ASK: $5.1 million in additional funding to the Office of Out-of-School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes

Funding for out-of-school time (OST) in the Mayor's proposed budget was kept flat at $4.9 million, meaning we'll need to work collaboratively with Council to get to the full $10 million dollar investment we know is needed.

NOW: Why additional OST funding matters to youth, and why we believe it is a sound investment in FY18

• Impact on Kids: Quality programs with a youth development focus show positive impacts on kids’ academic gains, participation in school, social and emotional development, and overall health, and research shows that the greatest gains from these outcomes are shown to be for youth who are considered “at risk” of academic failure due to poverty; declining funding means fewer of these outcomes for District youth.
• Declining Funding and Access: Local funding for community-based OST programs has declined by 60% since 2010, resulting today in only a quarter of the locally-funded slots for community-based afterschool and summer learning that were there for kids just six years ago (from close to 10,000 in 2010 to under 2,500 in 2016). Much of this decline happened as funds were administered through the DC Trust, and reluctance to invest over the years has been understandable given the Trust’s mismanagement over that time period. 
• New Youth Office, New Opportunity to Invest in Kids: With the Trust’s dissolution and the creation of the new Youth Office, we have a structure for OST to be led with accountability and authority; the Commission offers community-based governance and strong potential for cross-sector and family and youth collaboration, and an in-government entity can better ensure access to student-level data to yield shared, measurable outcomes.
• Turning the Trend: We see an opportunity ahead in FY2018 to scale up locally-funded afterschool programs in the District to better meet the OST needs of youth and their communities. We are convinced the time is right to inform and influence the re-creation of the youth development system here in the District with the strongest investment in expanded learning we’ve seen in years. This year, we support an initial $10 million dollar investment in expanded learning programs through the new Youth Office in the FY18 budget. This funding will support community-based OST providers to better meet the needs of some 6,000 additional children and youth.
• Leading Locally in Face of Federal Threats: All of this will also serve to counter potential loss of federal funds; The proposed elimination of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (which provides before- and after-school enrichment, tutoring and other services) would mean $1.2 billion eliminated from the expanded learning space nationally; DC’s share of this federal funding in FY16 was approximately $6.3 million, with an FY17 allocation closer to $5 million.

HOW: Help advocate for OST funding in the #DCFY18 Budget

• Please sign up to testify at the Budget Hearing for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
• You can sign up to testify at this link or by calling the Committee on Education at 202-724-8061.

NEXT: Please check back here next week for more on our Youth Workforce Development and Disconnected Youth #DCFY18 budget asks, and the following week for Youth Homelessness.

And in case you missed it, check out our Actions for Budget Advocacy - Week 1 email.

Turning Point for Expanded Learning: Behind DCAYA’s Bold FY18 Budget Ask

In June of last year, DCAYA released a report which documented the declining trends in funding for and access to afterschool and summer expanded learning opportunities for DC children and youth. We noted that DC Public Schools (DCPS) elementary schools with the highest “at-risk” student enrollment also tended to have the lowest share of available afterschool enrollment slots through Out of School Time Programs (OSTP), and that the District’s FY16 budget included cuts to OSTP, with programs being offered at eight fewer DCPS Title I schools from SY2014-15 to SY2015-16. 

In addition, local funding for community-based out-of-school time (OST) programs had declined by 60% since 2010, resulting in only a quarter of the locally-funded slots for community-based afterschool and summer learning that were there for kids just six years earlier (from close to 10,000 in 2010 to under 2,500 in 2016). Much of this decline happened as funds were administered through the DC Trust, which closed its doors in September 2016.

Promising Trends. At the start of the current school year, there were 7,700 OSTP afterschool slots in DCPS, up from 6,790 the previous year, and the overall OSTP allocation in the FY2017 budget reflected a 33% increase from the previous school year. New funding covered OSTP programming at three additional schools, more than 800 additional afterschool enrollment spaces, and 183 added FTE positions to provide afterschool coverage at the schools. According to the School Budget Development Guide, DCPS is also adding three more schools to OSTP in FY2018. 

