Expanding Afterschool and Summer Learning Opportunities

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC) as a subcontractor to Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC)

Technical Assistance

Challenge

The Office of Child Care (OCC) administers America’s largest child care assistance program, the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). OCC recognized that quality care for children during out-of-school time (OST) provides important learning opportunities, but that the state, territory, and Tribal Lead Agencies who implement the CCDF block grant needed guidance to best support OST programs.

Solution

OCC contracted with the EDC to establish the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE). NCASE worked to increase access for school-age children in low-income families to high-quality afterschool and summer learning experiences that contribute to their development and academic achievement.

As a subcontractor to EDC, our subsidiary WRMA supported NCASE’s training and technical assistance (TA) to CCDF Lead Agencies and their partner networks. Partners included afterschool networks, state education agencies, provider associations, and child care resource and referral agencies.

1.4 million

Children (45% of over age 5) supported each month through CCDF subsidies

10 years

Operated as a collaboration between EDC, WRMA, the NIOST, and the NSLA

56

State and territory Lead Agencies supported, along with 250+ Tribal Lead Agencies and 50 state afterschool networks

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Technical Assistance

Through NCASE, we provided expert TA to states, territories, Tribes, and the broader OST field on provider payment rates and family fees, expanding child care access, program funding strategies, federal regulations, child and staff well-being, provider background checks, and houseless families. WRMA also served as the NCASE team’s subject matter experts on Tribal child care.

Partner and Network Engagement

WRMA led the NCASE Funding and Access content expert group (CEG) and co-led the Quality, Learning, and Workforce CEG. We also supported communities of practice and peer learning groups on topics such as workforce and quality, program funding, OST workforce apprenticeship, and child care licensing. Our team developed and presented OST-relevant workshops at national conferences online and in person.

Resource Development

We developed multiple policy-to-practice briefs to help NCASE’s target audiences create and fund programs that expand children’s access to high-quality before and afterschool education, enrichment, and care. These resources highlighted successful local-, state-, and national-level OST collaborations. We also supported the analysis of state/territory CCDF Plan OST content and administrative data.

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Relevant Resources

Explore tools and materials our team developed on behalf of this project.

Note: Each link leads to an external website.

NCASE Practice Brief for Combining Resources to Support Quality Out-of-School Time Programs