When funding is on the line—for schools and afterschool programs alike—parents are often the most effective advocates—especially when they’re organized and prepared to mobilize ahead of time.

"When it comes time to mobilize, any Title I principal would already have a cohort of parents willing to go to the mat to advocate," said Rolonda Smith, executive director of Parents for Public Schools of Greater Cincinnati, in a recent interview with Education Daily.  "Why not work every day toward that so when times come around and you need that support or backing, all you have to do is press one button, and it will ring 400 phones?"

With a general understanding of where and how to channel their efforts, parents can make the difference and potentially save their child’s afterschool programs from devastating cuts or closure. 

How can parents help advocate for your afterschool program? It’s important to let parents of afterschool participants know that they don’t need to invest a lot of time or energy in order to be a strong voice for afterschool.  Here are some ideas to get parents started advocating right away for afterschool programs in your community:

• Call or email your city council representatives– Let them know that afterschool programs are important.
• Circulate a petition– Have fellow parents, friends, neighbors and other community members sign a petition showing their support for afterschool programs.
• Host a parents night at your afterschool program – Work with the leaders of your afterschool program to host a parents night, so that parents and other community members can observe the program in action.  A Lights On Afterschool event is a great way to start.
• Organize a letter writing campaign– Encourage parents, neighbors and program volunteers to write letters in supportof afterschool to local elected officials, such as the mayor and the city council.
• Set up a site visit for local elected leaders– Work with your afterschool program leaders to plan an afternoon for localleaders to visit the program and see how afterschool works.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper or a guest post on a neighborhood blog– Tie the benefits ofafterschool programs to other local issues that people are talking about: bullying, crime rates, healthy food andphysical activity, test scores, etc. 

An additional advantage this year is that we are announcing the four categories ahead of time.  The four categories are:

1. Keeping Kids Safe and Supported in the Hours After School – Programs that are providing a positive, encouraging and socio-emotionally supportive environment that helps students feel safe, reduces problem behavior, and keeps kids engaged and excited about learning.
2. The Role of Afterschool and the Common Core State Standards – Programs that are intentionally and successfully offering programming that supports student learning toward the Common Core standards and promotes the habits of mind (knowledge, skills and dispositions) that are reflected in the Common Core in order to help students become college and career ready.
3. Students with Disabilities and Other Special Needs and Afterschool – Programs that are providing an environment that strengthens the self-confidence, perseverance and emotional wellbeing of children with disabilities and other special needs, giving them the tools to learn, play and succeed side-by-side with children of all abilities. 
4. Why Data Matters: How Afterschool Programs Use Data to Improve Programming – Programs that are successfully improving their programming and ability to serve children in their community based on data collected by the program, data gathered from partners (e.g., schools, other afterschool programs, community-based organizations) and/or program evaluation data prepared by outside entities.

What does Common Core mean for afterschool?  Whether you agree or disagree with Common Core, these standards are the reality for students, families and educators in nearly every state.  While the goals of afterschool go well beyond academic support, given the importance of Common Core to educators and the ways in which Common Core will impact the learning experience for children and youth, the Common Core will surely affect afterschool providers as well.   

How can you help prepare afterschool programs and staff to support learning under the Common Core State Standards?

• Educate yourself about Common Core and the role of afterschool.  Achieve has a variety of resources on Common Core, including guides for elementary and secondary school leaders and guidance counselors.  In addition, there are briefs focused on the role of afterschool that share examples of programs and recommendations for supporting learning under the Common Core.
  • From the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): Connecting High-Quality Expanded Learning Opportunities and the Common Core State Standards to Advance Student Success
  • From the Forum for Youth Investment:  The Common Core Standards: What do they Mean for Out-of-School Time?
  • From the Partnership for Children and Youth: Linking Common Core and Expanded Learning
• Help parents better understand the Common Core and what it means for their children.  The National PTA and the Council of Great City Schools both have parent resources on Common Core available for download.  Given the strong relationship that afterschool providers have with parents and families, programs are well positioned to help educate parents about the Common Core.
  • National PTA’s Parents Guide to Student Success
  • Council of the Great City Schools’ Parent Roadmaps to Common Core
• Promote opportunities for professional development and sharing among afterschool staff and school staff.  Expanding Minds and Opportunities includes an article on Common Core and expanded learning that features a couple of examples:
  • In Wisconsin, district and local expanded learning programs are connecting with school curriculum online and directly with teachers.  Programs include current and retired teachers on their staff to facilitate effective engagement with schools and the academic content students are learning.
  • The New Jersey State Afterschool Network, NJSACC, in cooperation with the New Jersey State Department of Education, completed a statewide pilot training program on the Common Core for afterschool program leaders. Training sessions focused on how to align student activities and curriculum with the Common Core.
• Check out examples of afterschool providers who are helping students reach Common Core.
  • The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and America’s Promise Alliance have an upcoming webinar on May 6 that will explore the ways in which afterschool and summer programs can help students achieve under the Common Core standards.  Examples from New Jersey and Wisconsin will be highlighted and case studies, best practices and lessons learned will be featured. 