Lights On Afterschool: 4 Questions with DC Afterschool Ambassador Daniela Grigioni

In September, the Afterschool Alliance announced that Daniela Grigioni had been selected as one of 15 leaders from across the nation to serve as a 2016-2017 Afterschool Ambassador. Since 2001, more than 200 individuals have served as Afterschool Ambassadors with the Afterschool Alliance, working in their communities and states to increase awareness of the need for afterschool, and acting as a voice for the movement. Since December 2015, Daniela Grigioni has served as the Executive Director at After-School All-Stars DC. Prior to that, she was the Manager of External Relations for Afterschool Programs at DC Public Schools.

*For more info on Expanded Learning, please be sure to check out DCAYA's new issue brief!*

What is the Afterschool Ambassador program, and what does your role mean for DC?

The program identifies afterschool providers and advocates of special achievement, and uses its national platform to help them raise their voices in support of afterschool. This is the first year that DC has had an ambassador! As an Afterschool Ambassador for DC, I want to work to build support for afterschool programs here in District as well as in the nation, and help advance the goal of making those programs available to all children and families who need them. I will also continue my work as the Executive Director at After-School All-Stars DC (ASAS DC).

What sort of resources will you have as an Ambassador?

Shared Use: Safe Places for All Kids to Play and Grow

October is Afterschool Awareness Month, and for the next four weeks, DCAYA will be featuring the work of our community-based out-of-school time (OST) partners. To kick things off, we’ve invited our friends at the Advocates for Better Children’s Diets to share about shared use of community facilities in the District – what it is, where the disparities are, and what it means for youth in OST hours. Read on for more information and steps you can take to join the DC Active Kids campaign for shared use!

Washington, DC is often thought of as one of the healthiest cities in the US. It ranks 50th out of 51 states for obesity. On paper, DC looks like a beacon of health, but that’s not the whole story.

DC has significant disparities when it comes to health. When we add overweight to obesity, we find that 56% of all adults living in DC are overweight or obese. These rates increase to more than 72% in the District’s neighborhoods east of the river (Wards 7 and 8). Racial disparities with regards to obesity in the District are extreme, for example, less than one in every 10 white District residents are obese, whereas one in every three African Americans in the District are obese.

Childhood obesity is a growing focus for many health professionals because overweight and obese children often grow up to be overweight and obese adults, therefore they will have to deal with all of the associated diseases including hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. D.C. has the ninth highest childhood obesity rate in the United States, according to Child Health Data.

It's Time to #ExpandLearningDC! (version 2.0)

This week, DCAYA is pleased to re-release #ExpandLearningDC, our policy and funding framework for afterschool and summer learning in DC, which we originally posted here in April. The report has since been updated following a vote that month by the DC Trust’s Board of Directors to dissolve the organization. This version also uses updated data to better reflect trends in out-of-school time access within DCPS.

Read the full report and our recommendations:

#ExpandLearningDC Framework

Don't have time for the full report? Check out our executive summary and quality checklist. We've developed the checklist tool to help education leaders, policy makers, funders and parents determine universal out-of-school time (OST) quality standards for provider programs and the District-wide system as a whole.

Report Appendices: We've also prepared resources on DCPS elementary and middle schools and expanded learning outcomes to reference in your advocacy, as well as fact sheets for afterschool enrollment in Title I elementary and middle schools in each Ward!*

                             Ward 1 Fact Sheet                     Ward 6 Fact Sheet
                             Ward 2 Fact Sheet                     Ward 7 Fact Sheet
                             Ward 4 Fact Sheet                     Ward 8 Fact Sheet
                             Ward 5 Fact Sheet

CURRENT TRENDS

• Local funding for community-based out-of-school time programs has declined by 60% since 2010. This has resulted in only a quarter of the locally-funded slots for community-based afterschool and summer learning that were there for kids just six years ago, from close to 10,000 in 2010 to under 2,500 in 2016.
• DCPS schools with the highest “at-risk” student enrollment also tend to have the lowest share of available afterschool enrollment slots through OSTP. While all young people benefit from these opportunities, kids who are considered “at-risk” stand to gain the most from participating in afterschool. The present trend in funding to schools gives reason to be optimistic, but overall need in the District persists.

RECOMMENDATIONS

If we are serious about providing safe, youth-friendly opportunities focused on improving outcomes and quality of life for all our children now and in future, we must reverse these trends. To do so on the scale that is needed, policy makers, funders, intermediaries and educational leaders must embrace an approach that fully integrates expanded learning into our public education continuum.

