Making Afterschool Count in the 2020 Census

We know that opportunities for civic engagement and community service offer powerful experiences for positive learning and development. Afterschool programs are well positioned to engage older youth in the 2020 Census and the 2020 Fall Election. In fact, the Afterschool Alliance and others have developed toolkits and resources to assist afterschool leaders. 

We are interested in how afterschool programs are offering opportunities that engage youth in supporting the 2020 Census and Election. Please write us regarding any activities that you are conducting in your program. 

Below is a guest blog by Jodi Grant, ED of the Afterschool Alliance.

By Guest Blogger, Jodi Grant
ED, Afterschool Alliance

As both stakeholders and members of the community, afterschool providers are in an excellent position to help ensure a complete count for the 2020 Census. Afterschool providers play an integral role in their communities, and as such, they are an important resource to consider tapping into when trying to reach areas that have been hard to count in previous iterations of the census. Programs have the capacity to increase awareness around the census, educate their communities, and reassure families that it is safe to answer the census.

Why Does the Census Matter for Afterschool Programs?

Federal funding for afterschool comes from a variety of sources, including the Department of Education (21^st Century Community Learning Centers), Health and Human Services (Child Care Development Block Grants), and the Department of Agriculture. Census data is used to determine the allocation of all of these funding streams. The ability of a community to provide afterschool programming is directly tied to and dependent upon getting an accurate count.

Source: www.southpalmbeach.com

Every school day, millions of children and families rely on afterschool programs and when they have access to quality programs, everyone benefits. These programs provide safe, supportive, and fun environments where students can learn anything from robotics to debate. Afterschool also helps children find mentors and develop social and emotional competencies that prepare them for all aspects of life. For many working families, afterschool programs keep kids safe between the hours of 3-6pm when parents are at work and juvenile crime spikes.

Unfortunately, many children and families that attend afterschool programs are too often missed on the census. Young children between the ages of 0-4 are the most frequently undercounted group and in the next ten years many of them will need access to quality afterschool programs. It is critically important to both their futures--and ours--that we count them now. These undercounts are more than inaccurate numbers—they can produce deficiencies in funding for programs that will endure for the next decade. 

Source: Afterschool Alliance

To activate the afterschool field, the Afterschool Alliance has created a toolkit that makes it easy for afterschool providers to learn about and get involved with the 2020 Census. It is a helpful resource that offers information and answers to frequently asked questions, sample materials, and suggestions for ways that afterschool programs can take action. For example, part-time afterschool staff and older students should be considered in Census-taker recruitment efforts because they are already trusted members of their communities. Additionally, many programs may be able to serve as a hub for filling out the census by providing computers and internet access to families, and the toolkit offers guidance in how to host a census night at a school or community center.

Hosting a Census Night

Recognizing that there are many barriers that exist for families who wish to complete the census survey, we encourage afterschool providers to invite families into their program spaces to complete their survey using the program’s facilities and computers. As many afterschool programs already run family engagement events throughout the year, this can be a great opportunity to turn the next one into a “Census Night.”

In addition to hosting one-night events, afterschool programs can partner with their local Complete Count Committees and become official centers, where families can fill out the census during pick-up or drop-off hours.

Source: Win McNamee / Getty Images

Getting the Word Out

Even if afterschool programs do not have the capacity to host a Census Night, program providers can still play an important role by getting information about the census out to families as trusted community voices, especially if they are familiar with the different languages spoken in the community. Teens and tweens who participate in programs can also be a resource to spread information and assist people in filling out the census, which not only helps get an accurate count, but also empowers young people to be civically active. In order to debunk misinformation and instill trust in the census process, it is vital for families to hear from members already embedded in their communities that the census is fair and safe to complete, as well as why it is important for them to complete it.

Afterschool programs are an incredible resource for our communities, and we should tap into their expertise and ask for their help to ensure an accurate count in the 2020 Census.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Count Me In Fact Sheet
• Count Me In: Engaging Students as Trusted Messengers- blog by Frank Pisi (SCOE)
• Afterschool Can Play a Role in the 2020 Census- blog by Chandler Hall (Afterschool Alliance)

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Since 2005, Jodi Grant has been Executive Director of the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs. The Afterschool Alliance serves as a national voice for afterschool and provides resources and materials to more than 25,000 afterschool programs. 

