DCAYA's Top Ten Blog Posts of 2016

To wrap up the year, we thought we'd take a look back at our Top Ten most read blogs for 2016, beginning at number 10!!

10) FY2017 Budget Asks, 3/31/16

As you know, our asks take a look at the Mayor's proposed budget, incorporate our own policy analysis and research, and are a mix of requests:

• to maintain what is in the Mayor's budget,
• to increase the amount of funding to appropriate levels, and at times
• to insert funding that isn't included at all.

Our asks for the current fiscal year included Transportation Support, Educational Data Capacity, Youth Workforce Development, Youth Homelessness, and Expanded Learning. Little would we know that the latter ask, as it related to allocation to the DC Trust, would be part of a completely new landscape the following month.

9) Local Funding for Local Opportunity: The Role & Vision of the DC Trust in Expanded Learning, 3/9/16

9 months later, it's pretty interesting to see how the core values shared in this post continue to be a part of the conversation, as legislation for an Office of Youth Outcomes and Grants is in the midst of the markup process, following the dissolution of the DC Trust.. From our community providers, several themes that emerged were:

• The impact of expanded learning programs on achievement outcomes
• The capacity of community partnerships to maximize resources
• The need for stable local funding intermediaries

So although the landscape might be a different one, as our community and representatives finalize what a new youth development entity looks like, the direction and purpose of our work remains constant.

8) A transcript of the Kojo Nnamdi Show's segment on the DC Trust, 5/4/16

Our next most read blog was simply a transcript of a Kojo Nnamdi Show segment focused on the DC Trust, what went wrong and what's next. One of his guests included Andria Tobin, Executive Director of Kid Power Inc, but also a member of DCAYA's Board of Directors. On one our favorite quotes from the show, from Andria:

"So we want to make sure that there’s a really thought out plan to make sure those funds are protected for many nonprofits and youth in the District, one that is collaborative and strategic, and is flexible and innovative in the way that the Trust was designed to be."

7) Lights On Afterschool: 4 Questions with DC Afterschool Ambassador Daniela Grigioni, 10/19/16

This month's blog took a closer look at afterschool, in an interview with Daniela Grigioni, who had been selected as one of 15 leaders from across the nation to serve as a 2016-2017 Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance. This is the third of our blogs in the top ten which related to Expanded Learning. This is one of our four main issue areas, and has to do with learning outside of the classroom, particularly after the school day and over the summer.

6) Homeless Youth Census: Data-Driven Advocacy Calls for Greater Investment to End Youth Homelessness, 3/2/16

As with many of our efforts, the need for accurate, robust, and timely data leads to better advocacy. And the Homeless Youth Census is both a great example and a relatively recent success. Benefits of this census highlighted in the 2015 Report Fact Sheet were that it:

• Provides understanding of the number of youth experiencing homelessness in the District
• Informs the various and complex needs of youth experiencing homelessness and help bring solutions to scale
• Educates key stakeholders of where resources should be allocated

What's especially wonderful looking back at this post was another very recent success we highlighted in last week's blog post, that the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness voted to approve the 5-year Comprehensive Plan to end youth homelessness.

5) Advocacy Season Update: Performance Oversight and Budget Hearings Set by Council, 1/20/16

It should be no surprise that one of our most read blog posts was an update regarding the hearing schedule set by DC Council, which is our primary advocacy season. We've already been planning for the FY2017 hearings over the past several months, which included our regular community input sessions across our four issue areas as well as a special effort to move the Office of Youth Outcomes and Grants legislation forward so that an FY2018 budget has somewhere to put Out-of-School Time funding.

4) It's Time to #ExpandLearningDC! (version 2.0), 6/9/16

This month, we re-released #ExpandLearningDC, our policy and funding framework for afterschool and summer learning in DC, originally posted in April. The report had been updated following the vote that month by the DC Trust’s Board of Directors to dissolve the organization. This version also used updated data to better reflect trends in out-of-school time access within DCPS.

3) #ExpandLearningDC, 1/28/16

Even more read than the previous blog post, was our first Expanded Learning post of the year. As you can tell from this year's highlights, our work is definitely more of a marathon rather than a sprint. Although our main advocacy season happens during regular times each year, not only is there a tremendous amount of work that is required to prepare for and then evaluate after hearings, but there are also the unplanned events and developments that we have to monitor and respond to, like the dissolution of the DC Trust. And this refers not just to DCAYA's staff of four, but the hundreds of member organizations whom we do our work with.

2) Leading the Way in Youth Workforce Development!, 8/3/16

The runner-up to our top read blog post for 2016 was our recap of a joint program we have with the Institute for Educational Leadership, the Youth Workforce Leaders Academy aka YWLA. Through in-person learning sessions with national and local experts, online discussions, capstone projects, individual professional development action planning, and facilitated peer-to-peer learning, participants will significantly expanded and grew their expertise in providing high quality youth workforce development services This post recapped the year with our 2nd cadre, and recognized each individual in this post.

1) New Year, New Resolutions, 1/6/16

Our most read post was our first one of 2016, a light-hearted start to the year, using GIFs to animate some New Year's Resolutions we wanted to make, both personally and professionally.

And THAT was 2016! We hope you enjoyed this look down memory lane, as we look ahead to 2017. We also hope you may have learned a bit more, not just about our work highlighted at various points throughout the year, but how it all ties together. And this work is only possible, because of the year-round engagement of our members and support from our community.