Please read the report to find out more about these trends and DCAYA's 8 recommendations exploring what it will take for more expanded learning opportunities to reach the many thousands of children and youth in the District who stand to benefit from them!

(* Please note, we did not prepare a fact sheet for Ward 3 because there are no Title I DCPS schools in the Ward, however Ward 3 elementary and middle schools and their at-risk enrollment are included in our DCPS schools appendix.)

Joseph Gavrilovich is DCAYA's senior policy analyst for expanded learning. If you have any questions about today's blog, or would like more information on our afterschool and summer learning advocacy please contact him at joseph@dc-aya.org

You can also reach out to him to obtain an archived copy of the earlier version of the #ExpandLearningDC report.

Regarding the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation

This week's blog post is our statement released yesterday in response to the news about the DC Trust dissolving. In light of these events, we will be revising and re-releasing our #ExpandLearningDC report and fact sheets here in the coming weeks (the report was originally released on this blog on April 13). 

In the meantime, as we all work together to find a way forward, DCAYA is recommending that stakeholders use our checklist of standards for quality out-of-school time programs and systems as a shared framework. Our statement from April 26, 2016 follows.

This morning, we learned that the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (DC Trust) will be dissolving. While the exact timeline and process is still to be determined or announced, now is the time to move forward on next steps with urgency. We want to provide you with a few immediate updates on what we’ve learned today. This is followed by a more detailed set of recommendations for the path moving forward, and a final reminder of why the programs the Trust has funded remain so vital.

Immediate Updates
Based on conversations with the Council and the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Brenda Donald, we are confident that:

• Current out of school time grant commitments will be honored. 
• The $2,000,000 allocation for this coming summer will remain stable and move quickly (likely through the Trust as a part of the final wind down).
• Council will work to ensure the Mayor’s proposed $4,900,000 for FY17 is protected. The Mayor has demonstrated a clear commitment to young people with the proposed FY17 budget to fund OST programming. The continuation of the youth development work that was central to the mission of the DC Trust, “ensur(ing) that every DC youth develops the skills to grow into a healthy, caring and productive adult” is paramount.
• Mayor Bowser will deploy both Deputy Mayor Donald and Deputy Mayor Niles to work closely with Council and the community to develop a transition plan for next school year. DCAYA recommends that funding be directed to a local intermediary organization or funding institution with established grant-making expertise and an understanding of the District’s youth development landscape. Alternatively, funding could reside within a one-time special commission for children and youth that is established for the FY17 school year and summer until a more long-term intermediary is designated. In either scenario, we must work collaboratively to ensure programming is not disrupted next fall. 

Taking a thoughtful approach to the management of youth development funding is critical, and as we work with policy makers, our members, and the community at large to explore and consider next steps and solutions, we must remain aware of the unique space such an intermediary exists in. Because of this, while there might seem to be easier options to consider, such as shifting these funds to Local Education Agencies (LEAs), we would be remiss in our own work if we didn’t push to find a better, sustainable solution rather than rush to institutionalize an easier, short-term one.

While next steps remain a bit unclear today, know that we’re working closely across DC government to ensure that there will be opportunities for public feedback and input on what has and has not worked historically. As these and other opportunities are made available, we will communicate them to you and your fellow DCAYA members.

The Path Forward
We are dedicated to protecting this funding, to ensuring that it will stay intact, and to guaranteeing that it remains true to its original purpose. We have been searching for alternative OST funding structures, even before seeing the news regarding the DC Trust’s dissolution. We believe the value of a public-private intermediary should be central to our thinking about the future of OST and youth development funding. We are committed to being a thought partner in this work, and will frame future conversations with these thoughts in mind:

