by Bela P. Shah

Eight cities have been selected to participate in the second phase of an NLC technical assistance project to help cities expand afterschool learning opportunities for youth.

The selected cities ? Alexandria, Va.; Baton Rouge, La.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Boise, Idaho; Las Cruces, N.M.; Denver; Florence, S.C.; and Salt Lake City ? will take part in the City Leaders Engaged in Afterschool Reform (CLEAR) project.

The project is directed by NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

?The YEF Institute looks forward to continuing to work with these communities to improve the quality of their afterschool programs while expanding afterschool opportunities for their children and youth,? said Audrey Hutchinson, program director of education and afterschool for the YEF Institute.

Building Citywide Afterschool Systems
As part of the CLEAR project, municipal officials and senior city staff will work with NLC over a 12-month period to develop citywide systems of quality afterschool programs accessible to all children and youth.

Creating such systems will promote more effective collaboration between cities, schools, businesses, community-based organizations and other key stakeholders.

The project will also help communities align resources and share responsibility for providing youth with productive, enriching and safe environments after 3:00 p.m.

As CLEAR participants, each city will receive individual assistance and access to related resources and expertise through monthly conference calls, hands-on training from national experts and a variety of opportunities to network and share information with each other.

The selected cities will be working on issues such as:

? Improving the quality of afterschool programs;

? Reducing program duplication;

? Using mapping technologies to determine the location of current afterschool programs and ensure accessibility for all youth;

? Building public will and support for afterschool initiatives; and

? Strengthening the financial support for new and existing programs.

?Participation in CLEAR has resulted in valuable dialogue and provided the opportunity for various stakeholders in our expanded educational community to share resources and provide mutual support in a non-traditional manner,? said Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin ?Kip? Holden.

Growing Interest in Afterschool
Initially, 47 cities applied for the CLEAR technical assistance project, indicating the growing interest and capacity of local leaders in addressing the needs of young people after school. The YEF Institute selected 12 cities to participate in the project?s first phase.

Each of the selected cities identified afterschool programs as an important strategy for addressing broader city concerns such as safety, workforce development, community engagement, raising academic achievement and poverty reduction.

?Afterschool programs are essential to the success of Denver?s students, not only academically, but also socially, emotionally and physically,? said Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper.

During the past six months, the institute worked with the 12 phase one cities, including those just selected, to identify and document strengths and challenges in addressing afterschool needs. Institute staff then provided each city with written feedback and made recommendations for next steps needed to develop a citywide system to support afterschool programs.

Each city assembled a leadership team of stakeholders to develop targeted action plans outlining technical assistance needs and timetables for implementing team goals.

Based on their action plans, and the leadership and commitment demonstrated by their local officials, the institute selected eight cities for phase two of the project.

National City Afterschool Summit
To highlight the impressive leadership of mayors and council members in raising awareness of the importance of quality, accessible afterschool programs, the YEF Institute is hosting a National City Afterschool Summit on May 22-24 in Washington, D.C.

The summit will provide a forum for municipal officials and senior city leaders to share successful strategies of leadership, innovative partnerships, investment and sustainability to increase afterschool opportunities.

Details: For further information about the CLEAR project and the National City Afterschool Summit, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Bela Shah at (202) 626-3057 or shah@nlc.org.