2020 Presidential Candidates: Positons on Afterschool

By Guest Blogger Erik Peterson, Afterschool Alliance

With the 2020 presidential election only 10 months away and primary voting now under way, it is a good time to check in on where the presidential candidates stand on afterschool and summer learning as an issue. As we discussed in our blog last fall, education and childcare has been a popular campaign topic for many candidates, from student loan forgiveness to increasing teacher pay, however several candidates have gone on the record in support of afterschool and summer learning programs as well.

While the nonpartisan Afterschool Alliance does not endorse candidates, we do track their proposals related to support for afterschool and summer learning programs and have summarized the positions of the candidates that have gone on the record in support of afterschool, community schools, summer learning, and wrap around supports for school age children. Read more about the candidates’ (from both parties) positions on afterschool here.

Source: Getty Images

Stay tuned for updates from the campaign trail and review our election toolkit and candidate guide (being updated for the 2020 election).
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Erik Peterson joined the Afterschool Alliance in July 2009 and coordinates and advances the Afterschool Alliance’s policy efforts at the federal level by helping develop policy goals and implementing strategies that advance access to quality afterschool programs for all. Erik works to build and strengthen relationships with policy makers and allied organizations to increase public support and funding for quality before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs. Prior to coming to the Afterschool Alliance, Erik worked for the School Nutrition Association (SNA) in the Washington DC, area and as both an AmeriCorps VISTA and staff for the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas.

Teens Advocating for Civic Engagement

By Guest Blogger John Fuentes

What happens when adult allies continue to make authentic youth voice a priority? When High school students in various leadership groups from San Diego to Oakland, CA speak truth to power? When technology becomes a resource for across state collaboration? When young people meet up in Sacramento to speak to legislators about the challenges they’re faced with and how afterschool funding supports overcoming some of these challenges? Answer: a $50M ASES increase with the support of our “TACA”(Teens Advocating for Civic Engagement) youth.

TACA started a little over a year ago when a group of CA3 (California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance) members discussed how powerful it would be to bring more youth voice to the front lines of civic action. Myself, Brad Lupien (ARC), Donny Faaliliu (L.A. All Stars) and Aleah Rosario (CalSac) spent some time during 2018/19 school year unpacking what TACA should look and feel like.

Once a month from October to May in the 2018/19 school year approximately 8 to 12 students from 5 High Schools representing ARC, L.A All-Stars and Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) got on a Zoom chat and discussed issues they were facing in their communities and what action steps they were taking to help resolve some of these issues. With the support of CalSac’s resource guides and the support from afterschool leadership staff, TACA students learned the difference between service and civic action. They learned more about local government and what issues the local officials were passionate about. This work helped support an informed dialogue between TACA students and their local and state officials.

Source: The LA All Stars

We found that the reoccurring challenges students were faced with in their communities were affordable housing, violence, suicide, and lack of equity in education. Whether students were attending JFK high school in southern California or Oakland Tech high school in the Bay Area, these issues were similar. Using Zoom video chats, TACA students had an opportunity to see, hear and learn from other students across the state and know that they were not alone doing work. Students shared ideas, action plans and goals for sustainability and systemic change.

TACA students expressed how cool it was to be able to connect with other students across the state, share their ideas and get feedback. How cool it was to see each other on a Zoom chat once a month and then meet in person for the first time in Sacramento; to know that they played a part in getting the $50M ASES increase because they shared their stories and mobilized.

Now, in year two, TACA has over 25 members from San Diego to Oakland, CA representing 14 high schools and 4 middle schools. Me, Brad, Donny and now Ayala Goldstein (CalSac) continue to support the TACA members as adult allies and coaches. This year TACA is made up of 1-2 students who are part of an existing afterschool leadership group and represent that group during our monthly Zoom chat meetings. The goal is for the two TACA representatives from each school site to join the monthly Zooms and share their learning with their peers and mobilize for Civic Action and change.