1. When effectively designed, intermediaries can have tremendous value. We know how valuable having a grantmaking intermediary for local Out-of-School Time (OST) funding is to our members and community based organizations in general. A strong public-private intermediary professionalizes the non-profit, youth serving sector through the provision of high quality youth development training and technical assistance. It can ensure grantee accountability through consistent oversight; and finally, when effectively designed an intermediary entity can make sure public investments are made to high quality youth development programs with demonstrated impacts on academic achievement, diminishing the learning gap, reducing truancy, combating youth crime, promoting healthy behaviors and supporting transition-aged youth.
2. The DC Council’s oversight of the intermediary should set a reasonable cap on annual overhead and administrative costs. This action would serve to reassure providers and the public that the funds are dedicated to OST, and that the dollars are reaching the most number of children and youth through community-based program implementation. A threshold of 10-15% would meet the recommendations “reasonable cap” standard.
3. As longer-term solutions are considered, all stakeholder partners should establish and use a common checklist of quality standards for OST programs and the system as a whole. Any and all funders, programs, schools, parent-teacher organizations, government leaders, LEAs and agency partners would have access to the tool. Any CBOs receiving OST grants from the funding intermediary would be expected to meet the quality standards. Similarly, all policy and funding decisions impacting OST would be assessed according to this checklist.

The Value of Out of School Time Opportunities

The annual share of funding for out-of-school time programs has declined by 60% since 2010. As a result, only one quarter of the locally-funded slots exist now for community-based afterschool and summer learning that were available to kids just six years ago, a reduction from close to 10,000 in 2010 to fewer than 2,500 in 2016.

If we are serious about providing safe, youth-friendly opportunities focused on improving outcomes and quality of life for all our children now and in future, we must protect the $4.9 million presently proposed for OST programming in FY2017 and work collaboratively to design a strong, efficient and transparent system moving forward. While there are other funding sources for out-of-school time activities in the District, the funds which are allocated to the DC Trust explicitly for OST uniquely offer community-based organizations the ability to nimbly partner with multiple schools to maximize the number of kids they serve annually. As such, this funding stream directly reflects the value we as a District place on our kids’ learning in the hours after school and in the summer. In ensuring the stability and flexibility of this funding, the District will remain on track in serving children and youth with quality, community-based expanded learning opportunities.

While today's news is heartbreaking, know that we will work diligently with each and every one of you to ensure that the children, youth and families that rely on these critical services are protected. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, and we'll be in touch as things unfold.

- Maggie Riden, Executive Director, on behalf of your team at DC Alliance of Youth Advocates

Youth Voice: Afterschool Partnerships Expand Learning for DCPS Students

This week we’re bringing you the testimony of Nana Asare, an alum of DC SCORES. At last week’s April 14 budget hearing on DCPS, Mr. Asare was joined by Katrina Owens, DC SCORES’ chief of staff and a former DCPS teacher. A recent DCAYA survey of 51 community-based organizations like DC SCORES showed that 83% of kids served after school by those organizations in DC this year were in DCPS. We believe that when DCPS schools and staff actively collaborate with quality programs like DC SCORES to ensure harmony and integration, it yields the best possible experience for students. Nana’s testimony tells such a story.

My name is Nana Asare.  I am a DC SCORES alum and 19 years old. I graduated from Wilson SHS in 2014. I have been a student at Johnson State College where I participated on the soccer team. I joined the DC SCORES program at Brightwood Elementary School in 4th grade. It changed my life.

DC SCORES alum Nana Asare (far right) testifies to the DC Council Committee on Education.
DC SCORES chief of staff Katrina Owens, who also testified, is seated to his right. (April 14, 2016)

My family emigrated from Ghana when I was 2.  Before joining the DC SCORES team I was hard headed, stubborn and had a lot of behavioral issues.  My principal encouraged me to join the DC SCORES team and it changed how I saw myself, my school, and my community. From that day on, DC SCORES and soccer became a huge part of my life. 

DC SCORES provided me a place to succeed and belong.  As I continued in school I continued playing soccer and engaging with SCORES. As a student at Wilson SHS I was a member of the varsity soccer team.  I also volunteered with DC SCORES every summer as a Jr Camp Counselor. It was important to me to make sure that kids currently in the program had an opportunity to find success and their voice like I did.

EXTRA: DCPS Budget Oversight Responses Show Promising Trends for Afterschool in FY17

We are posting this special extra blog this week to follow up on our #ExpandLearningDC report. You can also download our statement here.

At the request of the DC Council’s Committee on Education, DCPS has provided a narrative of their proposed FY2017 budgets for afterschool and extended day at individual schools ahead of the chancellor’s budget oversight hearing on Thursday, April 21, 2016.