If you would like to support us during this holiday season, please consider showing your support with a donation, and thank you in advance!

- Your DCAYA Team

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?

Leaving "No Child Left Behind" Behind

Last week, the House passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (S.1177) by a vote of 369 to 64. This week, the Senate followed suit and passed the bill by a 85-12 vote. Once it is signed into law by the President, this bill will replace the 14 year-old No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 through FY 2020.

The compromise legislation, drawn up in conference from both the House and Senate versions, shows promise of final enactment thanks to bipartisan provisions addressing the key goals of both Republicans and Democrats. The bill appeals to Republicans for its limitations on the role of the federal government and to Democrats for its efforts to protect low-income and minority students. At a time when all things political feel divisive, efforts to collaborate and compromise are refreshing.

Congress approves rewrite of No Child Left Behind via @ajc https://t.co/Oo17PUOiqI #NCLB

— Youth Today (@YouthToday) December 9, 2015

So what does this mean for the state of education nationally; and how will this affect the education landscape of the District? 

Keeping the Lights On After School in DC

As part of Afterschool Awareness month, DCAYA will be featuring the work of our community-based partners throughout the month of October. This week, in concert with the Afterschool Alliance’s Lights On Afterschool, we take a look at the need and present funding for afterschool programs in DC.

October is Afterschool Awareness Month, and on and around October 22, events will be held nationally for Lights On Afterschool to underscore the need for investment in afterschool programs. In DC, this need is especially heightened. More and more District families are seeking after school enrichment opportunities for their kids while at the same time, fewer public dollars are being invested in proven programs.

“These programs inspire children to learn beyond an instructional classroom setting,” says Jodi Grant, executive director of the national Afterschool Alliance. “By providing one-on-one mentoring and homework help, healthy snacks and team sports, new STEM learning opportunities such as robotics and computer programming, expanded time to learn art and music in a studio setting, and countless other hands-on opportunities, afterschool programs build upon classroom learning to promote positive youth development and motivate each child and youth toward college and job readiness.”

The Afterschool Alliance has promoted a growing body of research that shows afterschool programs and expanded learning programs keep kids safe, help working families, and encourage increased parental involvement in children’s learning. Data gathered by the Alliance have shown that for every child in an afterschool program nationally, there are two more whose parents say they would participate if a program were available. So, how does DC stack up?

DC Afterschool Investment Falls Short of Demand

The Afterschool Alliance’s survey data show that in DC, the unmet demand is greater than in any state: An estimated 72% of children in the District in grades 6 through 8 would participate in an afterschool program if one were available to them (compared to 40% nationally).

Community-based providers of afterschool programming in the District have a proven track record for tangible outcomes. Yet there is presently little political will toward expanding access in order to match the level of demand in the community. In fact, as other states and localities increasingly see funding for afterschool as a major policy goal, funding for expanded learning and enrichment programming (afterschool and during the summer) in the District (and youth development programs in general) has actually followed a downward trend in recent years.

Less funding means fewer spots in afterschool programs for the kids who need them most. Just last month, due to funding constraints, the DC Trust cut $460,000 from their out of school time grants and 24 organizations saw their funding discontinued. As a result of these cuts, as many as 1,200 expanded learning slots were lost.

In the wake of these cuts, a $1.2 million allocation to the DC Trust has been proposed to fund a series of “mini-grants” to five target neighborhoods. While the grants are well-intentioned to target funding toward neighborhoods most at-risk, the structure of the grant distribution has youth afterschool enrichment and mentoring programs competing with violence prevention and family support programs for the same pot of funding, and in a limited geographic area. Further, with each grant capped at $25,000, we remain concerned that the scope of the funding is insufficient to significantly affect outcomes.

In order to keep the lights on after school in DC, the District needs to return to having stable, multi-year funding to quality organizations. Only with the assurance of a stable funding stream will the District’s strong network of community-based providers be able to better collaborate with more schools and expand the reach of afterschool expanded learning and enrichment opportunities to the kids and families who have the greatest need.

DCAYA thanks the Afterschool Alliance for contributing to this post and for their work toward raising awareness on the need for afterschool investment. For more information on DCAYA's Expanded Learning work, please contact Joseph Gavrilovich.

Budget Cuts to DC Afterschool Programs

It’s that time of year again: The DCAYA team brings you our analysis of the newly released DC budget.

This year, we’re going to split our analysis into two sections. Part 1, today’s blog, will focus on cuts in the DCPS afterschool budget. Next week, Part 2 ,will focus on our concerns related to older youth services and system level investments.

**To preface, this analysis is in its working stages. We are actively tracking down greater details about the budget. Nonetheless, we have identified some clear areas of concern that we did not want to delay in getting out to parents, service providers, and other community partners. I strongly encourage you to continue to visit our blog, Twitter, Facebook and website for updates as the budget analysis process continues.

Concern regarding Afterschool Funding:

Overview:

Just last year, DC ranked #2 in the country for having the best afterschool programs. Over 7,200 students were enrolled in afterschool programs and  DCPS stated its commitment to universal access to afterschool programming. Why? Afterschool programs, or expanded learning opportunities, have been shown to improve academic, social/emotional , health and safety aspects of students’ lives. Working parents, particularly for those with younger children and limited income, need afterschool programs for economic stability and the safety of their children.

Yet, after examining the budget documents for the upcoming year, which were released April 2, we know with certainty that broad, deep funding cuts will result in thousands of students not being able to attend afterschool programs next year, unless Council makes immediate changes to the budget.