Source: ARC

Affordable housing, violence, and education continue to be pressing topics for our TACA youth and their peers and we will continue to support them with their Civic Action goals. We have a few new goals this year which include: Supporting with the 2020 Census, getting people registered to vote and once again showing up in Sacramento on March 9th and 10th for the California Afterschool and Summer Challenge.

If you want to see, hear and learn more about TACA, please check TACA out at this year’s BOOST Conference as they lead a workshop on Thursday April 30th, 3:45-5:30pm entitled "Student- Lead Campaign for Civic Engagement." You can also email me at john.fuentes@bacr.org or Ayala Goldstein at agoldstein@calsac.org
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John Fuentes is a program manager with Bay Area Community Resources in Oakland and Alameda. In addition, John is the lead facilitator for the “Heads Up” Saturday Leadership Academy program at Head Royce School in Oakland and an expanded learning quality support coach and trainer in the San Francisco Bay Area. John is a two-time Alameda Unified School District Salute to Education recipient and a 2018 Region 4-CDE Spotlight on Quality Award recipient. 

What MEANINGFUL Learning and Participation Looks Like In Afterschool

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

Why is learning enhanced when it is meaningful? 
Research tells us that if we hope to make a difference in young people’s learning, we need to provide opportunities for learning that is meaningful. If young people are engaged in meaningful participation, they are empowered to be self-directed, make responsible choices about how to use their time, and participate as group members in making decisions that influence the larger program and what they learn about. 
  

They are also given the opportunity to learn group leadership skills and to assume leadership roles in planning activities and projects. They have opportunities to “give back” by contributing to the program, to other young people, or to their larger community. 

We know that young people experience their participation as meaningful when they report feeling a sense of belonging and ownership in the program. When they are participating in meaningful ways, they feel that their contributions are valued, and, by participating, they “make a difference.” In a program that fosters meaningful youth participation, adults serve as mentors and facilitators to build the skills of the young people. “Fostering meaningful youth participation means providing opportunities for problem solving, decision making, planning, goal setting, and helping others, and involves adults sharing power in real ways with children,” writes Nan Henderson, prevention specialist. 

What MEANINGFUL learning looks like:

• Young people are involved in activities that are open-ended (e.g. problem solving or unrestricted exploration) and require them to use creativity and draw on their own ideas
• Young people provide input and make decisions about how they do things (process) and what they do (content)
• Young people are given frequent opportunities to reflect on, assess and discuss their own progress
• Young people contribute opinions, ideas, and/or concerns to discussions
• Young people take on leadership or service responsibilities and roles
• At some point, all groups of young people explore, share, and celebrate their heritage and culture with others
• Young people are involved in activities that are relevant to their own experiences and are connected to the real world 

Photo Source: Stacey Daraio, Temescal Associates

Three things you can do right now to promote meaningful participation:
1. Explore and assess: It is important that you take the time with your staff to explore and assess your alignment with this meaningful principle.

2. Encourage self-reliance and responsibility to the group: Allow young people to responsibly address their own needs, whether it is access to the drinking fountain or to art supplies. Design your program space and storage system in a way that allows young people free access to needed project supplies, materials and equipment. The privilege of access comes with responsibilities of caring for and returning things to their proper place. Brainstorm the needed agreements with your group to ensure the respectful use of these materials. 

3. Incorporating the Interests of Young People: Regardless of the teaching and learning methods you employ, it is important to incorporate young people’s interests in your program. You may want to survey the young people in your program about their interests, and then work to incorporate opportunities to learn academic and life skills into activities that reflect these interests.

You can build on learners’ existing knowledge and skills. When introducing a new topic or project, begin by allowing young people to show what they already know. There may be some true “experts” among them. By building off the momentum of their knowledge and prior experiences, you can help them both test and deepen their present understanding. Equally as important to designing programs with young people’s interests in mind, is ensuring that programs are relevant to the learners. It is crucial that staff understand young people’s life contexts, including their cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds and have the flexibility to design programs that are relevant to participants.

To learn more see our Youth Development Guide 2.0. This 165- page guide is available as a free download or can be ordered as a spiral bound, hard copy.

YD Guide 2.0