The school district’s responses to the committee show some promising new investments in afterschool programs in DCPS Title I elementary schools and education campuses going into the next school year:

• DCPS will bring afterschool programs back in three elementary schools in Ward 7 in FY2017. Anne Beers, Randle Highlands and Smothers elementary schools all had Office of Out of School Time (OSTP) programming in school year 2014-2015 which was discontinued in the present school year. All three schools will see this programming restored in the coming school year, with 380 new seats for afterschool student enrollment and 37 new afterschool FTE positions between the three schools. This means a total of 52 schools will offer OSTP afterschool programming in the coming school year. (This is up from 49 as reported in our policy brief.)
• DCPS projects adding more than 800 new afterschool spaces for student enrollment in FY2017. In addition to the seats for restored programming at the three new schools, DCPS plans to add 452 new afterschool seats in existing OSTP schools. Some of the biggest gains from the current school year into next will be seen at Bruce  Monroe at Park View, Noyes, Bunker Hill, Leckie and Stanton elementary schools. The total number of OSTP afterschool slots budgeted for in the coming school year is 7,700. (This is up from 6,790 at the end of last school year, as reported in our policy brief.)
• DCPS’s total proposed budget for afterschool programming in FY2017 is $5.4 million, a 33% increase from the current school year. Funding will cover programming at three additional schools and the new afterschool enrollment spaces, as well as 183 new FTE positions to provide afterschool coverage at the schools, for a total of 804 FTE positions system-wide.

Local Funding for Local Opportunity: The Role & Vision of the DC Trust in Expanded Learning

The District of Columbia surpasses any state in its broad, unmet demand for afterschool and summer learning opportunities. More than 70% of our kids in grades K through 8 would participate in a program if one were available after school, compared to a national average of only 40% for all kids.*

The greatest gains from expanded learning programs are shown to be for youth who are considered at risk of academic failure due to poverty**, and in DC, that means close to 40,000 students in DC Public Schools (DCPS) and our public charter schools. Yet at last report for this school year, the DC Trust’s FY2016 budget had only allocated for 2,465 total out-of-school time (OST) program slots for youth. Alarmingly, the same report indicated that there is no current FY2016 budget allocation at all for summer learning.

With recent changes in the organization’s leadership and internal staffing structures, there has been lingering uncertainty about the DC Trust’s future as the grantmaking intermediary for local OST funding - uncertainty we strove to resolve at their recent performance hearing on February 23, 2016.

Community Providers Weigh In
The DC Alliance of Youth Advocates (DCAYA) and several of our community-based partners testified at the performance oversight hearing for the DC Trust before the DC Council’s Committee on Health and Human Services. Several clear themes emerged from across partner testimonies:

Black History Month Profile: Thurgood Marshall

This is a special blog by DCAYA Communications and Development Manager, JR Russ.

I'm a DC native, born and raised. I went to St. Albans and sang in the Washington National Cathedral's Boys Choir from 5th to 7th grade, 1991 to 1994. During the spring semester of my 6th grade year, Thurgood Marshall passed away on Sunday, January 24, 1993. The Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys would sing at his funeral five days later. 23 years later the significance of his achievements and the impact of his work are still affecting and informing my own life.

So for this week's blog, and as part of Black History Month, I wanted to share this profile of him.

#ExpandLearningDC

With advocacy season upon us, DCAYA is rallying a coalition of community partners and parents to promote increased funding for and greater access to quality community and neighborhood-based afterschool and summer learning opportunities for the District’s children and youth. Please check back here for more resources to get involved!

The time has come to step up our efforts. As other states and localities increasingly see funding for afterschool and summer learning as a major policy goal, funding in the District has actually followed a downward trend in recent years. This means still fewer program spots for the growing number of kids who need them most.

This year, through our collective efforts we intend to reverse these troubling trends in 2017 and beyond by ensuring full access to quality afterschool and summer learning opportunities for DC’s students with the greatest needs - it's time to #ExpandLearningDC!

To do this, we plan to inform the council, the mayor and other agency leaders about the positive impact expanded learning and youth development programs have on children by highlighting the successes of quality programs right here in the District, and to seek a stable, multi-year funding stream beginning with at least $10 million over the next year for quality afterschool and summer learning opportunities.