As the recognition of the valuable role that afterschool and summer programs play in supporting student learning continues to grow, it is essential that afterschool providers demonstrate how they can expand on and complement the learning that happens during the school day.  Throughout the rest of 2013 and beyond, we’ll be working to provide the afterschool community with resources related to Common Core and the role of afterschool in helping all students succeed in school and out.

Since its formation three years ago, JJIE.org has earned a reputation as the go-to source for juvenile justice news. The Hub builds on this, adding “layer upon layer of research into issues pertaining to youth and justice,” said Leonard Witt, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism.

Practitioners, researchers, policymakers and journalists can now navigate seamlessly from the comprehensive journalism produced by JJIE.org to the underlying research and best practices in the Hub, deepening   their understanding of the treatment of youth in juvenile justice and of innovations that make juvenile justice approaches more responsive and effective.

The Hub will “put juvenile justice information and resources from Models for Change and other reform efforts into the hands of those who need them,” says Sarah Bryer, director of the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN).  NJJN is curating the Hub in partnership with JJIE.org.

“When we first put the words ‘information exchange’ on our site, that’s what we aimed for,” said Witt.

Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Juvenile Justice Resource Hub focuses on six reform areas identified with Models for Change: mental health, disproportionate representation of minorities, indigent defense, evidence-based practices, aftercare and community-based alternatives for youthful offenders.

First Up: The intersection of mental health & juvenile justice

Timed to coincide with the Hub launch, JJIE.org is releasing the first article in a six-part series examining the issues raised by the problematic intersection between mental health and juvenile justice.

Many recent studies concur that as many as two-thirds or more of all youth enmeshed in the juvenile justice systems suffer from one or more mental health conditions. One in five suffer a serious and debilitating mental illness.

Mental health presents one of the most vexing challenges facing our nation’s juvenile courts and corrections systems.

Many experts argue that youth are being driven into the court system by a lack of mental health services in their communities. Due in part to crippling cuts to community providers, juvenile justice has become the nation’s de facto adolescent mental health system.

Failure to provide adequate mental health services has been alleged in dozens of lawsuits filed recently over conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities. And recent surveys show that the quality of mental health treatment is sorely lacking in many or most youth detention and corrections facilities.

Meanwhile, a wave of new research has emerged showing that new “evidence-based” mental health treatment models – most of them offering family-focused therapy to youth in their own homes – are far more effective than incarceration, group home care, or standard community supervision in steering troubled youth away from delinquency. Yet states have been slow to adopt the new models, and many questions remain regarding how these evidence-based models should fit into an effective juvenile system.

The series, “Mental Health and the Juvenile Justice System: Progress, Problems and Paradoxes” will examine these problems and offer solutions through case studies of successful and progressive reforms in states. 

First in the series: a look at the treatment of mentally ill youth in Cook County, the cradle of juvenile justice, and throughout Illinois. Then, stay tuned for the next installments, launching weekly throughout the month of May: 

• The only national survey to gather data directly from confined youth on mental health and substance abuse issues.
• Missouri’s widely acclaimed juvenile corrections system’s approach to mental health.
• Georgia’s progress in embracing evidence-based and therapeutic practices.

What you can do

Please help spread the word about this comprehensive Hub to colleagues and networks interested in juvenile justice. SparkAction—which is providing social media support to the launch—has sample social media posts, images and video you can share here.

After the April 24 launch, JJIE and NJJN are looking for beta-phase feedback. If you find errors or issues on the site, please share feedback at http://jjie.largoproject.org/beta-feedback.

Please also share resources and tools that you’d like to be considered for inclusion in the Hub.

More about the Hub: